New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

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Shock
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Shock »

EnigmaticOne wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:08 pm Own goal, boys, own goal.
I disagree. I think it's better for Tatjana if she doesn't get the easy fix regardless of how it goes in the short term
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Shock wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:24 pm
EnigmaticOne wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:08 pm Own goal, boys, own goal.
I disagree. I think it's better for Tatjana if she doesn't get the easy fix regardless of how it goes in the short term
This is Obliverse... what in it's history makes you think anything's an 'easy fix'?
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Michuru »

Flynnarrel wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:17 pm Of course we have the same initiative mod....
here's to hoping...
init: 1D20+7 = [18]+7 = 25


I might recommend that, unless someone has a particular affinity to Buddy, that Martin successfully reverses his changes to Buddy, since Buddy was done second he was right next to the wayward Frenchman, but Fluxx was able to encapsulate Tatjana quick enough to prevent Martin from touching her when he realized what the spiteful transmuter was doing.
That will ultimately end up being worse. :(
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Shock »

Michuru wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:03 pm
Flynnarrel wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:17 pm Of course we have the same initiative mod....
here's to hoping...
init: 1D20+7 = [18]+7 = 25


I might recommend that, unless someone has a particular affinity to Buddy, that Martin successfully reverses his changes to Buddy, since Buddy was done second he was right next to the wayward Frenchman, but Fluxx was able to encapsulate Tatjana quick enough to prevent Martin from touching her when he realized what the spiteful transmuter was doing.
That will ultimately end up being worse. :(
Worse is normal for us right? But yeah, this looks bad
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Michuru »

Shock wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:46 pm
Michuru wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:03 pm
Flynnarrel wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:17 pm Of course we have the same initiative mod....
here's to hoping...
init: 1D20+7 = [18]+7 = 25


I might recommend that, unless someone has a particular affinity to Buddy, that Martin successfully reverses his changes to Buddy, since Buddy was done second he was right next to the wayward Frenchman, but Fluxx was able to encapsulate Tatjana quick enough to prevent Martin from touching her when he realized what the spiteful transmuter was doing.
That will ultimately end up being worse. :(
Worse is normal for us right? But yeah, this looks bad
Yeah, the core goals for the session where that Martin would know the location of Entier's secret lab and our Martin would learn a bunch, all while discovering that the other him is a deranged psychopath with a god complex whose universe might be better off without him. I've already figured out a way to shift things, though. Even if things escalate into a full-on fight, the PCs will ultimately have to go to Other Martin when they find out what Dewhurst has... or France will suffer under the mob's weaponizing Entier's creations.
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Arkrite
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Arkrite »

Yeah, see I have a problem with that plan...
Namely I don't see the more reasonable members of the team wanting to work with somebody who just threatened to murder the entire school.

And I'm really having a hard time not just having Lex coming out of the band room and going full lethal on evil Martin. I mean, it's an evil Martin, anything short of nuclear is probably not going to work...
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Tattooedman »

As far as I care things are going pretty much normal for us.
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm
LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" :P!?!
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

Tattooedman wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:08 am As far as I care things are going pretty much normal for us.
EnigmaticOne wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:48 am Imago
HP: 3

"And now something else has gone wrong." Dennis summarized, before running.
Which of course is why I made this to summarize the game in a nutshell.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Arkrite »

Well, I know how my next round is going to go.
Seems like a good time to test out these Villain points.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Flynnarrel »

Arkrite wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:54 am Yeah, see I have a problem with that plan...
Namely I don't see the more reasonable members of the team wanting to work with somebody who just threatened to murder the entire school.

And I'm really having a hard time not just having Lex coming out of the band room and going full lethal on evil Martin. I mean, it's an evil Martin, anything short of nuclear is probably not going to work...
Agreed, and it would be a pretty big compromise of Fluxx's character that he'd let a vindictive, petty tyrant such as Martin use his powers on Tatjana again. I'll make that compromise if you insist on that narrative, Mich. But that'd be a deviation of the character as I've laid him out over these past... gosh, 7 years (more?).

We have several Full Vindicators on site still from the raid to rescue Randy and Martin just made himself enemy #1 right now. Going begging to Martin with tails between our legs because he knows information that Fluxx can maybe get from A) contacting Fraction or B) going delving into his subconscious again (maybe with a team) to look for the memories is pretty heavy handed. Superhero stories to me are about fighting against bullies, not letting them win.

He responded to people telling him his actions were dangerous and rapey by getting offended and performing even more dangerous and rapey actions.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Michuru »

Flynnarrel wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:05 am
Arkrite wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:54 am Yeah, see I have a problem with that plan...
Namely I don't see the more reasonable members of the team wanting to work with somebody who just threatened to murder the entire school.

And I'm really having a hard time not just having Lex coming out of the band room and going full lethal on evil Martin. I mean, it's an evil Martin, anything short of nuclear is probably not going to work...
Agreed, and it would be a pretty big compromise of Fluxx's character that he'd let a vindictive, petty tyrant such as Martin use his powers on Tatjana again. I'll make that compromise if you insist on that narrative, Mich. But that'd be a deviation of the character as I've laid him out over these past... gosh, 7 years (more?).

We have several Full Vindicators on site still from the raid to rescue Randy and Martin just made himself enemy #1 right now. Going begging to Martin with tails between our legs because he knows information that Fluxx can maybe get from A) contacting Fraction or B) going delving into his subconscious again (maybe with a team) to look for the memories is pretty heavy handed. Superhero stories to me are about fighting against bullies, not letting them win.

He responded to people telling him his actions were dangerous and rapey by getting offended and performing even more dangerous and rapey actions.
Exactly.

Loathe though I am to tip my hand, I’d hope you all know my storytelling enough to know how much I enjoy one particular storytelling device: flashy entrances. I blame anime: that moment where the villain goes for the final blow and when the smoke clears, the intended target opens their eyes and sees the back of someone who wasn’t there just a moment ago.

The problem was Martin’s pride. Both of them. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that this Martin has a god complex. I’ve had him speak in awe of others becoming godlike (Robor), point out that other psuedo-gods aren’t as unkillable as one might think (Jack), while hyping his own deityhood. So long as his ego is stoked, New Martin acts as a benevolent god. Repeated slights turn him into a vengeful god. There reached a point where his character wouldn’t let the repeated slights go. He’d feel as though his gift was unappreciative, and move to take it away.

The other problem is that this Martin was going to slowly arrive at the conclusion that he needs to teach Regular Martin a lesson on how to be more like him. The brawl against him was planned for much later, when the party had been handed a silver bullet (one of the things making this Martin so powerful is that he is Entier—Jeanette, Basil, and Elle were all absorbed into him... and Jeanette left a way of taking herself out in her lab... lest she got too big for her britches).

Really, the players hit the nail on the head: the Astrolabe brought him here as a warning of what Martin could potentially become, if he’s not careful. Also, he would act as a guide through Jeanette’s secrets. This is the second of three sessions intended to resolve something left undone for each of the three PCs who have been here the longest: last session had my whole “Stevie’s not really a racist—just irked that he isn’t special” thing; this session is all about telling Martin everything about the Curie’s (it was hinted years ago that Jeanette cloned Fach... and Reynard has a sonic controller with him... which is what Dewhurst wanted to talk about); next session will deal with a mess Jack created, that I’m betting all of you except one of you have forgotten about (without giving it all away, next session will bring Princess Sophie back into the story).

I feel like I’m rambling here at this point. Suffice to say, it’s all going to work itself out. Other Martin is intended to be a bastard that the group eventually has to make a decision about.
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Arkrite
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Arkrite »

Michuru wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:58 pmI feel like I’m rambling here at this point. Suffice to say, it’s all going to work itself out. Other Martin is intended to be a bastard that the group eventually has to make a decision about.
My major concern is that the other Martin has already escalated beyond recovery, and based on what you said about the personality, he's not going to undo what he's done unless everybody kowtows to his demands.

Martin is never going to let Tat anywhere near Other Martin. And even if Tat demands to be returned you have a new problem.

The "Big Bad Guy shows up at the school, threatens everybody and demands they do what he say" thing has happened a lot of times in this game, and now it's happening again. And this bad guy is powerful enough to pull off his threats to kill everybody.

I'm not lying, I have every intention of having Lex kill other Martin.

It's been pushed to the tipping point, people keep showing up in the supposed "Safe space" trying to kill everyone they love. Well, everybody Lex cares about is in the building, right now. And one of them is feet away from getting the plague.
And... well have you seen the Fifth Element?

I can't speak for anybody else, but I can't see this resolving in any good fashion short of the Drifter teleporting in and out with the guy.

Assuming it can be resolved in a non-violent I can't imagine the other PCs would want to work with him, or trust him around anything now. They'd have to speak for themselves on that, but I'm betting pretty solid on Lex and Martin not wanting any of that.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Shock »

I think Our Martin might be pragmatic enough to work with Other Martin in the future if the situation requires it. But not without some contrition from Other Martin. And depending on how this encounter ends, he might be able to convince some of the others to go along with him. But I doubt Jack or Lex will be among that group.

I think Other Martin is going to have to retreat. He has some nasty tricks but I doubt he'll be able to overcome the odds we can throw at him.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by Michuru »

Arkrite wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:25 pmMy major concern is that the other Martin has already escalated beyond recovery, and based on what you said about the personality, he's not going to undo what he's done unless everybody kowtows to his demands.
Which... at this point are basically "don't insult me". Lex is ignorant of the sequence, but a barebones breakdown is...
  • Martin-137 tells Martin-18,942 to not use his powers on people without asking permission.
  • Martin-18,942 asks if Tatjana wants this; she says she does.
  • Martin-18,942 changes Tatjana.
  • Martin-137 questions Martin-18,942 over something he already said (Martin-137 asked, "Martin, why is 'er 'air black?", but Martin-18,942 had already said, "Red ‘air stems from ze protein MC1R. It does not bond wiz PTEN, which ‘ells fight cancer." Redheads are more prone to cancer. He made a change to help her long-term.); after explaining himself again, Jack argues it ("But did she ask you to do that or just "fix" her other issue?")
  • Martin-137 calls Martin-18,942 a dick. ("Everyone 'ere would 'ave been proclaimed a 'god' by early man for ze power zey wield in zeir respective spheres and gods get overzrown or brought low all ze time in ze stories. Most often by zeir own Di<% behavior.")
  • Martin-18,942, someone with an ego who views himself as a benevolent entity here to help, decides from Martin and Jack that his gifts are not appreciated and moves to take them back. Martin-137 decides nope, they want their gift horse and to look it in the mouth. Martin-18.942 tells him to stand aside. Assuming that Martin-137 suspected something more nefarious, Other Martin says, "I did things the way you asked me to, then helped her, and you insulted me. If you don't appreciate this, I will undo what I've done." Martin-137, now armed with the knowledge of what's unfolding, elects to simply take her away.
Flynn noted that he's not looking to compromise on Martin's character, and I very much so respect that. The problem is that we're essentially playing variations of the same character. Pretty much my characterization of Martin-18,942 is that he is lonely and miserable and believes he's a god. He fancies himself as a benevolent one, but the repeated slights have nudged him to the other side.

Right now, there are a few ways I can see this going down: after a few rounds, Martin-18,942 is contained. Martin-137 finds out what's going on in France and realizes they actually need Martin-18,942's help. Martin-18,942 agrees, albeit with caveats: he changes Tatjana, Buddy, and Armande back and will not be insulted again. Martin-137 points out that there is another who could find the lab--Elle--and sets out to find her, rather than work with Martin-18,942. While looking for her, Reynard continues with his plot. There's a reason he kidnapped the Minister's daughter and a rival family stepped in to assassinate said minister.

Were it me, at that point, I'd move to make a different compromise and have Durendal brought to the school to try and take Martin-18,942's powers. This Martin is a Neo-Sapien, meaning she could do it. She could take his powers, but leave him unable to control his. That'd be a roll of the dice: could a Martin without control be worse than one who could? I'd let her go deal with the mob, initially. Hell, given that they have their own Fach with them, I'd also have her take Tat, Sarah, Shelby, Derryl, or Derryl's powers to make her immune to those.

Another way things could go: Martin-137 comes back and lets his other self undo the changes to Tatjana. Martin-18,942 undoes everything he's done and leaves the school, determined to find his purpose here so that he can finish it and go home. Odds are, Martin-137 or Jack finds themselves unable to resist making a comment before hand, prompting Martin-18,942 to make a slight cosmetic change to someone that makes them positively miserable. He heads off on his own. He figures out what's going on in France and moves to take on Reynard himself. The ensuing war ends up on everyone's radar. As Martin-137 will have met with Dewhurst by then, he'll know that Clone Fach is in play and once it all comes out, have Abe shuttle him to France to join the fight. Though not working together, the two Martins are still fighting the same enemy. Their forces win, and Martin coerces someone to spill on where they got their hands on a clone of his girlfriend. He learns the location of the lab himself, goes in, learns a bunch of stuff, finds Entier's silver bullet, and has to make a decision about Martin-18,942. The problem here is that it may have less justification: by being around Martin-18,942, the group would be learning about his life and the things he's done. So far, he's alluded to having a wife (who isn't a new character) who was kidnapped by Robor to coerce Martin to help turn him into a god; the Drifter and an Aurelius show up to set him free; he kills Siegfried and Greystone. There are some cause and effects happening there, and--obviously--some stuff inbetween it all.
I'm not lying, I have every intention of having Lex kill other Martin.
My money was on Jack, to be honest.

Like I said, there's a silver bullet. In my head, Martin finds it, but doesn't has ethical issues with using it. Again, everyone pretty much saw everything coming here, but one of the lessons from the Astrolabe was that despite being artifically fabricated, Martin-137 is more human than Martin-18,942. In my head, there was a moment where Puck would say, "The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." There would be a beat before someone raised an eyebrow and said, "Wait, did you just quote the first Pokémon movie?" Puck would flash a weird smile. I'm weird like that, though.
Shock wrote: Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:52 pm I think Our Martin might be pragmatic enough to work with Other Martin in the future if the situation requires it. But not without some contrition from Other Martin. And depending on how this encounter ends, he might be able to convince some of the others to go along with him. But I doubt Jack or Lex will be among that group.

I think Other Martin is going to have to retreat. He has some nasty tricks but I doubt he'll be able to overcome the odds we can throw at him.
The irony is that I don't think either Martin will want to work with the other without caveats.

Martin-18,942 has a bunch of upgrades. I didn't want to copy/paste the same build. Mine is very much so defensive, but against raw numbers? It it comes down to him versus eight or so people, odds are someone will connect a hit or two. Still, he has the means to recover. He'd eventually be fine. The main thing would be his own complications. Martin-18,942 will do the logical thing, except in a few circumstances. Actually, one of the only two people he wouldn't hurt is in the room. The other should be apparent from what he just said to Lex: in my head, Lex and Martin are actually close friends; even given how this Martin's life changed, I can see them getting close in his world. He'll have a hard time hurting Lex or Kirstie, because to hurt Kirstie is to hurt Lex.
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Re: New Vindicators Academy of Europe (OOC - Full)

Post by EnigmaticOne »

I have an observation. With a DC 23 Toughness hit, delivered by say Jack, and the invocation of a Villain Point, that would ensure a full KO of Other Martin. We can have him contained, and have the whole revelation/Hannibal Lecter stuff proceed as planned.
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