Brotherhood of the Machine (OOC Thread) {03}

[techmaster-glitch]

I also suffered a major loss.  My laptop's hard drive completely corrupted and can't be recovered... like, at all.  I had all my notes and a bunch of other stuff on there.  In retrospect, I should have been making regular backups.  I only had copies of a few things, but all the rest I need to recreate.  In any case, my responses will be slow until I get my new laptop, which will be sometime in February.

Oh man, that's terrible. I hope nothing super-important was permanently lost...

and as for the game itself, well...things like this have happened to me every now and then (though never on such a serious scale), so I'd say this is an opportunity to take all the big ideas you remember and rewrite the little details better than they were before.

[Tapewolf]

My laptop's hard drive completely corrupted and can't be recovered... like, at all.

Ouch.

[Ryudo Lee]

Uhm, any report as to the vulnerability of the transmitter to plasma bursts?

Edited my post.

[ChaosMageX]

I've lurked long enough...

I'm considering entering this RP with a dimension hopping character of my own.

She's a shape shifter, but she has almost no aptitude for magic whatsoever.
She has almost no regard for life--she barely even has a soul.
She often takes the form of either a human, an anthro paint mare, or a feral paint mare, but all with icy blue eyes that are almost completely devoid of emotion.

However, it would be awkward to introduce her into the RP right in the middle of this arc, considering that her very entrance will cause a localized storm-like phenomenon as her dimensional portal opens up.

Just drop me a private message when it would be an appropriate time to introduce her, and then I'll type up her profile and the entry post for both threads.

[Ryudo Lee]

So I've got a new laptop now, and hopefully this one will stand the test of time.  It's an Alienware, and a pretty nice one at that.

I'm waiting for Az to make a post, if he's going to.

I will drop ChaosMageX a PM about that character...

[techmaster-glitch]

...hopefully this one will stand the test of time.  It's an Alienware...

Oh man. I asked my high school tech guy about them once, and he said that while they are very high-end and powerful machines, that actually directly decreases their lifespan. They're rather overclocked in order to play high-spec computer games, which makes them burn out faster...

I'm not sure how precisely true this is, if I've got the details right, or how familiar the guy actually was with what he was talking about, but I do hope as well your computer lasts...

[hapless]

...hopefully this one will stand the test of time.  It's an Alienware...

Oh man. I asked my high school tech guy about them once, and he said that while they are very high-end and powerful machines, that actually directly decreases their lifespan. They're rather overclocked in order to play high-spec computer games, which makes them burn out faster...

Seconded. These (well, their fullsize PC, not sure about laptops) are meant to be "high-end gaming rigs", for people that replace them each year for the old one gets too slow. As a bonus, their (again, PCs) price is 1.5 or more times higher than price of the separate components themselves, and considering the price range it's significant difference if you can assemble a machine yourself.

Good luck.

[Ryudo Lee]

The shield the big guy is carrying is not an energy shield, it's a metal shield.  I edited my post to reflect that.  Sorry.

[Tapewolf]

Are we stalled on anyone in particular?

[Ryudo Lee]

Probably me again, work is picking up lately and I haven't had the energy to come up with something creative.   Ah well, job security and all that.  I'll try and get things moving again soon.

[Tapewolf]

Probably me again, work is picking up lately and I haven't had the energy to come up with something creative.   Ah well, job security and all that.  I'll try and get things moving again soon.

Okay, cool 

[psilorder]

Char compiled with a little change

Name: Arin Johns
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Magic User: No

Psychic:
Generator/Battery type – can only generate and store psychic energies. Needs his battle gauntlets for any effects and if he lets the buildup get too high he will start having migraines.

Tech usage:
- Battle gauntlets: Channels Arins psychic energies as a power source. Able to create forcefields, fire masers (back of the hand) and amplify the kinetic energy when striking something.
-   Plasma weapon unit/s – two units that can work on their own as pistols or together as a plasma rifle with either two-stage or rapid-fire bursts
- Motorcycle -  a sportbike type motorcycle equiped with saddelbags for holding Arins equipment and some food. Bought after Arin left the military.

Faction: individual mercenary

Physical Description:  A well trained human in his mid-twenties. Completely hairless. Blue eyes. 6,5 feet, 215lbs.

Longterm goal: start a mercenary group of his own and/or a clan.
Note: Interested in magical artifacts that could be used for this purpose. And he is not cubi-related in any way. Just wants a regular human clan, and hopes to get to see atleast the third generation. (i.e. his great-grandchildren)

personality: philosophical except for about what he does for a living, somewhat undisciplined when it comes to enjoyable foodstuffs but able to excersise away most excess. enjoys a good sparr, but doesnt go looking for "good" actual fights. curious about things unless it means he has to read long documents, so mostly mechanical things.

history: the oldest child in a civilian family, Arin  joined the military almost wholly to see what it was like. after one term he left it since he had found it wasnt to his tastes. He wanted more money and more freedom in how to dress and such things.
After leaving he thought he'd have to go into a civilian life but was soon recruited by a band of mercenaries. this felt more comfortable and indeed it was lucky he was there when a couple of months before his 23rd birthday he started having migraines. the company doctor and technician teamed up to give him a solution and it also happened to give him an advantage in the field. However it was not to last. Only a year after he joined one of the liutenants tried to take over and both he and the captain got killed.
Arin had during that year also felt he wanted more power so he decided to try to start his own mercenary band. and in the back of his head he also wanted to start a clan for himself.
he tried to gather some of the people from the old band but found they had all joined other groups. he didnt want to do that again so he set out on his own.

[Tapewolf]

Would this char be allright?

That's up to Ryudo, but just as a comment, I see a lot of advantages... have you thought out any drawbacks and weaknesses?

[psilorder]

No i hadn't.
hmm. how many do i need to add?

do regular soldiers have armor that can stand against plasma blasts?

hmm, one could be that if too much of him is replaced with machinery his psychic powers will stop working and the nanos will go on the fritz "attacking" good tissues to convert them. and that will not make him a selfaware robot, but simply a robot. that is he can't get hurt too much.

possibly also that if he overdoes it (time or power) with the psychics they short out and will need to be replaced. which would be messy as they are implanted, not to mention rare. and they arent enhancing him from psychic to more powerful psychic but from almost-non-psychic to relatively powerful psychic.

edit:
I first developed him as having a heavier armor (and no claws or battle gauntlets, got inspired by a martial artist, heh) and having agoraphobia for being outside if not inside his armor.
Suppose he could have something like that still tho...he does have a basicly E.V.A. suit....


Edit:
Name: Arin Johns
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Magic User: No
Psychic: Forcefields
Tech usage: Arin has several implants for various functions.
-   Battle gauntlets: used for channeling psychic abilities, has built in Masers and claws., increases kinetic energy of blows.
-   Plasma weapon unit/s – two units that can work on their own as pistols or together as a plasma rifle with either two-stage or rapid-fire bursts
Faction: individual mercenary
Physical Description:  A well trained human in his mid-twenties. Completely hairless. Blue eyes. 6,5 feet, 215lbs.

is that more balanced?

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

I can't speak for the others, and certainly not for the DM, but a little history and personality might be nice. Right now we have a stat block, but not a "person", if you catch what I mean.

[psilorder]

Hmm, background....

Served in the military for one term then joined a mercenary group for a year before it broke up due to the leaders getting killed.

Longterm goal: start a mercernary group of hos own and/or a clan.
Note: Interested in magical artifacts that could be used for this purpose. And he is not cubi-related in any way. Just wants a regular human clan, and hopes to get to see atleast the third generation. (i.e. his great-grandchildren)

personality: philospohical except for about what he does for a living, somewhat undisciplined when it comes to enjoyable foodstuffs but able to excersise away most excess. enjoys a good sparr, but doesnt go looking for "good" actual fights. curious about things unless it means he has to read long documents, so mostly mechanical things.

[Ryudo Lee]

This will have to be fleshed out a bit more.  It seems lacking.  The weapons appear to be alright with me, so long as they're not overpowered.  Psi and magic are both underpowered at this point in time, and there will be in-game events that will make them more powerful.

[psilorder]

ok. one question first tho, do all the plasma weapons work with well, bullets/magazines so to speak?
maybe i have read too much schlock mercenary but to me plasma weapons cycle atmosphere and so doesnt have any need for such, tho they do need to cool down after a while. (same thing with Masers) i'm ok with either but started wondering when i read the bio for Chance.
also, what would be overpowered for the weapons?

history: the oldest child in a civilian family, Arin  joined the military almost wholly to see what it was like. after one term he left it since he had found it wasnt to his tastes. He wanted more money and more freedom in how to dress and such things.
After leaving he thought he'd have to go into a civilian life but was soon recruited by a band of mercenaries. this felt better but it didnt last long, only a year after he joined one of the liutenants tried to take over and both he and the captain got killed.
Arin had during that year also felt he wanted more power but he decided to try to start his own mrcernary band instead. and in the back of his head he also wanted to start a clan for himself.


also, should i move all the stuff together to a single post so you can link to it? and if so, which one?

[Ryudo Lee]

This can be open for discussion... when I think of plasma rifles, I'm thinking of something similar to what we see in the Quake games.  It's powered by cells, rather than magazines, and fire energy pellets, rather than lead bullets.  There are conventional weapons though, as some of the others have shown.

What is the power source for the gauntlets?  That's my main concern here.  You say it's for channeling psi, but is it just channeling and not amplification?

It would be best to group all this into your first post.

[psilorder]

yeah, that's what i meant. couldn't really find the words. i guess the schlock type (plasma beam and not worrying about ammo, just cooldowns) works better in a single-author/player world.

I hadnt really made a distinction between channeling and amplification (used channeling as another way of saying amplifying), but channeling sounds better.
hmm, would it be allright if he is the power source then?

[Ryudo Lee]

That would put a serious drain on him, but on the other hand that would be a good weakness.  For now though, just compile all your information, make it as detailed as possible, and go about working you into the story.  Right now though, the group is in the middle of a firefight, so it's probably not the best time to introduce a new character.

[Azlan]

Before I do any replying... I just wished to advise that the round fired is a High Explosive Armor Piercing type.  What this means for his particular weapon is a round that penetrates armor fully or partially and explodes just within the interior of a vehicle or within the armor itself.  It is a shaped charge, so it should vent explosive forces into the open space just beyond the hole it penetrated through (filing the area beyond). 

Ideally it does not fully penetrate; therefore it explodes within, blowing through the remaining armor and into the space beyond with slightly lesser explosive force and a whole lot of metal fragments. 

The shield he is carrying is far less thick, so it should pass through and explode over head (since he ducked down). 

The round is designed to kill personnel within armored vehicles, tanks and behind obstructions.  The same should be said about the AP Incendiaries I was firing at the big armored vehicle.  They penetrate and fill the area beyond with white phosphorous or thermite.

I do need to say something, I don't want to be too picky, but it is an important factor of his design and the whole reason he has all his supporting cybernetic components.

[psilorder]

well, i've compiled all i've got so far in my first post. havent gotten any sign it's been noticed so i'm doing a post to tell.
http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,4654.msg314411.html#msg314411

also; are transports "free" so long as there's nothing special about them?
feels a bit weird to have him arrive on foot or by bus.

[Ryudo Lee]

The shield he is carrying is far less thick, so it should pass through and explode over head (since he ducked down).

Editing my last post.  The rest of you might want to amend your posts as well to reflect.

psilorder, hold on for a little while until we can get to a point where we can introduce a new character, okay?

EDIT:
Done.  In the future Az, tell me what the round is supposed to do when you make your post, at least here in the OOC, okay?

[psilorder]

yeah, no problem with that. made a change or two tho and wanted to know if they were okey. also if the character sheet was fleshed out enough.

[Azlan]

Editing my last post.  The rest of you might want to amend your posts as well to reflect.

psilorder, hold on for a little while until we can get to a point where we can introduce a new character, okay?

EDIT:
Done.  In the future Az, tell me what the round is supposed to do when you make your post, at least here in the OOC, okay?

Yes, sorry... I did do a bit of that in the IC post.  I'll try and remember to detail it in OOC as well.  I will probably send you a list via PM at some point.  I'll post later today.

[Ryudo Lee]

yeah, no problem with that. made a change or two tho and wanted to know if they were okey. also if the character sheet was fleshed out enough.

I don't see any problems with it now.  Anyone else care to comment?

[Tapewolf]

I don't see any problems with it now.  Anyone else care to comment?

Looks okay to me.

[psilorder]

oh, right there was one more thing. would it be allright for him to have a regular motorcycle?
asked before but didnt get an answer if it would be allright for him to have a normal vehicle for simple transportation.

[Azlan]

I don't see any problems with it now.  Anyone else care to comment?

Seems a bit light on depth, but otherwise I don't see much of a problem with it.