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Mindopali posted:I'm throwing a furtive look at the thread every now and then in the hopes of getting my dose of Asian Cyberpunk Fantasy. Chipping away at it, hang in there.
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Aug 19, 2023 08:50
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Mindopali posted:I'm throwing a furtive look at the thread every now and then in the hopes of getting my dose of Asian Cyberpunk Fantasy. Get the game and play along!
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Aug 19, 2023 09:19
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Kanfy posted:Chipping away at it, hang in there. Take your time, don't overdo it lest it gets stressful. I don't think anyone will mind. ProfessorCirno posted:Get the game and play along! My troll "smokey" who's cybered up to the gills attests to me doing just that.
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Aug 19, 2023 10:20
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Rogue AI Goddess posted:Invisible Inc. Duskers too
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Aug 19, 2023 12:25
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Part 31 - Give and Take Despite lugging both a ghoul and a living food vacuum with us, we waded through Neville Ma's party without drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves. We're still lacking the dirt on his miracle recovery that we came here for though, so it's time visit the man's private apartment to fix that. There's also the case of the mystery woman he's been associating with and who might be tied into the whole thing that sounded worth looking into.   Amongst the souvenirs Is0bel brought back from her matrix trip downstairs was the door code to said apartment, so it's a good thing we didn't waste good money on bribing the waiter for it. NEW MUSIC:  (Strictly speaking classified as ambient audio rather than a "proper" music track, and therefore obviously not on the official soundtrack. Either way it's the only thing that plays in the penthouse apartment alongside some creepy ambient whispering.)   Why is it so cold in here? I can see my breath.Maybe he left his peasant corpse freezer open, don't those come as standard for rich guy homes?  Why would anyone need this many suits, they all look basically the same anyway. Do people like this just burn their clothes after a single use in some bizarre ritual for maintaining status or something?  This level of sterility of character when it comes to interior decorating isn't something you can get for cheap either. Downright eerie in here.  Gobbet would take that as a challenge, but not one we have the time for right now.   That is some fancy-looking wine though, always been kinda curious if the super expensive stuff really does taste all that different from the grunt-level booze. There's a lot of bottles here, doubt the mighty owner will notice anything if we try a sample from one.   Ew, the hell kinda grapes did they squeeze this stuff out of?  Interesting.[His nose wrinkles as he tastes the air.] I'll... be taking that with me, if you don't mind. Wait. Just one more sip... Hmm, still don't really get it, but maybe it's an acquired taste?  Never knew ghouls could even be into wine. Wait, unless...  Aha, it must've been some kind of specially made ghoul wine! But why would Neville Ma have that in his apartment? Does he often have ghoul guests stopping by here? The mysteries deepen...  But questionable taste in wine isn't the kind of dark secret that's going to get us paid. Neither is anything else we've been able to find, so the only thing left to investigate is this door that looks like it was ripped out of a bomb shelter somewhere.  This didn't come with the apartment. Why fortify an *interior* door like this? Probably to keep up appearances. Can you imagine how people would talk if he'd installed this thing in the hallway? Well, one thing is certain... we aren't getting through there without a key. Most likely, that means that we will have to get one from Ma, or from one of his people. Aww, shucks. I guess we'll just *have* to go back to the party. I mean, that *is* the next logical step. Tell me we're going to the party. To hell with the party. Someone on the building staff must have a key - let's check with them.Probably better if nobody Ma actually cares about hears of us rattling his ice box. Back downstairs we go.   Good evening, ma'am. Welcome to the Veranda at... Oh, it's you again. What do you need this time? There's a heavy security door in Neville Ma's apartment. Know anything about that?[The waiter opens his mouth to reply, then pauses.] Just how do you know about that? When were *you* in Ma's apartment? A few days ago. I left something in there, and I need to get it back. We don't want to cause a scene. I mean, we *could* go bother Ma during his party, but that would look just as bad for you as it would for us... The same chef Ma pissed off by dissing his dumplings? Shouldn't be too hard to convince him to get some payback. Worth a try. Thanks. No problem. Just, uh... don't mention I sent you, alright? Chef's a vengeful man, so I don't wanna get on his bad side. All the chef's uniforms must be in the laundry since they're clearly dressed up as waiters, but we find the man easily enough by his name tag.  Ma's got this door in his room - big thing, practically indestructible - and someone said that *you* can get me inside. Yeah, I could do that... And I could also lose my job for it. Even go to jail. Sounds like a real winner of a proposition to me.[He strains a vat of boiled fish through a sieve.] Got work to do, stranger. Door's that-a way.Yeah well, our own work happens to involve the door upstairs-a way. We're basically on the same team here, so why don't we work together? I heard Ma insulted your dumplings in front of his guests. That's harsh.[His expression hardens.] Yeah. Cost me a raise and a whole lot of face. I'll bet that bastard didn't lose a wink of sleep over it, either.[With single motion, the chef lops off a fish's head.] I know a thing or two that'll have Ma churning in his silk pajamas. Consider your key fob the means to an end. Yeah. Gladly.[He grabs a plastic tab from his apron pocket and tosses it to you.]  That was even easier than expected. Never piss off the people who make your food, Ma's lucky if this is the worst of it. Ruin him, will you? Or at the very least, ruin his day. I'll consider it a bonus if you wreck his anemic girlfriend and giddy starlet's days, too. Sure. But I'll need to know more... especially about this girlfriend. Don't suppose she takes her wine warmed and salted? I've, uh... I've heard rumors.[His eyes narrow.] A warm, salty wine? What a disaster. No, she just orders wine. Plain ol' wine. Wouldn't stop her from slipping in her own seasonings, though. Ah. Right. Thanks for your help, chef. No, thank *you.* Back upstairs and ready for round two.  That's more like it. Should've brought a coat though.  Chilly place to sleep in, Ma's rear end must be freezing whenever he goes to that toilet that's for some reason in the same space with his bedroom. No wonder he keeps this kind of shameful room arrangement behind that much steel.  Otherwise the only things worth nothing here are a locked door and this terminal in the corner.  Why, if it isn't Ma's personal terminal.[A sly smile crawls up Is0bel's cheeks. She cracks her knuckles.] Let's have a look.  Could this finally be where the juicy secrets are hiding?   Recurring name and kind of embarrassing, but not the proof we're looking for.   Hmm, nothing particularly new here either, it sure was a rapid recovery though. Maybe doc Shenyang was wrong, the guy might be an rear end to his staff, but there hasn't been any real evidence of Ma being involved in something you could really hang him from a hook for.   If he does have some figurative or literal skeletons in his closet, the office seems to be our last shot at finding them.  Not looking very promising, but...  Where is that coming fro--  Well now, that was a pretty dramatic way for a closet skeleton to make an entrance.  Ku Feng, I presume?[She nods.]  Just so. My servants have been watching you since you arrived. I suspect that you are an evil woman, and that you are here to do harm to Neville. And so I came to stop you. Had a feeling it might be something like that, considering everything we've seen and heard. And, er, tasted... And you are a ghoul. Why these people would choose to associate with a corpse-eater is a mystery to me. Perhaps you're their pet?[Gaichu tightens his fingers on the hilt of his katana.] Who will eat whom, leech? Come for me, and let us see whose teeth are sharper.[Gobbet leans over and whispers to you.] An HMHVV deathmatch. Admit it, Taz - you'd pay to watch that. Not now, Gobbet.[She smiles at you with blood-red lips.] An armed conflict in this room would bring security within moments. The Hong Kong Police Force would no doubt arrive shortly thereafter. Is that what you want? It makes no difference to me; I can disappear just as swiftly as I arrived. But you, on the other hand... She's right. We can't fight in here - Dr. Shenyang told us that we wouldn't get paid if we did. We appear to have reached an impasse. I cannot allow you to leave, and you seem intent on continuing your investigation here. So. How shall we resolve this conundrum? I'm open to suggestions. A more formal arrangement, then? A face-off in a neutral location?Hope you know what you're signing up for because our face is tough as leather, and not so easily offed. A duel at midnight works for me. Very well.[She steeples her fingers.] As for the terms: if I win, you willingly submit to my influence. You become my pawn. And if you win? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.   And to think we laughed at that fortune cookie message about a life-or-death rooftop garden battle with a vampire in our imminent future. It just seemed so awfully specific!  No offense, but we're already busy being bossed around by a way scarier lady than you. Let's see what you've got. This will be entertaining. Kill them! NEW MUSIC: .jpg) (The punchier and catchier version of the standard chill battle theme of the game.)  Time to have our grand duel with a real-deal vampire, and by "duel" we mean having an army of vampiric pawns thrown at us while the actual vampire cowers in hiding on the opposite end of the area.  Ku Feng herself is more bark than bite, which yes, is kind of ironic for a vampire. She has no weapon and her stats are all around mediocre, although she's quite sturdy with her 90 HP and 5 Armor. Her main tricks are immunity to AP damage (which is admittedly a very strong trick considering how powerful AP damage is) and an unpleasant AP/HP damage breath attack identical to those used by the gargoyles in the museum run. The civilian pawns she surrounds herself with are pretty weakly armed and armored, but there's a couple of melee guys mixed in there with fairly high Strength who are fully capable of bashing the living daylights out of anyone they happen to land a critical hit or two on.  But with Gobbet on our team we have a pretty effective trick of our own, the earth spirit Primeval from her pocket summoning fetish. As a refresher, while maybe not quite as plainly busted as the universal medium cover providing Shield from the previous game's earth spirit iteration, Primeval does possess Mana Arc, a ranged 1 AP bolt spell which deals HP and AP damage to a target and then bounces to nearby targets as well. To be precise it's the slightly stronger Mana Arc II now thanks to her summoning fetish having been upgraded. Now while Mana Arc is strong on its own, the real trick is that while Primeval cannot itself see the spell-enhancing Dragon Lines, it can benefit from their effects. Gobbet summoned Primeval right on top of a Heavy Dragon Line which powers up spell damage, reduces spell cooldowns, and causes them to bounce to nearby enemies. Or more nearby enemies, in this case...  This combination turns Mana Arc into a proper pinball of death, with extra jumps and extra damage and its 1 turn cooldown reduced to 0. The only reason it can't zap most of Ku Feng's cannon fodder to the next life on the opening turn by its lonesome with repeated Mana Arcs is because item-summoned spirits start with only 1 AP, but even that single cast does pretty serious work. The "padded" AP enemies start with on the first turn does keep them from getting immediately stunned by it though, and Ku Feng herself will require some extra attention.  Is0bel lobs some long distance remote mines to the vampire's hidey-hole from her starting position, one missing and only managing to burn some grass, but the other one working out better.  Like before, we handed Gaichu the Shock Glove before starting the run which he uses to hand one of the civilians enough voltage to knock him out even through his AP buffer. This also gets him closer to Ku Feng who is our main target here. Cutting our way through the entire squad of enthralled civilians isn't going to dock our pay or anything, but it is kind of messy.  Backline support isn't our preferred role but rushing in blindly here could end poorly for us, so instead we spend our own turn casting Haste on Gaichu, and the red samurai uses the extra AP to prop up his defenses with Active Defense and a switch to Metal Stance, just in case. Again, the minions with guns aren't much of a threat, but the melee ones can be kinda scary.  In the end the enemy turn is pretty uneventful though, consisting of some 2-4 damage potshots and Primeval getting lightly chipped while Ku Feng herself continues to hide behind her underlings and cover. You can see the potential of the enemy melee here though, this 12 damage hit before armor might easily be a 24 damage crit + AP damage, or even two in a row.  At any case Ku Feng's cover makes her enormously tough to bring down with ranged attacks, which is why a buffed-up Gaichu will lead the charge to flush her out of there.  And he does so with gusto, Heaven Stancing it up for great damage and kicking her out from her pesky cover while at it. This one's for you, Gobbet.  We join in for a stab for good measure, but this turns out to be unnecessary as Primeval now has 4 AP to use on a flurry of Mana Arcs that pummel the uncovered vampire to submission in no time at all. In fact she throws in the towel already well before her HP actually hits zero, and that marks the final entry to this vampire diary.   What's wrong? Not feeling so powerful now?[She clasps her hands, pleading.] The whole "mistress of the night" thing is just an act. I'm just an accountant that got infected! I... I don't really know how to fight. I was faking it. I just wanted to scare you into backing down. Look how that turned out.Pretty severe miscalculation, for an accountant. Yeah, I know... I blew it. I knew that this duel was a bad idea the moment I agreed to it, but I couldn't back down in front of my pawns. It would have been humiliating.[She looks away.] Like I said, I'm just an accountant. I never went to Vampire School. What I *did* do was get drunk on a business trip, black out, and wake up in an alley like... this. And so, you... what? Decided to embrace the whole "vampire" thing? What choice did I have? I couldn't go back to work, and it was a dead-end job anyway. No upward mobility, no room for growth. I did what anyone would have done. I tried to make the best of it, to capitalize on my new abilities. I'm a vampire now - I can't control that. But I *can* control how I choose to monetize it. So what was your endgame? How did you see this working out? You're really tearing apart our previously mysterious and frightening mental image of vampires right now. It's kind of depressing, really. Wait, so this whole thing has just been you... what, improvising? Pretty much, yeah. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, I'm just... doing my best.[She looks away in shame. Her voice goes flat.] I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself now. If I'm ever found out, I'll get killed for the bounty money. This was my only real shot, and I blew it. Shouldn't your family or co-workers be looking for you? Not if I can help it. You think that I want them to see me like this? I've been hiding out in Kowloon and as far as my friends and family are concerned, I'm missing. Have been for months. They probably think that I'm dead.[Her chest hitches. She looks miserable.] I think that's for the best. I mean, how could I explain what I'd become? Can you imagine how ashamed my family would be to find that I'd become this... monster? No, it's better that they think I'm dead. I never wanted to be this way! I'm trying my best... Your best is barely competent. You squander your potential, then bawl about your cast-off life when you are defeated. You don't deserve the gift that you have been given. No. You're right. I'm not cut out for this.[She turns to you, a look of misery smeared across her face.] Can we call a truce, maybe? I scratch your back, you... let me live? Please?We have a personal policy of maintaining a healthy vampire-to-back distance, but it would feel kind of bad to just off her. Plus we haven't actually done our job yet, so let's figure out that part first. I think we can work something out. Conditionally.[She nods eagerly.] Yes, yes, anything! Just tell me what you need! First off, I want some answers. I'll tell you whatever you want to know! You ask the questions, and I'll answer. No lying, I promise! How are you and Neville Ma connected? I happened to be in the same hospital that he was, trolling for a meal. I don't like to drink blood from unwilling people, so I go to hospitals at night looking for people who won't mind if I take a sip. People in comas, patients with terminal illnesses, that kind of thing. It makes me feel better about what I have to do. ...So I wandered into this room, and I recognized Neville Ma. I'd seen him on the news... seen photos of the accident. He was in really bad shape. A lot of broken bones and internal injuries. But somehow, he was still conscious. So you offered to help. He agreed. Actually, he leapt at the chance to become my pawn... I guess that when you're all broken up like that, you'll do just about anything to get better. The deal was done. And... we got along. I think he's charming, he thinks I'm funny, and he doesn't care that I'm a vampire. He told me that he gives me nice things because he likes me, and not because he owes me his life. It's all very sweet.So that's how it was, we couldn't find anything shady from his finances because there really wasn't any, just some good old-fashioned vampiric bonding. What's it like to be a vampire, anyway? About the same as being a person. The Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus is like any other disease, except instead of coughing, I can't go out during the day. It's not all bad, though. I can turn into mist, and I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. I still have to wash my hair and pay for parking. You know what I miss the most though? Steamed buns. I can't eat or drink anything except blood, and I loved street food before I got infected. Sometimes I'll walk by food carts just to smell the things they're frying up. But if I buy something, ten minutes later it's all coming back up in a mess. Is there a cure? I wish... but no. The only cure is being tossed in a bonfire or having your head cut off. And almost every nation in the world will pay a bounty for a dead vampire. It's not like I had much of a choice, you know? Be a vampire or get killed for some quick cash. It's a pretty raw deal for me either way.Sounds pretty rough alright, although she did also just send half a dozen pawns of nebulous willingness to die in her stead out of fear of losing face, which is the kind of thing that tends to cost you some sympathy points with most crowds. Alright, I've decided what's going to happen. Okay.[She exhales heavily.] What's it going to be? Putting a clean end to this business would be easy enough, but how often do you get the opportunity to have a vampire at your beck and call? Not a very competent vampire, granted, but... You're going to live up to your potential, and I'm going to help you.[She blinks.] You are? We are? So you don't know how to be a monster. Well, as it happens, I have a bona-fide monster right here. Gaichu will teach you what to do. ...And why would I do that, Taz? I fail to understand. Because in Hong Kong, connections are power. And I want the Vampire Queen of Repulse Bay to owe me a favor.(Alternatively...) quote:
[A brilliant smile breaks out across her face.] Well, in that case... I accept. Gratefully. What about Dr. Shenyang? What are we supposed to tell him?Can't bring back blackmail material that isn't there, but at least we found out the truth behind Ma's recovery. Plus getting that big name actress transferred to the doc's side like he asked should help turn the tides of show business in his favor. He wants Penelope Wong. What do you say, Ku Feng? Think you can get Neville to let her go? In a heartbeat. Neville can't say no to me. He'll do it, no question. Good. Catch you later, Vampire Queen.  Not entirely sure yet what we've actually gained from making this deal, or if we'll ever even meet our new vampire friend again, but sometimes you do just gotta play things by instinct after all. And right now our instincts say we just managed something pretty cool.  Time to leave the high life behind and head back to our humble home, with another strange new tale in our pocket. And based on our time in this town up until now it's far from the last one, or even the strangest one, that we're going to be stuffing in there.  - As a spellcaster, astral perception can be used on Ma's door keypad to see the numbers in the code as an alternative to paying the waiter or using a decker, but you have to guess the correct order. Gobbet and Gaichu can also both do this, ghouls also being able to see into the astral. - Bringing Gaichu isn't necessary to make a deal with Ku Feng, it's just for extra flavor. - A slightly different and unused version of getting into Ma's office still exists in the game files. In that one his computer does requie a decker to access (but proves useless even if you do) and a keycard for the second door is found in the suit room instead. --- Drinking from Ma's liquor cabinet with Duncan around:  What is wrong with you, woman?! D'you usually dip into people's wine collections while illegally searching their houses? But look at that color. It's begging to be drunk. I don't care if it's cat piss or Zeus' tears. We break into an apartment, and you dribble your DNA all over the booze locker![Duncan pulls an alcohol swab from his belt pouch and wipes off the mouth of the decanter, mumbling angrily to himself. He shakes his head.] I swear, Taz. Sometimes...--- Penelope Wong is an easy source for Neville Ma's security door key, provided you managed to gain access to the party:  Welcome back, Ms. Argyle. To what do I owe the pleasure? I was hoping you could help me, Penny. Do you have a key fob for Neville's security door?[A quizzical look crosses her face.] I do. But... how do you know about that? Building management told me. They sent me down to see if I could bring them your fob. They need it to fix a glitch, and they don't want to bother Mr. Ma. Oh! In that case, please, take my key fob. Just bring it back when you're done, okay?[She digs around her purse before producing a small plastic device, then hands it to you.] Thank you, Penny. You don't know how helpful you've been.[Penelope beams at you.] Always happy to help where Neville's concerned.--- Neville Ma himself can theoretically be asked for his key, but success requires the Security etiquette, and the trigger for getting the dialogue choice to show up to begin with is bugged. Basically it'll only show up if you've seen the door before talking to him for the first time, or have enough Biotech for a completely unrelated dialogue choice. I was hoping to talk with you about your security door.[The smile falls from his face.]  How do you know about that? (Security) (Lie.) Security sent me to talk to you. They didn't want to disturb the party by sending a uniformed guard. What did they want? Is there a problem? Somebody attempted to spoof your key fob. Maintenance wants to change your door's RFID code, and they need your fob so they can recalibrate it. I see.[His tone changes - suddenly, he's all business.] I shall see to it immediately. There's no need for you to leave the party. I'll take care of it for you, and then bring your fob back to you when it's done.[He stares at you for a long moment, then gives you a slight nod. He fishes the fob out of his pocket and hands it to you.] Thank you. Any other time, I'd handle this myself, but I cannot be seen fleeing my own party. Of course you can't. You're very welcome, Mr. Ma.--- Figuring out Ku Feng's nature without Gaichu around, for example by reading her aura, can lead to the following exchange: Hang on a second. Are you a vampire? Very astute.[She grins at you, displaying a set of sharp-looking teeth.] And what do you intend to do about me, now that you've had this revelation...? Wait, wait. I've heard stories about Chinese vampires before. Aren't you supposed to... you know... hop?[Her expression darkens.] I am far too dignified to hop. Peasants hop. Animals hop. I *stride.* No more foolish questions. I am Ku Feng, and I will tolerate no disrespect.
Kanfy fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Sep 7, 2023 |
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Sep 7, 2023 22:33
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I have to admit, "findom vampire accountant" wasn't on my bingo card, but I kind of wish it was 
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Sep 7, 2023 22:48
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Only profession more in line with the bloodsucking elite draining the peasants than lawyers is accountants, so this checks out
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Sep 7, 2023 23:16
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I should have known that Shadowrun had a vampire analogue. Nice that this version can turn into mist. Haven't seen that since SotN. Come to think of it, I would miss 'people food' too. I remember in VtM that high-humanity vampires could eat food without vomiting, they just received no sustenance from it. Quorum posted:I have to admit, "findom vampire accountant" wasn't on my bingo card, but I kind of wish it was You taught me a new word, and I hate you for it. I need to stop looking up new English words that I find online; it's always seem creepy sex thing. There need to be more neoligisms that are new terms for kittens, baby bunnies and small acts of kindness. JustJeff88 fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Sep 7, 2023 |
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Sep 7, 2023 23:25
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Kanfy posted:
... I mean, what the *gently caress*, Isobel? quote:
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Sep 7, 2023 23:58
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Quorum posted:I have to admit, "findom vampire accountant" wasn't on my bingo card, but I kind of wish it was Honestly, having a powerful type like this owe you a favor sounds fun.
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Sep 8, 2023 00:01
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I loved the twist in this mission so much. It gave me a hell of a laugh when I came across it on my play through. What a lovely curveball.
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Sep 8, 2023 00:30
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Xander77 posted:Fucks sake, would everyone stop revealing our client's name? Right. Everyone really needs to get used to saying "Mr. Johnson" - or, rather, the Hong Kong equivalent, which I am told is "Mr. Wu".
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Sep 8, 2023 00:31
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if this was VtM, this lady would be prime Ventrue material. All bluster, no substance.
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Sep 8, 2023 00:31
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Xander77 posted:Gobbet, no! Shenyang said that it was an alias when he introduced himself as we were meeting with him to take the job. Maybe not as anonymous as the HK equivalent to Mr. Johnson, but it works. Besides, who would believe that our client is named after one of the major Manchurian sprawls? At most, they’ll get that out client is maybe a doctor with connections to Shenyang, and that probably won’t narrow things down too much. GhostStalker fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Sep 8, 2023 |
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Sep 8, 2023 00:58
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I have to admit that part of this update was somewhat twee. The idea that she's just an accountant who was in over her head, healed a guy (a piece of poo poo guy, but still) because she wanted to be kind and now they are kind of sort of in love is sweet in a hosed-up sort of way.
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Sep 8, 2023 01:01
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I love this run because it's just so mundane. The idea of running into a supernatural being before they got their poo poo together and figured out how to really make it work for them is fantastic. And honestly, the relationship between the two of them is charmingly mundane once you get past their introduction.
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Sep 8, 2023 03:48
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I'd completely forgotten about the Vampire Queen of Repulse Bay until just now. I think I raced to knock her out and pretty much didn't kill any pawns, so this ended up being a very guilt free run.
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Sep 8, 2023 04:10
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Oh, that was excellent. Thank you.
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Sep 8, 2023 04:21
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Kanfy posted:Drinking from Ma's liquor cabinet with Duncan around: I'm pretty sure he has special dialogue if you brought him along to both this and Gaichu's mission, too, about wishing you'd grown out of putting random poo poo in your mouth.  Duncan puts up with a lot from poor Adventure Game Minded Taz.
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Sep 8, 2023 06:52
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KataraniSword posted:I'm pretty sure he has special dialogue if you brought him along to both this and Gaichu's mission, too, about wishing you'd grown out of putting random poo poo in your mouth. Maybe somewhere but not on this run or the Whampoa one for that matter, both Gaichu and Duncan's reactions were covered in full. Kanfy fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Sep 8, 2023 |
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Sep 8, 2023 09:22
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Kanfy posted:
smh Yet another reason why, as awesome as this game is, Sleeping Dogs is the best Hong Kong based game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS-hEkBgF8Y
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Sep 8, 2023 11:47
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I wish we could have recruited Ku Feng into our party.
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Sep 8, 2023 14:14
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AceOfFlames posted:smh
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Sep 8, 2023 14:54
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Loving this game, especially the plot development with the chef in this update. Poor guy. I like the vampire character too. I find her similar to my mom (a retired accountant with epilepsy who once lived in Taipei with an Italian diplomat and raised 3 kids, I’m the middle child). Duncan’s reaction to the “wine” and Gaichu’s dialogue with Ku Feng is comedy gold. The updates of this LP are spread out, but they’re worth the wait. So epic.  AceofFlames- if I ever actually play Shadowrun Hong Kong I’m basing my main character on the protagonist of Sleeping Dogs and seeing how it plays out.
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Sep 9, 2023 17:10
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Ku Feng is fun, hope she reappears down the line
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Sep 10, 2023 00:52
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Kanfy posted:Part 31 - Give and Take You could see the ability of Gaichu to see that Ku Feng's a vampire as a hint that she might not be all that strong, because powerful vampires tend to pick up the ability to mask their aura specifically to avoid being outed like this. Interestingly, Ku Feng is probably significantly more representative of the "average" vampire than some ridiculous monster who can challenge a relatively experienced runner team - a random person who got infected with the vampire virus and got some improved physical and mental abilities but didn't magically gain the skills to become a high-level threat.
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Sep 10, 2023 06:24
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Depending on which era we're in, HMHVV can grant different abilities. I don't recall if this strain makes Ku Feng a full mystic adept or not, but give her long enough to practice and she'll be tough. If she wasn't an accountant, she might be a real handful already. Vampires can burn up the essence they've absorbed from others to crank their physical abilities through the stratosphere.
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Sep 10, 2023 06:34
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wiegieman posted:Depending on which era we're in, HMHVV can grant different abilities. I don't recall if this strain makes Ku Feng a full mystic adept or not, but give her long enough to practice and she'll be tough. She's presumably a basic Strain I infected vampire, which means that she can end up with no spellcasting/adept abilities. The strain you're thinking about is Strain Ia, which automatically makes humans full magicians unless they're an adept in which case you become a mystic adept. If a troll gets infected with Strain Ia, they automatically become an adept unless they're a magician (in which case they become mystic adepts). On the other hand, being infected by HMHVV can cause latent magical abilities and weird genetic quirks to manifest, so it's entirely possible that she's an adept or magician and doesn't quite know it yet.
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Sep 10, 2023 06:52
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wiegieman posted:Depending on which era we're in, HMHVV can grant different abilities. I don't recall if this strain makes Ku Feng a full mystic adept or not, but give her long enough to practice and she'll be tough. My advice- do not disrespect accountants. They don’t always seem badass but they can surprise you. Since you probably want facts you can verify to prove this- I’ll direct you to the case of Al Capone. This famous crime boss had serious power, skilled attorneys, and lots of connections that maintained his power. How did they bring him down? Accountants gathered evidence he had a serious tax evasion problem. Accountants have to meticulously assess finances, tabulate documents, juggle balls with an incredible mental capacity. You do not want to mess with them. Trust this son of an accountant.
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Sep 10, 2023 07:49
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On the Discworld A.E. Pessimal the accountant is one of the most feared members of the Ankh-Morpork city watch. And the competition for that involves Detritus the troll who carries a modified siege crossbow that once removed the front gate of a castle in one shot.
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Sep 10, 2023 09:31
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The Silk Road and Alpha Bay got owned by a few accountants who realized that all the cool police investigation poo poo was getting nowhere and started just doing things the hard way. (The hard way was rebuilding the cryptocurrency ledgers in a legible way to see who extracted profit and endlessly googling all mentions of the sites to figure out the history of the spread of the news about them existing, and in both cases, both methods gave up the founders of both marketplaces and mutually confirmed each other. The hard, grinding way.)
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Sep 10, 2023 09:54
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Howling at the mental image of the Wampoa folks panickedly barricading themselves in their dingy offices and feverishly checking their ledgers over and over because word on the street is that tonight, the Vampire Queen of Repulse Bay is doing an Audit
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Sep 10, 2023 10:16
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Kanfy posted:
I've always thought this was a brilliant-in-hindsight bit of foreshadowing because it's exactly like Ku Feng: trying to be aloof and mysterious, doesn't actually know what it's doing (if you compare it to an actual recording it's only Moonlight-Sonata-shaped even before the obvious mistake), fucks it up, desperately wings it.
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Sep 10, 2023 14:19
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As awesome as this mission is, the one thing that bothers me is the RFID. I'm pretty sure that didn't exist at the time this edition of Shadowrun came out, and the amazing cyberpunk future was all magstrip cards and keypads. Just a tiny incongruity/editorial oversight, but still a bit grating, given how quickly RFIDs replaced keypads in the real world.
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Sep 12, 2023 17:42
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Lead out in cuffs posted:As awesome as this mission is, the one thing that bothers me is the RFID. I'm pretty sure that didn't exist at the time this edition of Shadowrun came out, and the amazing cyberpunk future was all magstrip cards and keypads. The tech existed and was absolutely used in super high security places, but was still in its infancy where it was prohibitively expensive and had bugs like being triggered by someone with a fob walking near the given sensor with three layers of clothes and a wallet in the way. It wasn't until we started getting RFID stuff on credit and debit cards that the tech really overtook every other form of security out there.
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Sep 13, 2023 05:59
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Lead out in cuffs posted:As awesome as this mission is, the one thing that bothers me is the RFID. I'm pretty sure that didn't exist at the time this edition of Shadowrun came out, and the amazing cyberpunk future was all magstrip cards and keypads. The first patent associated with the term RFID was granted to Charles Walton in 1983, four years before Shadowrun's timeline overtly diverges from our own.
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Sep 13, 2023 08:49
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TheDavies posted:The first patent associated with the term RFID was granted to Charles Walton in 1983, four years before Shadowrun's timeline overtly diverges from our own. Sure, the technology existed IRL, but was not really mentioned as a thing in the setting of the early editions of Shadowrun that this game is based off of, same with cell phones and PDAs and the like; since it was very clearly written as the “Future of the 80s” style cyberpunk. It isn’t until the 4th Edition release of the late 2000s that RFID tags become ubiquitous in setting alongside basically everything going wireless.
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Sep 13, 2023 13:42
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Use of RFID makes sense, guns chatting wirelessly with their own scopes and user comlink instead of using a cable on the gun and a cable through the sling, those are inexplicable.
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Sep 13, 2023 13:47
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I still love reading the edition of Shadowrun where you could buy shuriken to throw that would use wi-fi to aim assist, somehow. 
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Sep 13, 2023 17:26
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SIGSEGV posted:Use of RFID makes sense, guns chatting wirelessly with their own scopes and user comlink instead of using a cable on the gun and a cable through the sling, those are inexplicable. The megacorps drilled into the Akashic Records, the font of all knowledge, to get more bandwidth and cloud storage space, and this is why everything is now better if you turn its wi-fi on. This is, as far as I can tell, more or less the canon explanation.
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Sep 13, 2023 19:58
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