Cubist Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 This is the OOC thread for the storyline in which Jubatus, the fastest cat alive, temporarily regresses to a feral (but playful!) mentality.
Cubist Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 The inaugural post in the IC thread may well need some editing. I have no idea what sort of security protocols ArcheTech has in place for this sort of thing, so I made up some stuff that seemed reasonable to me... stuff which may or may not have anything to do with ArcheTech's real security protocols. Again, editing may well be required.
Dr Archeville Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 What you've got is fine... except for that 4th wall breaking "nannyfilter" comment. Journal of Jay Nelson Xavier, excerpt from 9 February 2011 entry: ...an appointment at ArcheTech, because he didn't think he had enough medical mojo to handle the crazy SCHIST that comes with metahuman biology. Personally, I like Dr. Harris; good bedside manner, keeps up with new developments in his specialties, all that and a FAXING bag of chips. (GOTHAM nannyfilter!) Still and all, Harris is probably right. Biology is a messy enough subject when you're dealing with mundane critters that obey all known physical laws; throw in the weirdness that's required in order to accommodate things like my Timeshift, and you pretty much need to be an ArcheTech-level supergenius just to pass muster in that field. And that good, Harris just isn't. By no means is he stupid, but... let's just say there's no shame in being shorter than Mount Everest, okay? So like I said: ArcheTech. 9:30 appointment on 10 February. Of course there's no FAXING way Dr. Archeville himself will be there; with the number of pies that man's got his fingers in, he's got to be booked up solid until the 12th of Never! That's alright; just seeing the inside of ArcheTech's global HQ is a GOTHAM rare treat...
Cubist Posted February 6, 2011 Author Posted February 6, 2011 I respectfully disagree about the "nannyfilter" thing being a fourth-wall breaker. The in-character explanation, which is firmly within the fourth wall (as best I can tell): It was a court order that got the character into therapy in the first place. Therefore, every aspect of that therapy must adhere to one or another Official Government Standard. It was as part of this therapy that the character began keeping a journal in the first place, so any tools the character uses to keep this journal must comply with the appropriate Official Government Standard. The character uses a word processor... and the relevant OGS for word processors, mandates that the software must have the functional equivalent of "parental controls" to prevent its user from employing Certain Words. Silly? Perhaps. But considering that various Government agencies here in the RealWorld can and do get cranky over the usage of Certain Words (see also: "seven words you can't say on television"), I really don't see why Government agencies in the Freedomverse can't be equally silly at times. The real explanation: I (Jube's creator & author) firmly believe that Jubatus simply isn't Jubatus unless he's swearing. For me, his 'voice' just doesn't 'sound' right without at least some expletives in it. Of course, this kinda runs headlong into FCPBP's "no swearing" rule; the 'nanny-filter' thing, with its attendant in-character rationale, is my attempt to bridge the gap between two thoroughly incompatible notions. So what I'm doing is, I satisfy my belief re: Jube and swearing by starting the thread off with a couple paragraphs that include some veiled profanity, after which there ain't no more profanity at all, not even veiled, in the entire rest of the thread. Okay?
Dr Archeville Posted February 6, 2011 Posted February 6, 2011 No. First, working the board's own "standards & practices" guidelines into your char's background may not exactly be breaking the 4th Wall (I believe the apt term would be 'painting the 4th wall'), but it is at least acknowledging it, something I would really prefer to not see. Plus, government agents wouldn't replace objectionable words with newer, softer ones, they'd replace them with REDACTED. Or possibly blacking them out, [bg=#000000]like so[/bg] [bg=#000000][color=#000000]like so[/color][/bg] though this is not a loophole that would allow you to swear, the blacked-out text would still need to be non-objectionable words. More importantly, though, "my char doesn't sound 'right' unless he's swearing" is not an excuse to swear despite a medium's S&P, it's more indicative that your char doesn't belong (or, rather, has elements that don't belong).
Dr Archeville Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Doktor Archeville -- 5 HP, unharmed Standard Action: Activate Defense/Security system (the rules are utterly silent on what [if any] actions are needed to activate or use an HQ's Defense/Security system so after some consult with the Refs, I'm using the following: Standard Action to get it activated, Free action every round thereafter to use it assuming there is a Computer or Personnel in place to use it for the PC.) Security system attack vs. Jubatus (Defense 20) (1d20+15=32) Effect is Stun 9 (w/ Sedation), so that's a DC 19 Fortitude save. Move Action: Follow trail of chaos to track Jubatus
Cubist Posted May 20, 2011 Author Posted May 20, 2011 Just how silent is that Silent Alarm the Dok activated? I ask because Jube's Ultrasonic Hearing may (or may not) be able to pick up on it... Fortitude save, right. Jube's got +6 there, and... Fortitude save vs. stunners (1d20 + 6=10) is a failed FORT save. [checking Ultimate Power book, as this is the first real combat Jube's been in, and I want to be sure I'm not screwing up somewhere] Looks like the kitteh is officially stunned, thanks to missing the roll by 9... hmm. He's got a +2 Defense / -2 Toughness tradeoff. If that applies here, he misses the roll by 11, hence is unconscious. Well, we don't want to end Jube's 'rampage' this soon, right? So I think Jube will burn one or two Hero Point(s) here. Looking at the Core book, I think I've got three options. I can burn an HP or so to... [*:1bgfcu5r]...Dodge. This doubles Jube's dodge bonus for the round. Does Jube's +2 Defense from that tradeoff apply here? If so, his defense number should be 34, in which case the roll of 32 is a miss. At least that's the theory, anyway... [*:1bgfcu5r]...Improve the roll. No point to this unless that -2 Toughness from the tradeoff applies. If it does,Jube re-rolls the FORT save vs. stunners (1d20 + 6 - 2=5) -- since the HP-fueled re-roll adds 10 to a rolled result of 1-10, this will be a 15, hence missing by only 4, and Jube ends up dazed rather than stunned. [*:1bgfcu5r]...Recover. Doing this makes a stunned condition evaporate instantly; alas, the Core rules don't say that it works on a dazed condition, which may be relevant. I'm unsure if burning Hero Points is actually applicable here, and I also am uncertain if doing so will actually make any difference to the outcome. I hope it does, but this is the first time I've had to grapple with MnM's rules for taking damage in combat... Immediate consequences: If worse comes to worst, and Jube is indeed KO'ed by the stunners, it would be nice if his high-speed metabolism (and/or Regeneration...) let him come to his senses before anybody arrives to contain him; if the metabolism/Regeneration don't do that, well, the kitteh is hosed. Contrariwise, if the combusting HP(s) yield the results I'm hoping for, Jube is up and running just because. If Jube ends up fully mobile, he's going to try to escape -- All-Out Movement, with the accompanying effect on his Defense bonus, plus Jube's Evasion feat. I don't think he'll deliberately use his Timeshift (which ability he probably isn't aware of at this point), but since every fiber of his being will be concentrated on Getting The Heck Outta Dodge, the Timeshift will switch on by instinctive reflex. And... oooh! Crazy idea here: Since Jube's Timeshift power manipulates the space/time continuum, what if he can do the "oscillation overthruster" trick from Buckaroo Banzai? If this is allowable at all, it's a Power Stunt that Jube burns (yet another?) Hero Point for; it's something that normal!Jube will not be aware of, nor will he have any reason to try it later (unless Doktor A. tells Jube about it, at least); and it's how feral!Jube breaks out into Freedom City at large...
Dr Archeville Posted May 20, 2011 Posted May 20, 2011 Just how silent is that Silent Alarm the Dok activated? I ask because Jube's Ultrasonic Hearing may (or may not) be able to pick up on it... It's as silent as a Blackberry/Droid/iPhone/whatever sending a text message to a system which then sends standardized IMs to every computer monitor in the building. So... no. However, his scent may be picking up on fear sweat from folks in the building. Fortitude save, right. Jube's got +6 there, and... Fortitude save vs. stunners (1d20 + 6=10) is a failed FORT save. [checking Ultimate Power book, as this is the first real combat Jube's been in, and I want to be sure I'm not screwing up somewhere] Looks like the kitteh is officially stunned, thanks to missing the roll by 9... hmm. He's got a +2 Defense / -2 Toughness tradeoff. If that applies here, he misses the roll by 11, hence is unconscious. Correct, fail by 5-9 = stunned. The +2 Defense/-2 Toughness has zero bearing here, since those trade-offs [1] apply to Defense and Toughness, not Fortitude, and [2] they're something that alters what you can buy for your stats, not something that applies from situation to situation. Also, Jube really doesn't have that tradeoff at the moment -- his Defense is 10, his Toughness is 8, so he's actually PL 9 in terms of Defense/Toughness, with a +1/-1 tradeoff. You'll need to use unspent PPs to either buy more Defense, or some Dodge Focus, if you want to keep that trade-off and be at caps. Well, we don't want to end Jube's 'rampage' this soon, right? So I think Jube will burn one or two Hero Point(s) here. Looking at the Core book, I think I've got three options. I can burn an HP or so to... [*:uhf0zrv4]...Dodge. This doubles Jube's dodge bonus for the round. Does Jube's +2 Defense from that tradeoff apply here? If so, his defense number should be 34, in which case the roll of 32 is a miss. At least that's the theory, anyway... Incorrect. His dodge bonus to Defense is a mere 5. His Defense (+10) is all coming from 'base' Defense, and half your 'base' Defense is dodge bonus (lost when you're flat-footed). Thus, in standard situations, his Defense is 20, or 15 when flat-footed. Doubling the dodge bonus gives him a Defense of 25... which is still not enough to avoid the exceptionally well-programmed targeting systems of the Stunner turrets.[*:uhf0zrv4]...Improve the roll. No point to this unless that -2 Toughness from the tradeoff applies. If it does,Jube re-rolls the FORT save vs. stunners (1d20 + 6 - 2=5) -- since the HP-fueled re-roll adds 10 to a rolled result of 1-10, this will be a 15, hence missing by only 4, and Jube ends up dazed rather than stunned. As I said, the Defense/Toughness tradeoff has no bearing here, so his reroll is 17. Fails by 2, only dazed.[*:uhf0zrv4]...Recover. Doing this makes a stunned condition evaporate instantly; alas, the Core rules don't say that it works on a dazed condition, which may be relevant. Correct, HP clears stunned, but not dazed. I'm unsure if burning Hero Points is actually applicable here, and I also am uncertain if doing so will actually make any difference to the outcome. I hope it does, but this is the first time I've had to grapple with MnM's rules for taking damage in combat... First time for everything! Way I see it, spending an HP to Recover from being stunned would be the only way to keep him on the go, running off as Archeville dramatically closes in. Immediate consequences: If worse comes to worst, and Jube is indeed KO'ed by the stunners, it would be nice if his high-speed metabolism (and/or Regeneration...) let him come to his senses before anybody arrives to contain him; if the metabolism/Regeneration don't do that, well, the kitteh is hosed. Contrariwise, if the combusting HP(s) yield the results I'm hoping for, Jube is up and running just because. It does not, no. Future ideas though, for PP spending, is to buy up his Fort save, to represent his metabolism/regeneration being able to burn out things like this at a quicker pace. (That can also be the fluff for using an HP to Recover near-instantly from the Stun this round -- adrenaline surge or something.) If Jube ends up fully mobile, he's going to try to escape -- All-Out Movement, with the accompanying effect on his Defense bonus, plus Jube's Evasion feat. I don't think he'll deliberately use his Timeshift (which ability he probably isn't aware of at this point), but since every fiber of his being will be concentrated on Getting The Heck Outta Dodge, the Timeshift will switch on by instinctive reflex. I thought he was already using his Timeshift/Super-Speed, switching to it as soon as the ultrasonic beam scrambled his brain and turned him into Jubby? And... oooh! Crazy idea here: Since Jube's Timeshift power manipulates the space/time continuum, what if he can do the "oscillation overthruster" trick from Buckaroo Banzai? If this is allowable at all, it's a Power Stunt that Jube burns (yet another?) Hero Point for; it's something that normal!Jube will not be aware of, nor will he have any reason to try it later (unless Doktor A. tells Jube about it, at least); and it's how feral!Jube breaks out into Freedom City at large... Oscillation Overthruster = Insubstantial 4 (incorporeal) to go through walls? Yeah, he's certainly got the points for it in his Timeshift container. Bear in mind, though, that it you're using the entire Timeshift container to AP this, it'll turn off his super-speed, so he'll be incorporeal but moving as regular human speeds. Also, be aware that you don't need to spend an HP for power stunts: you can do them with Extra Effort, which will fatigue you on the following round. On the round after, you can then use an HP to nix the fatigue.
Cubist Posted May 21, 2011 Author Posted May 21, 2011 Scroll down to the end of this post to see what I've concluded feral!Jube should be doing right now; all the other stuff before it is just commentary... The silent alarm: Although feral!Jube's ears can probably detect the high-frequency sounds produced by operating computers, that sound will be fairly quiet (especially since most/all displays are likely to be flat-panel LCDs, rather than bulky, noisy CRTs), and it's also going to be a continuing background noise, so I can't see the kitteh gaining any sort of warning therefrom. How sad for the kitteh. As for the sudden 'wave' of fear-scent, yeah, feral!Jube's sensitive nose would pick up on that. He wouldn't know why people are scared, but the stunner attack which follows nigh-immediately will give him a clue. An erroneous clue, to be sure, but whaddaya gonna do? Defense/Toughness tradeoff: Okay, got it. [adds "buy +2 in Defense" to Jube's to-do list] Immediate response: Okay, it looks like burning an HP for instant recovery is the way to go, and fuggeddabout re-rolling or the Dodge thing. "Make it so!" Clarification on the Timeshift: As per the "Too Darn Fast" Complication on Jube's character sheet, a tempo of 6 (that being 6 times faster than normal) is the cheetah's default state; he can't really interact with normal-speed people unless he uses the Timeshift to slow down to their tempo of 1. Yes, this means Jube creates a (hopefully minor) temporal disturbance, and can be detected by anything that senses the proverbial "distortion in the space/time continuum", whenever he's talking to normal-speed people. In the current situation, feral!Jube doesn't (yet) know that he has a Timeshift power, so he can't intentionally switch it on. Unintentionally switching it on, such as might happen during a panicky, adrenaline-fueled omighodigottaRUNAWAY!!! sprint, is of course another matter entirely... The "Overthruster"/escape trick: Doing it as a power stunt means feral!Jube can't be using his superspeed at the same time? Hm. Ruddy game mechanics... but okay, if that's how it's gotta be, that's how it's gotta be. How things look from feral!Jube's point of view: He's just poking around like a curious kitten, when suddenly, there's a minor 'wave' of fear-scent in the air. He's clueless about why people are afraid, of course, but when the stunners hit him, he concludes that this icky assault is the reason why. One adrenaline surge (plus 1 burned HP) later, feral!Jube is running away as fast as he can -- instinctive, reflexive Timeshift up to his maximum tempo of 40, plus Move All-Out for 4* the velocity. He'll be running on walls and ceilings as needed in order to avoid smacking into any person/robot/whatever that may be in the halls as he goes, because running into stuff hurts. In this panic-stricken rush, feral!Jube has no idea whatsoever where he is; he's just following his nose and getting AWAY from the badthing back there. It's possible that he might run across Dok at one or more points during this mad rush; if so, the Dok's weird scent (and perhaps also the Dok's gravimetric belt, whose continuum-distorting functions could make feral!Jube feel funny?) encourages feral!Jube to choose a different path every time. After a time, feral!Jube finds himself in a dead-end corridor -- and when he stops & turns around, he notices that weird-smelling Dok is right behind him! Aaackkk! Run Away!!! Fight-or-flight FTW, and feral!Jube unconsciously pushes his Timeshift beyond all previous limits for an Insubstantial 4 power-stunt, and thus manages to run straight through the wall as he flees Dok. Since feral!Jube's default tempo is 6, and cheetahs can hit 65-70 MPH at top speed, it probably doesn't matter whether feral!Jube is close to any exterior wall or not; he's outside, and he's going to have a grand old time in Freedom City... Yes? No?
Dr Archeville Posted May 21, 2011 Posted May 21, 2011 The "Overthruster"/escape trick: Doing it as a power stunt means feral!Jube can't be using his superspeed at the same time? Hm. Ruddy game mechanics... but okay, if that's how it's gotta be, that's how it's gotta be. Yes and no. His Timeshift Container's got 30PP in it, Insub 4 (Incorporela) is 20, so he would have 10PP left which you could use to keep some Quickness and/or Speed.
Cubist Posted May 21, 2011 Author Posted May 21, 2011 Yes and no. His Timeshift Container's got 30PP in it, Insub 4 (Incorporela) is 20, so he would have 10PP left which you could use to keep some Quickness and/or Speed. Hmmm... looks like that 10 PP will cover 6 ranks in Speed plus 4 ranks of Quickness. So feral!Jube will run with that plus the 4 ranks in Insubstantial. I have no idea what sort of scanners/sensors ArcheTech and/or Dok have running at any given moment, but if those scanners/sensors include anything that can detect dimensional disturbances, feral!Jube's escape might well light 'em up pretty good?
Cubist Posted May 21, 2011 Author Posted May 21, 2011 At this point, Jubatus has escaped from ArcheTech, and is roaming freely in Freedom City. This means feral!Jube can, at least potentially, encounter pretty much anybody or anything in Freedom! So if you think your character might benefit from an encounter with a playful, superfast kitten, come on into the IC thread!
Cubist Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 In case anybody can't figure it out from the post: feral!Jube was very hungry after he escaped from the ArcheTech building, so he ate some pigeons. THese weren't enough to sate his hunger, so when he ran into Crow, who was just coming out of a supermarket with a bunch of stuff including kitty treats, feral!~Jube rifled thru Crow's bag and scarfed down all the treats. feral!Jube is running at his default tempo of 6 times quicker than normal, and that's why he can pluck birds out of the air and so on.
Quinn Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 So in short, this cheetah just ran up to Crow, took all the stuff out of his bag and nommed the kitty treats, did a metaphoric "meep-meep", then waits for more food? ...Only in Freedom City.
Cubist Posted June 11, 2011 Author Posted June 11, 2011 Is Crow going to do anything to/about/with the cheetah that just nommed all his kitty treats? feral!Jube won't stick around indefinitely; once teh kitteh gets bored, he'll zip off and find someone else to play with...
Cubist Posted July 1, 2011 Author Posted July 1, 2011 Okay: feral!Jube has just executed a 90-degree turn at, like, Mach 2.5 or so. The idea is for the sharp lateral acceleration to make Crow lose his grip on the cheetah. Is this something that should be rolled for, or should we just kinda wing it?
Dr Archeville Posted July 1, 2011 Posted July 1, 2011 We've been winging the whole "run while being grappled" thing, so, yeah. Also, this thread should end soon. No one else has shown any interest in appearing, and I need to wrap threads up that's got Dok in them. (Also, it makes Dok look like an utter fool if he can't catch one "stupid cat"!)
Cubist Posted July 1, 2011 Author Posted July 1, 2011 [nods] Sadly, I must agree, Dok. Hmmm... maybe allow feral!Jube to catch Crow on his way down, before he hits the ground, and *then* pull whatever rubberscience stunts are needed to corral the cheetah?
Quinn Posted July 1, 2011 Posted July 1, 2011 Does Crow get any say in this? :shock: *Crow starts flapping his arms. Maybe it'll work?* Ok, plan for Crow is pretty simple; in flight, he'll yank out his coat, at the apex of the trip up he'll activate his Wind Walk (since he hasn't got Change Velocity...) and reappear just fine on the roof. Albeit a great deal more inclined to get a cheetah-pelt rug! That work?
Cubist Posted July 1, 2011 Author Posted July 1, 2011 Makes sense to me, Quinn. feral!Jube thinks he's going to have to catch Crow before Crow smacks into something, and therefore will be running parallel to Crow. The cheetah will be awfully surprised when Crow does the Teleport thing!
Cubist Posted July 9, 2011 Author Posted July 9, 2011 In case the feral!Jube POV made it too darned unclear what the heck happened: feral!Jube was indeed captured/contained in Dok's antigrav bubbles, which then brought the cheetah back to Dok. Upon seeing Dok, feral!Jube panicked and tried to run away. The cheetah's Timeshift power was, in effect, neutralized by Dok's machinery; feral!Jube pulled at the space/time continuum, alright -- but the machinery pulled back! End result: Nothing happened. Except that feral!Jube gave himself a nosebleed even trying to overpower Dok's machinery. And so the cheetah is unconscious and firmly contained.
Cubist Posted July 24, 2011 Author Posted July 24, 2011 Regarding Jube's request for information: Yes, that word he didn't allow himself to say was "kill". Because for all Jube knows, maybe he did leave a trail of maimed bodies in his wake... I suspect Dok would be able to figure that out; Quinn will have to decide whether or not Crow caught that little point.
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