Happier Times (OOC)

[Dr Archeville]

A conundrum: as written now, DH's powers only work on corpses, not items a dead person's previously touched. But I'm fudging a bit and saying this photo gives a very tenuous connection to the spirit.

So, what would be a good thing to get from that?

And on a completely different topic: why did you choose the Broan aliens from Crooks! to be your antagonists, and not one of the FC races/evil empires (like the Grue Unity or the Stellar Khanate)?

[Skysong]

Tenuous, hm? Regrettably, that makes sense. Perhaps Dead Head could simply mention that Physicus was the one who brought the ship to Khalados to save its people; Zak hasn't told anyone that yet, and since it's Physicus's most recent (read last) memory, it might be easier to access.

As for your unrelated topic, that's a long and somewhat interesting story. To boil it down, Zakitaj was originally a villain called "The Advocate", an alien terrorist who was inspired by the Batarians of Mass Effect. He was trying to incite war between the aliens who had wronged him and the planet he'd crash-landed on so that he could have his revenge, and didn't care what happened to the Humans so long as he got what he wanted. The kinetic projectors he has as a hero were originally a much more powerful disintegration beam, and he was also a grappling powerhouse. I came across several feats in "Crooks!" that made him better at that role, and while I was reading the book I came across Sovereign as a good example of a hostile alien to set up an "evil vs. evil" theme.

I did all of this on a road trip, before I'd actually seen this site, and as I worked to balance everything out I decided that I wanted to write a hero instead. Rather than scrap everything I'd done so far, I adapted his powers, feat selection, and backstory, changing them slightly to make them more silver age friendly. The Broan stayed as they were because I didn't see any reason to change them; the whole "homeworld invaded" thing was mostly unaltered, but the appearance of the first Physicus to give guidance and salvation was new. That alias was actually the last thing I came up with while writing the profile.

It worked out for the best, seeing as there aren't player villains here anymore.

[Skysong]

Physicus's body would probably be located in the West End, close to the neighborhood now inhabited by the Khaladi, but the thread isn't that long yet. Do you want to start a new one? I'll leave it up to you.

[Dr Archeville]

I say we keep it going here. :)

[Dr Archeville]

Ah-ha!

DH can use Ritualist to get a one-of Teleport effect. He could teleport them to Trinity Hospital in West End -- hospitals, churches and cemeteries are the places he would've first checked out when coming to FC, and by now he'd know them well -- then we hoof it from there.

The map seems to indicate that Trinity Hospital is ~2.5 miles from St. Stephen's & the Lantern Hill Cemetery, which'd require a Teleport 5 effect.

Teleport 5 (500 feet/5 miles; Flaw: Medium/shadows; PF: Progression 2/500 lbs.) [7pp]

Doing that as a normal ritual would take 28 hours to design/research, and 70 minutes to perform, and a DC 17 Knowledge/Arcane Lore check.

Doing it as a jurry-rigged ritual would take 7 rounds, a Hero Point, and a DC 22 Knowledge/Arcane Lore check.

Knowledge/Arcane Lore check for kit-bashed ritual (DC 22) (1d20+9=26) Huzzah!

(If I hadn't made the roll, I would have handwaved it anyway for narrative purposes )

And, yes, it would've been easier to just stunt a Teleport effect off his Necromantic Powers Array (with those listed Flaws and Power Feats, he could stunt Teleport 10, and take Physicus to the Moon!), but this will be more... theatrical ;)

[Skysong]

Sounds like a good plan to me, Doc. It's always satisfying when you're spared the necessity of fudging rolls because the dice gods are with you.

I also don't see any reason why Physicus's body shouldn't be at Trinity Hospital; the place is close to the Khaladi, and presumably has a morgue.

[Dr Archeville]

Works for me ;)

[Dr Archeville]

A nifty idea has hit me, and while some parts I do wish to keep secret until actually posting it, there are some things I need clearing up first.

First off, I am presuming that the spirit of Physicus would be lingering around somewhat, so that DH doesn't look like he's just a crazy man leading Zak on a wild (and cruel) goose chase.

Assuming that is the case, would this section of the morgue be where Physicus' body is? Or did you have a speciifc idea for where it'd be?

[Skysong]

Well, Physicus died a violent, unexpected death before he could so much as talk to Zakitaj, so it makes sense that his spirit would indeed linger. And given that Dead Head is a character I'd be happy to do threads with in the future, it would be best if he weren't just leading Zak astray.

I hadn't thought up any specifics as to the location of the body; if you have something in mind, go for it. I'm interested to see what this idea of yours is.

[Dr Archeville]

Technically, what he did would require a Perception-range Animate Object/Corpses with the Horde extra, coupled with some way to accurately detect the presence of said corpses in the morgue drawers.

Both of which he could get with some power stunting off his existing effects.

And I believe he has 1 Hero Point left, so he could do all that and just be fatigued afterwards.

And "marco... marco... marco..." is a reference to this

Physicus is one of the forty-some that have sat up.

[Skysong]

I'm just glad you can work out the mechanics; I'll leave the complicated stuff to you.

Sad part is I recognize that strip from back when I had enough time to spend most of it browsing random stuff on the internet. Ah, the good old days...

[Dr Archeville]

I hope what I said for him was okay; if you prefer some other words, I'm happy to edit.

And now it's your show :)

[Skysong]

The wording is fine. Everything looks good!

Thanks again for setting all of this up; I hadn't initially planned for this thread to accomplish everything it has, but I'm very, very pleased with the way it's turned out. Just goes to show that this sort of writing really is meant to be a collaborative effort.

[Dr Archeville]

Very nicely done!

[Dr Archeville]

Haven't heard back from you here in about a week. Hope all's well!

[Skysong]

Sorry for the delay. I'm trying to work around a whole lot of things; life isn't getting any less complicated. I feel about as tired as Zak does.