Bounty Hunters: Apocalypse discussion

Thanks.

I think there's no point in signatures.

Oh derp, also Ross wasn't in the room with the guns. He would've been in the room with the ammo when Dean took Kintra to him.

And no problem.

edited 13th Jun '12 3:23:02 AM by FirockFinion

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Freedom, I just finished school for the summer, and I can post again.

World Domination is such an ugly phrase; I prefer World Optimization

@Baruta: Sounds cool, hope you did well. I've been having a pretty major distractions in real life plus work today.

Anyway, I was thinking I might just hand wave/timeskip the group forward relatively soon, (As in tonight or tomorrow.) if there's no objections.

EDIT: Or I'll get hit with writer's block. Gotta get going for tonight now, but I'll try to get a post up tomorrow soon after I'm up.

edited 22nd Jun '12 5:45:26 AM by FirockFinion

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@Firock I think I've managed to single out some more demons I've got 4 possible candidates I'll post a basic description of each.

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Elm-Shadows: A powerful shape-shifting demon that transforms into it's prey's worse fear. Essentially a Boggart from the Harry Potter books except they can use multiple forms at the same time.

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Reapers: Yeah I know you already have one of these but it's still a good candidate. They are humanoid in appearance except that their hands are replaced with scythe-like blades. They prefer to attack with a stabbing motion.

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Leapers: In my 'verse they are a variation of Reapers except their hands are more axe-like and their knees bend backwards like birds legs.They attack by jumping into the air and use the extra downwards momentum to give their attacks a bit more power.

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Flame Beasts: They come in all shapes and sizes but the notable thing about them is the strange oil that seeps from their pores, it is so highly flammable that their own body heat is sufficient to ignite it.

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That's it for now but I've noticed a severe lack of demonic fish. I think that will be the next file I'll pull up.

edited 22nd Jun '12 9:12:52 PM by gbrngfol

I think there's no point in signatures.

Hmm, I like them, particularly the last one. I might change the first three into undead instead of demons though, and the first might be a rare instead of common.

Speaking of which though, I've been considering something for the second bestiary but I'm still on the fence about them. So I figured I'd see what you guys thought of them; it'd be two new monster 'families' to go with the three we have already. (Beast, Undead, Demon.)

• First monster family idea: Cthulian
  • Originally thought to be more demons, but turns out Cthulian monsters are their own faction, fighting both Humans and other monsters for reasons unknown. Current origin theories on Cthulian monsters are that they're either from outer space or another dimension, with the latter being more popular. Besides all being on the same side, Cthulian monsters have little unifying features; some are intelligent enough to use tactics and weapons, others are basically wild animals that can be easily tricked. There are two things common amongst Cthulian monsters, (Though not universal; there are exceptions.) the first being an apparent disregard for physics as we know them, both in their own body make and their actions; the second being a tendency to have negative effects simply from looking at them. However, despite common myth, none of them will make you go insane by looking at them.

Examples of them would be: Anything from the Cthulhu mythos and whatever bizarre things I think up.

• Second monster family idea: Fair Folk
  • This monster family is more common in Europe than anywhere else in the world, but can still show up anywhere. The most prominent thing about Fair Folk is that they're always in it for themselves; they will ally with or fight against Humans, other monsters, and even other Fair Folk based on whatever best fits their own agenda. (The only exception being Cthulian monsters, if I use both.) Fair Folk are usually intelligent, but weak, usually trying to manipulate others or use traps to take down enemies; Fair Folk also more often than not have some kind of connection to nature.

Examples of them would be: Elves, pixies, fairies, nature spirits, and such.

Anyway, so those are the two ideas, both with their own problem that have kept me on the fence. The first one being that I'm not actually all that familier with the Cthulhu mythos. The second being that I'm not certain that Fair Folk would fit the RP very well.

edited 22nd Jun '12 10:15:32 PM by FirockFinion

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I think the eldrich abomination page should give enough explanation for chthulian creatures. Oh and I think we all missed something, normal creatures are still dangerous so what about adding wild dog packs to the list.

edited 22nd Jun '12 10:27:58 PM by gbrngfol

I think there's no point in signatures.

Those would fall under the beast category we have already. I'll probably add them into the second bestiary list.

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If you do use the Fair Folk (which I think would add a new, interesting dimension to this RPG), I'd suggest that they be bound by their promises, but only to the letter thereof. Why yes I like the Dresden-style Fae, why do you ask?

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

Real life distractions are delaying me a bit again. Specifically I've got work coming up tomorrow and I don't know next week's schedule until then.

@Wysp: I haven't read those but that sounds like a good idea. I think I'll include both of them; now to just get myself to actually write the list sometime.

Maybe I'll have it done next week... Maybe.

You are reading this.

It's not a problem. As always, life comes first.

If you'd like some help writing the list, lemme know.

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

So apparently I most likely won't be going to work today, since they're so slow and they don't need me to come in. I will however probably mow the lawn today, so I'll be away for a while later anyway.

@Wysp: With how fast I type, I can actually usually get those kinds of things done in an hour or two at most. The tricky part is getting myself to do that, and coming up with the ideas.

I'm gonna try and get myself to start once I'm done with various posting.

You are reading this.

I pretty much assumed that was the case re: lists. :P

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

Well, I got distracted a lot today then got some writing done, however it wasn't related to this RP.

So pretty much the only reasons I'm posting now is to explain my absence and let you guys know that I have work tomorrow. It's the only day I've got work this week but I do have some other things coming up in the days ahead that shouldn't be as time consuming as work but still.

Anyway, my current plan is to do my best to get a post done once I'm back from work tomorrow.

You are reading this.

Double post, but here's the second bestiary list. Again, monsters are sorted into different families and categorized by rarity same as before. To condense the size of this post, the overall descriptions of the three monster families already used are absent. Please reference this post in order to get said descriptions and see the monsters that aren't included here. (On a side note to Gbrn, please don't be offended that I changed the names of some of your suggestions/tweaked how they work a little. I did so to both avoid confusion and to make them fit the naming convention a little better/I thought the new way of them working would fit the RP a little better.)

Once again, this does not include every monster, even when put together with the first list.

• COMMON BEASTS
  • Feral dogs (pets): While a lot of pets were abandoned during the apocalypse, it is dogs that most commonly turned feral to the point of being dangerous. There's also things like cats of course, but they mostly avoid humans. The dogs however, if desperate enough, will attack humans, usually in packs. Unlike dire animals, they are not tainted by evil in any sense; they're just feral, and can theoretically be re-domesticated.
• RARE BEASTS
  • Giant ants: Classified as rare due to their infrequent occurrence rate, but if you see one there's bound to be a few hundred to a few thousand more not far away. Giant ants don't really have anything special going for them besides their abnormal size; the smaller typically being about the size of your average dog and the bigger ones being the same size as people; the queens will usually be about the size of a truck or van. They come in great numbers, but thankfully not as great as their relatively harmless tiny counterparts. Regardless, most instances of giant ant colonies have had to be met with military intervention.

• COMMON UNDEAD
  • Slashers: An attempt by the various dark powers that be to advance necromancy in response to the fact that simple zombies tend to get shot dead pretty easily. However, since the dark powers are not all in communication, mass production is basically impossible so not all of them are the same; slashers are simply a common idea thought of. Slashers specifically are more or less standard undead with blades (usually curved) either replacing their hands or jutting out of their forearm pointed forward, depending on the materials available to the one doing the reanimation and their ingenuity. Slashers are usually as fast as runners, to get full use of their bladed weapons, and the higher quality ones that still have hands can typically climb around on walls and ceilings too.
  • Choppers: Another commonly thought of "upgrade" to the more standard undead, and very similar to stabbers. What distinguishes choppers from stabbers is that choppers get axes instead of longer blades, which almost always replace their hands entirely. Higher quality choppers usually have inverted legs to help avoid chopping themselves, and can leap impressively far.
  • Small & big abominations: "Abominations" is the term universally used for cases when someone or something doing reanimation used random parts from multiple bodies. As expected, abominations are extremely random in their makeup and abilities, making them impossible to categorize except by very broad definitions. "Small" abominations would be ones smaller than a person, usually made up of a collection of fingers, toes, hands, feet, heads, and sometimes a limb or two, that commonly move around like some kind of spider and simply claw or bash at their target. "Big" abominations would be ones bigger than a person, usually made up of multiple whole bodies put together into either a random mass or squished into some purposeful shape; a common theme with big abominations is a large, somewhat obese humanoid shape that will also be given some unconventionally large melee weapon.
• RARE UNDEAD
  • Elm Shadow: A terrifying spirit that takes the form of its target's greatest fear. The true form of an Elm Shadow is still unknown, and it's been speculated that they're possibly more common than people think. The only way to distinguish an Elm Shadow from another monster, (especially if its target is most afraid of a particular monster already.) is when they die; a dead Elm Shadow melts away into shadows, leaving no evidence that it was ever there in the first place. Some still wonder if an Elm Shadow has ever really been killed or if that's a defense mechanism for when they get hurt and need to retreat. Since it's nigh impossible for an Elm Shadow's target to successfully fight back, all known kills on Elm Shadows have been people ganging up on one, since it can only take the form of one person's greatest fear at a time. (Unless more than one person happen to be most afraid of the same thing.)

• COMMON DEMONS
  • Flame Beasts: Flame beasts come in various shapes and sizes, but are usually beastly, as the name would imply. What unifies flame beasts is that they all constantly secrete a highly flammable oil from pores in their almost rock-like skin. Since this secretion is constant, flame beasts are usually constantly on fire unless submerged in water long enough/hit well enough with a fire extinguisher/buried in sand for a bit/etc.. Even when a flame beast is put out, all they need to do is rub their skin against something hard enough, and that will usually reignite them. This oil can be difficult to harvest from dead flame beasts, but if done so successfully will usually sell well.

• COMMON CTHULIANS: Originally thought to be more demons, but turns out Cthulian monsters are their own faction, fighting both Humans and other monsters for reasons unknown. Current origin theories on Cthulian monsters are that they're either from outer space or another dimension, with the latter being more popular. Besides all being on the same side, Cthulian monsters have little unifying features; some are intelligent enough to use tactics and weapons, others are basically wild animals that can be easily tricked. There are two things common amongst Cthulian monsters, (Though not universal; there are exceptions.) the first being an apparent disregard for physics as we know them, both in their own body make and their actions; the second being a tendency to have negative effects simply from looking at them while they're still alive, including any photos or video of them. However, despite common myth, none of them will make you go insane by looking at them.
  • Striders: Striders are one of the intelligent Ctuhlian monsters. In appearance, they have a Human-like body from the waist up, but with dull blue skin, pure black eyes, pointed ears, and no hair; but from the waist down is a collection of spider-like legs, the exact number of which is changing constantly so long as the strider is alive, seemingly phasing in and out of existence as the strider moves. The number of legs counted upon killing a strider has ranged between three and a dozen. Looking at a strider so long as it's still alive will make the strider know exactly where you are, no matter how well hidden you are.
  • Phase bears: Phase bears are one of the dumb Cthulian monsters, but setting up traps for them is very difficult. In appearance, phase bears mostly resemble a small bear, but with six legs, no fur, and a head covered in what look like bug eyes and no other features, including any mouth. Phase bears are apparently completely blind and deaf, but if they come within five feet of you, they will become aware of your presence, even through walls; masking heat, smell, visual, and any combination of such have all failed, but using magic to hide has worked. Phase bears also have the ability to move through any solid object like it isn't there so long as it isn't organic. Because of this, normal weapons mostly don't work at all, but punching them in the head is surprisingly effective at stunning them, meaning they aren't actually that hard to fight or get away from. Looking at them has no ill effect.
  • Puppeteers: One of the only less direct-method Cthulians, puppeteers look like an orange, floating head with four arms coming out the sides. Puppeteers will attempt to get directly above their target, at which point they start controlling their target's actions, and move their arms like they're actually pulling puppet strings. Puppeteers are fairly fragile and since any Human controlled in this manner can still call out normally, puppeteers are a tricky but not impossible enemy to defeat. Looking at a living puppeteer causes one's vision to become tinted orange, which wears off a few seconds after looking away.
• RARE CTHULIANS
  • Shoggoth: An amorphous, black mass that constantly shape shifts each part of its body into whatever it finds most effective at the time, which usually means lots of mouths, claws, and tentacles. Shoggoths will always start small, but grow larger by eating anything organic, which is their only drive in life. A shoggoth will always start rampaging on non-Cthulian monsters and Humans alike, and won't be subtle about it. Since a shoggoth can shape shift so easily, the only known way to make damage stick is by burning them. Like other powerful monsters that just start rampaging, most shoggoth encounters have been dealt with by military intervention. Anyone looking at a living shoggoth will start to feel itchy.
  • The Thing: The biggest problem with the creatures classified as "the thing" is how little is known about them, due to the effect of looking at them; or rather, looking away from them. Once you look away from one, you immediately forget every moment of when you were looking at it. It is known by examining their dead bodies which don't have the same effect that they seem to have four long legs going out from a center mass of organs about the same size as a human torso, which also extends a lot of thin tentacles. If they look any different while they're alive is unknown. It's assumed that they fight using their tentacles, based on the injuries inflicted on their prey, which apparently cut through matter very easily. While nobody remembers fighting them, the weapons and amount of ammo typically used up during the fight would imply that they're fairly tough.

• COMMON FAIR FOLK: Fair Folk are more common in Europe than anywhere else in the world, but can still show up anywhere. The most prominent thing about Fair Folk is that they're always in it for themselves; they will ally with or fight against Humans, other monsters, and even other Fair Folk based on whatever best fits their own agenda. (The only exception being Cthulian monsters, which they never ally with.) Fair Folk are usually intelligent, but weak, usually trying to manipulate others or use traps to take down enemies; Fair Folk also more often than not have some kind of connection to nature. Fair Folk are magically bound by their word, but only to the exact wording thereof; this obviously doesn't apply to Fair Folk that can't talk. (To Humans, anyway. Most Fair Folk can communicate with each other no matter what.)
  • Pixies: Sometimes mistaken for fireflies, pixies simply look like a glowing ball of light with four bug-like wings, and on a whole can be any size between a quarter to a baseball and come in various colors. Their only defenses are running away and a very small bolt of magic. Pixies can't talk, and mostly just wander aimlessly but are known to be drawn to sources of light, particularly when it's nighttime. If they're killed, they disappear leaving only their wings behind.
  • Fairies: Basically tiny people with bug wings, with the average adult fairy being around six inches tall. In personality and looks, fairies can be just as varied as Humans, though their clothes are usually a lot more simple, if they bother wearing clothes at all. All fairies can perform magic at will, though it is usually somewhat weak. Fairies usually form their own societies within the branches of trees and avoid Humans like the plague. Some will even go so far as to attempt killing any Human that discovers them.
  • Gnomes AKA Borrowers AKA Nak Mak Feegle: Gnomes would be easily thought of as the less magical, non-flying cousins of fairies. Like fairies, they're basically tiny people around six inches tall, but gnomes have no wings and can't perform magic as easily. Gnomes make up for this in two ways. First they are more industrious, wearing clothes more like what Humans wear and using tools and weapons they make for themselves out of whatever they get a hold of. Second, by being abnormally fast; despite having legs that are tiny in comparison, a gnome can keep up with a Human running at full speed. Like fairies, gnomes typically make their own societies, though their choice of locations can be more random than fairies.
  • Wisps AKA Nature Spirits: Some people think wisps are just larger, stronger pixies, and it has never quite been proven that they aren't. In appearance, they do in fact look like larger pixies, sizing between a bit bigger than a baseball to a basketball, but wisps don't have bug-like wings. Regardless, unlike their smaller cousins, wisps typically get somewhat territorial. Wisps will choose out some plant or group of plants to be their home, and will float around these plants until someone or something decides to come close. If the wisp thinks they could be a threat to the plants, (Which with Humans they almost always do.) the wisp will quickly move to attack the intruder with bolts of magic until the intruder leaves, dies, or kills the wisp.
• RARE FAIR FOLK
  • Elves: Tolkien style, so basically Humans with pointy ears, heightened senses, heightened reflexes, affinity to magic, and usually a self-centered attitude to go with it. Elves are universally secretive about their origins, to the point where even torture has failed to get them to talk about it; this has made most people believe that magic is probably involved in making sure they don't tell anyone about where they come from. Since less intelligent monsters commonly mistake them for Humans and attack them as such, elves are among the fair folk more likely to side with Humans out of convenience.
  • Dryad AKA Spriggan: Always a humanoid figure made of wood and sprouting various leaves or flowers from random points on their body. A dryad will behave almost identically to a wisp but on a larger scale, claiming an entire grove or forest as their territory. Dryads are also more powerful, using magic bolts and wind magic, and are known to summon any animals and even beast family monsters within a large radius to fight alongside them. Dryads are tough against most weaponry, but have a weakness to fire; the tricky part is lighting them on fire, since they can control wind.

Right, as you can probably tell by now, this bestiary list was more about fleshing out the two new monster families than adding monsters to the already existing families. (That's because to be completely honest, most of the ideas I thought of since the first bestiary list were ideas that would fit into the two new monster families.)

That said, I'm a little disappointed with myself in how few Cthulians I thought up. Though since they take a bit more describing to flesh out, I'm thinking I'll try doing some more individually in some TYCMAKs. Another TYCMAK I'm thinking to maybe do at some point? Witches.

As for the main thread, I've been distracted lately in real life along with waiting to give more people a chance to post. I don't know if I'll get to posting tonight, but I can try getting one done tomorrow.

edited 1st Jul '12 12:05:13 AM by FirockFinion

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So we're going to end up dealing with Silence and Navi. Vundabar. Anyway, looks great. I look forward to dealing with someone trying to cut a deal with an Elf and getting screwed.

edited 1st Jul '12 4:12:20 PM by Wysp

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

Was there supposed to be more of a post after this that got deleted on accident or something?

Anyway, I'm here but having a bit of trouble thinking of what to post so I'll probably wait a while. Since I'm posting now anyway though, good chance to mention ahead of time: Out of the upcoming five weekdays, I'm working for four of them. So I'm gonna be fairly busy until next weekend. However, I should have a guaranteed long weekend off.

You are reading this.

Well now, this hasn't moved in a bit. Who's running this thing, anyway?

... Oh, right.

Ahem, in all seriousness sorry about that delay being longer than I said it would. I got slammed with a combination of writer's block and work after that.

As you can see, I decided to go ahead and hand wave Dean and Clark along a little further despite no posts from their players. Figured maybe they just needed a little nudge.

Things will probably continue to be somewhat slow until next week either way though.

edited 3rd Jul '12 9:10:07 PM by FirockFinion

You are reading this.

I've started getting more active again, mostly in the afternoon, since I am now in summerschool, if I see an oppertunity to get started I'll jump right in.

World Domination is such an ugly phrase; I prefer World Optimization

I will be gone over the weekend, and likely will not have an internet connection.

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

That's okay, my real life has proved to still be distracting even without work. Plus I've kinda been waiting to let DAcriz post if he's still in/around.

My current plan though is to try hand waving his action along later tonight if he doesn't show.

You are reading this.

Back. I don't seem to have missed much.

"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir

Plan to post tonight to move things along. Get caught up in something for over six hours. FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

So yeah, I'd post now but I wanted to be gone for tonight over an hour ago. So I'm afraid that any post I make now might become sleep-deprived typo-laced nonsense. Sorry, I'll try to post tomorrow first thing.

For now, ciao.

EDIT: And there, days behind schedule, is a post.

I'm curious to see where Clark is going with this plan, though I think I have the general idea...

edited 9th Jul '12 7:15:20 PM by FirockFinion

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A quick update: currently I'm having trouble thinking of anything for the people who aren't Clark and Dean. If I can though, I'll try posting tomorrow for the rest of the group, even if it's a double post.

Also, changed circumstances at my place might be giving me more time to focus on this RP and others. Whenever I don't have to work anyway. We'll see how that goes, but if enough of you are still interested, this should hopefully be picking back up a bit soon.

Oh, and speaking of work, I believe the next time I'm working is Friday.

edited 12th Jul '12 3:23:11 AM by FirockFinion

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Alright I'm back. I didn't have time to say it but I had to go somewhere for a moment and I couldn't post for the time being. However I'm glad to say that now I have plenty of free since I left my part time job and am back in school. I feel as if this rp has been at a standstill because everybody has been waiting on me, but now that is not the case no more. Hopefully we can get this moving again.

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing- Wernher von Braun Until proven otherwise, Everything is Relevant