Brotherhood of the Machine (OOC Thread) {03}

[Azlan]

not actually stacked, it's basically his signature, and it's meant to increase, not guarantee, his chance of penetrating armor, some other big disadvantages are that he has to fire in 3 round burst, meaning basically 10 shots per clip, when he's using that setup.  Another thing is that if he's sniping, he can't use 3 round burst, as it's too inaccurate for anything beyond 300 or so yards, even with the high ROF... 

a couple other dis-advantages, the high ROF tends to cause jamming more often because a cartridge casing gets caught in the slide fairly easily when spewing out casing at that high a rate.  It's a more delicate rifle, so, he's more cautions when using it, and it's going to have other problems if he doesn't keep it constantly maintained, (i'm going to add a story behind why he keeps it so well maintained later) and it's not going to be used as a melee weapon.

It's a longer rifle since it's multi-purpose, 32inches, and he's going to have a tendency to use his pistols indoors because of that. 

The whole idea behind the ammunition setup was a, "oh crap, i'm dealing with other mercs with specialized gear and heavy armor, i'd better get in range and switch over to that setup i made to maximize armor penetration" he's not going to do something like that standard, say he carries 8 spare magazines, 1 or 2 of them would be the special setup, marked with red tape across the mid-section, 2 would be steel core,armor piercing only marked with green tape , and 4-5 mags would standard lead... so, it's more like carrying specialized grenades for a launcher, like the M203, than a "i can kill everything" kinda setup...

as for the weaknesses of darkshine himself, compared to the rest of the team, he's pretty fragile, but he's extremely fast, and agile to make of for it... he isn't going toe to toe in a slug it out gunfight, he's going to find cover, move to a flank, or behind, and take a pop shot from where his target can't really shoot back.  His armor is meant to provide a little protection while he moves from cover to cover, not let him survive an extended firefight in the open

and let's not forget, he's wearing a well protected bomb on his back too

Silly linear, Special Forces units would never utilize such flimsy or unique weaponry... especially such a 'custom' design.  Yes they use specialized weapons, but they tend to be more sturdy, reliable, and versatile. 

Additionally, you said your organization was one of assassination?  There is little use for a weapon that seems unreliable and possessing of limited range.  Plus your armour load out, weapons and skills make you more of some kind soldier more like an Army Ranger or Green Beret (not a SEAL, they are far cooler than your guy).  It is not my idea of an assassin.

White phosphorous works for me, unless anyone else has an objection to that.

Can I say I have a problem with that just to be annoying?

[Lisky]

it's no so much flimsy as it is temperamental, a good analogue would be the PSG-1, if you take care of it, it's one of the most dangerous weapons you can get your hands on, if you neglect or abuse it, it will not work, and has a tendency to jam.

as for the Back Hand unit, it's more of a multi-purpose quick intervention force, sabotage, assassination, a quick raid, basically, anything someone wants done, but wants to keep at arms length from at the same time...

[Azlan]

it's no so much flimsy as it is temperamental, a good analogue would be the PSG-1, if you take care of it, it's one of the most dangerous weapons you can get your hands on, if you neglect or abuse it, it will not work, and has a tendency to jam.

Meh, good for wannabe police sharpshooters.  The PSG-1 might have a lot of users, but the real experts use the DSR-1.

as for the Back Hand unit, it's more of a multi-purpose quick intervention force, sabotage, assassination, a quick raid, basically, anything someone wants done, but wants to keep at arms length from at the same time...

Interesting... is your leader name Hannibal Smith by any chance?


Edit: Oh one thing I felt was kind of funny... someone is asking Morgan Kell about Smoke Jaguar... Well I'm sure he'd say they were all a bunch of bloody bastard clanners.

[Ryudo Lee]

White phosphorous works for me, unless anyone else has an objection to that.

Can I say I have a problem with that just to be annoying?

If I say no, you're gonna do it anyway, right?

[Lisky]

if people have a problem with the system i was think of, i'm fine with just using 4 clips of standard FMJs and 4 Clips of armor piercing

[Azlan]

If I say no, you're gonna do it anyway, right?

Does a graviton have a spin of 2?  (gravity is a second-rank tensor field)

[Arcalane]

if people have a problem with the system i was think of, i'm fine with just using 4 clips of standard FMJs and 4 Clips of armor piercing

Protip: Magazines, not clips.

[Lisky]

A clip is just a type of magazine, a detachable type... so technically we're both correct, since all clips are magazines, but not all magazines are clips... and if you'd prefer i could use mag instead of clip... since again, either would be technically correct in this case...

[techmaster-glitch]

Unfortunatelly, rebutting all three of Dorcan's suggestions with words is not the most in-character respose Jexx would make.

EDIT: It also just occured to me that Darkshine hasn't even heard Jexx's name yet...

[Tapewolf]

EDIT: It also just occured to me that Darkshine hasn't even heard Jexx's name yet...

I don't think he's actually said it, just used it in the narration.

[Lisky]

well, seeing as i'm having a hard time coming up with a description for Jexx to use from Darkshine's observations, i'm just using his name in the descriptions of Darkshines actions, since saying, that black thing with glowy eyes, isn't exactly that useful

Edit: also, it seems like saying black thing with glowy eyes, even if he isn't supposed to know that's how he's being described, can be taken in the wrong way, actually taken in the wrong way, many ways... so i figure i'll just avoid problems, and when i'm describing actions, i'll use names or descriptions that are obvious as to who the action is targeted

[Tapewolf]

Since this is precisely one of the reasons (excuses) Dorcan brought up for requesting an engineer, it seems like it should logically fall to Izzie to do that stuff.  I'm assuming we work around the fact that Shadowterm isn't here to control him, but it's up to Ryudo at the end of the day.

[techmaster-glitch]

Oh dear. Arcalane, if you genuinely wanted Jexx to calm down, that was not the way to do it.


EDIT: I know that Bas has only been using Jexx in narration, that was just something I wanted to point out.

And Jexx's eyes only glow when his markings are glowing, which Darkshine hasn't seen yet (though he's about to)

[techmaster-glitch]

(double-post for bump and emphasis, wheeeee...)

In regards to the this last IC post, it's actually much more significant than "a little Jexx tantrum", which you may initially see it as. Crazy though this may sound, Jexx is actually showing restraint, for about the first time in his two-year remembered life. Here's why: he's actually far enough along that he wants/needs to kill something, but Dorcan and Darkshine are the only ones around. Unconsciously, he knows that this is something he should not do, again a first for him. It is this conflict that caused his marking fluctuations. The "feeling slightly sick" part is, on an unconscious level again, him feeling bad for what he just did/said.

Though Jexx wasn't really doing anything wrong earlier, there won't be any more "problems" this adventure, so long as no one provokes him again.

[shadowterm]

in response to the request for an engineer, present and accounted for.

[Azlan]

I'm not going to be posting in the RP until the Jexx issue is resolved.  My response would be a fast set of the laser sniper and a shot through Jexx's head.  An action I've already come up with a dozen justifications for.  Someone please PM me when this situation has been handled, and I will jump back in.

[techmaster-glitch]

You are blowing this way out of proportion, man. As I said above, there isn't even a "problem" at the moment, on account of him feeling to bad to do anything.

[Azlan]

You are blowing this way out of proportion, man.

I am trying not to actually.  I've spent 20 years gaming with a wide variety of people across multiple genres of games and I can judge the player very well based off the character he/she plays. 

I'm just tired of the character, and I do not want to drag on in more bickering like what occurred in the first mission.  Therefore, I am going to suspend my participation until Jexx is neutralized in some fashion, than I shall resume. 

I never minded his lesser rebellious attitude, minor disrespect, and lack of morals and ethics... it rounds out a personality.  However when taken too far, as it has, I cannot abide by it.  Additionally, when everyone merely shakes their head in frustration, or has to spend excess amounts of posts talking him down and listening to his life story... then I consider it abusive and disruptive.  This is "Brotherhood of the Machine" not "The Chronicles of Jexx".

 

[shadowterm]

I can see reason being used in both sides of this argument, but I must stress the necessity of a compromise. "Neutralizing" him will piss him off, not teach him how to play a character better. We need to let him know about the problem and give him advise before just "pulling the plug"

[Azlan]

I can see reason being used in both sides of this argument, but I must stress the necessity of a compromise. "Neutralizing" him will piss him off, not teach him how to play a character better. We need to let him know about the problem and give him advise before just "pulling the plug"

Please be my guest, I have tried all that I can in the past, and it availed me naught.

I am posting in the RP due to a request from another player to not bog down the rest.

[techmaster-glitch]

*sigh* Well, let's go over the chain of events, and see who's, I'll just say it, overreacting.

1. Jexx is in the same room that Dorcan and Darkshine are chatting, but is not participating, and is therefore bored. Post 752. Jexx pickes up random objects and throws them, using as target practice. Simple background actions, no problem.

2. Post 754. Dorcan gets worried about this in his usual paranoid way, citing damage, light failure, or hidden alarm. Still no problem here, as actually none of those things are actually any concern**. Dorcan is just paranoid in-character, and that's ok.

3. Now, I was going to simply have Jexx rebut each of those things, but I realized that being reasonable is not the most likely thing Jexx would do, as i pointed out in this OOC post. Instead, Post 756, Jexx blatantly (and yes, childishly) continues his action in a deliberate attempt to annoy Dorcan. Still no real problem. In the same post, because Jexx isn't perfect, he misses and grumbles to himself about it. Still in-character, and still no genuine "problem".

4. Post 758. Now this is where things get "ugly", as it were. Arcalane posts with Exo sternly reprimanding Jexx. As I pointed out in this OOC post, that was the worst possible way to try to talk to Jexx, but I rolled with it anyway. This is where Arcalane took some, at heart, innocent actions, borne out of character boredom, and overreacted. A much better way would have simply been to give Jexx something else to do, if you really think he was doing something he wasn't supposed to (which is, as I've said, not true).
But otherwise, still no "problem".

5. Post 761, last post by me. Jexx, of course, get very angry at Exo and yells at him, brining about his glowy rage-kill-mode, but didn't actually do anything other than standing around huffing. Then he goes and sits down, mentally beat, actually "neutralized" just as you want. Still. No. Real. Problem. In this OOC post, I explained why that is. In fact, this is character development for Jexx. Before, he really would have gone to kill something, but here he unconsciously holds back because spending time around the party and civilization is having an effect on him.


Everything has all been in-character, a simple verbal and emotional spat. Hell, Jexx didn't even show any physical agression towards the other characters. And now, you want to off him.
As I said, overreaction.


As for past actions, one thing I will conceed is yes, in the first mission, going off alone in a tunnel was a bad move, in-character though it was. That I realize. It happened in the first place on account of me being inexperienced at roleplaying at the time, and in fact, that's how most of the beginning of my playing of Jexx was. I look back now and go 'Geeze, did I really type that? What was I thinking?"


In another vein, you don't even have to respond to Jexx at all. To be quite honest, I don't personally like your character either, and it just so happens that our characters could be construed as polar opposites of each other. Because I realize that actually does have the potential to cause a permanent problem, Jexx hardly talks or interacts with Morgan, and is perfectly justified in such avoidance. Maybe you can do the same.


For now, we can move on, as nothing has happened that actually impedes the game. Therefore, no problem. (Though I am wondering what Ryudo's going to say about all this when he gets back...)



** Going back to the original root of the percieved problem, Dorcan's original objection, and three reasons thereof.
1. Damage building
-As pointed out a page or two ago, Jexx doesn't have the real power to do that unless he deliberately tries, and even then it would take him time.
2. Knock out lights
-A minor inconvenience at best. We go to another room.
3. Set off hidden alarm.
-If that could happen, it would've already in the inital assault.

[Arcalane]

Everything has all been in-character, a simple verbal and emotional spat. Hell, Jexx didn't even show any physical agression towards the other characters. And now, you want to off him.
As I said, overreaction.

There is no overreaction. There was even meant to be some slight sarcastic undertones going on given previous events (I mentioned the medical staff bit to try and lighten the mood, jeez), but other than that it was just a "jesus calm the hell down you hyperactive little pain in the ass".

[Azlan]

You are correct, I do not interact with Jexx at all unless forced to.  I don't even read your posts, unless something in another's post triggers that need.  

You miss the point that we continually have to accommodate Jexx's behaviour and actions in ways that violate our own character concepts to varying extents, especially my own.  Where you irresponsibly look at a situation and go "ah hell, who cares... I think it's harmless, I'll do it anyways.", I am continually forced to look at it in a fashion such as, "damn it, he did it again... I should do this, but I care about the story and the other player's fun (to an extent), so I am going to have to do this instead and hope it doesn't get worse."

I am going to say this again, I do not care about your character's background, I generally do not care about many of your character backgrounds except those few who have made the effort to point out why it is important to me and reciprocate the action.  I am tired of everyone's issues bogging down the story, if you wish to express how wonderful and deep your character is... go write a bloody story.  The more junk you post, the slower the story becomes.  I desire to know what is behind the Brotherhood, where we are going next, and what is up with Jackson and this Rebellion.  I want to see if a resurgence of magic will happen, I want us to face off against tougher Brothers, and I want to see what Ryudo does next in his game.

No further comments will be acknowledged outside of PMs, so let us take it there if you want to argue with me.

[shadowterm]

how about some IC posts then! 

[Ryudo Lee]

I have a couple of things to say about all this...

My first thought here is that everyone has the right to a backstory for their character, and tech has been, for the most part, playing his character as his character would act.  Now, this is both good and bad at times.  The good side is that he's playing his character and getting into it which adds a certain level of richness to the story.  All characters have a history and a personality, and that's being done for Jexx.  The bad part is that he's playing his character and, to me, not really considering how Jexx's actions would affect the rest of the party.  On that personal level, a tiny bit of metagaming would be allowed, as in "Jexx would do this, but that would piss off the rest of the group, so he won't do it, and instead make a smarter decision of this and attribute it to thinking ahead", instead of "Jexx would do this, so he'll do it regardless of how the group feels about it".  Jexx is acting like Jexx, which is good, but more attention needs to be paid to how the group is going to react to his shenanigans (that's right, I said shenanigans) and his actions adjusted accordingly.  This doesn't apply only to Jexx.  Everyone should play their characters and keep the reactions of the group in mind and adjust accordingly.

I'm reminded of a D&D gaming session I had with my friends which is a perfect example of this.  At the time, we had all been gaming together for quite some time and had learned how to interact with each other.  But we brought in an old friend who hadn't been gaming with us for some time.  My character was the tank of the group, and he was (for some strange reason) playing some sort of monk.  Well, we got into a combat situation, and the opponents were obviously hostile, but he decided that the party should take a non-violent approach and then subsequently disarmed my character.  He knew that the opponents were hostile, even though they had not taken action yet, but he went ahead and made his move "how his character would react" without any forethought as to how the rest of us would react.  Then he couldn't understand why I got mad at him, and to this day doesn't understand why he isn't invited to game sessions anymore.

Another thought here is that everyone in the group should be able to work together.  And I mean for both IC and OOC interactions.  What Azlan said is true.  When we go back and forth with arguments and posturing and in depth explanations about this, that, and the other, the story gets bogged down.  As it is, we have another player waiting in the wings and his entry is being delayed by this latest delay in the story, since he will be coming in during the party's next mission (this has been preplanned with the new player).  Delays cause headaches for everyone, including myself.  People get upset and then that's how a game starts to go downhill.  We can't have that.

Going back to what I said before, having a backstory is good and incorporating it into the story is good as well, but when we get bogged down in the details, everyone suffers because of it.  Now, I'm not saying that all the details should be dumbed down completely.  Everyone has a character and a story to tell about that character.  But we should all keep in mind that one character's story should not overshadow the main plot, and should not overshadow the rest of the group.  Everyone should flow together, and make the story of the whole party a part of your character's story (not what the character did, and also there was some other people there, maybe).

I will get around to doing something with everyone's backstory... eventually.  It's just going to take me a little time to figure out how exactly to go about doing it and use it to move the story along.

Now, let's get things moving along.  I'd like to get to the next mission soon.

[Tapewolf]

Now, let's get things moving along.  I'd like to get to the next mission soon.

I think the two outstanding issues are the generator, which Izzie is dealing with (and Dorcan has given suggestions for  speeding up, i.e. a wishlist vs. a bare minimum), and Darkshine's blood samples which are now in progress.
Unless I've missed anything, we should be good to go soon.

[Lisky]

i had a question regarding actually getting darkshine integrated with the team, any ideas on how we can actually get the team to trust him to the point where sending him out on the next mission will actually seem like a good idea?

The only ways i'm seeing it happen are
A: he runs into either bloodwolf, or smoke at the rebel base
B:the team needs him to do something that no one else is really equipped for while on the next mission and he is then forced to show his allegiance to the rebellion by filling that need
C:the team is ambushed on the way back to the rebel base, and he saves someones life

soo yea, if someone is seeing another possibility, i'm open to ideas...

[Tapewolf]

How about a contract from Jackson?  Granted, it wouldn't instil complete trust, but it would be a good start.

[Lisky]

good call, i knew i was missing something but couldn't figure out what

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan was actually panicking rather than hostile.  I just couldn't think of the right way to put it.