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This shadowrun could have been an email.
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May 14, 2024 10:04
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This is one of my favorite runs in the entire series. It's got multiple ways of handling it, it's genuinely funny, and it's just so goddamned bizarre. I mean, I value unique experiences in games; I've played plenty of games where I shot some guys, but no others where I had to cyrano a socially maladjusted dwarf through the backrooms of a technical conference.
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May 14, 2024 10:43
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idonotlikepeas posted:This is one of my favorite runs in the entire series. It's got multiple ways of handling it, it's genuinely funny, and it's just so goddamned bizarre. I mean, I value unique experiences in games; I've played plenty of games where I shot some guys, but no others where I had to cyrano a socially maladjusted dwarf through the backrooms of a technical conference. I just want to give that dwarf a hug. She clearly needs one. 😔
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May 14, 2024 13:15
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idonotlikepeas posted:This is one of my favorite runs in the entire series. It's got multiple ways of handling it, it's genuinely funny, and it's just so goddamned bizarre. I mean, I value unique experiences in games; I've played plenty of games where I shot some guys, but no others where I had to cyrano a socially maladjusted dwarf through the backrooms of a technical conference. I remember the first time I played it, it had the opposite effect on me. I felt like they didn't know what to do with Isobel's character and just played the antisocial nerd cliché up to have a personal quest and just didn't enjoy it, polar opposite of Gobbet's quest which, coupled with the music, I thought was amazing. After rereading it? gently caress it, it was really funny. Fail to pretend to be a social butterfly and bodies start piling up. Succeed, and realize an e-mail could have done it and the complete thing wasn't even necessary in the first place. It's still one of the weirder quest in the game, with a tone a bit out there, but I enjoyed it a lot more this time. I just hope Gobbet's quest won't have the same effect and make me feel the opposite of what I felt back then.
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May 14, 2024 15:07
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I demand that we go on a completely tangential adventure to avenge the memory of Captain Whiskers.
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May 14, 2024 15:58
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For me, it works in part because Izz is otherwise such a serious character. She had so much childhood trauma that she literally locked those memories away digitally. She's antisocial in part because she's a giant nerd, but also in part because she grew up in Nightmare Town to the most poverty stricken immigrants and likely just...stopped bothered trying to get to know people given the rate if disappearance of kids. You've already been to her previous home, which was ALSO filled with antisocial nerds, except they were the kind who were so full of themselves that they tried to hire a ghoul assassin and then renege on the deal. In most adventures she's the deadpan serious one (albeit in a fun way, as opposed to Duncan being the straight man in a boring way). It's kinda fitting she ends up with the most goofball personal quest. EDIT: It also gives you a fun look at other Runners. The completely non-tech dude who's just there to kidnap someone with the Ol' Chloroform Rag. The three runners who are legitimately just there to enjoy the show. The guy in the elevator who did something not all that dissimilar to something you yourself likely did in Dragonfall, but now you get to see the consequences that would have on the neighborhood. Also you get to punch a big piece of poo poo nepo baby in the face and everyone in the con actually applaudes and cheers you on for it. ProfessorCirno fucked around with this message at 17:59 on May 14, 2024 |
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May 14, 2024 17:57
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I also feel it's important that this is completely in character, the jokes and such don't break the 4th wall. This entire mission is a mess because it was instigated by someone who's very emotionally charged and is just generally bad at foreplanning overall. But it's still hilarious because it's just this big cascading mess, that keeps getting piled up as the feeling where you should've vetted the quest better comes to light. At the same time, there's a bit of a feel-good moment where in the case that you defuse the situation and peacefully resolve it, you realize that you helped Izabelle get through this without thoroughly burning a bridge. The idea that, maybe later on, she may be able to talk to her previous friend later. And yes, it's also a bit of a facepalm moment to realize if she just messaged the guy, this entire thing would not have happened. But.... she wouldn't be a shadowrunner if she wasn't making over-violent terrible decisions.
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May 15, 2024 07:44
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Keldulas posted:But.... she wouldn't be a shadowrunner if she wasn't making over-violent terrible decisions. 
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May 15, 2024 08:10
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That's why shadowrunners have friends, a loner has nobody to limit their terrible decisions nor to defuse the misguided paranoia.
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May 15, 2024 08:45
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By popular demand posted:That's why shadowrunners have friends, a loner has nobody to limit their terrible decisions nor to defuse the misguided paranoia. Biggest example may be how having friends doesn't stop the PC from the previous game to do the ultimate terrible decision in the bad end should they want to. Mindopali fucked around with this message at 11:29 on May 15, 2024 |
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May 15, 2024 09:30
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Mindopali posted:And then there's the best of all: boneheads. Gobbet has several examples of colleagues/friends that made questionable decisions despite her arguing otherwise. The real biggest example is Blitz.
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May 16, 2024 02:37
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KataraniSword posted:The real biggest example is Blitz. Oh yeah, how could I forget. Man I miss him. Mindopali fucked around with this message at 11:31 on May 16, 2024 |
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May 16, 2024 05:57
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ridiculously generous of that guy to just be like "yeah man crack open my custom build and look at the guts, i don't give a poo poo"
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May 16, 2024 19:48
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Kith posted:ridiculously generous of that guy to just be like "yeah man crack open my custom build and look at the guts, i don't give a poo poo" I almost feel like that was supposed to be something else and they ran out of time
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May 17, 2024 04:25
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That part of the mission always did feel kind of unnatural to me, I won't lie. Part of the problem is that the conversation doesn't start until after you already tried to steal the thing...
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May 17, 2024 06:38
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I mean, that part makes sense. Having an alarm on his most valuable piece of equipment just seems like good planning, and only the most lucky runners survive without good planning.
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May 17, 2024 06:46
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Keldulas posted:But.... she wouldn't be a shadowrunner if she wasn't making over-violent terrible decisions. That is how most good Shadowrunners become Shadowrunners, yes.
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May 17, 2024 08:08
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First run without any combat, second without killing, and with appropriate choices and build you could do four of the five runs so far without killing. Hong Kong really went even further allowing no-kill approaches to runs. Which gets me to think of a playthrough of the series with always going loud as early as possible. Should be doable, right? And as a first time poster, thanks to Kanfy for the LP. These are great games and you're doing an excellent job showing them. Also thanks to all the lore posters. I played only a bit of Shadowrun 1st edition (we dropped it because of the mechanics), so all the lore has been super interesting to read.
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May 17, 2024 17:12
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The No Combat thing is why I usually tend to do this run immediately on getting it. You recruit Gaichu, you do this, and then the shops update with new items, so you don't worry about spending money until then.
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May 17, 2024 17:58
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Kith posted:I mean, that part makes sense. Having an alarm on his most valuable piece of equipment just seems like good planning, and only the most lucky runners survive without good planning. The alarm wasn't the problem for me there, it was the fact that the guy doesn't kick her out or something.
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May 17, 2024 21:53
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Keldulas posted:The alarm wasn't the problem for me there, it was the fact that the guy doesn't kick her out or something. A good portion of the people at DeckCon are there to show off at DeckCon.
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May 17, 2024 22:33
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Keldulas posted:The alarm wasn't the problem for me there, it was the fact that the guy doesn't kick her out or something. Nobody wants to go loud at a convention. Plus, wiegieman has a great point: one of the points of these kinds of events is to show off. It's not like he's selling the blueprint, just letting someone look under the hood so he can enjoy their awe. Same stuff happens at car shows - one of my favorite memories is my dad gawking at someone who managed to put a V8 in a Smart Car. Likely the same motivation.
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May 17, 2024 22:46
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Kith posted:someone who managed to put a V8 in a Smart Car. How the gently caress... now I'm gawking and image searching. e: lol, there's clips of smartcars with V8s drag racing. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 01:31 on May 18, 2024 |
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May 18, 2024 01:27
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It's worth noting that one of the really fun things about that mission is how it plays with the difference between Runners and non-Runners...and sometimes the lack of difference. On one hand you have the dude there to kidnap someone and you get that really fun scene of both of you suddenly becoming tense because you realize you're both here on a mission that might intersect and you need to clear poo poo up now. But then you also have the group of three who are, earnstly and legitimately, just here to enjoy the con. The dude who's deck you looked at? He's one of the posters on the Shadowlands BBS! He's a Runner! So he's got that confidence of someone who can and likely has killed for a living, but also...he's a big ol' loving nerd who wants to show off! I don't remember if it comes from other dialogue options or what but one thing there says that Izzy talks about wanting to see the inside of his deck and it being the best thing in the con, and the game helpfully notes that you didn't feed her that line - it was all entirely earnest from her. Because yeah, she's here to beat the poo poo out of someone (who really doesn't deserve it) to get data...but also, she's a big ol' loving nerd who's earnestly geeking out over this dude's deck!
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May 18, 2024 01:36
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ProfessorCirno posted:The No Combat thing is why I usually tend to do this run immediately on getting it. You recruit Gaichu, you do this, and then the shops update with new items, so you don't worry about spending money until then. The dialogue checks for a non-combat DeckCon run are pretty specific so it's also pretty easy to be caught in an unavoidable loud run if you're playing for the first time. I guess you'd either always play Intelligence characters or specifically pick the Socialite etiquette early to get past the drunk troll encounter?
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May 18, 2024 17:18
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ProfessorCirno posted:The No Combat thing is why I usually tend to do this run immediately on getting it. You recruit Gaichu, you do this, and then the shops update with new items, so you don't worry about spending money until then. Got to wait for Tse's House of Pork to show up on Shadowland BBS so you can use it on that one check, unless you're taking a very specific skill build to hit those checks that early.
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May 18, 2024 17:29
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Part 41 - Glimpses of the Past   Our con-running days are behind us, and while in hindsight it's a little dubious whether that trip was really necessary considering Is0bel ended up getting what she was looking for pretty much by just asking normally, you can't argue with the sweet 8 Karma we've just piled up on top of those 2 we got earlier. Oh, and we did come back with a souvenir of course, although...  ...it's getting a little gross down there. Probably should've asked for a bag or something.  But nevermind our greasy pants for now, it's been a couple of runs since our last power-up group session which means it's time to dole out some level ups for our crew! This'll be third time, meaning everyone's going up to level 4 today out of the maximum of 6.  Duncan's morning workouts are clearly bearing fruit, with growths basically everywhere that matters. This brings his Body already up to 7, so he can really absorb some hits with those pecs of his. Let's see what we have on the perk menu today.  Lethal Force - Nail Grenade: Duncan's standard equipment now includes a lethal shrapnel-filled grenade which reduces Armor by 1 and deals 12 HP damage, as well as an additional 4 HP damage for 3 RNDs. Aside from the potential for various nail-related one-liners when tossing it, there isn't that much to say about the Nail Grenade. In practice it's a Phosphorus Grenade with higher base damage, and while none of the individual effects are all that remarkable, put together they make a pretty decent cocktail that really burns on the way down. Even the damage-over-time effect can do some good work when you hit multiple guys with it.  Crowd Control - Modded Flashbang: Duncan's standard equipment now includes a new flashbang that has a larger area of effect, increased by 1 tile in all directions. Just like the Nail Grenade is a Phosphorus Grenade with higher base damage, the Modded Flashbang is a Knight Errant Flashbang (-2 AP damage and -6% dodge chance for 2 rounds) with a larger radius. I've gone on about the power of AP damage enough times by now, and having more options for that is never a bad thing. An increase from a 3x3 radius to 4x4 nearly doubles the amount of tiles affected, to the point it can be a problem to toss the thing without hitting our number of melee fighters or even Duncan himself with it. This usually means it has to be thrown further away on average, which also increases the risk of it landing somewhere it shouldn't. But well, even aside from us having focused more on a non-lethal Duncan so far, the simple reason that Duncan's default kit already includes an HP-damaging frag grenade but no stun grenades makes the Modded Flashbang our choice here. This is the only way to get him to carry one for free, plus it also has the obvious synergy with his own Subdue ability when fighting people-shaped things.  Gobbet also grabs a pretty nice all-rounder level, the point in Conjuring unlocking her 5th spell slot and, thanks to the fact that we previously picked a perk that improved her weapon skill, the point in SMGs unlocking the third and final SMG combat ability:  Flush Target: Fires two shots which deal reduced damage (-4) and have lowered accuracy (-6%), but on hit cause the target to lose their cover bonus for this turn. Uses 6 bullets. Cost: 1 AP. Cooldown: 1 RND.Flush Target is a classic "if you have nothing more important to do" kind of skill, SMGs already have low accuracy and damage so the actual bullets barely do anything, but it is one of the limited ways to flush a target out of cover from a distance outside of throwing weapons or stuns. Hitting with it is not very reliable since targets behind cover are already harder to hit, but the opportunity cost isn't all that high either. Anyway, on to the actual perk choice:  Territoriality - Augment Poison Fog: Gobbet's Poison Fog spell is upgraded to Acidic Fog, dealing an additional 1 AP damage to those affected. In case you've forgotten, Poison Fog is a spell unique to Gobbet which creates a 3x3 cloud that deals 10 damage to anyone in or moving to the affected tiles, with a variety of quirks and potential exploits involved which were covered in detail back in Part 6 (so check there if you want a refresher). The key one is that Poison Fog deals its damage immediately upon casting, and then a second time when Gobbet's AP hits 0 on that turn or the turn itself ends, meaning that in practice it deals a guaranteed 20 HP damage minimum when cast directly on top of someone. All in all Poison Fog is a very reliable source of damage even without exploiting mechanical quirks, and now whatever fumed-up fog wizards in their stinky towers that develop these things want to stick an extra -1 AP for each damage tick on top of that? Like sure, why not I guess, the only real issue here is that it makes the fogged up area even more off-limits for our melee fighters, so we do have to be extra careful with its placement.  Spiritualist - Augment Spirit Summoning: Gobbet deepens her bond with Rat, increasing her Spirit Summoning and Spirit Control by 1.An important note here is that this perk only exists in the fan-patched version of the game. This is because the original one, which was supposed to increase Gobbet's control over shrine-summoned spirits from 2 rounds to 3 rounds, didn't actually do anything and there was apparently no way to fix it either. Of course even if this version was in the original game it still wouldn't work, because without community fixes all skill-increasing perks are also broken in both this game and Dragonfall... The only kinda interesting thing about this simple replacement perk is that it increases Gobbet's Spirit Summoning from 4 to 5 right away, which unlocks the very nice ability to summon and control two spirits instead of just one. That being said, Gobbet is going to get Spirit Summoning 5 on her next level anyway which means the real power of it only works for a very limited amount of time, and there are no important milestones for either skill past that point. So yeah, this is a pretty easy win for Acidic Fog, it gives a great bonus to an already useful spell without an expiration date attached. Shrine spirits are strong enough that an extra round of duration for them would've made this a more interesting decision, but alas.  Is0bel finally delivers a pretty great level after barely inching forward the last couple of times. Notably getting her Pistol skill to 4 eliminates the AP cost of reloading her slivergun, and Biotech 2 lets her see enemy HP values while selected as the active character which doesn't matter all that much as long someone in the team has it, but hey, at least it saves some clicks.  Sabotage - Augment Mini-Launcher: Is0bel's Mini-Launcher is now packed with Napalm Charges, igniting damaged targets. Targets on fire will take an additional 6 HP damage. Is0bel's explosives also set people on fire now? Hell yeah, sign me up right now! But wait, what is this small print here... "fire only included on the primary target and not anyone else in the area of effect"? Wait a moment, that's a lot worse! So yeah, usually with these skill descriptions I adjust them a bit myself for clarity, but this one I left as-is to show how the dang thing basically lies to you with the "igniting damaged targets" part. Eagle-eyed viewers might've noticed already from the demonstration gif above that only the one person directly bonked by the grenade is actually lit on fire. This lowers the perk's potential power a great deal, especially since Is0bel's accuracy with the launcher is pretty unreliable to begin with and a missed shot doesn't burn anyone at all no matter how many targets it hits otherwise. Her normal shots also compete in ammo and AP with her Remote Mines which we picked as her first perk and which are sadly not affected by this one in any way. Remote Mine damage can neither be increased by crits or reduced by cover so they have lower damage potential, but they're magnitudes more accurate compared to her basic shots and can be fired on any tile rather than just directly at enemies. Now if this perk caused Remote Mines to also ignite people on fire then we'd be handing out free napalm to all visitors like it was war crime Halloween, but as it is an extra 6 damage on just one target on a hit isn't quite enough for me to get excited about her basic shots again.  Espionage - Boost Program: Is0bel gains the Dual Routine Boost Program, which increases Persona speed while sneaking in the Matrix by 40%. Does not stack with other Boost Programs.So the actual effect of Dual Routine Boost is very nice if you want to stealth your way through the Matrix (and we do) as permanent +40% movement speed gives you a lot more leeway when slipping through the patrolling Watcher ICs. The catch here is that it is not a program unique to this perk, and can later simply be bought from stores for 500 nuyen and loaned to Is0bel at the start of each run, essentially rendering it pointless other than saving you some money if you're willing to do it that way. Ultimately this choice really depends on your playstyle and other build decisions with Is0bel, like whether you picked Remote Mines or are planning on buying Dual Routine Boost later. Or if Is0bel is your decker at all, obviously. Personally I like Remote Mines and am not all that big on buying stuff for the companions (and 500 nuyen isn't nothing in this game either) so we'll make the perhaps less "optimal" choice and grab Dual Routine Boost here. It is borderline must-have for smoother Matrix runs anyway, so getting it for free and not having to think about it again is nice enough when we're only giving up a very occasional 6 damage on some guy.  Racter's level up is pretty meager stats-wise, but then his job is pretty much just to help Koschei kill things even harder, so a bit more survivability and drone skill is basically all he needs anyway. Drone Control by itself doesn't actually do anything for him by default, but reaching 4 points in it here does technically allow him to control a second weaker drone if you buy and lend him one.  Predator - Augment Overclock: Racter's Toolkit's Overclock ability now gives Koschei an additional +1 AP for 1 RND.How Overclock is "supposed" to work is a little confusing in that in the base game without the Hong Kong Bugfix Compilation mod used in this LP, it's supposed to increase Koschei's AP by 1 and Movement by 2, but the Movement half is broken so only the AP half is applied and for the current round only. In the Bugfix Compilation (at least the version used in this LP) the Movement half is applied properly as well, but its effect and that of his other boost abilities lasts for both the current and the next round instead, which seemingly was a purposeful change (essentially the "effect duration" is set to 1 instead of 0). Now I have no idea which version was the original developer intent, but with the two-round duration Overclock we do have in use, this already nice perk becomes very very good. Since only Racter spends AP applying the skill, Koschei can make use of the full +2 AP bonus right away the same round, and then go again just as hard the following one. Since Overclock also increases his movement speed and drones are both durable and have infinite ammo, a super-overclocked Koschei can quite easily flank enemies behind cover and rain drone-ific hell on their asses with his excellent Shotgun Mount ability even harder than before.  Mangler - Augment Repair: The cooldown on Racter's Toolkit's Repair ability is reduced from 5 RNDs to 3 RNDs.Aaaand just like last time with Rotary Saw vs. Shotgun Mount, the "melee" perk here simply pales in comparison no matter how you use Koschei. Repair only heals the last instance of damage taken just like Heal Wounds does for people, so the timing of its usefulness is completely unpredictable beyond the fact that it probably won't be on the first combat round, and past that there just isn't much of a difference between cooldowns of 3 or 5 rounds since most fights are decided by then either way. Racter already packs some Drone Repair Kits by default as well. Basically even if you're just playing the base game without the community fixes where Overclock only gives 1 AP and 0 Movement for 1 round, Augment Overclock almost certainly remains the stronger pick here. I kind of feel like Augment Repair would have to completely eliminate the cooldown of Repair for it to compete with Augment Overclock even in the unpatched game. With two full Overclock rounds there's really no contest at all.  There's so many people to cover now that I'm kind of grateful we only have two level up sessions to go after this... But anyway, the most noteworthy thing about Gaichu's stat gains is the listing of "Edged" which is not an actual skill in-game, but rather the under the hood name of the Melee Weapons skill. The 5th point in Throwing Weapons also lets him throw grenades with just 1 AP. He does also gain a new unique ability:  Frenzy: A claw attack for standard unarmed damage that can hit adjacent targets. Cost: 1 AP. Cooldown: 3 RNDs.As per the description, Frenzy is basically a normal ghoul punch complete with the minor extra infection damage but in a 55 degree arc. Gaichu spends most of his time with sword combos instead of clawing at things, but he lacks area-based attacks so Frenzy can occasionally be handy in a crowd, especially if it finishes off a target on the side. The actual perks are as follows:  Red Samurai - Coup de Grace: Gaichu gains a katana ability with +10% accuracy and +100 HP damage, but which can only be used on stunned targets. Cost: 2 AP. Cooldown: 3 RNDs. Coup de Grace is very similar to Duncan's Subdue, except it's not guaranteed to hit and isn't limited to humanoid-shaped targets. And well, the fact that it just straight-up murders someone, although that's really more of a them problem than an us problem. On paper Subdue is likely the better skill of the two, simply because of how painful it is to dedicate 2 AP to a melee attack which can miss. In practice, Coup de Grace is likely to see much more active use because Gaichu is already going to be in melee anyway, while Duncan is primarily a mid-range rifle guy who'd rather gun enemies down from behind cover and isn't guaranteed to have good targets within reach.  Ghoul - Bite: Gaichu takes a bite out of his foe, dealing +2 HP damage, +1 AP damage, restoring 8 HP over two rounds and gaining +1 Strength through the consumption of their flesh. AP Cost: 1. Cooldown: 2 RNDs. Now I don't mean to stereotype ghouls or anything here but surely Gaichu should already know how to bite people without having to take a perk for it, doing that is basically his go-to threat and everything! That aside, the main draw of Bite is the extra AP damage which ironically would make it pair well with Coup de Grace if they weren't mutually exclusive. The heal and extra Strength point are nice but pretty minor effects, and the extra HP damage still doesn't make it stronger than his normal sword attacks. Despite my well-recorded fondness for AP damage, I do prefer Coup de Grace between these two choices, we have a lot of other AP damage effects at this point which it has obvious synergy with, and it does usually land thanks to the innate extra accuracy. Plus there's just something delightfully rude about whacking someone for over 100 damage in a single hit, it's just not something you really get to see a lot in these games.  That'll do it for deadly-ing up our crew, let's hit the boat before our clam pants start attracting seabirds.   Oh, er, hello everyone. Is it someone's birthday or something?   Did someone call a crew meeting? I told you, *I'm* the one who gets to call crew meetings. Izz has been doing her homework on Josephine Tsang and Tsang Mechanical Services. [The dwarf paces up and back, trying to decide how to begin.]The big powerful CEO and Executive Council lady who had that plastic-faced weirdo send a police hit squad on us? Some new developments on that front? Spill it. Okay. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, because there's a lot to go over. [She lifts her PDA to her face and consults her notes.] In 2011, Tsang Mechanical Services was a D-level corp floundering in the shallow end of the Hong Kong corporate pool. That's when Josephine Shui married into the family. Josephine thought big. She conceived of a massive project that would catapult TMS into the big time. Something she called the Prosperity Project. Prosperity? That's what Raymond was mumbling about.Oh yeah, we were wondering about what that meant a while back. Something about having "left prosperity in the Walled City" according to Kindly. What is the Prosperity Project? Once upon a time in the 1900s, the Walled City was a densely populated slum. Something like 30,000 people crammed into six and a half acres. Wait, I've heard this story before. It's a shithole, Hell-on-Earth, yadda-yadda-yadda. That's *today's* Walled City - the *second* Walled City. The first Walled City started life well over a hundred years ago and lasted through both World Wars and almost through to the Awakening. It was torn down in 1994 when the government had finally had enough. It had become such a haven for criminals that the cops would only enter it in large, well-armed groups. Sounds familiar. The Prosperity Project would replace the tent city and would be symbolically built on the site of the old Walled City. The slogan was, "A place of Dignity - where Prosperity begins." The apartments weren't much bigger than the space you'd get in your average coffin motel, but they were built around plazas and marketplaces that contained goods and services catering to the poor. The government forgot the lessons of the last Walled City - they loved the idea of containing the refugees and the poor to only a few densely populated blocks. It kept them out of the public eye. Securing the contract catapulted Tsang Mechanical Services' fortunes ahead. It eventually put Josephine Tsang onto the Executive Council. That doesn't line up. How did she get so powerful by building a slum? It's a very big slum. Apparently, that was also the beginning of a series of lucrative building contracts that propelled TMS into the big time. Where's Raymond come into all this? Raymond Black doesn't come into it at all. But Edward Tsang does.Another Tsang? Name doesn't sound familiar, but the way she worded that part and all these connections between our foster father and the Walled City almost make it sound like... Is Raymond Black actually Edward Tsang? You got it.[Duncan's jaw drops open.] What? No. Come on. So our secret foster grandmother is trying to kill us? It looks that way, yeah. [Racter chuckles softly to himself.]Really could've gone the more traditional route and sent us some warm cookies instead of blazing-hot sniper bullets. Grandmas huh, always overdoing it when it comes to their kids. What kind of a name is Breakwater anyway? Cooler than he was, apparently. Breakwater Tsang was kind of a nobody - the nothing son of the company's nothing founder. The best thing he ever did for his company - or his family - was marry Josephine. Then die of a heart attack and get out of her way. I always did wonder where Raymond's money came from. Wait, this doesn't make any sense. Remember that massive gray water leak that flooded the basement back in ‘48? Oh yeah, when we got back from that camping trip in the Salish? Ray screamed bloody murder about that. Remember what happened to Mrs. Malony? Ray didn't know the first thing about sewer lines - he hired a small army of plumbers, probably paid 'em double what the job was worth to fix the thing, and it still took almost two months to get the leak under control. Huh, always catches you a bit off-guard when Duncan suddenly busts out these kinds of sharp observations. But he is right, that doesn't really add up. And Josephine put *him* in change of the utilities? No wonder the Walled City smells like that. I don't think Raymond had anything to do with the utilities in the Walled City. So, if this man was not in charge of the utilities for the project, what was he doing down there? I don't know. But Edward Tsang disappeared from the public eye shortly after Prosperity was completed. Around 2031. That's about the time he moved to Seattle. Around seven years before he found us. But what happened in the Walled City? And what would make Raymond want to go back in there now after all these years? I don't know, but I intend to find out. And so everyone shuffles back to their usual hangouts, while we gain another freebie of 4 Karma and more mysteries to ponder about what the heck really is going on with the guy who raised us, whatever his actual name is.  First things first though, the usual computer business. We actually have some personal mail not related to new jobs today.  quote:>>From: Kindly Cheng  quote:>>From: Bao JianJun So the big boss is out but the little boss is barking orders at us in her stead. Guess we'll stop by the parlor later, it can't be right-this-second urgent or he wouldn't have sent it over mail.  On the Shadowlands end, we claim some pocket money from the Repulse Bay construction plans we grabbed during the whole vampire queen business, and put up the Binary Bard's cyberdeck schematics for sale in turn. Hey, that wasn't a paid run, and we have our expenses. Searching the BBS for relevant keywords returns quite a lot of hits today, let's go from the top here...  [Update on Typhoon Usagi. Infrared images of the storm eye-to-wall transition are really quite stunning, by the way.] - White Prism <13:40:51/08-15-56>   For the moment, Usagi is resisting the wind, which is causing it to lose strength. Prevailing winds will probably ultimately drive Usagi ashore west of Macau, as it struggles to remain over water. According to Dr. Lance Inroki of the Imperial Japanese Meteorological Agency, even the most "awakened" storms have difficulty delaying their landfall for more than a week, once they are in the South China Sea. Usagi will still be a full-strength typhoon when it makes landfall, but its delay fortunately gives people in the storm path more time to prepare.[Look babe, I just made this cartoonified Typhoon for you. It's got a little purse and sparkles and bubble tea and eight arms with assorted weapons and a necklace of skulls and everything.] - Amonita <13:46:26/08-15-56> [You're the best.] - White Prism <13:50:34/08-15-56> [The J-pop theme on the ammunition belts really takes it over the top, Amonita. You are a special person.] - Tungsten <13:54:01/08-15-56>  [Has anyone else been keeping track of the Executive Council elections? It's almost time for the latest round, and the competition is heating up. Up until this point, Tan Tien CEO Sau-kok Chu looked like the best pick to replace Josephine Tsang, of Tsang Mechanical Services. Despite Wuxing CEO Kent Zhouling's rivalry with Chu, he had the support of both Yang Lin Fat of Shibata and Adrian Chung of Hildebrandt-Kleinfort-Bernal] - The Chromed Accountant <11:11:11/08-16-56> [Now, though, I'm not so sure. Josephine Tsang seems pretty confident that she'll remain on the Council. From what I've heard, she's cut a deal with Ares Asia, Monobe, and Eastern Tiger to stay out of their way. In exchange, they let her own Southeast Asia's large-scale construction projects. A cozy relationship like that could turn the tides against Tan Tien.]<<<< - The Chromed Accountant <11:12:44/08-16-56>   Some have said Tsang Mechanical Services does not have the will to compete in a global market. That we are only a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kong, Africa, and South America. I say that our good fortune is your good fortune![Tsang pounds the podium with a closed fist, nodding for emphasis.] Tsang Mechanical Services is more than a local company. Our star is rising, and shows no sign of slowing. I ask the residents of Dongguan: who among you does not wish for a better life? A wealthier, happier life - one where your company is also your family, and can protect you from the uncertainty of these trying times? We will give you that life! We will give you that protection and certainty![What a load of utter crap.] - BlueShift <11:23:07/08-16-56> [It may be crap, but the people in Dongguan ate it up. The idea of signing with a local company that isn't Baihu - and believe me, they count Tan Tien and Wuxing as foreign - was too much of a draw for them to pass on. I'm thinking that absent catastophe, Josephine Tsang will be on the Executive Council in the next few days.] - The Chromed Accountant <11:34:19/08-16-56> [Why do they count Wuxing as foreign? Tan Tien, sure - they're headquartered in Beijing - but Wuxing's just as native to Hong Kong as Tsang is.] - TraumaHound <11:39:41/08-16-56> [Wuxing and the Canton Confederation have been at odds since 2015. Wuxing's made a habit of exploiting the people of Guangdong and using loopholes to shield themselves from taxation. What's more, Wuxing was the primary mover in founding the Free Enterprise Zone, permanently stopping the Confederation's designs on Hong Kong.] - The Chromed Accountant <11:43:26/08-16-56> [Tsang took a different tactic. Josephine Tsang started out by promising the Canton Confederation a very lucrative taxation agreement in exchange for a low-cost, long term lease for their facilities in Dongguan. She sweetened the deal by treating them like family, rather than adversaries. She's got them eating out of her hand.] - The Chromed Accountant <11:44:04/08-16-56>  [Got a collection of over 10,000 albums of punk, hardcore, hardcore lite, thrash, thrash metal, heavy metal, light metal, death metal, metal nouveau, Sinopunk, synthpunk, cyberthrash, synthcore, Hong Kong ska, and triple-umlaut bands like Ümläüt.] - RocKollektor <14:22:41/08-16-56> [If there’s an album you’ve been searching for, I might just have it. In return, I’m in search of any weird, obscure bands to add to my library. Let me know!] - RocKollektor <14:37:20/08-16-56> [Got any cybercore synth metal? As for what might interest you… I own the complete oeuvre of this German punk band, MESSERKAMPF! Heard of them?] - pööksteräma <14:42:51/08-16-56> [Messerkampf? HAHAHA. They’re so mainstream. They’re really big in the JIS.] - BetaTown <14:45:23/08-16-56> [Really? Do they tour?] - pööksteräma <14:50:12/08-16-56> [Naw, man, I don’t think so. Those Berlin anarchist bands never survive very long. Besides, I think they broke up a really long time ago. They’re probably aging wage slaves now, and no idea that they’re wildly popular on the other side of the planet.] - RocKollektor <14:51:44/08-16-56>  [Looking for experienced decker for a discreet milk run picking a very special access card off a wage slave. Potential for a longer term arrangement. We’re a team that’s been together for years, running your basic heists and the occasional transport gig. We’ve got a reliable fixer and long list of happy clients. Requirements: 1. You must not take experimental stims during runs 2. You must not tamper with chemicals in secret labs. 3. You must have a good sense of humor.] - gimmesomenuyen888 <22;04:27/08-16-56> [Knock, knock!] - inXtremis <22:09:52/08-16-56> [Uh...] - gimmesomenuyen888 <22:11:38/08-16-56> [You said, “a good sense of humor.” It’s a joke, see?] - inXtremis <22:15:03/08-16-56> [At this point, we’re actually more interested in hiring an experienced professional with a mature adult’s impulse control. We’ve had some bad luck with our deckers lately. The last one had two left feet and couldn’t seem to stop stumbling into containers full of volatile substances...] - gimmesomenuyen888 <22:18:34/08-16-56> [Poor runswithscissors2056 - although by looking at her name, I guess we should have known.] - CaptainScone <22:20:56/08-16-56> [So basically, you guys are desperate for a decker. Has anyone else contacted you?] - inXtremis <22:25:17/08-16-56> [Um... We can wait a little longer.] - gimmesomenuyen888 <22:29:40/08-16-56> [Meet me. You guys are starting to get a bad rap, you know. Jinxed.] - inXtremis <22:39:43/08-16-56>  [As some of you know, I have a keen interest in urban planning, geophysics, and anything involving our eventual and inevitable destruction. Appended is a recent summary on rising sea level in Hong Kong. It expresses the issue well in lay terms. Freedom Cowboy: You complained my post titles are a bit sterile. How's this one?] - White Prism <23:12:05/08-16-56> quote:ARTICLE MIRROR: THE SINKING OF HONG KONG [So we're going to be running jobs from gondolas in fifty years? That's the message?] - gimmesomenuyen888 <23:23:11/08-16-56> [When one does some simple financial modeling, and extrapolates the worsening severity and frequency of Super Typhoons along with the geological outlook, the actual message is that it may be necessary to abandon Hong Kong.] - White Prism <23:24:56/08-16-56> [WP, I take it back. Keep your sterile titles. What's so endearing about you is that you talk about the grimmest things like an accountant.] - Freedom Cowboy <23:28:31/08-16-56> [Double-entry accrual accounting is an amazing system. If more operators took an interest in it, they would have much better long-term financial security, as well as be better able to interpret and manipulate materials encountered during their work.] - White Prism <23:32:47/08-16-56> [It's pretty ironic that your handle shortens to "WP" - normally associated with White Phosphorous.] - Hatch <23:35:17/08-16-56> [Actually Hatch, it's not. It's really not.] - Freedom Cowboy <23:38:29/08-16-56> [White phosphorous is exceptionally useful, not merely because of its hypergolic ignition and the fact that once burning it is chemically immune to water quenching, but also because of its high adhesion and biotoxicity. I don't take pleasure in these qualities, but I appreciate them.] - White Prism <23:41:20/08-16-56>   [See attached image, dated to late 2050. The human in the middle is Simon Zhour, a mercenary fixer in Macau. He's a known quantity. I'm interested in the elf on his left. Anybody recognize this guy?] - Archaeopteryx <18:21:22/04-23-52> [Your Person-of-Interest is Roalde Hon, a.k.a. Whipsaw. He's not a merc. He's a corpo-turned-runner-turned-corpo. He's now a counterdisruption advisor, currently under contract to Transys Neuronet. Zhour is just a broker, but I'm wondering what Whipsaw is doing with the third guy, the troll: Icebreaker] - Blood Meridian <18:22:52/04-23-52> [Icebreaker? He doesn't look like a decker.] - Escape Velocity <18:24:09/04-23-52> [Icebreaker as in "as big as an Icebreaker." The ship. He supposedly ran a paramilitary crew for awhile.] - Blood Meridian <18:26:30/04-23-52> [I've heard of this guy. He vanished six years ago. His whole team went completely dark. They were called "The Fleet." Word is they hit a big score and retired.] - Skry-00 <18:29:11/04-23-52> [yo guys, i've got metadata that icebreaker's crew got wiped out. only two survivors, and you won't find them.] Tin Helmet <18:31:28/04-23-52> [Tin Helmet, I'm tired of your weird-rear end rumors.] -Frenetix <18:36:47/04-23-52> [Tin Helmet may be correct. One Fleet associate, Ustrada, posted on the BBS six times over the next year. Another, Balisong, was collected by bounty hunter. See attached image.] - White Prism <18:40:29/04-23-52> [Thanks, White Prism, that's loving awesome. We all really needed a picture of a woman shot in the face and slumped over a toilet. This isn't a gore board. I swear you've got Asperger's or something.] -Frenetix <18:44:08/04-23-52>  [Car bombing in Kowloon City today, near Salisbury & Nathan. Triad hit? Extremists?] - Blood Meridian <05:17:18/06-10-51> [The triads don't usually use car bombs, and terrorists want a substantial blast to kick fragments. This one had a small explosive, but burned like an oil well.] - Vanisher <05:21:01/06-10-51> [Voila! HKPD Report appended. One fatality, the driver. Guy named "Ripshot." Burnt almost beyond identification.] - Amonita <06:02:23/06-10-51> [Ripshot, he's a rigger, he rolls for "The Fleet." He's got a long enemies list.] - CrazyTaste <06:25:38/06-10-51> [No, CrazyTaste. I don't know why people keep associating The Fleet and this Ripshot guy. The Fleet's rigger is a Shenzhen guy called Chainlink. Yeah, Ripshot has a lot of enemies, but he's a Cao Pho croc shaman over in Kwun Tong. And he's not dead.] - Amonita <06:27:59/06-10-51> [Several people have operated Hong Kong under the handle "Ripshot" in the last year. None of them are linked to The Fleet, but that crew is known to spread misinformation about their composition. So... who knows.] - Amonita <06:28:25/06-10-51> [I see the body identification was made from limb DNA, a skull fragment, and the footage from a nearby CCTV camera.] - White Prism <7:40:12/06-10-51> [White Prism, Amonita... are you going to go conspiracy-theory on us? Again?] - Escape Velocity <7:43:39/06-10-51>  Alright, that's more than enough computers for one day. Time to roll the dice again with the whole sleeping business...   The worst part is starting to forget what normal person sleep actually feels like. At any rate, we have a number of things to go over with our crew today like what Is0bel's planning to do with the whole memory thing, and we should go see what Strangler Bao wants from us too. Another busy day ahead. Kanfy fucked around with this message at 10:56 on May 25, 2024 |
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May 25, 2024 10:53
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Awakened storms are 'fun'. They're conscious enough to know that moving onto land will kill them and to not want to die.
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May 25, 2024 11:36
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Kanfy posted:Despite my well-recorded fondness for AP damage, I do prefer Coup de Grace between these two choices, we have a lot of other AP damage effects at this point which it has obvious synergy with, and it does usually land thanks to the innate extra accuracy. Plus there's just something delightfully rude about whacking someone for over 100 damage in a single hit, it's just not something you really get to see a lot in these games. Kanfy posted:
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May 25, 2024 11:36
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Kanfy posted:
At least they got the aging part right were Dietrich is concerned. With his lifestyle, it was far from a given.
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May 25, 2024 12:40
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How long after Dragonfall is this set? A few years? Not sure Dietrich would still be around given his totem.
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May 25, 2024 18:15
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The Lone Badger posted:Awakened storms are 'fun'. They're conscious enough to know that moving onto land will kill them and to not want to die. This does run counter to both prevailing ocean winds and the fact that they really want to kill those loving mortal groundwalkers to prove themselves the superior godlike being.
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May 25, 2024 18:15
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habeasdorkus posted:How long after Dragonfall is this set? A few years? Not sure Dietrich would still be around given his totem. Dragonfall was in 2054, Hong Kong is in 2056. Chances are about an even split as to if Dietrich would be alive at this point - but the Flux State is on its way out and if he's not dead he's walled up with the rest of the anarchists in East Berlin. The most likely "dragon" to kill the Dragonslayer Shaman would be the German corpo-government itself. KataraniSword fucked around with this message at 18:24 on May 25, 2024 |
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May 25, 2024 18:21
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The Lone Badger posted:Awakened storms are 'fun'. They're conscious enough to know that moving onto land will kill them and to not want to die.
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May 25, 2024 19:20
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KataraniSword posted:Dragonfall was in 2054, Hong Kong is in 2056. Chances are about an even split as to if Dietrich would be alive at this point - but the Flux State is on its way out and if he's not dead he's walled up with the rest of the anarchists in East Berlin. The most likely "dragon" to kill the Dragonslayer Shaman would be the German corpo-government itself. The brutal reference to the Berlin wall used to imprison the anarchistic freedom-seekers in a fantastic cyberpunk setting is amazing. The wall itself could be a good contender for the title of dragon to take down.
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May 25, 2024 19:48
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I miss Blitz he needs to kool-aid man a wall in a cameo
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May 26, 2024 00:06
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JT Jag posted:Makes me wonder if any Awakened Storms have managed to partially circumnavigate the globe by going around the tip of South America or the Horn of Africa in their attempt to keep going All the skippers around the globe trying to compete in races must be pretty pissed at the unexpected competition.
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May 26, 2024 09:33
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:I miss Blitz You do not actually miss Blitz. Nobody misses Blitz.
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May 26, 2024 10:09
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Kith posted:You do not actually miss Blitz. Nobody misses Blitz. Everybody misses Blitz. They usually can't explain how, but he has inexplicably remained alive every time.
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May 26, 2024 10:13
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Maybe some powerful spirit finds his antics amusing and protects him covertly.
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May 26, 2024 11:37
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