[The Human Element] Radio Chatter

I had been toying with the idea of having a player character tag along on their patrol. I had one waiting in the wings that could have gone with them, but he didn't pan out. Which happens. In hindsight, I probably could have gotten Desmond to go with them. I just didn't want to split up a relatively small party. Besides, I got to hint a little at his backstory, which is a good thing.


Stryker's also hard to write because he pretty much doesn't ever talk. Which is mostly due to the fact that I really don't want every alien conveniently speaking English for no apparent reason. I do think he develops a little better when written with an omniscient narrator, which I try not to do in this format. Really this should be about the player characters, not the hundred million NPCs I have running around in my head.


This campaign is actually part of a series of books I have/am planning on writing. I've got the first four of this series written, detailing the origin story of most of the leadership cast; one that entirely revolves around the world the Fae come from, that ran to 60k words and still isn't finished; and an autobiography that is hands down the worst thing I've written and will never see the light of day.


Disclaimer: I do not and will not steal others' characters. I consider them your intellectual property...and as you can see, I've got more than I know what to do with anyway. Running games like this helps me plot out where the story goes. I always learn something. For example, it hadn't occurred to me until this run that Drake would hand the investigation to someone else, given his obsessive need to control things, but it actually totally makes sense. I've spent the last three days trying to arrange some big-picture plot points in my head of how I want the book to go so that he'll end up with someone that's not a teenager to hand it to.


I actually really like Stefan as a character. He reads very relate-able to me. Also, I do think his powerset is cool and unique. If we end up doing a campaign that takes place a few years after this one, the effects of time travel becomes a huge thing. More specifically, it explains why, when Stefan told his tether to take him to before they started screwing with time, it chose this particular moment.


As for Vlad...Sam can be a bit of a hard-ass, and Vlad likes to push her buttons; Drake doesn't like anybody, especially people who can out-smartass him; Eric is in the same boat as most of the kids they're hanging around with--he just hasn't seen enough to know there's far more terrifying things than bloodsucking monsters; and Jay's just been...preoccupied. Charity, on the other hand, goes out of her way to be nice to everyone. She appreciates an intellectual conversation, and, given much of her backstory (which may soon become relevant) is probably far more terrified of herself and what she's capable of than she is of any soul-sucking monster. Also, she can function as a shock collar if necessary.
 
Vlad doesnt suck souls.. yet... Though I think it would be awesome to see Vlad end up in a book some where. Though His last name would probably need to be changed since I got bored and stole it from white wolf (Brodavitch) I also like him cause if you did decide to put the game like any time in the future he has the perfect excuse to just show up at random and be like I wants to do something, mostly because he doesn't die, so long as no one starts shooting silver rounds at him.


and do I catch the hint that Drake feels threatened of vlad?
 
Stryker's death probably would have meant something more to us if we'd had the opportunity to read the books ^_^


I really like Stefan's fluff, too, but in play he's worse than worthless. So far he has managed to incapacitate an unarmed, ordinary human. That has been his total contribution across three official missions and one unofficial investigation. Maybe someone in the Delta Division will find his explanation unsatisfactory and decide to put him out of my misery, since the Charity-abomination failed to turn on its summoner like you'd expect ^_^ it's actually too bad I can't give you Stefan to use, because it turns out he reads a lot better in a book format than a gameplay one. But he's too obviously inspired by two specific other time-travelers and borrows too heavily from other copyrighted worlds. I could free him from some of that stuff but his relation to Dean Koontz's Nazi-time-traveler-with-good-intentions is just too strong (to the point I even stole his name, since there was no point in hiding where his inspiration came from).
 
Steffan isn't useless. He contributes a lot of skills others might not be able to, and he does a good job of complementing grl prodigy who at the moment probably feels about the same way,In fact Ive noticed alot of similar talk from most. Vlads Major downfall is his lack of skills and social ability. He has to patch most of that with his knowledge of his powers. In fact it wasn't till I had to do a rewrite of his powers that he really became useful. When I first made him the only thing he did was punch things REALLY hard.. At the current point he is at he is able to complement the ability's of every one else, and over all act as the primary focus of any combat. If the enemy is trying to kill him yall a free to do as you please.


The fact I have gotten as much millage out of my telepathy is PURE coincidence.
 
Can I spend a hero point to make the GM cry?


You can use Grace as a character in a book if you send me an autographed copy and a thank you in the printing. I think the reason so many people feel for Charity is that she talked to your character, while Stryker was more like a drill sergeant and just told you what to do next. He was less personable, and therefore less attached to the players.


Grace isn't ineffective so much as she hasn't been put in a position to be effective. at least with her powers. The mental immunity helped a lot in the first encounter, and her skills did well in the second encounter. But the fights haven't used her abilities so much or she was out of position to start with.


The fact that she was on overwatch has been frustrating to the character, but not so much to me. I can play most anything the GM throws at me, and Grace always has something to do. The fun part is that Grace wants to be a SuperHero - with capitals on both letters. Therefore, any time she isn't able to be is completely annoying to her.
 
I'm personally enjoying the game so far, although I'm annoyed at healing in mutants and masterminds working like I first expected it to.


On top of that, the book thing doesn't surprise me at all, given the large amounts of seemingly background characters. You don't do that much work for a single campaign (unless you're obsessed). Heh, I can't imagine Desmond being in a book, but I wouldn't care if you used him. I'd have to be sure to pick up a copy of said book though, otherwise it'd be meaningless (to me at any rate).
 
See, I don't mind playing a character that doesn't do much actual combat. In fact, the dice gods tend to hate when I play pure combat characters, and horrible, horrible things happen to them. I prefer the characters that seem useless, but have a really good story. For example, I have no issues playing the sole Dragonblood in a party of Solars. Maybe I'm just weird like that. Story, to me, is more important than flashy power levels.


I seem to remember Stefan kicking some pretty serious Fae ass. I agree, I don't think he's useless at all.


But...if it's really bothering you...I might be convinced to let you rearrange a few points in his tech, providing Drake gets to tinker with it. If you're going to do that, I'd suggest doing it soon, because...reasons <_<


I tend to gravitate toward young, exceptionally smart characters. I quite like Grace, and I think she's a really interesting character. Also, she's written well, I have to say. Having spent time as a young teenage girl who was probably too smart for her own good, she resonates with me. I just already have a few of them floating around in my head.


Oh, and Vlad needs to meet the stand-in I have for vampires. It's different from his meta-trial-run origin, but interesting enough. And Drake's not threatened by anything he can kill with a twitch of his wrist. Remember, he can control metal, and last I checked, silver is metal.
 
A flick of the wrist isnt exactly what Id call it, he still has to survive the first hit, and thats all assuming he catches him in his normal human form.


And I would love to see another vamp running about. The hole meta human prototype thing was more of a vague story told to him by a guy who was told by another guy who was told by a guy who herd the story from a dude who was told by a person who claimed to be there when the first meta humans were created by the aliens.


I figured it would be a good explenation that would fit in your pre existing world, with the low magic thing goin on.
 
Being ~less~ effective is one thing. Only being effective in non-combat situations is also acceptable. Stefan's not been able to meaningfully contribute to anything all game, that's what I'm emo'ing about. Not combat, not investigation, nothing. He's been an interesting piece of the scenery pretending to be an important character. But aside from having to change the names in a few conversations, you could just ret-con him out of the history of the game and the only that would happen is a big, potentially dangerous fight wouldn't have happened, since Stefan-the-walking-liability wasn't around to cause it.


I may take you up on that offer, but I think I'd prefer a different explanation than letting Drake get his hands on the tether :P realistically, if he had it for more than a half-hour or so, Stryker would be retroactively alive and PSO would never have formed. I have a decent excuse I came up with before, and it'll involve asking GP for a little tech help before getting rid of the tether entirely. I know most of her stuff only works when she's powering it, but I'm thinking the two of them together should be able to salvage a bit of language-comprehension from the tether before he sends it home on autopilot.


And the only reason I'm bothering with that is that I've established Stefan doesn't actually speak English, it's his "speak to anything, including plants, CDs, aliens, and encrypted rocks" power from the tether.
 
I'm actually thinking that the reason his weapons operate so slowly and with as many limitations as they do is that the tether technically controls them, and it's stuck in a safe mode. Separated from it, AMMO will respond to his commands better and allow him to use his weapon at a much higher capacity. He'll give up quite a bit of versatility, but it's versatility that hasn't come in handy at all. In exchange, he'll get the weaponry I originally pictured him with, more and better combat options. Honestly, I could forgo the "help me with this" cutscene entirely and just spend a PP on skill points, have him LEARN English (he's been speaking it for months, after all), and then be rid of his ball and chain ^_^


It's a major narrative change for him, since he'll be giving up his way home - he'll toss it back with a note attached, hoping another Chronokeeper survives to come bring him home eventually. This means he'll also be more willing to give up his political affiliation and change his Drawback(s) to something more likely to come up in play :D Essentially, he'll give up his own world to embrace this one - and the power to fight to protect this one.
 
Actually, his comprehension is going to come in handy soon.... <_<


Drake is actually the last person who would retcon things like that. He's a firm believer that things happen for a reason, and that the past should stay that way. No way to go but forward. While he's quite capable of fixing all of that, he won't. Messing with tech in one thing. Tech, he understands. Time, on the other hand, is hardly more than an abstract concept at this point, comprehended only in the sense that we see and understand the effects that dictate our daily lives. Mess with that, and you're risking a cascading effect that could collapse the universe. He tends to regard anyone who would deliberately mess with it in suspicion... though it's important to note he holds Stefan himself blameless for any of that, figuring that he would have been indoctrinated with the benefits of time travel while being kept ignorant of its true danger. History's not the only thing written by the people in charge. To a point, science and technology is too.


...well, that was pretty deep philosophy for five in the morning :S I hope that made sense in more than just my head, and will continue to make sense after I've had my coffee.


Oh, and if Desmond doesn't have anything to say, I'll move things along this afternoon. Just wanted to give him a chance to get a word in edgewise.
 
Yeah, sorry. Got focused on exams and forgot to post (seriously. The text was all there and waiting, just a bit greyed out)
 
lol, s'cool. Exams are quite preoccupying. I gotta say, it's one thing I'm loving about this forum, how it saves you post. I've lost count of how many times I've lost a multi-paragraph post because I accidentally backed my browser or something equally stupid.


I'm dogsitting for my parents this weekend. Posting shouldn't be an issue, because I do have internet access, and virtually nothing better to do than copious amounts of laundry, but I'm also trying to pull together a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. That might keep me busy that day. Never cooked a turkey before in my life, but seeing as this past one was so damn crappy, I'm determined to take advantage of my parents' much bigger (and also newly renovated) kitchen and make some better memories xD
 
I was going to offer to have Grace help with the tech upgrades on Stephan's equipment, if he wanted help. While GP's tech are really just a focus for her powers, she is fully capable of working on tech and doing it normally. She just takes short-cuts with her own stuff. So... she would be able to help you rebuild your tech, following normal tech rules.


And Grace understands that telling Drake stuff isn't the same as telling a team mate. I figure when Grace made the mental circlet, she didn't even bother to tell Drake about it until it was finished and working.


Doing something like this reminds me of the time when She-Hulk learned that she couldn't change back to her human form. Mr. Fantastic says to her that he has some bad news to tell her. She braces for it. He tells her that she can't turn back to Jennifer Walters. She waits. She asks him to tell her the bad news. Mr. Fantastic tells her that was the bad news.


Grace tells Stephan that she managed to fix the anomaly that was preventing his systems from working properly. But she lost the link to his temporal dimension. He is stuck here until they get a chance to rebuild it, but they first need to invent something never done before. Stephan just shrugs and says that he prefers it here.
 
That's also reasonable. Grace's tech skills are quite sufficient to the task, as well as detecting what, if any, sabotage has been done. That said...I think it's fair that if a PC's playing with the tech, then you have to roll for it. Critical failures could be...fun for me xD . Of course, the two of you have quite a pool of Hero Points between you that you'll probably be fine. Probably.


Drake will behave himself if he has to, though. He won't go poking his nose in where he promised not to. Well, he might come away with ideas on how to finish his anti-teleportation field he's been working on (the thing he and Jay were discussing forever ago, right at the beginning), but that'll only be a few years ahead of time. Actually, story wise, his anti-teleporation and detection technology is probably the basis for a lot of what Stefan's used to working with. It was improved upon by other people over the next couple of decades. Drake's actual involvement was probably buried, though, as far as Stefan's knowledge of historical science goes, probably in favor of someone a little closer to the Fatherland ideals...
 
So in an attempt to spur the game forward vlad is going to do something very... vlad...
 
I'm going to try to post something this afternoon. I was busy all day Monday, so I didn't get any writing done, so I was trying to get a whole bunch done yesterday. I'm at 7k, though :)


On the plus side, I'm on vacation next week. This should let me may more attention to my game, and still shoot for 2k words a day. Also I'M ON VACATION NEXT WEEK!


Yeah, I'm sort of excited. Especially since I've finally managed to talk myself off the early shift. So when I do go back to work, it'll be in a department that I don't hate, with not as many long hours, people I actually like talking to, and most importantly, NOT at stupid o'clock in the morning :D
 
Congrats, Lady Jane! I'm fighting for a full-time position myself right now. With at least one weekend day off, which is the sticking point. I need either Friday or Sunday if I intend to see half my friends, and I'd like Saturdays to see the other half of my friends...
 
I'll get one started. And I WILL post something in a bit and move things on. Things have just been a little nuts, but work is over and I'M FREE! For a little bit anyway.


Also, I pulled a 3700 word count yesterday.
 
I will post in the R&D thread soon, I swear. Need to find enough time to figure out exactly how I'm gonna rework him. I'm debating getting rid of Nicky and the tether together - it's such a Stefan move, very "The Doctor" sending his companion (who has nothing to fear from zombies, being a robot) back where it's safer for him and staying himself to fix whatever is broken here.
 
Yes, and then, at a critical moment, you can get a message from the future telling you not to do what you are just about to do, but then you do it anyway and he starts speaking Russian as you alter his timeline.
 
Awww, I like Nicky. I'd take him as a companion over Rose any day.


I'll try to post something today, if I manage to get my daily wordcount goal of 2k before I go out for the evening. Last day of freedom before I have to go back to work, so I should probably go hang out with friends instead of burying my head in my story. Besides, this guy is supplying my Supernatural fix (just finished season 7).
 
Guy? Oh, the evening out.


No problem with posting. Until someone else posts, or I just turn it into a monologue.
 
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