RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to The Paragon Times

23:57, 30th April 2024 (GMT+0)

The Matrix Room - OOC.

Posted by Mender PhantasmFor group 0
Mender Phantasm
GM, 525 posts
Tue 29 Aug 2023
at 02:16
  • msg #737

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Yeah, that was over faster than I expected...
Crimson Fury
player, 211 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-3
Tue 29 Aug 2023
at 03:31
  • msg #738

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 737):

Just a side note, complications dont cause trauma. The physical damage I caused could bought off by the doom pool with Keystone's invulnerability sfx. So he be would be knocked out due to light based overload, but have otherwise no long term consequences.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:32, Tue 29 Aug 2023.
Roulette
player, 73 posts
Bad Grrl gone Good
PP:4 XP:7
Tue 29 Aug 2023
at 04:05
  • msg #739

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Strix:
Well, guess I won’t be joining the fight. Lol
Mender Phantasm:
Yeah, that was over faster than I expected...

Haha, a bit like Strixie’s own fight with the angry mutant hoard.

I think we all did well.
Strix
player, 55 posts
Tue 29 Aug 2023
at 04:37
  • msg #740

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

After the Hydra, we all basically went “I’m still alive and I’m going to make it everyone’s problem”.
Windwalker
player, 249 posts
Peace, Love and Wisdom
These must we walk in.
Tue 29 Aug 2023
at 09:44
  • msg #741

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

If I remember right with a transition seen you can shift PP into exp?

Crimson Fury & Roulette that was too quick.  I was hoping to hack into the computer system but hay that how it goes.  As I killed the timer dice in the mob thread I cannot talk.

he he.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 526 posts
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 02:11
  • msg #742

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Crimson Fury:
Just a side note, complications dont cause trauma. The physical damage I caused could bought off by the doom pool with Keystone's invulnerability sfx. So he be would be knocked out due to light based overload, but have otherwise no long term consequences.


True, there was a D6 left in the Doom Pool...I 'could' invoke his invulnerability sfx, but I like that there are options. Considering your die roll, the effect you were striving for, along with the fact that Keystone was giving CF the stink-eye...it's gonna sting, it's gonna sting a lot.
Crimson Fury
player, 212 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-3
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 02:14
  • msg #743

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 742):

Now he has stink eye...of the burnt eyeball kind.

:P
Mender Phantasm
GM, 527 posts
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 04:10
  • msg #744

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

That is something I've wondered about...

Normally when a target has received greater than D12 type complication, the target is 'complicated out of scene' and the additional effect die is assigned however the dealer sees fit.

Physical Complication (On FIRE!!!) D12 > = D6+ ?

However, when a target receives greater than D12 type stress, they are 'stressed out of scene' and the additional effect die is translated immediately into type trauma.

Physical Stress D12 > = D6+ Physical Trauma

Obviously, by the example above, a target complicated out of scene by being on fire, the question wouldn't be 'is he done?'...it's 'how well done is he?' This makes complications kind of lethal, but when is nerve-striking a target to induce paralysis not without certain obvious risks? Narrative comes first, so clearly non-lethal methods to impair or otherwise disable a target wouldn't arbitrarily incur some absurd lethal consequence.

A character can 'pull their punch' much like performing a regular attack action allowing for stress, instead of trauma, be inflicted on a target. This is a great way to emulate stiff-arm tactics and other less genial ways of getting information. Inflicting a complication up to D12, then steadily stack on additional stress, and the target's going to have a bad day.

Anyways, just thinking aloud. What do you guys think?
Strix
player, 56 posts
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 05:13
  • msg #745

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

This is how I’ve explained it in my games that I’ve run.

Tracking Damage

Unlike most games, Cortex does not use hit points by default. There are many ways of tracking damage but the one this game is using is called Stress. This uses a single die to represent different scales of damage.

How is Stress used?

Stress is always the result of an action, whether as an effect or as a consequence. The most common method of applying Stress is as the effect dice of a roll.

Example: After rolling their dice pool and comparing it to the opponent, the player determines they succeed and has a d8 effect dice. Since the Intent of the roll was to apply physical Stress, the opponent now has a d8 Integrity Stress. This d8 may be added by anyone attempting a contested roll to their dice pool.

Stress is stepped up by one if the opponent already has Stress in the affected category that is equal or greater to the effect dice. If the effect dice is greater than the current Stress level, that level is replaced by the effect dice value.

Stressed Out

Should a Stress Tracker ever be stepped above a d12, that character is Stressed Out of the scene. This means that the ship is too heavily damaged, the crew has been incapacitated, or your captain has been taken out and that player/character cannot participate further. A player may spend a PP to prevent themselves from being removed from the scene.


Trauma

Trauma is like long-term stress. Any time a PC’s stress is stepped up past d12, they’re stressed out of the scene, and they gain d6 trauma of the same type of stress that just increased. Trauma functions just like stress but is much harder to recover.

During any scene in which a character is stressed out and has taken trauma, additional stress to the character goes directly to trauma. Once trauma is stepped up beyond d12, the character is permanently out of options — they’re dead, hopelessly incoherent, lost to their own psyche, or whatever seems most appropriate.

If the next scene is a recovery, transition, or otherwise restful scene in which the PC can be taken care of or allowed to recuperate, the PC’s stress automatically steps down by one, but the trauma remains at the level it was at the end of the previous scene. Recovering trauma requires a test using any appropriate traits vs a base difficulty of 2d8 plus the trauma die.
Crimson Fury
player, 213 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-3
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 12:04
  • msg #746

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 744):

Should it not be assumed we are always pulling our punches? And I also dont think complications should make 'complication trauma'. If you want to make someone go to the hospital, just say they do.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 528 posts
Wed 30 Aug 2023
at 19:54
  • msg #747

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Fair enough...hospitalization does seem on the itinerary, especially for FF. I imagine he had enough time to 'ice up' in order to deaden the impact of his fall...but then the elevator. I guess I was bit overkill on Keystone, complicated out of scene, yes...suffered physical stress? yes. Trauma? Not so much...he'll still need hospitalization, but he's not going to be permanently blinded, more along the lines of slowly recovering from staring into a pair of maglights.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 531 posts
Sat 2 Sep 2023
at 04:35
  • msg #748

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Oh, feel free to post how you wrap the scene...how did the goings on affect the characters? Some time will pass so everyone should be recovered (I think only Roulette got tagged, but it wasn't the worst thing she's rolled with).
Windwalker
player, 251 posts
Peace, Love and Wisdom
These must we walk in.
Sat 2 Sep 2023
at 10:00
  • msg #749

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Just to confirm we can change pp into exp?

We all got one extra PP for end of the sense as we where successful.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 533 posts
Sat 2 Sep 2023
at 20:23
  • msg #750

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

That's a good question...I haven't read anything about exchanging PP for XP, but I'm not a game guru. I think the answer's 'no' because of how many PP a player may end up with during a single scene by constantly using their distinctions as a hinderance netting a PP for every action/reaction they take.
Strix
player, 57 posts
Sat 2 Sep 2023
at 23:36
  • msg #751

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

It’s a one way street, as far as I remember. XP-> PP only.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 534 posts
Sun 3 Sep 2023
at 16:57
  • msg #752

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In regarding the follow up to the Crey Towers incident, a few days pass, news of Crey Industries allowing one of their testing facilities to be used as a 'temporary holding' for almost the entire gang of Outcasts (including FF and Keystone). It's located in an area nicknamed 'Crey's Folly'...an industrial wasteland located on the outskirts of Paragon City (where city and environmental regulations don't apply). It's not a place one would go to visit (there's not even a direct rail line to the location), but after the brief assault caused by the Outcasts in Steel Canyon's downtown business sector...the City Officials aren't too overly concerned about the Outcasts overall well-being.
Crimson Fury
player, 216 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-4
Sun 3 Sep 2023
at 18:31
  • msg #753

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 752):

Has the city started to force collars on the mutant civilian population, that are not outcasts but actually have family member that are known mutants? Due to the poorly written law, based in fear and bigotry? It's the natural 'evolution' of such laws seen constantly in human history.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 535 posts
Sun 3 Sep 2023
at 18:41
  • msg #754

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Not...yet, but all mutants are required to register for now (<-insert whatever political bullshit reason here). Another uncomfortable trend is rippling through Hero Corps, all new mutant members are required to wear an inhibitor collar whilst on duty under a 'provisional' time period. 'Part of the training'...conditioning seems more appropriate.
Crimson Fury
player, 217 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-4
Sun 3 Sep 2023
at 18:51
  • msg #755

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 754):

So if someone does have to wear a collar, anyone with any online research can find out who they have family ties to in order to have a 'registration' list on them?
Strix
player, 58 posts
Sun 3 Sep 2023
at 20:37
  • msg #756

Re: Mob or Frostfire?

Should I make a post in the latest thread?
Mender Phantasm
GM, 536 posts
Mon 4 Sep 2023
at 21:33
  • msg #757

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Crimson Fury (msg # 755):

For the time being, the names and addresses are only available to law enforcement agencies and not readily available to the public. Being a mutant hasn't been classified as bad as a sex-offender, yet...so such information isn't made public knowledge.

In reply to Strix (msg # 756):

Since the scene's pretty much wrapped (and over far sooner than I expected), consider Strix in a transition scene. Feel free to post how you deal with what happened in the Crey Towers scene and what Strix feels inclined to do from there.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 537 posts
Mon 4 Sep 2023
at 22:35
  • msg #758

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

Also note, no citizen thus far has been required to wear a collar. Mutant convicts, however, are required...even for minor offenses, like a parole is required to wear a locator. In those particular instances, it doesn't really matter if they're on a registration or not since the collar is noticeable without effort to conceal it (such as wearing a high collared sweater, vest or jacket with the collar zipped up, or wearing a scarf).

The downside of this is that the average, everyday citizen of Paragon City reacts negatively to those wearing said collars. Regardless of whatever offense they may have caused, they are generally treated as if they were an imminent threat...even among those whom they associated with for years. A radical increase in mutant hate crimes begins to surface...
Strix
player, 59 posts
Mon 4 Sep 2023
at 23:35
  • msg #759

Re: Mob or Frostfire?

I will post a scene wrap soon. Would it be possible to spend my XP to have a contact/handler within the PPD? I like the RoboCop angle developing and want to lean into it.
Crimson Fury
player, 218 posts
Reeeeeal pissed off...
P-0, E-0, M-0, PP-4
Tue 5 Sep 2023
at 19:39
  • msg #760

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

In reply to Mender Phantasm (msg # 758):

Even if the list of convicted mutants is private, that info will leak onto the web. Especially by PPD officers who are anti-mutant bigots. Real world comparison here:

quote:
Prevalence of white supremacists in law enforcement demands drastic change

https://www.reuters.com/legal/...c-change-2022-05-12/


While still a minority of police, they inhabit all levels of the department. Despite any privacy the department may SAY they are doing, any one of these people could leak the info onto right wing websites.

To ID even one mutant, anyone related to them is now a target. Spouses, elderly parents, children-and they will be targeted by any anti-mutant groups not because they are mutants-but because they are not. These cowards won't face mutant powers, but they will hurt anyone without said powers to hurt and frighten the mutant in question.

Because of the emotions involved in these crimes-and the ones trying to stop the law because of those feelings-Mark can see them. Track down not only the people involved in helping the bigots behind the scenes-but also get whistleblowers on the inside to hand over info on how corrupt this law is. That info can be made public via the press. Once made public, the civilians useally defeat such laws because given how awful they are. The main purpose of any such law is to terrify, not prevent any crime.

Another example on how these laws are used to harm minority groups:

quote:
NYPD gang database violates civil rights of Black and Hispanic youth: report
https://www.rawstory.com/nypd-...spanic-youth-report/

This message was last edited by the player at 19:55, Tue 05 Sept 2023.
Mender Phantasm
GM, 538 posts
Tue 5 Sep 2023
at 20:48
  • msg #761

Re: ...and now for something interesting.

CF, all of that is true...there are PPD who are willing to release private information, as well relatives and friends of said mutant receiving an increase in hostility.

Strix, yes, it's a transition scene so you can spend XP at this time.

Windwalker thinks he found something and wants everyone to come to his Dojo/Wellness Center. Before that can happen, though...CF, you get called into Detective Martinez's office - she doesn't say why.
Sign In