|
bewilderment posted:any 'troll culture' they have is a choice rather than something they were really raised in. Any culture is a choice regardless of what you were raised in or as, isn't it ?
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 13:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 23:56 |
|
|
By popular demand posted:Hey now being a troll has nothing to do with your upbringing or your DNA, it's all about finding who done you wrong and performing some sickass dental surgery with your fists. Right ! Therapy, schmerapy : hit someone hard and repeatedly enough that any internalized trauma or self-doubt of yours oozes out of *their* ears !
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 13:59
|
|
|
While I suspect that, if Raymond is not dead, he's probably enduring something worse, I still think finding out what happened is the goal most consistent with what we've established about Shin so far.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 01:24
|
|
|
Kobal2 posted:Right ! Therapy, schmerapy : hit someone hard and repeatedly enough that any internalized trauma or self-doubt of yours oozes out of *their* ears ! Reconciliation is for people without natural armor plating.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 02:29
|
|
|
When we said we went to prison for helping a friend out of a jam, I'd say we painted a picture of loyalty for Shin, and when Kanfy chose Academic*, I believe that's indicative of someone who thinks at least a little bit about where and whom to punch before doing so, troll crime orphan or no. So I say Option 5 for the response. *And I am so happy they did that by the way. Other etiquettes might get you more money and enable you to skip some confrontations, but if you really get into this setting and these character, really chew the juice out of them like a dog worries a ham-bone, then slap on that pocket protector, don your suspenders, and put on your taped glasses, because it's time to get your nerd on.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 03:34
|
|
|
Ray's Alive. Let's go find our dad.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 05:04
|
|
|
resurgam40 posted:When we said we went to prison for helping a friend out of a jam, I'd say we painted a picture of loyalty for Shin, and when Kanfy chose Academic*, I believe that's indicative of someone who thinks at least a little bit about where and whom to punch before doing so, troll crime orphan or no. So I say Option 5 for the response. I like this logic. Let's see what's behind door N°5.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 14:38
|
|
|
I kinda wanna go with number four, but yeah, find Dad fits Shin's characterization the best.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 15:06
|
|
|
resurgam40 posted:When we said we went to prison for helping a friend out of a jam, I'd say we painted a picture of loyalty for Shin, and when Kanfy chose Academic*, I believe that's indicative of someone who thinks at least a little bit about where and whom to punch before doing so, troll crime orphan or no. So I say Option 5 for the response. Oh, how I wish I had the photoshopping skill to slap a pair of nerdlinger glasses on Shin's portrait.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2021 03:17
|
|
|
We need to run the shadows to find our father.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2021 17:08
|
|
|
DreamingofRoses posted:We need to run the shadders to find our dadders. fixed
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2021 17:11
|
|
|
Faith manages. Let's run the shadows until we can bring dad home.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2021 03:20
|
|
|
Part 09 - A Change of Career (Part 2) When we last left off, we had a poorly-slept night behind us and another meeting with the local crime boss ahead of us. Let's go see which way the winds are blowing today.    Either Swift Winds has an especially strict no-cheating policy, or there there have been some new developments since yesterday.   Not great, but whining to the local triad big shot about some bad dreams probably isn't great for your street cred.  Like a baby, Auntie. I'm still in the afterglow of our tour of the Walled City.[The triad boss's eyes turn to half moons of amusement.]  Afterglow? Really. [She nods her head back towards the pillar of meat standing behind her.] Then you should be delighted to say hello to your old friend, Strangler Bao. He's here because of you.So he is. We could purposefully be a jerk to Bao to piss him off, but we don't really have any personal grievances against him or anything. How very pleasant to see you again, Mr. Bao. [Bao inclines his head. One quarter of an inch.] Well then, now that the niceties are over, let's get to the nasties. You can thank Mr. Bao for that.Guess we owe him one then. Racking up increasingly more debt to the triad isn't a great trend though. Thank you for guaranteeing our safety, Mr. Bao. [Bao inclines his head. One quarter of an inch.] Now, shitbird, tell my friends here what you told me. Someone from high up? [The old woman lifts her foot. Taps his chin with the toe of her shoe.] How high? [The cop drops his head to his chest.]  All the way. All the way up. It's someone on the Council. Someone on the Executive Council wants *these two* dead? [Cheng spits on him with a sneer.] gently caress your ancestors to the eighteenth generation. Give me the truth![The cop wears the spittle. He never lifts his head.] It's the truth, madam! I swear it! Whoever it was labeled them as terrorists - we're to terminate with extreme prejudice.  That's certainly one word for it. Not really. Corporations can just order the cops to kill people here? [She smiles knowingly.] Corruption is so ingrained in our society that we don't even see it as corruption. If a street vendor can get out of a sanitary citation by "buying a cop a cup of tea" for five nuyen, imagine what a megacorp can do. But why the need to label us international terrorists? My my, but you have definitely fallen into the deep end of the pool. Seattle isn't like Hong Kong. There, the megacorps control the government. Here, the corps *are* the government.  And what, one of these eight big shots we've barely even heard of now has it in for us personally? One might even consider that kind of attention a badge of honor had we actually done something flashy enough to justify it, but we literally just got here. [Kindly Cheng steps back from the cop and lights one of her thin black cigars.] For the wage slaves and the civilian sheep, the corporations are a pantheon of gods who wield absolute power.[She looks around the room.] But not for us.[The triad woman takes a long pull from her cigar and taps her ash on the kneeling cop's head.] Who else knows about my guests' visit to Heoi, Shitbird? No one, Madam! I hadn't called it in yet - I wanted the kill for myself! No one knows they're here. I swear it! Mr. Bao?[Bao fiddles with the PDA in his meaty hands.] He's telling the truth. No outgoing calls on his PDA. Very good. Thank you, Bao.[She nods at the cop.] Thank you for your honesty.  Yeah... kinda figured that's where this was going. Could at least warn us next time though, nobody wants to clean brain bits off of their footwear. Looks like the triads can be just as efficient.[Cheng takes a drag on her cigar.] Mmm. Yes, my darling.  And this Executive Council member wanted Raymond dead for it.[She stacks her tiles one by one. Click-clack.] Now they want you dead for it, too. [Click.] This Plastic-Faced Man may show up on your door one day, too.[She knocks the pile over and it clatters to the table loudly.] I have a proposal for you, my sweets.[A smile lights up her dead black eyes.] Work for me. Well, there we have it. Shadowrunners, huh? What a surprise. Yeah, you called it, Shin. In exchange, I will keep you safe from pests like this one. [She nods at the body of the floor. The pool of blood on the plastic wrap continues to widen.] You’ll have safe harbor here in my town and a steady source of income. That's definitely a lot more resources than we could ever hope to pour into figuring out this mess, so it does sound like a pretty decent deal. Maybe even a little too decent? You're putting out a lot of effort to help a pair of foreigners. Not foreigners, my sweet. Valued business associates! I need to learn who killed one of my clients and then ordered the cops to execute my team of shadowrunners.[Her voice drops and she becomes deadly serious.] This is a brazen disregard of my power. Face dictates it must be confronted, or I stand to lose everything. We're Westerners. Isn't that a liability in this business? Oh no. On the contrary. There's an good market for out of town talent that's just waiting to be exploited. Plus, you're unknown. A surprise, if you will. I find the right jobs for people with your... talents. You do what our clients cannot do for themselves. I take a finder's fee and a small percentage of your earnings. You make a lot of nuyen very quickly. It's all very civilized. You need a partner. Kindly Cheng will be your partner.[Wu's hands go to his hips. He drops his head and shakes it a little, amused.] It was just like you said, Shin. Shadowrunners. Glad I had some time to think about it. Process.[He grips the back of his neck. Squeezes hard. Rips his hand away.]   Refusal isn't an option but we have some different possible answers here to establish what it is we'd be doing this for. Thread input was largely split between avenging Raymond's death and trying to find him with the assumption that he's alive, but ultimately the latter prevailed. I think Ray's still alive, too. Let's run the shadows and figure out what happened to him. He's alive. I'm sure of it. So I'll run the shadows as long as Auntie Cheng keeps up her end of the bargain and helps us figure out what really happened to him. Then I'm gonna find my father. Then it's done. Heoi is now open to you.[She gestures to her lieutenant, who raises a finger to her ear and whispers into her sleeve.] First order of business - Shin Black and Duncan Wu don't exist anymore. You'll need street names. [Wu sighs.] Yeah, okay. I'll think of something.  Indeed. I *knew* that was gonna stick. It has stuck. Gobbet, Is0bel, we'll handle this the same way we did with... all your previous work.[She doesn't say "Nightjar".] All the jobs I line up for you will be sent to your computer on the squat-boat.[She's pointing at you.] Why me? It's a simple process of elimination.[She points to the little decker.] Is0bel isn't the leader type. You got that right.[She moves her finger to the ork-girl.] As for Gobbet... let's just say Gobbet doesn't have a head for business. Not my thing.[Then she rests her finger on Wu.] And then there's Gun Show... [She wiggles it.] The jury's out on Mr. Gun Show. Meaning?[Her response is direct. Straightforward.] Meaning there's a lot going on with in that head of yours right now, and I'm not sure I can trust you.We definitely trust Duncan, but he'd probably be the first to agree that when it comes to swinging a baton he's more about smacking people in the head rather than conducting an orchestra. So I'm in charge because I'm the best of the worst? Oh my sweet, don't put it that way. [She opens her arms.] You're the most equipped for the role. She's making sense. You're the right person for this, Shin. I had a handle back in the Barrens. Taz. Guess it's time I dusted it off.[Wu shakes his head, eyebrows raised.] Gonna be weird calling you Taz again. Haven't called you that since we were kids.Might be a while before we can swing a blade well enough to be worthy of the outdated cartoon reference again, but we'll get there.   This is definitely not where we expected to find ourselves couple of days ago when we set off for this city, but nothing to it now but to play it the best we can and see where the tiles fall.  And there is much to see and do because as Kindly Cheng said, Heoi is now open to us. If you know your Dragonfall then you know that this means we have a lot of new people to meet and crewmates to get to know, and we'll be checking back with them between missions too.  We also unlock the crew advancement system which works the same as in the previous game, allowing us to periodically level up our crew and give them unique bonuses chosen between two different options.  Before we get to that though, let's start by heading back to the safeboat.   In the corner here is our mission computer and the heart of our shadowrunning operations, but we now also find the locked hatch from earlier open. Gobbet and Is0bel mentioned the engine room had been rented to someone, and if we're gonna live on the same ship while partaking in highly illegal activities then it seems prudent to first find out who exactly we're sharing it with.   Morning, neighbor. Quite the setup you've got down here.    Please stay where you are... I'll be with you in just a moment. And unless you fancy an unplanned trip to Chrome Alley, don't touch anything. There are all manner of tools in here that could take your hand clean off.Getting dismembered in our own safeboat before a single run would be both embarassing and entirely unsurprising the way things have gone so far. Thanks for the warning. Don't mention it. I have no interest in seeing anyone hurt in my shop, especially not my upstairs neighbor.Wonder what all this stuff is for, exactly. [Try to see what's on the screen.] [Examine the robotic arms mounted to the ceiling.] Very good. Yes, that's coming along nicely. Very nicely indeed. Taz. It's no problem, don't worry about it. You're too kind. Now, tell me - what can I do for...[His voice trails off as a flash of motion catches his eye.]  Whoa now. Er, good... bot? Sit? [The man's smile tilts, and his tone goes apologetic.] Please, don't mind the drone. He can be... territorial. But so long as you remain civil, he will not bite.Drones can be "territorial"? Or bite for that matter?  [Shake his hand.] A pleasure.[His hand is rough and abnormally warm to the touch. He shakes your hand with a solid grip.] I am very pleased to meet you, my friend. In a community such as Heoi, it's important to be on good terms with one's neighbors.For someone described to us as "the creepy Russian in the basement" and whose mug looks decisively villainous, this guy sure seems unexpectedly... chill? Also, alternatively: quote:
Agreed. Speaking of which, I'd like to ask you some questions, if you have the time.[He glances at the bracer on his forearm. A technical display winks to life, then gutters out.] Very well. This morning's casting should still be cooling for a few minutes yet. That's time enough to talk. "This morning's casting"? What do you mean? Exactly what I said. A casting that I made of a new locomotive assembly for Koschei.[He gestures at the display above the work table.] A biomimetic design, as you can see. This one is inspired by the walking legs of a decapod crustacean - the mangrove crab, to be specific.You had us at a context-appropriate use of "biomimetic". Think we're going to get along just fine. That's fascinating. And will this new leg assembly make your drone more effective? That remains to be seen. But there is more to life than combat effectiveness, is there not? By fabricating new components for Koschei, I unlock options. Different ways of being. Even the failures - and there have been many! - have value in this context. Wouldn't it be simpler to outsource the fabrication? Ex-corporate, eh? Wonder which one. "Koschei" is an interesting name for a drone. Yes, I suppose that it is. Not many riggers would name their most prized possession after a villain from a fairy tale. A nod to my heritage, I suppose.We're talking Koschei the Deathless right, the classic villain from Slavic folklore? Had a habit of abducting women, kept his soul protected in an external object like a lich with a phylactery? (Academic) Yes, I know the story you're talking about. [His smile widens.] Oh? How marvelous! I hadn't thought to meet anyone versed in the Russian classics here in Heoi. I've studied. If memory serves, Koschei the Deathless was an immortal villain and a kidnapper of women. [He nods.] Indeed, he was those things. But it was not Koschei's misdeeds that drew me to the name. I suppose that it was the notion of immortality through cleverness that resonated with me. There was something to be learned from that, I was sure. And so, when it came time to name my beloved creation, his was the first name that came to mind. And is your drone "deathless," like its namesake? In a manner of speaking, I suppose that he is. I have redundant copies of every piece of his architecture, and his core programming is stored on disc in a secret location. Should he ever suffer critical damage, I can easily bring him back. Well, we each have goals we strive towards in life after all. Our own personal missions, you might call them. You've got some interesting machinery in here... not the kind that you typically see outside of corporate settings. [He smiles.] The same could be said of many in Heoi, I'm sure. This *is* a smugglers' den, is it not? Our entire economy is based on people having things that they shouldn't. Is there a particular device that interests you, out of curiosity...? I'm mostly interested in that drone you have there. Koschei? Ah, but my friend, you are wrong... you will never find his like in any corporate factory or lab. He is mine. My own creation, from the top of his sensor cluster to the tips of his claws. I designed him, fabricated his components, and built him by hand.Home-made drones, now there's an idea for a mom and pops store. Crafted from 100% inorganic ingredients! Impressive. [He shrugs.] No more so than anyone else who follows his passions and perfects his craft. There's also the robotic arms that you've got over there. They look like something taken from an automotive assembly plant.[His smile flashes brilliantly in the light.] Good guess! That's precisely what they are. They... "fell off a boat," you might say. They weren't cheap, but I acquired them and had them mounted to the walls of my shop - I simply had to have them. The return on investment has been dramatic. Yes, they're cruder by far than the waldo devices that I used in my professional life, but they still do the job and they are *mine.*[He gazes lovingly at the industrial arms, still smiling.] They have increased my fabrication capabilities nearly tenfold. And that, to me, is worth any price. Are you Russian? I thought I caught a hint of an accent there. [He nods.] You have a good ear, I'm impressed. Yes, I grew up in Nizhny Novgorod... went to school there, started my career there in the industrial sector. A fairly common story, I'm sure. But I have also traveled a great deal, and in so doing, I have absorbed a number of other languages and dialects. How many languages do you speak? Counting Russian and Cantonese? Fifteen.[He shrugs apologetically.] ...It shames me to admit that I'm only literate in twelve, however.Wow, way to half-rear end things like that. Racter? More like Slackter. That's still impressive. Perhaps, when compared to the common man. But I've known a great many polyglots who can - and do - put me to shame.[He gives you another half shrug, and Koschei mirrors the gesture.] Arabic has been a particular bugbear of mine - the unfamiliar characters and lack of vowels make it damned tricky to get a handle on. But I suppose that all men have their limits.Alternatively: quote:
Why bother learning all of that organically? With the right knowsofts, you could speak as many languages as you like. Very true. But I can be an obstinate man - when I set my mind to something, I cannot rest until it is achieved. I determined when I was very young to hammer languages into this complicated lump of meat that we call a brain. And so, while the use of knowsofts could easily accomplish the same ends with a lot less work, I've committed myself to learning the old-fashioned way. Well, you've done a good job of dropping your original accent. Are you trying to distance yourself from your homeland? No. Not at all. This is just the way that I speak.[He raises an eyebrow.] Would it make you more comfortable if I used the word "da" more often? Referred to you as "comrade," perhaps?Alright, we get it. Sure you don't at least have a vodka bottle hidden somewhere? That's the kind of stereotype we could really go for right now. That won't be necessary. I was just making an observation. A fair one. It is true that my travels and experiences have changed me, as I'm sure that yours have changed you. Do not take my failure to match your preconceptions as evidence that I've abandoned my heritage, my friend. We are all the products of our experiences, after all. If you were born and raised in Russia, what brings you to Hong Kong now? The same thing that attracts many to the Free Enterprise Zone. Opportunity. You yourself are a recent transplant, are you not? Your Cantonese is heavily accented in the style of many UCAS expats. That isn't a criticism, mind you... it's just a statement of fact. Yeah, I'm new here. Not by choice. Then I am sorry for you. But not overly sorry; there are a great many places in this world that would be far worse to wind up in. If you have to be marooned somewhere, you're lucky to be in Hong Kong. Trust me on that, my friend - I have traveled broadly enough to know.Maybe so, can't say we've exactly been touring the best parts of town so far though. I actually grew up running the streets of the Redmond Barrens. Every day out of that place is a good one. You have my condolences. I have heard of the Barrens, and the gangs that rule the streets there. I'm afraid that our own Walled City might have you beat in terms of gang activity and overcrowding, but this isn't a competition. Both environments are deplorable, especially as stomping grounds for a young child. You said that you used to work for a corp. Whose payroll were you on? Grishin-Aviakor? If memory serves, they specialized in things like combat robots and transporation. Guess that would check out. Keeping all of this machinery running can't be cheap. How can you afford it? Freelance. At the risk of sounding immodest, I've commodified myself rather well. There are always corporations in need of design consultations - you'd be surprised by how lucrative such work can be. And there is always... other work that I can turn to in a pinch. Care to tell me what kind?[He pauses, and for a second something flashes in his eye. Koschei lowers its body into a crouch.] A rather... personal question, wouldn't you say? Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. No, it's all right. After all, it was my throwaway comment that led you down this path... I cannot fault you for following it. Truth be told, I don't feel especially comfortable discussing my side work with relative strangers. Suffice it to say that my freelance activities often fall on the illicit end of the spectrum.We might not have the grasp on quite as many languages as this guy, but we're pretty proficient at reading between the lines and it's not especially hard to decipher what we're seeing there. Tell you what, I'm just going to guess. You're a shadowrunner, aren't you?[He gives you a shallow nod.] I dislike the term, but yes. I run the shadows. What gave me away? Your drone, for one. People on the up-and-up don't build murder-bots for fun.[He shakes his head slightly, a sad look on his face.] Such a reductive assessment. I assure you, you're selling my little counterpart quite short. Koschei *is* combat-capable - very much so - but that is far from his only purpose. That being said, I cannot deny that Koschei's aptitude for butchery is important to my work. Should you ever get the opportunity to see him in action, you will understand why. Also, design consultants live in apartments in Victoria Harbour. You're living in a rusted-out boat in Heoi. There's gotta be a reason for that. [He shrugs.] You are correct, of course. The residents of shadow communities are usually either too poor to live elsewhere, or engage in behaviors too illicit to risk it. I will admit to being in the latter camp. Designing robotics is my passion, but it doesn't always pay the bills, and my status as a foreigner has proven something of an impediment in this regard. And so, sorry as I may be to say it, the lion's share of my income flows from Koschei's aforementioned aptitude for killing. Such is life, I suppose. We do what we must to do what we love.Yeah, for our part we love nothing more than not being riddled with bullets from police-issued firearms due to fabricated terrorism charges. But whatever our long-term goals, our current circumstances seem to be in alignment. The more the merrier, perhaps? Seems like everybody on this boat runs the shadows. Why not pool our resources and work together?[He purses his lips, considering.] A compelling offer. I'm doing quite well on my own, but I must admit that there are certain jobs for which I am unsuited. Magic and decking, you say? This group of yours... do you have people who can cover those bases? If so, then perhaps we can help each other out. How can you not already know that? You live right beneath our feet. Have you ever rented a coffin apartment in a big city? Did you know all of your neighbors by name? My situation here is much the same. I keep to myself, and your friends don't come down to the engine room. The only real connection we share is that we all live in this wreck by Kindly Cheng's largess. Obviously, there were things that I could intuit about your friends from my time here. I'd guessed that they were shadowrunners... their behavior fits the profile. But we haven't had any real contact with one another until now. So I'll ask you again: does your team makeup cover the bases that I described? Yes. We have a shaman and a decker, both competent at their jobs. We've also got a former security expert... I guess that's the best way to describe Duncan. Welcome aboard.Technically we're all already aboard, but... you know. Very good. Excellent. When you receive a job, you know where to find me. My skills and resources are at your disposal. ...And with that, I'm afraid that I must bid you good day. I still have work to do down here - this leg assembly won't clean itself. I'll be in touch. Looking forward to working with you. And I with you. And just like that, we have a new crew member! Like Blitz in the previous game, Racter joining is technically fully optional but it's more or less assumed he's around and will have as much input on things as anyone else. Now that the gang's all here, let's get to some juicy crew advancing, shall we?   Lethal Force - Firepower Round: Duncan gains the assault rifle ability "Firepower Round" which deals +2 HP damage and pierces 2 Armor. Cost: 1 AP. Cooldown: 2 turns. Crowd Control - Underslung Bean Bag: Duncan gains the rifle ability "Underslung Bean Bag" which deals 2 AP damage and unbalances the target (-6% dodge chance) for 2 turns. Cannot crit. Cost: 1 AP. Cooldown: 2 turns.Duncan starts off with a solid set of stat ups. Much like in Dragonfall - Director's Cut, the upgrade choice each crew member gets is basically between two distinct specializations which in Duncan's case are pretty self-evident: The Lethal Force line improves his ability to put out HP damage and Crowd Control is the same for AP damage. The choice can be made freely every level up, so you can also mix and match however you like. As for the choice... Firepower Round is simply A Bullet But Better, in practice allowing a normal rifle shot to deal 2-4 extra damage every couple of turns. That's about as ho-hum as it sounds, you'll make use of it but it doesn't scale super well and you'll often opt for burst fire options instead when using assault rifles. Plus it doesn't even light people on fire despite being an incendiary shot that's visibly on fire like Eiger's shotgun ability from the previous game did. There was some interest in the thread about having Duncan focus on non-lethal stuff, and at least in this case that's a wish easily accommodated as beaning the bad guys never gets old and 2 AP damage at range is always going to be relevant. The unbalance effect is minor (and literally non-functional even with the bugfix patch so I had to fix it manually) but AP damage is the best kind and 2 AP is the stun threshold most of the time, quickly removing threats and giving Gun Show an extra option other than the risky Body Blow to make use of Subdue. Team Bean all the way.   Territoriality - Augment Ranged Combat: Gobbet spends some more time at the firing range, gaining +1 to her Ranged Combat and SMG skills. Spiritualist - Augment Spirit Control: Spirits cannot break away within 2 turns of summoning them.A very welcome Body increase for Gobbet. Her two upgrade paths are divided between improving her combat skills and her ability to handle spirits. Augment Ranged Combat is a simple skill boost which due to a bug carried over from Dragonfall does literally nothing in the base game without the community bugfix patch. +1 Ranged Combat and +1 SMG translates as slightly increased accuracy and crit chance, nothing significant but perhaps most notably gets her closer to the final SMG ability which flushes targets out of cover. Augment Spirit Control is okay if not exciting. As was established earlier, the powerful Shrine Spirits cannot break away to begin with, so this only applies to spirits summoned using consumables which right now have about ~10% chance to break free in the first two turns. Basically it alleviates instances of particularly poor luck, but doesn't do anything most of the time. Neither option is that amazing, I'm maybe slightly more inclined to go with Augment Ranged Combat primarily since the +1 to SMG unlocks Flush Target at level 4 while otherwise it'll take her until the literal endgame and it's a decent support ability. Besides, 10% is basically the same as 0%, right? It'll never happen.   Espionage - Tar Blaster: Is0bel gains the Tar Blaster 1.0 program, an upgraded version of Blaster that deals 75 IP damage in a 3x3 area and roots enemies in place for 1 turn. Cost: 1 AP. Cooldown: 2 Turns Sabotage - Augment Mini-Launcher: Is0bel's grenade launcher can now fire Remote Mines which can be detonated at will. Cost: 1 AP. No cooldown.Now that is one sad level up. Not a great first impression, Is0bel. Just because you get to coast by being the only decker in the team doesn't mean you can just slack off like this. Espionage doesn't really have a real clear theme and is a mix of Matrix boosts and support bonuses, while Sabotage is all about increasing her physical firepower. Tar Blaster is a program traditionally used by the Attacker ESP, dealing a fairly large amount of area IP damage and leaving the targets stuck in place. The main draw is the 75 damage AoE as the snare effect isn't particularly relevant against ranged IC, but there is also the fact that Matrix combat isn't as prevalent in Hong Kong unless you have a hard time dealing with the new stealth mechanics. Remote Mines on the other hand sure are something. First of all, the base damage of each mine is 16 as opposed to the 12 of Is0bel's normal launcher. They have no cooldown, unlike thrown grenades deal full damage to everything within 3 tiles (as does her base launcher), can be targeted on any tile instead of just enemies, and are far more accurate than her normal shots. Now there are some limitations. They use up an ammo which her launcher can only hold two of before reloading, she can damage herself with the mines which isn't true for her normal shots, and they lack the minor splash damage dealt to enemies and allies 4 tiles away present in her standard grenades (which isn't always a bad thing). Multiple mines can be on the battlefield at the same time, but they can't be placed within 4 tiles of each other as displayed upon targeting:  Note the 99% accuracy by the way, at this range and level her normal shots only have about 60% accuracy. Once placed, a special icon indicates the location of a mine and it can be detonated by clicking it.   Remote Mines are strong enough to almost obsolete her normal grenade launcher shots, and those were already real potent particularly at this stage. It's to the point that I wonder if detonating the mines was originally meant to cost 1 AP instead of 0, especially because the mines also come with a sub-ability "Detonate All" which does cost 1 AP and thus seems completely pointless because you can click as many mines per turn for 0 AP as you like.  It also displays 12 damage like her base launcher instead of 16 for some reason. As with many things in this game it's hard to say what's intended and what isn't, but at the end of the day Remote Mines are pretty great and the choice we're going with.   Predator - Increase Accuracy: Racter's drone Koschei gains a 5% accuracy boost for all attacks. Mangler - Increase Move Speed: Racter's drone Koschei gains +1 movement (6 tiles -> 7 tiles).The team's newest addition pulls us back to the ground with a thoroughly medium level up and a choice between some very simple upgrades. All of Racter's choices without exception revolve around strengthening Koschei which is a drone capable of both ranged and melee combat. The Predator line focuses on the former and Mangler on the latter. Both of these options are fine. +1 Movement is nice but doesn't make a difference on most turns and Koschei isn't locked to melee like we are. +5% accuracy is not a huge boost but it applies to both ranged and melee and attacking is all Koschei does anyway, so we'll go with that.  And that's all we have time for today, which is to say we're getting close to the character limit. 'Til next time when we start our grand tour of new home... or maybe we'll spend all of it talking to our crew. We'll see.  - Racter is based on a dev's tabletop character (as might've others of course, but this instance comes up in dev commentary) and was actually already mentioned back in Dragonfall as one of the members of Lucky Strike's crew. This'll come up later.  --- Strangler Bao's attitude towards the player will be hostile from this point onwards if he's purposefully provoked: ...Then you should be delighted to say hello to your old friend, Strangler Bao. He's here because of you. What's up, Beef? [Strangler Bao's eyes widen until they're more white than color. There's raw hatred written there.][Cheng's demeanor changes in a heartbeat. Her amused expression drops like acid rain.] *Mr. Bao* is an honored member of the Yellow Lotus, whereas you are an outsider.[Her head pushes forward on her neck.] A disposable outsider.Despite this, one can take another shot at him later on as well: ...My men found him outside the trawler you were sleeping on. They saw to it that your rest was undisturbed and that your location remained a mystery. You can thank Mr. Bao for that. So you're the night watchman now, buddy? Thanks. [The muscles in Strangler Bao's thick neck ripple and his eyes go "I will kill you" wide. He takes a half step forward before regaining control of himself.][Kindly Cheng makes direct eye contact with you. Holds it tight.] Mr. Bao will be treated with respect. I will not warn you again. --- Duncan's reactions to the other stated motivations for shadowrunning: I'm in until I can clear my name and get the hell out of Hong Kong. or: I'm gonna find out who killed Raymond. Someone's gonna pay. If I thought that Raymond was dead, I'd agree with you. But he's not.- I'm in, too. I didn't have anything back home anyway.[He looks at you and lets out a chuckle.] Yeah, you might wanna ask yourself why some day. I'm in, but this is a temporary situation for me.- There's good money in the shadows. It's about time I cashed in.[He nods, grimacing a little.] All about the nuyen, huh? Not surprised. That's cool but it's not where my head is at. Not at all.
Kanfy fucked around with this message at 10:21 on Feb 26, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 14:04
|
|
|
Racter is fun, and an interesting take on his archtype. Glad we took Academia, since IIRC that can get a lot of optional dialogue out of him.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 15:08
|
|
|
Finally we meet the best character. Racter 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 15:30
|
|
|
Oh yeah, Racter's probably my favorite character of the bunch.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 15:53
|
|
|
I don't know about Racter - his characterization and all that is stellar, but dammit, you can't hype up your murderdrone so much and be so underwhelming in actual combat, dude. Read the murderroom.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 15:56
|
|
|
Kobal2 posted:I don't know about Racter - his characterization and all that is stellar, but dammit, you can't hype up your murderdrone so much and be so underwhelming in actual combat, dude. Read the murderroom. He's Koschei the Deathless, not Koschei the Eviscerator. The most important thing is that our friendly neighborhood spider-mech makes a fantastic bullet sponge and can still competently contribute to a fight.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 16:19
|
|
|
We've now met all but one of the party members. Racter is very handy even if Koschei isn't as much of a murderbot as originally indicated. And having a drone means you get to mess around with all the vents!
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 16:23
|
|
|
I think I posted this in an earlier thread but I still chuckle every time I think of the time I decided that my PC had picked up an unflattering nickname from his previous running career and not been able to shake it free, and then this happened:
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 16:29
|
|
|
Let's Play Shadowrun: Hong Kong- Welcome to the shadows, Dickhead.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 16:33
|
|
|
By popular demand posted:Let's Play Shadowrun: Hong Kong- Welcome to the shadows, Dickhead.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 17:03
|
|
|
By popular demand posted:Let's Play Shadowrun: Hong Kong- Welcome to the shadows, Dickhead.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 17:23
|
|
|
Koschei rules, I don't know why you guys are all haters.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 17:50
|
|
|
More on it when it comes up in practice but Koschei at the very least performs worse than intented in the unfixed game as Racter's main unique aspect, namely being able to give various brief power boosts to his drone, quite simply doesn't work for the most part. Likely something to do with drones being unbuffable by default, I believe the fixpack works around it by making them "positive debuffs" instead similarily to how Gobbet's non-functional weapon skill talent is fixed by making it a 0 Essence cost cyberware.
Kanfy fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Feb 25, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 18:12
|
|
|
Kanfy posted:More on it when it comes up in practice but Koschei at the very least performs worse than intented in the unfixed game as Racter's main unique aspect, namely being able to give various brief power boosts to his drone, quite simply doesn't work for the most part. Likely something to do with drones being unbuffable by default, I believe the fixpack works around it by making them "positive debuffs" instead similarily to how Gobbet's non-functional weapon skill talent is fixed by making it a 0 Essence cost cyberware. This actually ties in to something I was wondering about. I remember from your last Shadowrun Let's Play that there were upgrades that just didn't work so it made things a moot choice for you when selecting an upgrade for other characters. Would you consider Shadowrun: Hong Kong to be better or worse in that regard compared to Dragonfall? On that note, I also would like to say that I'm really interested in how you can make Duncan lean towards non-lethal. It's interesting considering his character.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 19:26
|
|
|
SimplyUnknown1 posted:On that note, I also would like to say that I'm really interested in how you can make Duncan lean towards non-lethal. It's interesting considering his character.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 19:42
|
|
|
SimplyUnknown1 posted:This actually ties in to something I was wondering about. I remember from your last Shadowrun Let's Play that there were upgrades that just didn't work so it made things a moot choice for you when selecting an upgrade for other characters. Would you consider Shadowrun: Hong Kong to be better or worse in that regard compared to Dragonfall? Assuming I'm understanding you correctly, I think in unpatched state both games have 2-3 upgrades that don't work. Looking at the fix log, it seems Racter's +1 Movement to Koschei was also amongst them which I didn't realize, I think the rest are Gobbet's. Unpatched Hong Kong definitely has more things not working as they should overall, though to be honest I never noticed the vast majority of them in my original playthrough. Kanfy fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Feb 25, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 20:29
|
|
|
And Isobel already showing off why bringing her is always a good idea. I swear her offense is better than Duncan's, and the only thing Duncan has over her is a later upgrade and AP damage. Now, that isn't nothing, for sure, but that grenade launcher is really silly.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2021 23:48
|
|
|
Yeah I think it's pretty clear that the devs didn't want to have Is0bel be "mandatory combat deadweight" for anyone who isn't a decker themselves (and doesn't want to be locked out of many things). I think they did a pretty decent job since even when playing as a decker I still brought her along pretty much all the time. And she's a good decker too to the point my character ended up part time decker later, going for rifles and cyberware combat instead.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 00:50
|
|
|
It turns out 'how to fix deckers' was a very simple question all along: give them grenade launchers.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 01:01
|
|
|
Unpatched Hong Kong's bugs aren't so much in "this skill is bugged and literally does not do anything" (like Kanfy says, Dragonfall and Hong Kong are pretty much even stevens on that, and a lot of it comes down to how the game handles NPCs and their level-ups) and much more in "this skill check is actually higher than it numerically suggests" or "the combat and inventory is bugged in such a way that reality breaks". It's not "reliable" in the sense that you'll always see it in a casual playthrough (unlike, say, some of Fallout 2's unpatched bugs) but some of them happen often enough that you can suddenly end up breaking the game without knowing what exactly you did to trigger it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 02:02
|
|
|
The Lone Badger posted:It turns out 'how to fix deckers' was a very simple question all along: give them grenade launchers. Honestly, isn't that the answer to most questions?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 04:09
|
|
|
Racter is definitely my favorite character in this. The guy's just so gosh darn affable for a murderous rigger who we know skipped town on at least one team
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 04:19
|
|
|
racterchat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racter
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 04:25
|
|
|
DeathChicken posted:Racter is definitely my favorite character in this. The guy's just so gosh darn affable for a murderous rigger who we know skipped town on at least one team Racter is probably my second favorite after a character we’ve yet to meet. Juggling party slots in this game was definitely harder than in Dragonfall. And yeah, decker plus grenade launcher practically made Is0bel a permanent member of the party for me and Duncan can get pretty nutty with later upgrades.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 07:12
|
|
|
Racter is very much the kind of character I tend to create. Very focused on one mechanical aspect, but not generally an aspect that is considered OP or meta. Maybe a bit autistic in regards to their chosen field, because hey, you write what you know. A very interesting character to be sure, but from having played multiple different characters in that same vein, not one I really thoroughly enjoy playing. I like the dude, not least because Koschei the Deathless is one of my favorite folktales.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 10:16
|
|
|
tbh this would be a far more interesting party member than the Racter we get in the game
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 10:38
|
|
|
There are reasons that will be gone into later, but really not a fan of our new buddy. He's interesting though, which is cool!
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2021 20:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 23:56 |
|
|
So that's why Lucky Strike talked up her team back in Dragonfall! I kept expecting one of them to show up in that game, and I actually thought the dwarf rigger you have to silence was Racter. Chekov's character if you will...
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2021 00:49
|
|