Character Development Thread--Discussion

Found something for Hralia to do, and after WillDeRegio replies, I just need to contrive a reason for Toni and Ultra to almost-but-not-quite meet. Maybe they do meet and that could create kind of a tense moment, wherein Ultra declines to be taken back home until the Joseph mystery is resolved because that's who she is... but that would leave nothing for Toni to do, unless you have any ideas.

Relatedly, I have a shortlist of character candidates to bring in after that whole character mystery is resolved or when I have a good opportunity, whenever that ends up being: A psionic superhero who spends most of her time in a fortress on the moon because her powers are too sensitive, a super who's basically a retired Indiana Jones and has absolutely done some of the super shady shit that this implies, a ditzy 'technofae' in the form of a living video game character unleashed by a now-defunct video game company in a parody of a lost/haunted game creepypasta, an immortal ninja cat-(or more accurately rat)-burglar as well as her old clan hunting her down if I feel like juggling 3 more, or a haughty planet exploration android from Hralia's universe. All of whom could stand to be thrust into unfamiliar situations for the sake of character exploration, and might bring up interesting opportunities like Ultra's detective thing has.

I cooouuuld drop someone in alongside Ultra and Toni to have a third plot thread going, but things are already moving along as-is unless anyone's got a good place to put them.

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 8th 2022 at 6:06:46 AM

I'm not sure how long it'll take to resolve Joseph's mystery. It's in a bit of a weird spot where it's technically been resolved already, but the only characters who are conscious of the truth belong to Miss_Desperado, who drifted away from the thread (Adventure I, that is) last year. The character of mine who holds the answer was likewise thoroughly entangled with one of Miss_Desperado's, and I'm holding out on bringing him back, just in case Miss decides to return one of these days. But if push comes to shove, I'm sure I can come up with some excuse to disentangle him.

That said, there's a more emotional core to the mystery that will likely only be learned through a thorough interrogation of the shy younger Joseph, or through a meeting between his two selves.

In the actual story it takes months to be resolved, and the eventual ennui that results from having such a seemingly unapproachable problem hanging over one's life becomes a major factor in the plot. Obviously, things will have to be abbreviated here. It does help to have folks from more magically and technically advanced settings, as opposed to the relatively mundane Earth of his home.

Think I'll post in the lobby soon since my group is stuck there lol.

Yeah, I feel you. I also had a plan to deal with my character's arc that also involved Miss's characters but uh....yeah. Lol

Good point. Just shot Strix a message to see if they're still participating, so hopefully that unsticks things one way or another.

Been tempted to drop someone out in the wilds of the setting just to have another active zone, but I don't know if I've got the time right now. It's been a brutal semester and I'm still in for a month.

At the very least, once I get Connie out of the hotel and out on her own it should provide a fresh avenue for adventure. I've also got a similar option for David in my back pocket if things don't wind up going in a different direction which, thus far, they haven't. We've been unusually light on sudden explosive action waylaying otherwise peaceful happenings. Not saying it's a bad thing, mind.

Edited by Ryuhza on Nov 8th 2022 at 4:26:25 AM

Hey, it's me again. Sorry for taking so long on both threads. Things have been... complicated from my side the last few weeks. I don't want to burden you with the details, but I had some personal issues that just now I'm starting to deal with. And it's pretty much drained any energy that I had left to write, here or on my own works.

This doesn't mean that I'm dropping, or thinking of dropping out. If anything, I'm starting to work back on posting on Adventure and Hilbert Inn. Might consider dropping in another character somewhere else, not sure yet.

Edited by Pyxo on Nov 8th 2022 at 3:00:07 PM

I'm still participating. Sorry for the delays; I missed one of Master's posts and thought we were still waiting on the party in the elevator.

Edited by StrixObscuro on Nov 8th 2022 at 2:48:25 PM

FWIW, the forest—specifically in or near the farm—is where I was considering dropping Lancer (the psychic). A seemingly conventional archetypal 'superhero', with a brightly-colored caped outfit and all, just sort of dropping out of the sky. She'd have her powers drastically reduced from canon, and would be cognizant of this... upside being that she can tolerate being planetside for an extended period ^note because she'd no longer be picking up the psychic noise of every nervous system within hundreds of miles. Mixed blessing.

more relevant to the thread's current goings on, though, here's a little animation of Ultra.

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 9th 2022 at 11:13:05 AM

It's ok!

Hmm, that might put her near Henry/Bonnie et al.'s current heading. Once they get moving, that is. Though I don't know that they'd have any cause to stop at the farm, unless communication doesn't work out between WillDeRegio's characters and they need to do on-foot reconnaissance.

Very cool animation. Gives me Metal Gear Solid 1 vibes.

Fuck it, went and did it.

Thank you! The project she's going to be starring in was envisioned as a detective game somewhere between Silent Hill for the plentiful spooks and unnerving atmosphere, Metal Gear Solid, Snatcher, and old point-and-clicks.

(The fun LucasArts ones, mind you. Mostly.)

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 9th 2022 at 1:58:16 PM

Posted. Those who've been around will recognize the Eyes and Teeth, though as part of my efforts to make it less "Lovecraftian" and more "Mythic", its primary title these days is "the God of Suffocation". (Named for its favored, though inefficient, method of killing. Paralyze the target's lungs, and feast on their fear and pain. Yeah, it's not a nice creature.)

Edited by KillerClowns on Nov 10th 2022 at 7:49:23 AM

I always liked the concept of P&C adventure games, but never actually played many beyond the Humongous Entertainment games of my early youth. Maybe it was because I couldn't find the fun ones. I think I was always most taken by the elevated potential for interaction compared to other games, though it sometimes made little sense. Hell, back when I had more energy, I took a stab at making a (way out of scope and bogged down by feature creep) at making a game with some P&C features in one of the LittleBigPlanet games. It was to star a horned fellow I've written for in the threads, but it didn't get very far.

FYI, the picture you linked in your last Adventure II post turns up a 403 forbidden page. You may want to rehost it.

Fun thing to run into right off the bat, at any rate. Something probably worth noting is that Lancer does have control over her telepathy, and is actually overall averse to directly reading minds because that's by nature incredibly invasive, and beings can sense when it's being done to them and resist.

Still can't turn off the surface-level scanning, though, which is oftentimes handy for detecting those who might otherwise be concealed from her (like she did upon arrival), as well as parsing things like moods and sensing immediate intent, but that's also what accounts for the usually-debilitating noise and... well, what's happening now.

Ah, darn. Should work now?

Of course, certain tropes of the genre are to be avoided, namely the Moon Logic Puzzle and the "you didn't do this specific thing two hours ago welp time to reset". It'll be evil in other ways.

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 10th 2022 at 7:35:01 AM

Does work now

Edit: Not that it matters much as I'll be disastrously busy this weekend, but Pyxo, are you still working on a post for Adventure II?

Edited by Ryuhza on Nov 10th 2022 at 5:08:14 AM

Will De Regio: You're up for the Forest... now that Ethani's ill-mannered pet has needlessly antagonized a superhero.

Should diplomacy fail, their odds against her are certainly better than they might be under normal circumstances, but yes.

Against a valkyrie, two gun-slinging mages, an Anti-Magic wielder, and a hellhound, some caution would seem in order.

Truth be told, Ethani and especially Aseyu are probably far less threatening than Mist, Maelys, or Fog. Aseyu is, at best, mostly on the low end of Badass Normal. Ethani is an Empowered Badass Normal, and on the high end of her own world's magical capacity, but that just makes her the biggest fish in a small pond. That said, a bullet charged with the power of entropy and decay is gonna have a fair bit more bite than you usually get from a mid-20th century level assault rifle.

I see that everyone's posted at least once in Hilbert Inn, so I'll get a post up when I get a chance to wake up properly.

No argument here. "Under normal circumstances", Lancer is a borderline Reality Warper whose usual duties include diverting hazardous asteroids and handling natural disasters. Now, though... the group has a realistic shot. Even moreso given that she's averse to killing or maiming on principle (and because of the whole 'empath' thing), on top of the involuntary handicaps that she's not even fully cognizant of yet. She knows she's weaker in a nebulous sense, but she's not going to realize that she can't stop bullets in midair anymore until it's too late.

Truth be told, though, I'm rather interested to write her in a more casual interpersonal basis. It hasn't really come through yet, but she's primarily a dorky shut-in who puts on a stoic unflappable face because that's what's expected of her as not-Superman.

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 13th 2022 at 3:33:17 AM

Turns out disastrous busyness can be bested by even more disastrous decision making. But for real, I'm probably going to be too busy to post much until after the 22nd.

Probably.

Definitely probably.

I expect that's what'll end up happening. Ethani doesn't pick fights on her own, and Aseyu's preferred approach new species is diplomatic, in a sense.

oh yeah there's an evil(?) psychic around too, isn't there

Edited by Chortleous on Nov 15th 2022 at 11:51:39 AM

I'm still by here, planning on working on a post when I get home tonight.

I have a Superman Substitute in the form of Ubermensch, a high elf telekinetic.

Fog and Mist, Maelys, Claire, and Lulu all fought him together... And lost, badly.

At their current status, they would mildly inconvenience Lancer.

Sweet. After a slew of surprise good news(aka a reduction of earlier bad news), I should be available to respond by the 19th

Quite a bit to catch up with - it's taken me to the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Finally posted for Hilbert Inn.