Doc Doctor

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

Higan has his mighty armor for defense, Slimy has its ninja skills. Thing is, though Slimy poses an immense threat to any biological life form due to its toxins and ability to regenerate off the meat of its enemy, that shtick doesn't work on Higan. It has no direct way to inflict real harm to the pilot or the mech, and one direct hit would blow its lean, mean, smelly and squishy body right the fuck apart, and an indirect hit could take off one of its arms or its tail, severely crippling its ability to avoid further damage.

The Magna Pater's only saving grace, only advantage, only chance to have a chance, is by being the best damn dodger it can be. Even then, it's already lost half its face, three ribs, and the tip of its tail.

I'm not saying that Higan should be taking more damage, no. I'm just justifying the capacity of the Magna Pater's evasive skill in this battle.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

It shoved off with its arms, and in doing so would have cleared the pauldron. Obviously its not going to do some pussy lunge and drag its rotting body across Higan's chrome dome, let alone the pointy piece of metal that's literally right beside it.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

I didn't fix a mistake, I made clear an assumption. Your interpretation conflicts with the action my character carried out, as it hadn't struck anything or met an obstacle worth mentioning.

Your idea of relevant and irrelevant correlates to how useful something is to you from an O.O.C'ly standpoint. Anything that has the potential to be abused, you'll find a way to do it. I'd stake money on Slimy being able to pass over that pauldron without bumping into it, because its entire fighting style is literally the element of surprise. It's been a master of stealth for nearly two-thousand years, and when I decide to do what Higan did with the hundreds of stumps that were ignored, you pitch a fit.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

You've been the one trying to pick apart posts from the start. And nowhere in your post did you say it was Higan's estimation. You changed your description of the damage from one post to the next, and what's more there would be a dull, metallic clang even if Higan squished Slimy. Remember the lair's acoustics? What do you think would be louder, the squish or the mech's arms and legs clattering about and sending off hundreds of echoes?

This is like what happened when Higan tried fending off Slimy with the barrel of his rifle. It's a moot point so I move on, figuring that like how Higan didn't trip over any of the hundreds of tree stumps he made during the first chase, I could have Slimy dart about without you telling me so slight an obstacle would impede it, and with enough force to alert the pilot inside of a 30 ton mech.

Let's bring in @Drifting Pollen again to make a decision.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

Slimy is soft and squishy, there wouldn't be any bodily resistance when smashed by 30 tons.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

As I said, even if it did make contact it wouldn't be enough to alert Higan. It's not going to give the pauldron a good bump.

And perhaps the reason my character is injured is because it actually isn't meant to be invincible, unlike other characters. It takes damage when it has to, but it won't bump hard into something if it doesn't have to.

And in addition, Higan thinks the Magna Pater is trapped. For all he knows, it could be rocking back and forth in a mad craze trying to escape. In fact, why would Higan think a bump on his shoulder would be out of the ordinary, given that circumstance? It could be thrashing like crazy up there, but thanks to the nice little bit of sight he has remaining (whose description had changed from "a few spots around the middle" to "one thin strip of light patches about two thirds of the way across if one started by looking leftward") and an instinct to look at right place at the right time...

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

If a tiger launched itself off the top of the mech, I doubt it would let its hindpaws smack into anything unless it was panicking. The Magna Pater is both very, very intelligent, and many times more agile than a tiger. I did not mention the pauldron, but I also never mentioned anything impeding Slimy. Namely, because nothing up there can impede Slimy, and I thought that was obvious.

The plate isn't high enough to warrant Slimy needing to claw its way over.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

So you meant when Slimy bit its wing. I thought you were implying that it hadn't even gotten the chance to fly because of the pauldron.

But then again, how do I know what you meant? I mean, I only have your word, and you've shown me that anything can be interpreted in any way, so long as it helps win a fight O.O.C'ly.

If Slimy did touch the pauldron, it wouldn't have been hard enough to draw attention. It's not some gook that bumps into chairs.

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

You said that Slimy "conveniently tore apart his own method of flight" by hitting the pauldron. I consider that to be a trip. What's more, I left little to be vague about what my character did. It lunged to the right and off the mech, and I mentioned nothing of its progress being impeded, presumably because the metal plate you speak of is about as troublesome as a stump on the trail, which reminds me to again repeat how I didn't try to turn Higan into a bumbling sap by ignoring his competency and flat out stating that at least one the multitude of stumps he was sprinting through at 70 mph should have tripped him, simply because you didn't mention them.

That's what you're doing, and boy, isn't it swell to dwell on what could have been but isn't? Let me say that again. What could have been but isn't?

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@MelonHead

You yourself should know how big the Magna Pater is compared to the pauldron, and its spatial awareness. A high jump? Hardly. I meant what I wrote and wrote what I meant. That protrusion wouldn't even go past Slimy's forearm if it were leaning on its claws, and at the time it was totally sitting up.

What's more, given Slimy's size, it would be right next to the pauldron.

Odd how it is that now you suddenly are imagining my character as small as I had mistakenly been doing early on.

When Higan was sprinting down his mowed down path of trees, I never pointed out all of the stumps he could have tripped over, because it is plainly obvious that any half wit wouldn't do so.

I'm not cheating, you're nitpicking. Also, nowhere on you character profile does it mention how the mech can feel resistance, especially from something weighing around 35 times less than itself. You are adding details after the fact again, so if I were you I wouldn't talk of cheating.

The sum of the matter is, I felt it redundant to mention something that the Magna Pater would have zero trouble with, and you think its something you can exploit.