Avatar of thewizardguy
  • Last Seen: 1 yr ago
  • Joined: 10 yrs ago
  • Posts: 9392 (2.52 / day)
  • VMs: 2
  • Username history
    1. thewizardguy 10 yrs ago

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

Just a random guy, doing random things. Main RP: Hell's Coffee Lounge Current RPs change often enough that it's too much effort keeping a list of them updated.

Most Recent Posts

Dr Science!!

Los Angeles || Bank Robbery

@Chiro@EchoicChamber



Despite the size and momentum of the rubble projected throughout the bank, it would soon become apparent that relatively little damage had been inflicted. Dr Science proudly grinned, twirling around his fancy new weapon. How was this possible? Well, the Doctor was happy to explain. "Ha! This is no ORDINARY gun! Utilising a gravity-manipulating system of my own design it rapidly accelerates any object affected, then decelerates it to safe levels! With this technology I will revolutionise the transport of people and good, creating an economy capable of nearly instantly responding to changes in supply and demand. One I will RULE with an IRON FIST!" Dr Science's following manic laughter was interrupted by La Buitre.

"Little girl, this is no place for antics. Go back to-" Dr Science stopped, as he noticed the various spectral figures emerging from the shadows around the tiny necromancer. "Ah. Right. The hero who was already here." He frowned for a moment, before once more adopting his trademark grin. "Then let us see, girl, how your ancient voodoo arts handle the infinite power of SCIENCE!"

Taking a step back Dr Science readied his gun, adjusting several nobs and buttons. When he pressed the trigger the nozzle emitted a cone of blue light, like a high-powered torch. Everything the light touched was pushed backwards, as if by a powerful wind. The entire front of the bank shuddered as chairs, people, pot plants and rubbish bins were lifted into the air, tossed aside by the pulsing blue glow. La Buitre herself would find herself being pushed back towards the front door, which had been pushed open and was threatening to come off it's hinges. Even the ghosts were pushed back, or at least any ones that attempted to interact with the physical world. Luckily the weapon was indeed designed for safety, and impacts seemed to be much softer than one would expect. But despite this there would be plenty of bruises after this stunt.

"Behold, citizens of Los Angeles! Your heroes are helpless when opposed by the powers of I, Doctor Science! Once my drones are in place my spectacular inventions shall transport the bank vault directly to my lab, emptying out the entire bank instantly. And there is absolutely no way to stop me!" Dr Science laughed, his ray gun humming loudly as his amplified voice echoed out into the streets. And indeed, behind him the drones seems to be charging up to achieve something. For some reason they seemed to have a timer built in, which clearly displayed it would take another full minute before they were sufficiently charged to execute Dr Science's plan.

Dr Science, meanwhile, had his back completely turned towards Mr Gimick, who was free to do whatever he wished. Clearly Dr Science was preoccupied with his dastardly schemes.

Dr Science!!

Los Angeles || Bank Robbery

@Chiro@EchoicChamber



To the uninitiated, a supervillain is lawless. But in truth, there are several laws that any supervillain must obey. Laws that define what a supervillain is, and how the world views them. Absolute rules that cannot be bent or broken. The first?

Law #1: Make an Entrance

With a crack like thunder the west-facing wall of the bank explodes outwards. Civilians scramble for safety as chunks of concrete are hurled across the room. A dozen subsequent crashes as pieces of wall slam into the rest of the bank, ripping through the outer windows of the bank and leaving deep gouges in the rest of the walls. A blue light shines dimly from the darkness beyond the newly formed hole. A moment of silence covers the bank, as a figure steps forth out of the inexplicable badly-lit hole. Dr Science emerges into the light, clad in his trademark white labcoat and rubber gloves. A pair of shining blue goggles hides the top half of his face, but the maddened grin on on his lips leaves little doubt as to his intentions. In his hands he holds a strange rifle-looking contraption, save for the blinking blue lights and the fact that it doesn't appear to contain a barrel. Instead where one would expect the barrel is a large cone, ending in a rounded flat surface covered in concentric metallic rings. A steady blue pulse and whir makes it clear that this is no ordinary weapon. As if there was any doubt.

"CITIZENS OF LOS ANGELES!" The Doctor's voice is strangely amplified, sounding far deeper and more electronic than one would expect. A distorter, perhaps to hide his identity. "This bank is now the property of Doctor Science! As the new owner I do apologise to all of you for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid we're going to have to close for the day. I'm going to have to make a Major Withdrawal!"

As if they had been waiting on his signal, a dozen small flying drone shot through the opening behind Dr Science. These silvery disks used what looked like tiny jet engines to propel themselves at high speed, as they began attaching themselves to the walls and corners of the bank at various points. Several of them zoom off into deeper parts of the bank. Doctor Science himself simply strolls towards the center of the bank, paying absolutely no heed to the hero and villain who had previously been involved here. This was his stage now, and he intended to own it to whatever degree possible.

A singular drone floats behind him, slowly rotating as two metallic tendrils hold a phone in place. It seems Dr Science is making sure to film his heists. After all, you can't always trust the media to get everything on camera.
Father Styx



Name: Johnathan Harrier
Age: 52
Nationality: American
Location: the World (but America in particular)

Personality:
Johnathan is the prophet of his own dark church. He's insane, believing that his psychotic visions are an accurate representation of reality. In his old age he's taken on an attitude of condescending moral superiority, his belief so strong that nothing can shake it. To him the increasing number of Ultras is confirmation of his twisted beliefs. Everyone else is a mere sheep, blinded by their ignorance. He sees himself as their saviour, and he sees even his enemies as people to be saved. Unfortunately, he also believes that the only true route to salvation is death. As such he kills with a smile, comforting his victims as he lays them to rest. He grieves for their lack of understanding, and rejoices in their deaths. All opposition is merely a test of his conviction. All his enemies are either obstacles placed by the Nameless God, or

Backstory/Origin:
At a young age, Johnathan's family was abducted by a cult. Through a series of horrific sacrifices, the cult sought to summon their horrific god into this world. The atrocities committed by the cult did indeed manage to open a small portal to Tamura, through which an eldritch being sought to emerge into this world. But nobody accounted for Johnathan's stupendous personal arcane abilities. Johnathan's arcane talent manifested during the ritual, and disrupted the portal creation process. Before the cultists could make another attempt, heroes broke in and rescued Johnathan.

While he had been rescued from death, the nightmares of that day never left Johnathan. Perhaps some part of him was still connected to the horrors of Tamura. Or perhaps it was 'mere' mundane trauma. His nights were filled with horrific nightmares, visions of the things he had glimpsed through the portal. He began manifesting his powers, experimenting with his powerful innate magic. He saw many therapists during this time, and grew more and more depressed. He withdrew from the world, losing the ability to understand others. He hid to protect himself and in the process drove himself insane, piece by piece.

Nobody knows exactly when the killings began. It's possible Johnathan resorted to violence as an out for the emotions within himself. Or perhaps it was the start of his strange and twisted view of the world. First pets started disappearing. Then people. Children vanished in the area, and desiccated husks were found in nearby rivers. In this time when magic still was not well-understood by the general public the authorities had no hope of catching him. But the activity did catch the eye of a local enclave of Guardians, a group who followed the Sorcerer Supreme and sought to safeguard the world against magical threats. They imprisoned Johnathan, but they didn't kill him. Instead they saw his potential, and attempted to teach him to use his magic properly. To wield it to help others. They failed.

When Johnathan emerged once more into the world, he was darker and more fearsome than ever before. No longer a scared child, he new strode forth with confidence. He had found purpose in that conclave, something to dedicate his life to. The annihilation of the human race, the end of the world. A divine blackness. He was now the Shepherd, the bringer of death. He sought out followers with the miracles he created, and caused death and disease wherever he went. The Guardians who had tried to help him were no more, their ashes scattered to the wind, and on numerous occasions Styx faced the followers of the Sorcerer Supreme. Once he even faced the Sorcerer Supreme, although he was able to escape through the use of a hostage.

These days Styx and his Blackened Shepherds are an object of fear among the general populace. Known and feared across the world, they are among the most vile magic users one can find.

Skills:
Of course Styx is a highly skilled magic user. But he's also a strangely charismatic individual, a skilled public speaker despite his psychotic mindset. He's a cult leader, and while there is nothing supernatural about his charisma he's capable of convincing people to do some crazy things.

Arcane Power:
Father Styx's dark magic is based on two fundamental abilities. With his left hand Father Styx 'takes' things. He drains the strength of his opponents, drains their abilities and memories and emotions until nothing but an empty desiccated husk remains. It's a terrifying power that grows stronger the closer his target is. With a touch he can leave a human lifeless in a second, while at range he can inflict more and more debilitating conditions. While usually the effects of his magic are temporary his touch can permanently 'steal' things from his target leaving them blind, paralyzed, or without their memories. The ability can also be used on objects, stealing their colour and other properties as they grow rapidly more brittle. This magic is additionally effective in draining the energy of mages and magical creatures, and Father Styx grows more powerful with every mage he drains.

The second half of Styx's power is his right hand's ability to 'give' what he has taken with the left. Using the lives he has stolen he can heal practically any wound. Using the strength and skill he has stolen he can imbue others with superhuman powers. He can even steal and imbue Mutant and Psychic abilities, although he cannot 'Give' magical power. His power automatically consumes any magic he drains, making his own abilities more powerful. This ability is what allows Father Styx to perform his 'miracles', restoring sight to the blind and imbuing water with the taste and colour of wine. He cannot resurrect the dead, but he can bring back the dying. This power has similar limitations to the first power, becoming far more effective when he can touch a target.

Like with most mages Father Styx can perform rituals and spells to use his magic in specific ways. Runes, rituals and arcane implements can be used to enhance and alter his spells. By default assume that he can cast a spell really slowly in order to enhance it's effect (ritual) and he can make a spell more effective or versatile by combining it with runes or sigils. Such as being able to treat anyone struck by a cursed sword as touching him for the purpose of his left hand's power.
Here’s your own answer to your question.

.... yes. He gains ALL of the properties of the material he turns into. So when he turns into steel, he acts like steel.


That's me answering your (statement) question on whether he gains all the properties of the material he turns into.

Your artistic license is your character’s ability to change their substance at all.


Actually, that's the premise. Not artistic license. As a superhero rp the basic idea is that some people have impossible abilities. Unless you want to define all fictional concepts as 'creative license', at which point you have generalised the term into meaninglesness.

This is why this nerf is required. If you want the ability to change at will, whenever you want, requiring very little source material then that’s fine! If you want to be super durable, that is fine! But you cant be both. Characters that are min-maxed (like Natalie for example) dont get multiple powers or the ability to change their abilities at all. You can be the most durable character, a man of steel, but you cannot transform if that’s the case. You can transform regularly with little of your source material, but you cannot have full body transformation.

Unless you introduce another weakess that will balance having both.


.... Why? I repeat my question. This ability is not overpowered.

Natalie could rip Joshua apart like an eager dog with a chew toy. 4 ton strength is going to let her toss him around like a ragdol even in his heaviest form, and he can't even really hurt her. This power doesn't make him nearly as tough or strong as she is. In fact, he's weaker than pretty much any character in this rp. I've looked through the character sheets and run the numbers.

I'm not usually this standoffish, but I feel like this is a little bit silly. I mean really. Name one combat-focused character that Joshua actually stands a decent chance of beating, with his ability as written. Only one I can think of is Beast of Burden, if he isn't transformed. And that's not much of an achievement.

In steel-form Joshua has half-ton strength and about 2-ton durability. Most combat-focused characters have 2-ton strength and 2-ton durability, or other equivalent powers. And Joshua's powers come with the added downside of making him clumsy and heavy. Arguing that his power needs to be nerfed further just seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Sorry to sound standoffish, by the way.
By that logic he’d also be as unbending as steel, and as tearable as paper when he is in those states. I understand that a certain amount of creative license is necessary, but you cant just pick and choose what properties of the substances you get. I’m okay with him turning to steel, but in order to do that I expect him to act like steel would.


.... yes. He gains ALL of the properties of the material he turns into. So when he turns into steel, he acts like steel.

His muscles retain their function as his body becomes a series of interlocking joints and hinges so as to maintain the full range of normal movement even while he's made of steel.


I understand that it's important to be critical, but this is something that's specifically addressed in my description of the power. The only 'creative license' is that his muscles still somehow function even when made of steel, but that's pretty much a requirement.

There’s a balance to this that I mentioned to Wraith where he only transforms parts of his body in cases like this. For example, his arm from the elbow down is steel so he can still strike things and move.


Why? This power isn't overpowered, so I don't see why you feel the need to inflict such a massive nerf. If he weren't able to transform his full body he'd have died in his first fight against a knife-wielding thug.

Is there a specified amount of the substance he requires to transform? I ask because he can carry around marbles of whatever substance he wants and change whenever he wants.


I'd say he needs at least a marble-sized quantity. And yes, if he could acquire a marble of the material he could carry it around to transform. At which point he could indeed pull it out of his pocket and change whenever he feels like.
@Lord Wraith
The only drawbacks to being transformed all of the time are story-based. He doesn't taste good food, he doesn't get the satisfaction of a night's rest, he can't properly feel the touch of another person. Stuff like that. Tactically it'd indeed be best for him to stay transformed permanently, he just doesn't want to.

In transformed state he is indeed stupendously tough. However his ability to actually inflict harm usually isn't all that increased. At worst he's going to be punching with the force of a baseball bat to the face. Threatening to a normal human, but not exactly a threat to most of the superhuman characters. So I figured his durability is fairly balanced. Besides, if he's full-on made of steel you can avoid him by climbing up a ladder. Rungs won't hold the weight.

And no, he doesn't get extra superpowers. As the rest of that paragraph implies, the different 'powers' gained are the properties of materials he's mimicking. If he's made of glass he's hard to see. If he's made of paper he's incredibly light. If he somehow manages to become uranium he'll give people radiation poisoning. That paragraph is to indicate that he can gain access to the properties of a wide variety of materials, to a wide variety of effects.

I chose 1.5 seconds because it's fast enough to easily do before or after a fight, but not usually during a fight. One point five seconds is the time it takes for a human to cross a 5-meter gap and shank you in the spleen. If you think that's too fast I can slow it down.
@Nightrunner
I'm no GM, but you seem to have missed the 'personality' tab.
So the last two attempts at a power for Joshua have failed, so I'll give it another shot. Hopefully this'll be acceptable.

© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet