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Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You consciousness floods back to you in jerks and starts, like a lightbulb flickering in a dark room. They found you, somehow. They pulled you off the street in broad daylight, and now they’re bringing you back to him. Your old, false life was gone now - must have been over a while now, if they found you that easily - and all that remained was what was ahead. They wanted what you had, what you were, and they would take it from you if they had to, but you wouldn’t stop fighting them. You would never, ever, give up.

-o-
But first you needed to get out of this chair. You took in your surroundings with the little light available to you: you were tied to a chair with several long lengths of rope - tight, too. One lightbulb swung lazily above you, illuminating almost nothing; it looked like you were in some sort of supply closet. You smelled salt on the wind - that along with the swaying lightbulb and the gentle rocking you felt implied you were on a boat in transit. Taking you back directly, you supposed. You were alone for now, but you could hear voices, dimly, through the steel walls. Snoring, too.

You had no idea how long you’d been out or how close you were to your destination. Time to go. But how?

    1. Untie the Ropes [Difficulty 1]
    The ropes are tight, but you’ve been in worse binds. You chuckle at your own cleverness and try to methodically work your way out of the ropes.
    2. Break Out of the Ropes [Difficulty 2]
    What, rope? They should have used chain or cable. You flex against your bonds.
    3. Call for Help [Difficulty 0]
    You heard people outside - maybe you can call them in and figure out just what the hell is going on.
    4. Blast a Hole in the Wall [Difficulty 3]
    A droplet of condensation slides down your palm. You let it slide down your hand, then grip it between finger and thumb. With a flick, you release the energy trapped within it and blast down the wall.
    5. Hop Out of your Body [Difficulty 3]
    Your body is useless, now. You slide your way out of it, seeking out the snorer just outside.
    6. Sink the Ship [Difficulty 5]
    He wants you, does he? He’ll have to try harder than this. You grip the arms of the chair and send a pulse of energy through the contact points. The ship won’t survive it, but you will.
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.
---
Because I’m not busy enough, I’m starting a casual CYOA! It might end suddenly or go on hiatus while I work on Fragile Gods of Somewhere at any time, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts, shall we!

Never Ever Give Up has simple mechanics. You begin with 1d6 to roll vs. the Difficulty of your choice. A Difficulty of 3 corresponds to a 3d6 roll, which is summed and compared to your own. You’ll notice that means you can beat a Difficulty 3 with a good roll on a 1d6 (and a bad roll on their 3d6). If you beat the roll, you succeed and gain +1 Momentum. If you fail to beat the roll, you fail and lose all Momentum. If you manage to gain +6 Momentum, you gain a permanent extra 1d6 to work with. Vote on which one you want to win, and I'll do the rolling on Orokos!

And… go!

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Nov 7, 2016

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Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
Also - I'll try to keep it moving at a good clip. Three people or so agreeing on an action is good enough!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You don’t even try to get out of the ropes. What’s the point? The body is a shell, anyhow, and you’ve outgrown yours. You focus on the sound of snoring, tethering yourself to its source. You hold your breath, and you feel yourself rising from your seat...

1d6 = 4 vs. 3d6 = 12 [Momentum Lost!]

...and pitch forward, smashing your nose against the steel plated floor. For a terrifying moment, choking on your own blood, you wonder whether you had imagined the events of the past year. With effort, you manage to roll yourself onto your back, and stare up at the swinging light through the pain and tears in your eyes. And then the pain vanishes along with the blood, and your resolve returns.

Well now. The situation has gone from bad to worse. You were still stuck, now with even less range of motion. The snoring had stopped too, replaced by cursing and quickly-approaching footsteps. You have only seconds.
    1.Untie the Ropes [Difficulty 2]
    Well, untying them is going to be much harder now. You think you can manage, with difficulty.
    2.Break Out of the Ropes [Difficulty 2]
    gently caress, you don’t have time for this. You try to muscle your way out.
    3.Hide [Difficulty 1]
    From this vantage point, you can see under the shelves - you think you can fit under them. Kicking yourself over shouldn’t be too hard.
    4.Put out the Light [Difficulty 1]
    Knocking out the light shouldn’t be too tough - it might give you an advantage when your guard comes in.
    5.Set the Room on Fire [Difficulty 2]
    Risky, but there’s a better chance of you surviving it than them. You don’t know a lot about boats, but you’re sure they’re not fond of fire.
    6.Shapeshift into a Mouse [Difficulty 3]
    You could get small really quickly and book it out of here when they open the door. A mouse would work, but there’s no reason it had to be a mouse.
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.
---
Well done! You fell on your face! In a more dangerous situation, this could have lead to your death - but don't let that stop you from trying!

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

RandomPauI posted:

7. Try to mentally project Never Gonna Give You Up into the heads of those approaching as a way to confuse and distract our enemies.

This is Difficulty 3, incidentally!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


Your eyes flicker in the dim light, burning with an inner glow. Lying on your back, you take a deep, hot breath, and breathe out a cloud of embers. The footsteps are close, now, not much time left. You force all of that pressure deep inside your gut, then let it loose.

1d6 = 4 vs. 2d6 = 7 [Momentum Lost!]

The door slams open and you cough, smoke pouring from between your teeth. Your - now wide awake - guard takes in the situation with a “gently caress!” and sprays the room down with a nearby extinguisher, coating you liberally with the frosty foam. While you roll blinded on the ground, he stomps hard on your belly, driving the wind out of you. “I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, but we’ve been nice so far. We’ll drag you behind the loving boat if we need to, so smarten the hell up!” He’s bluffing. They need you alive.

He’s certainly not letting you out of his sight now - he sent a terse radio message in a language you didn’t recognize, and then he took up a position in the open doorway, gun trained on your prone, foam-slick body. This could be tricky.
    1.Understand the Message [Difficulty 1]
    You remember the shapes of the words he spoke. You could force them into something you recognize, with an effort of will.
    2.Talk to Him [Difficulty 0]
    At least there’s someone here now. You could ask him a few questions, while you’re lying there. (Which questions?)
    3.Detonate a Bullet [Difficulty 1]
    Working with pre-existing stuff is easier. You could detonate a bullet in his gun - it could scare him and maybe hurt him, and certainly ruin his gun.
    4.Detonate ALL His Bullets [Difficulty 2]
    A little tougher, but it would certainly take him out of comission.
    5.Kill Him [Difficulty 3]
    With him in sight, it’s trivial. You could reach out and snuff him out, wipe him out of existence.
    6.Fake a Radio Transmission [Difficulty 3]
    Send a fake transmission in whatever that language was. (And say what?)
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Grognan posted:

2 "Christ! Why am I hear in the first place?"

For the record, if 2 wins, you'll ask all the questions suggested. Or, uh, many of them, if there's a dogpile on it for some reason.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

RandomPauI posted:

7: Read his mind to learn the language. And what he knows

This is Difficulty 3, incidentally!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You sigh on the floor, craning your neck as far as your bonds will allow to observe your captor. Muscular, serious European type. Assault rifle and pistol, what looks like body armor (jeez, they weren't messing around) and a gentle flickering fear in his eyes. You let your head fall back against the floor and start talking.

quote:

“Christ! Why am I here in the first place?”
Your guard startles, then resumes training his rifle on your head.

“You know why. Anthony wants you back, and he's not used to taking no for an answer. Now shut up.”

You wiggle in your chair on the floor, trying to sidle out of the congealing foam. You keep going.

quote:

“What do you want with me? Where are you taking me?”

You need him distracted, but you also don't want him to shoot you. You keep your face neutral and slightly panicked (not totally an act at this point) and hope he bites.

“For now, we want you to see here and chill the gently caress out - no funny business. When we get to Santorini, you're Anthony's problem. I suspect he'll want more of the same from you… though he'll probably watch you a little better this time!”

Anthony Velascu, small-time crime boss and your former employer. Given his new digs in Greece, it looks like he's moved up in the world. You filed that away for later as your feet touched the metal shelving. You compressed my body in your bonds, rolling your eyes in animal terror and looking over his shoulder.

quote:

"WHATS THAT BEHIND YOU!?”
He stares at you shivering in the floor, for a tense moment unsure of himself - then he chances the slightest of glances behind him. You struck.

1d6 = 6 vs. 0 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +1!]

You kicked off the heavy shelving unit, sliding on the smooth chair back across the foam and into your guard's legs. He clatters down on top of you, spitting rage like an angry dog. You have one chance to do this right - he was going for his gun, and you doubted you'd survive it if he got there, Anthony or not.

    1. Electrocute Him [Difficulty 1]
    Trivial with him in contact with you. You run a current through him until he dies.
    2.Talk to Him [Difficulty 2]
    He won't be happy, but maybe you can get through to him.
    3. Enslave Him[Difficulty 3]
    Order him to stand up and get you out of there. He's yours, now.
    4. Escape [Difficulty 1]
    Slide out of your bonds and book it out of here. You'll still be trapped on the ship, but you'll be out of the room and able to hide.
    5. Read then Wipe His Mind [Difficulty 3]
    Pull everything relevant out of him, then leave him here, empty.
    6. Do Nothing [Difficulty 0]
    Lie here in a tangled pile, but don't do anything else. Maybe laugh a bit. Who knows what will happen?
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

He manages to get a hold of his gun - but you’ve got a hold of him, too. Your heartrate doubles and you feel your muscles start to twitch, building up a furious potential. He can feel it too, and redoubles his effort to put you in his sights, but it’s too late for him; his muscles are twitching involuntarily, and his hair rises from his body. You grin.

1d6+1 = 6 vs. 1d6 = 2 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +2!]

The light flickers wildly and the lightbulb goes out with a sharp pop. Your nameless guard arcs and flexes involuntarily as steam pours out of him, but you don’t relent until you feel his heart give out entirely. Serves him right! Of course, now you’re lying on your back with dead weight on top of you in the dark. Somehow, still a better situation than before! With a moment’s untrameled effort, you manage to free first one hand, then the rest of you. You pull yourself to your feet wearily, stretching out the last few kinks from your bondage. If there’s one thing you hated, it was being tied down. You caught a glimpse of yourself in a nearby mirror as you were rubbing your wrists and were surprised at how haggard you looked.
    A1. My Handsome Face Smiled Back At Me
    You look tired and stubbly, but you weren’t dead yet. (You’re a guy - describe yourself)
    A2.My Beautiful Face Smiled Back At Me
    You looked tired and frizzy, but I weren’t dead yet. (You’re a girl - describe yourself)
    A3. This Body’s Face Smiled Back At Me
    This body looked a little seasick, but you weren’t dead yet. (It doesn’t matter what you look like, a body is a shell)
Now, onto the next issue. He had made a call on the radio a few moments ago in... Russian? Greek? Whatever it was, it had sounded urgent. Odds were, you could be expecting company any time now. Even if you weren’t, fact was you were on the water, at night, in the middle of one of the largest seas in the world. You had ways of getting out of here, but none as easy as commandeering the boat and making it to land somewhere. On the other hand… maybe it was time to stop running. Maybe this time, Anthony had gone too far. Your relationship had been one of semi-mutual respect (until you tried to leave, anyhow) and this whole kidnapping business was impolite to say the least. Well, one way or another after today he’d remember your name.
    B. What Is Your Name?
    It’s a good name, if you do say so myself. Whether it’s the one you were born with or the one you chose yourself, it’s the one you’ve got.
Alright. It was you against an unknown number of armed assailants on an unknown ship in the middle of the night. Just like old times.
    C1. Hide And Wait [Difficulty 0, -Momentum]
    No sense going out and looking for trouble - it would come here, if you waited long enough.
    C2.Precognate What Will Happen Next [Difficulty 4]
    Look into the future and figure out what’s about to happen. This’ll be a tough one, but you think you can pull it off.
    C3. Raise the Body As A Slave [Difficulty 3]
    No sense wasting good material. You lift his limp body and set it to patrol for his former friends.
    C4. Turn Invisible [Difficulty 2]
    Make yourself tougher to see and go explore the ship.
    C5. Start Breaking poo poo [Difficulty 2]
    That ought to get them coming to see you if they weren’t already. It’ll also shape the battlefield in your favour - body armor was no great help against twisted metal.
    C6. Gotta Go Fast [Difficulty 2]
    Sprint out into the ship, attacking anyone you see at speeds they can hardly comprehend.
    C7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
Invis it is - voting closed. Also going with Nisa because it's a better name and mental image than your other terrible ideas!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
An all-powerful superhuman by any other name still smells as sweet!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You took a steadying breath and looked up and down the halls. Your takedown of this joker had been relatively silent, but you couldn't rely on luck to save you from potential backup. You cracked your knuckles and slammed your palm against the metal wall with a dull ringing thud. If they wanted you they'd have to find you first.

1d6+2 = 7 vs. 2d6 = 6 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +3!]

Starting from your palm, the colour and texture of your surroundings bled into you, dull silver replacing mocha skin. Within seconds, the rest of you - including clothing - perfectly matched the hall. Good timing, too. Within seconds, you heard footsteps coming from around the corner. At least two individuals, walking casually. A routine checkup or relief of duty, then, not emergency support. Perfect. You walked towards them, invisible, hugging the wall. You caught yourself peering around the corner, then chuckled softly. A remnant fear from your old life, maybe, certainly useless now. They wouldn’t see you until it was too late - maybe not even then.

Two of them, geared up the same as the last guy. They weren’t in any real hurry - in fact, one of them leaned against the wall and hauled a thin cigarette out of one of his tactical pouches. You couldn’t understand them, but the body language was clear enough when he leaned forward, unlit cigarette in his mouth. The other flipped open a silver Zippo and held it out to him.
    1. Rush Them [Difficulty 1]
    Invisible, you can take one of them down, now problem. The other shouldn’t be much more trouble.
    2. Turn the Air Between Them Into Propane [Difficulty 2]
    There’s a trick to this, but you can do it. Transmuting matter is risky, but it’ll look pretty stylish!
    3. Tear Them Apart [Difficulty 3]
    Increase your density and cut them into pieces with savage blows. Easy enough.
    4. Turn them Against One Another [Difficulty 3]
    Turn their agression inwards, driving them into a furious rage. They’ll kill eachother while you watch.
    5. Collapse The Hall [Difficulty 4]
    The metal walls are your servants, and you order them to kill your foes.
    6. Bone Spikes From The Dark [Difficulty 2]
    Bones are disposable. You stretch out a hand and send a blast of razored bones arcing out of your fist. It’s not clean, but if it doesn’t kill them, the horror factor will at least give them pause.
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Olive Garden tonight! posted:

I thought turn invisible was difficulty 2, wouldn't that mean vs 2d6?

You're right - that is what was rolled, I just typoed in the post. I link the results from Orokos so you can see I'm at least being honest!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

You approach as close as you dare while they take a smoke break, then leap. Armor or not, a full weight chop to an unguarded throat will take down any man. And you’re far stronger than your average human.

1d6+3 = 8 vs. 1d6 = 3 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +4!]

You continue the motion, slamming him into the ground, then disarm him of his pistol as he rolls on the ground in pain. Your assault was flawless and silent - his poor buddy just saw his partner collapse against the wall and start gagging for no reason. Shocked and frightened, his own cigarette falls from his mouth as he leans over the prone form of the other. Not one to waste the opportunity, you smash your knee into his face then ride him as he falls to the ground. Methodically, you strangle the life out of him. Three down, now.

Your invisibility lapses along with your concentration, but you’ve bought yourself a bit of time now. Knowing what he knew about you, Anthony wouldn’t have sent anything other than a whole company after you, so these three aren’t the lot of them… but on the other hand, they had tied you to a chair. With rope. He either hadn’t been clear with them about your abilities - or, more likely, they hadn’t believed him. That was an error.

You had some options now. You contemplated them as you dragged the bodies down into the storage room and stripped them of equipment. Body armor was a little large on you, but the guns would work just fine. You snagged a pistol and stowed it away in the back of your pants. On the other hand, you didn’t want to drag everything around with you - guns made things a little easier, but you didn’t need them.
    1. Resize the Armor [Difficulty 2, -Momentum]
    The armor was too big for you, but that wasn’t a big deal. With a little time, you could make it work.
    2. Make The Guns Into One Big Gun [Difficulty 2, - Momentum]
    You can't help but laugh when you consider it. You can't mechanically think of how such a thing would work, but you don't need to - you just need time, and to want it really hard.
    3. Sonar to Find The Others [Difficulty 3]
    Find the others before they find you.
    4. Jump Up Through The Deck [Difficulty 3]
    Turn hard as steel or harder and jump through the deck. See what's upstairs.
    5. Taunt Them Through Radios [Difficulty 2]
    You have three radios now - send out a chilling message from beyond the grave.
    6. Detonate [Difficulty 5]
    Turn to fire and steam and horror and stream through the vents and hallways of the ship, killing all in your path.
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Nov 5, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Sigourney Cheevos posted:

7. Stage all 3 corpses in a macabre 'Dogs Playing Poker'-esque scene, then beat on the wall to draw attention. Psychological warfare on them.

This is Difficulty 1, but will ruin your Momentum.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
For the record, just because 3 votes is the minimum required doesn't mean there's an upper limit. If there's a moment (like now) when I have three votes but don't have time to update, I'll leave it open. Whichever vote has the most when I get back (not whichever had three first) is the winner.

In this case it seems pretty clear we're going with 5, though!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Your heart is beating fast now, and while you don’t want to come down from your high you don’t want to go in there all half-cocked and get shot. Instead, you channel your agression into a psychological assault. Three radios, three dead men. You lay them out, your fingers blurring through the air with pent-up energy. There - it’s ready. You take a breath and send a pulse of strange energy into the room.

1d6+4 = 7 vs. 2d6 = 6 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +5!]

The radios crackled to life - and so did the dead men, wheezing into the receivers. “S̢t͜op͏ ̷h́e͠r̛ ̴s̨t̶o̷p h͠er͟ ̡she̸'s f͢r͟e͠e ͢she'͢s̷ ҉f̵ound͟ ̸y͟o̷u s̛he̵'͟s̶ co̶m̷i͠ng ̨s͢t̕ơp he͜r st̛op̸ ҉he͢r͝ ̵s̡t̡o̴p ͟he̴r͟ śh͡e's f̛ree she'͏s͏ f̶ou̵n̕d you s͜h͏e's̷ ̨c̸oming st͜óp ̧he̷r-” and on and on, lungs forcing themselves full then emptying themselves like macabre bagpipes. The channel immediately erupted into confusion, with barked orders fighting for control over panicked words.
    1. Jump Through The Lines [Difficulty 4]
    You can see the men on the other end of the lines ghosted over your vision. You think you can follow one of those lines to one of those men, if you wanted.
    2. Kill All The Speakers [Difficulty 5]
    If they're speaking, they're listening. If they're listening, you can get to them. You speak a tone that kills them all.
    3. Crank Up The Panic [Difficulty 3]
    You reach through the lines and tweak their anxiety levels. Hopefully it'll keep them off balance and give you a fighting chance.
    4. Run Up And Out [Difficulty 2]
    They're distracted enough. You go out looking for them - fast.
    5. Wait For Them [Difficulty 1, -Momentum]
    They'll come armed to the teeth - but you have three of their fellows. You'll make something work.
    6. Go Down [Difficulty 4]
    You leap into the air and slam into - and through - the floor. You've had your fun. Time to get off the boat.
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Nov 6, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
Y'all are wimps!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Theantero posted:

We're like Goku and have to take several updates' worth of pointless filler actions before we are strong enough to do all the actually cool stuff, clearly :v:

You already turned invisible and killed two guys with neck chops and electrocuted a guy with your body after doing chair judo! If those are filler actions you're doing okay! Also, update later today.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Theantero posted:

Hey, it was YOU who called us wimps for taking the easier actions :colbert:

Just because it's mechanically optimal to be a wimp doesn't mean you aren't one :colbert:

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Birthday Oral posted:

Also, update later today.

Nope, that was a lie. Fragile Gods took up my updating time due to all the drat art. Tomorrow, however, I will be at work, and paradoxically will have far more time!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Time to go. You drop into a runner’s stance, feeling the muscles in your calves and thighs harden and swell with power. One hot breath - and then you’re off.

1d6+5 = 8 vs. 2d6 = 6 [Momentum Gained! Dice Roll Increases to 2d6! Momentum Reset!]

A burst of ecstatic power floods you, as though you surpassed a limit you didn’t know you had. Each stride carries you metres down the tunnels, and you run on walls and ceilings as required to keep up your speed. All the while, you’re building a mental map of the ship. It’s significantly bigger than you expected, and you upwardly revise your opinion of your captors. Could this really be a tanker ship, just for you? Everyone you’ve seen so far has been armed to the teeth, but conceivably there were civilians onboard, unaware of your detainment here.
    1. Keep An Eye Out
    You felt conflicted about killing innocents. Hardly their fault you were kidnapped, after all. Anyone with weapons is fair game, but otherwise you’d hold back. You supposed that also meant you would second-guess going all out and sinking the boat or turning it inside out or something.
    2. Too Bad
    Collateral damage was unavoidable - you wouldn’t be going back to Anthony. You’d do whatever it took to stay free.
    3. Whatever
    Whatever you may have been a year ago, you’re not human anymore. Humans can’t do what you do. Either you pity them or you disdain them, but they’re not your concern one way or another.
You fly around a corner - too fast - and momentarily take to the air, flying laterally through a large, empty room. Full of soldiers, who look just as surprised to see you as you are to see them. It doesn’t last - they draw their weapons and fire. You land awkwardly, skidding in a three-point crouch to a stop behind a low steel wall. Already, the sheer weight of their firepower is beginning to overwhelm your cover. You silently curse yourself for not performing more recon, but you don’t have time to waste on thought.

(There’s a lot of them - pick 3 in order, multiples allowed unless otherwise stated! Your Momentum will only increase if you succeed on all of them, but it won’t decrease if you succeed at 1)
    4. Pistol Trickshot [Difficulty 1, Only Once]
    You remember where a few of them are out there. You quickly calculate all appropriate ricochet vectors and shoot them from behind cover until you run out of ammo.
    5. Detonate Pistol [Difficulty 2, Only Once]
    Gunpowder is full of energy. You set it to build up to critical levels, then lob it in the direction of your foes. The blast will be enough to stun or kill many of them, though of course it only works if you have ammunition in the weapon.
    6. Armored Charge [Difficulty 3]
    You pull the steel of the wall and floor into your flesh, forming overlapping nodules of armor, then burst out of cover at those closest to you. Your armor will protect you from a few bullets, but there’s a lot of ordnanace flying out there.
    7. Sonic Scream [Difficulty 2]
    Scream loud enough to disorient and sicken your opponents. Against unprotected ears, you’ll certainly deafen them, but given the kind of weaponry these guys are packing the probably have hearing protection.
    8. Electrocute the Floor [Difficulty 4]
    Metal boat, metal floors. Pump wattage into your surroundings until you can smell them cooking.
    9. Split in Two [Difficulty 4]
    Twice the chance of survival, at least. At very least, your double will distract their fire while you escape.
    10. Reverse Gravity [Difficulty 5]
    Let’s see how tough they are when gravity starts shifting wildly! It won’t affect you, of course - you’ll be able to move three-dimensionally as you wish.
    10. Reverse Time [Difficulty 5]
    Go back to before you came in the door and get the drop on them.
    11. Run Away [Difficulty 1]
    Bail on this gun party and find someplace a little quieter. Probably significantly harder than it looks - technically you could make a break for it, but there’s a strong chance they’ll light you up as soon as they can see you.
    12. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


Your heart beats like an engine as the air heated up around you. You pull out the pistol and hold it in front of you, sighting along it down vectors that flicker into existence in your mind’s eye.

2d6 = 5 vs. 1d6 = 5 [Tie Goes To Nisa!]

In a moment of perfect clarity, you empty the entire magazine at precise angles into the wall behind you. You feel rather than see them ricochet twice before striking your assailants in the temple, guts, or elbows. The orchestra of violence loses a few instruments, but not nearly enough. You drive clawed hands into the steel deck plates, twisting and drawing the metal into your flesh in woven strands. You roll out of cover, a Titan of living metal, and charge.

2d6 = 6 vs. 3d6 = 11

You feel an impact in your ribs, and it drives the wind out of you. You stumble against a pillar, distractedly feeling at the wound. You're bleeding. Armor-piercing ammo? You feel start to feel woozy, and all too mortal. The door. You see the door you came from. You make a break for it, bullets pinging off your sloughing flesh.

2d6 = 4 vs. 1d6+4 = 8

A bullet takes you through the calf, and you drop. You recover into a roll, but then the soft *whumph* of a grenade launcher fills you with dread. White phosphorus pours down onto you, into your wounds. You die screaming a metal-tearing roar.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


Your name is - or was - Nisa Negu. You are - or were - a graduate student in Germany. A good one, too, with plans to move on to do a Phd.



Four years ago, something happened to you. Something awakened in you and everything else started to seem obsolete. You left school and wandered the world, your nascent powers easing your way.



Somewhere along the line you got roped into crime. There was nothing they could do to you - but they had your mother. Your control was lacking, you couldn't save her, couldn't be sure you wouldn't hurt her worse than they ever could. You did some horrible things.



Then your mother died - an accident, unplanned for - and just like that you were free. You slipped your bonds and hid under an assumed identity for a year. Then they found you. Then they killed you.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Apr 24, 2017

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You consciousness floods back to you in jerks and starts, like a lightbulb flickering in a dark room. They found you, somehow. They pulled you off the street in broad daylight, and now they’re bringing you back to him. Your old, false life was gone now - must have been over a while now, if they found you that easily - and all that remained was what was ahead. They wanted what you had, what you were, and they would take it from you if they had to, but you wouldn’t stop fighting them. You would never, ever, give up...

Wait.

You’d been here before. The ropes - not chain - bound you to a familiar chair. You were on a boat. You remembered escaping… running, killing as you went. And then they’d killed you. Only, they hadn’t - you were here, and everything was back the way it was. No, not everything. You flexed your muscles under the ropes, listened to them straining to keep you tied down. You were stronger than you were before. What could you do now, you wondered?

-o-
But first you needed to get out of this chair. You took in your surroundings - again - with the little light available to you: you were tied to a chair with several long lengths of rope. One lightbulb swung lazily above you, illuminating almost nothing; it looked like you were in some sort of supply closet. You were alone for now, but you could hear voices, dimly, through the steel walls. Snoring, too.

You still had no idea how long you’d been out or how close you were to your destination. Time to go. Again. This time, you’d do it right.
    1. Untie the Ropes [Difficulty 1]
    The ropes are tight, but you’ve been in worse binds. You chuckle at your own cleverness and try to methodically work your way out of the ropes.
    2. Break Out of the Ropes [Difficulty 2]
    What, rope? They should have used chain or cable. You flex against your bonds.
    3. Call for Help [Difficulty 0]
    You heard people outside - maybe you can call them in and figure out just what the hell is going on.
    4. Blast a Hole in the Wall [Difficulty 3]
    A droplet of condensation slides down your palm. You let it slide down your hand, then grip it between finger and thumb. With a flick, you release the energy trapped within it and blast down the wall.
    5. Hop Out of your Body [Difficulty 3]*
    Your body is useless, now. You slide your way out of it, seeking out the snorer just outside. And this time you’ll try not to land on your face.
    6. Sink the Ship [Difficulty 5]
    He wants you, does he? He’ll have to try harder than this. You grip the arms of the chair and send a pulse of energy through the contact points. The ship won’t survive it, but you will. You’re still not certain whether there’s civilians on the boat, though...
    7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.
---
If it wasn’t explicit enough - your dicepool remains the same. Choices you took last time are marked with an asterisk (*), while choices you succesfully took are marked with a diamond (♦). Diamond marked choices do not need to be rolled for again - if you did it while you were weaker, you can do it now.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

RandomPauI posted:

Can we manifest a dead person's consciousness or a living person's?

Birthday Oral posted:

7. Write In [Difficulty ?]
Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.[/list]
You can do ANYTHING, but certain things are more Difficult than others!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

SerSpook posted:

7--gain 6 momentum

Difficulty 10 :colbert:

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

SerSpook posted:

so you're saying its possible

Spook ol' pal, when has setting a precedent ever bitten me in the rear end?

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


This time, you draw energy into a water droplet, setting it to glow dully. With a little extra push, you should get some partial fusion going on here, and really get stuff cooking. You compress it a little more, and flick it with one finger towards the wall.

2d6 = 3 vs. 3d6 = 6 [Momentum Lost!]

The water droplet strikes the wall with a tiny flash of light and steam. You feel massively silly, and are pretty glad no one was around to see it. Not that they would have known what you were doing, and not that the opinion of your kidnappers mattered all that much. In any case, you waited for the guy to come around and check on you like he did last time.

He never arrived. Of course not - you hadn’t fallen over and smashed your face into the floor, hadn’t clattered and clanged and all that. You could hear him still snoring away out there. This was all new to you, but you'd grown used to taking things in stride. That being said, even though you'd managed to cheat death once doesn't mean you could count on it next time. You'd just have to wing it, same as always.
    1.Untie the Ropes [Difficulty 1]
    Take your time and slip out of your bonds.
    2.Break Out of the Ropes [Difficulty 2]
    Tear your way out of the flimsy ropes. They're underestimating you.
    3. Nightmare [Difficulty 3]
    Give the sleeper outside some nasty nightmares. Really mess him up, and maybe gain some Intel, too.
    4.Put out the Light [Difficulty 1]
    Knocking out the light shouldn’t be too tough - it might give you an advantage when your guard comes in. Oh, you also make a bunch of noise, so that the guard actually does come in.
    5.Set the Room on Fire [Difficulty 2]*
    Risky, but there’s a better chance of you surviving it than them. You don’t know a lot about boats, but you’re sure they’re not fond of fire. Seems kind of silly to do it without a guest, and it didn't work last time, but there's lots you can do with fire, once you've got one.
    6.Shapeshift into a Mouse [Difficulty 3]
    You could get small really quickly and try to squeeze through a crack somewhere. A mouse would work, but there’s no reason it had to be a mouse.
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You contemplate the snorer. It’s odd to think that you’ve talked to him, asked him questions, and killed him already, and he doesn’t even know it. You’re not sure if you feel guilty or just indulging in idle curiosity, but regardless his snores are a road you can travel. You close your eyes and ride the sound you can hear back to their source, back to the sleeping guard. His mind lays open to you in his slumber.

2d6 = 12 vs. 3d6 = 8 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +1!]

He grunts in mute alarm as you pass into him, then he settles down. In your mind’s eye you can see his dreams as though you were in a theatre - although whether as part of the audience or as a player is less certain. He (Alan) is walking through a park with a young child (Nathan, you know instinctively, his son) when he gets a call. He smiles down at the child (a lie, he’s nervous) and answers. It’s a woman (Rebecca, Mr. Velascu’s secretary or something, he’s not sure) who says only three words: “We’ve found her.” He (Alan) grips the phone tightly and nods, calling out to his son (Nathan) and telling him it’s time to go and see his mom (Christine, that bitch, although in truth Alan knows he is to blame for all of it).

-o-
The world whirls and he (Alan) is at home, at night, waiting for someone (the rest of his team) and feeling ready and powerful and manly (he wishes he could get out of this). He takes a shot of expensive whisky and nods absently at the flavour (he hates whisky but doesn’t remember that) before checking over his gear (he has no feelings about his guns, none at all). He doesn’t know who their target it (he’s seen her - you - in pictures, but that means nothing), only that she is dangerous. He chuckles into his glass as he considers what you could possibly do (his unconscious mind stirs at this, noticing you, then turns away) and leaps to his feet when he hears the van arrive. It’s go time (he doesn’t want to get hurt or for his friends to get hurt), Oorah!

-o-
He learned the other team had picked the target up in Cairo (you’d been on a work conference with your advertising firm - one of your false lives - and you’d gotten complacent) and they’d loaded her onto a civilian cargo ship (aha!) bound for Monaco. Partway through the journey, they would all be extracted and brought to Mr. Velascu’s compound (a nice house, more than Alan could ever dream of visiting, let alone owning), where they would get their payment (more than enough to keep him going, more than enough to let him quit his job personal training) and be returned home. He was advised to think of it as securing valuable and dangerous cargo rather than human trafficking (which it was, and he could not convince himself otherwise) and to stay on guard. He and the rest of them saluted and assured Commander Biros (you didn’t recognize him, but you had killed several others before you had died) that he could count on them (the Commander couldn’t, as it turned out).

-o-
He slept fitfully, thinking about his child, wondering how he had gotten to this point in his life. His mind lay open to you.
    1.Kill Him [Difficulty 1]
    Nothing would be easier. You snip his mind away from his body, leaving a shell.
    2.Drive Him Berserk [Difficulty 2]
    Push his guilt and stress over the edge and send him ripping through the ship, firing at random.
    3. Convert Him [Difficulty 3]
    Give him a little push in the right direction - maybe he could be convinced to help you out? (How do you convince him?)
    4. Enslave Him [Difficulty 3]
    What he wants is irrelevant - you wipe his mind and enslave him. He will be yours until you tire of him or he dies.
    5. Swap Places With Him [Difficulty 4]
    With this sort of connection, a little spatial reconfiguration isn’t out of the question. He’ll end up in the chair, and you’ll end up where he is - but he’ll leave his gear behind for your use.
    6. Wake and Wander [Difficulty 3]
    Wake him up and fill him with wanderlust or hunger. Whatever he tells himself, he’ll explore the ship and act as though it was his own decision - and you’ll be right there with him, experiencing what he does.
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Nov 8, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You whistled at him, a shadow on his dream. He whirled to face you, shocked beyond measure, and reflexively went for his gun. Poor guy, he never really knew what he was dealing with.

2d6+1 = 6 vs. 1d6 = 1 [Momentum Gained! Momentum at +2!]

With a fingertip, you pop his ego like a soap bubble. The dream vanishes and you find yourself back in the chair. The snoring’s stopped, at least! You roll a stiff neck and drum your fingers on the arm of the chair. You didn’t learn much of value in your little jaunt - trivial personal details and the name of that corpse sitting outside - but you did learn something: names and faces, valuable weapons to someone like you. A secretary (‘or something’, thanks a lot, Alan) named Rebecca and some mercenary commander named Biros. You mentally add them to your ‘people to find, interrogate and/or kill so I can go on living my life’ list. You also got the ship’s destination - Monaco is nice, maybe you’d just stow away! - and a rough itinerary. It’s better than what you had the first time you woke up (before you died!), so you counted it as a win.

Personal timeline-wise, you knew the two mercenaries you thought of as The Smokers were coming down the hall. Probably they had already stopped to smoke without an invisible lady karate chopping them to death. The dead guy Alan hadn’t sent out that radio message this time, but it must not have been targeted at The Smokers in the first place because they had just been sauntering down the hall. So - they’d come across Alan’s body soon enough. No visible signs of injury, but it would likely cause some confusion, if not necessarily suspicion of your involvement. Your blood was pulsing now, itching to get going, and you were STILL tied to the drat chair. Now what?
    1. Break Out [Difficulty 2]
    You flex iron muscles and break the rope and the chair you’re sitting on, then bust down the door.
    2. Wait It Out [Difficulty 0, -Momentum]
    Grit your teeth and wait for them to find the body. Your impatience is killing you - but then you’ve already died once today, right?
    3. Fill The Room With Poison [Difficulty 2]
    Breathe out a noxious cloud of gas, pressurizing the room with it, then start making noise until someone comes and checks on you.
    4. Look For Commander Biros [Difficulty 5]
    You know what he looks like, and that’s enough. Flip through all the EM spectra, sonar and telepathic wavelengths until you find him on the ship. If he’s on the ship, that is. As a side bonus, you’ll get a pretty good picture of the layout and personel on board.
    5. Project Yourself Out Of The Chair [Difficulty 3]
    Unlatch yourself from your body and go exploring. You can’t go too far or you’ll break the connection. You’re not sure what that would mean - either you’d die again (and what would THAT mean?) or you’d just have to find your body again and reconnect, which would be a pain.
    6. Laser Through The Wall [Difficulty 3]
    Melt a hole in the wall with powerful lasers from your eyes. Hopefully you’ll hit someone, but either way it’ll look really awesome.
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


Alright, time to rock and roll. You took a breath, then strained and twisted against the ropes, your muscles hard as stone. You heard ropes snap and the wooden chair creaking...

2d6+2 = 7 vs. 2d6 = 11 [Momentum Lost!]

...and pitch forward, smashing your nose against the steel plated floor. Again! This time you can’t help but let out an involuntary “gently caress!” as you roll on the floor in pain, now bound to two seperate pieces of a broken chair. You’ll give your kidnappers one thing - they can tie a knot! Sneezing out the remaining blood, you manage to maneuver yourself to a seated position facing the door. As if on cue, the door slams open, revealing the Smokers (who managed to get their cigarettes lit this time!) and, behind them, the limp body of Alan. One looks nervous, the other one looks pissed and heartbroken. In one quick stride he’s beside you, pistol pressed into the warm flesh of your forehead.

“You! Did you do this?” The one you killed first last time - you designate him ‘One’.
“Come on, man, she was in here when we popped the door.” The other’s ‘Two’, then.
“You heard the briefing, she’s supposed to be able to do all kinds of poo poo!”
“Man, look at her - it looks like she just broke her own nose trying to get out of here. Alan always said he had a weak heart, don’t go blaming this poo poo on our cargo.” You mentally thank Two for his vote of confidence, but One isn’t buying it. He also looks like he wasn’t asking rhetorically - he wants to know if you were responsible for his friend’s death.
    1. Yes, You Were
    Tell him exactly what happened. Why not?
    2. No, You Weren’t
    Lie through your teeth about it. You’d rather not be shot in the face, all things considered.
    3. Don’t Answer
    What does it matter what he thinks - in a second one of you is going to be dead.
“Dude, chill out, our client wants her alive!”
“Fine, I’ll kneecap her, then. I know this bitch killed him, and she doesn’t even look sorry!”
    4. Slam The Door [Difficulty 2]
    He’s standing right beside the door. You slam it shut as hard as you can.
    5. Tank The Bullet [Difficulty 2]
    Prepare for the shot - it’ll bounce right off you and ricochet around the room.
    6. Have Two Save You [Difficulty 3]
    He’s clearly not cool with this, so give him a little push to knock One’s gun out of his hand.
    7. Poison The Cigarette [Difficulty 3]
    Cigarette’s are bad enough for you, but they’re worse when you turn the tobacco into nightshade. Good luck with that, One.
    8. Grow The Wooden Chair Into A Tree [Difficulty 3]
    Force the dead wood to life and cover the room in dense foliage. If nothing else, they won’t be expecting it!
    8. Erupt Like A Volcano [Difficulty 4]
    Stop playing around with them and vomit a torrent of molten glass all over them!
    10.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.
---
Make sure you suggest stuff once in a while - I'm certain that your ideas are better than mine! Pick an X-Men mutant or superhero at random and use their powers, why doncha.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Nov 8, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You didn’t feel the need to explain yourself to your kidnappers. One stared down at you with a “Well!?” but you just stared back up at him, face studiously neutral. You stared at his cigarette trailing loops of smoke as he screamed at you, and focused on changing it...

2d6 = 5 vs. 3d6 = 1 [Momentum Lost!] (Oof!)

A kick to the solar plexus sends you sprawling to the floor, wheezing, falling painfully onto broken shards of wood. “Fine, you don’t want to talk? Let’s see if this’ll get you talking!” And with that, One shot you in the knee. Pain explodes down the leg, overwhelming your earlier discomfort. One rolls you onto your back and stands on your collarbone, smoking gun pointing down at you. “How about now, feel like talking?”
    1. Say Nothing
    gently caress you, guy!
    2. Say Nothing
    gently caress you, guy!
Two kicks him in the shins and shouts at him. “Mr. Velascu is going to be pissed you hurt her, dude! Think of her like a fancy car - she loses a lot of her value if she’s not spotless, you loving rear end in a top hat! Now cut that poo poo out and lets get Alan to the infirmary and see if there’s anyone there to salvage.”

With a final look down at you, One leaves you there, bloody and exhausted, then slams the door. You feel wretched, and can’t bear to look down at your knee… but you’re alive. He shouldn’t have left you alive. Not that death would have stopped you anyhow. The power within you burns raw and hot, and you know that if you let it it’ll hurt even you. But maybe it’s worth it.
    3. Kill Them Both [Difficulty ???, Lose 1d6]
    You ‘light a match’, taking a portion of your power and letting it loose into the world, only barely constrained by your will. This will weaken you greatly, but you have plenty of time to get better. For now, you want them dead. (What form does your projection take?)
    4. Calm Down And Reassess [Difficulty 1]
    Alright, that went worse than expected (and certainly worse than last time) but ultimately you’re alright. You free yourself from the wreckage, heal up, and take your time for once. Rushing put you in this position, and you’ve gotten pretty sick of it. (Pick this and another option - if you succeed at this one, you will automatically do the other at -1 Difficulty. However, you will not gain Momentum)
    5. Blast The Door Off Its Hinges [Difficulty 3]
    Yell your frustrations into a shrieking maelstrom of wind that will blow the door down, probably kill those two idiots outside, and alert the whole ship to your presence.
    6. Kill One [Difficulty 4]
    You didn’t think much of him when you killed him earlier, but now you’re really not fond of him. Leap through the wall and pull off his skin.
    7. Grant Them Visions of Death [Difficulty 3]
    You killed them. You remember it very vividly. Make them remember it, too.
    8. Ignore All This, Get Up, And Walk Out The Door [Difficulty 2]
    This was a foolish waste of everyone’s time. Brush yourself off and leave the room by any means necessary.
    9.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.
---
New mechanics here - you can Burn any number of dice to get an auto-6 on the it for that action. If you Burn a die, you can't actually fail that action - you will succeed regardless, but higher rolls will have additional effects. Burned die are gone, though, you'll have to build them up through Momentum later. You can always suggest Burning through the write in, even if you just want to attach it to another option.

Dog Kisser fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Nov 8, 2016

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Nyaa posted:

9. Learn healing, so we can repeat it later.

You'll heal automatically eventually, but it requires a peaceful moment (and probably a drop in Momentum) to do it properly. You of course already know how to heal, and you can always write it a healing option, but you probably want to do something active and have healing be a part of it - vampiric healing, for example, or pulling in surrounding materials to fix your broken bits. Regardless, healing isn't something you need to concern yourself about unless it's a REALLY bad injury (in which case I'll flag that as important)

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Olive Garden tonight! posted:

9. Launch sharp chair splinters through One's eyes.

He's not in the room right now, but that doesn't mean you can't: you'll just fire them through the wall - Difficulty 3.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Olive Garden tonight! posted:

If I can offer a suggestion (which you are free to ignore), maybe more difficult options could be rewarded with more momentum? As it stands, it feels like there's not much incentive not to always go with the easiest choice that still gains momentum.

Probably true! How about every Difficulty level above your own gives you +1? Even with 2d6+5 vs 3d6 you still have a chance to lose, after all. Maybe you can't gain Momentum from lower level options, too, and below that it starts dropping it?

edit: And thanks for the kudos re: game and story - I have no plans for it at all and came up with the entirety of it like two days ago when I was doing dishes so I'm pleasantly surprised it hasn't crashed and burned yet!

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
Short of another vote by tomorrow morning, I'll be going with 8 so we can keep things rollin' along.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You bite back your pain and rage and let them walk away. Let them take their fool friend away and leave you here - you’d find them later if you needed to, but you were sick to death of this room. You painfully slid out of the ropes and limped to the door, your knee slow in knitting itself together. You grabbed the handle and twisted, trying to break the lock.

2d6 = 3 vs. 2d6 = 6 [Momentum Lost!] (Allllrighty, gonna move this along anyhow, but yikes!)

With a soft grunt, you managed to turn the handle slightly before it stuck. Incredulous that a simple metal room was able to hold you, and frustrated beyond belief, you kicked the door and shook the handle until you felt something come loose. They musn’t have locked the door properly on their way out. Whatever, you’d take what you could get.

You limped into the hallway, trailing blood, and walked away from the direction you heard them go, down the hall where you had first found and killed them. The memory of it made you feel a little better, but the trail of blood behind you didn’t. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where you had gone, and you were already weak. You needed a plan, and a good one. Or at least a gun, though that would probably be tough to find on a civilian cargo ship - besides the ones in the mercenaries’ hands, obviously. You kept walking, for the moment unmolested, until you found a sign splitting your path.
    1. Upper Deck
    Some fresh air would be nice - and maybe up there all you’d have to deal with would be regular sailors and workers.
    2. Cargo Bay
    You hadn’t the foggiest idea what this ship was carrying (besides you), but odds are there’d be something down there you could use.
    3. Engine
    You’d never seen an engine on a ship like this before. Might be worth a look, though you suspected there’d be guards there. Wouldn’t want their precious cargo to be left at the mercy of sabotage, after all!
    4. Mess Hall
    That direction was familiar - because you’d died there, crouched behind a table. You suspected that it would probably be a little less crowded there, what with the lack of ghostly wails playing through their radios sending them into a panic.
As you considered that, you had other things to deal with. Like your knee, for instance. It hurt like hell, but you had a strange relationship with pain now. It was more like a pesky alert on your phone - distracting and insistent, but ultimately not stopping you from going about your business. Your leg had healed enough that you could put weight on it, but it still oozed blood with every step, and you’d left quite a trail behind you. Should you maybe, uh, look into that?
    5. Heal Up [Difficulty 1, Momentum +0]
    You focus for a second and seal the wound. Any bullet fragments in there will be ejected, and you’ll be right as rain in an instant. Doesn’t help with the trail, but whatever.
    6. Erase The Blood [Difficulty 1, Momentum +0]
    Wipe the blood away, leaving no trace of your passage. It’ll stall them for a moment, anyhow. Hopefully your janky leg won’t leak too much longer, but you can tie it off if need be.
    7. Reconstitute Yourself [Difficulty 2, Momentum +1]
    Your blood rises from the floor and flies towards you, flooding back into your wounded leg and revitalizing it. Two birds with one stone, ha!
    8. Blood Hazard [Difficulty 3, Momentum +2]
    They want your blood? They can have it! Your wounded knee erupts with a great flood of blood, soaking the walls and floors around you, before sealing itself. The blood begins to ripple and move of its own volition, setting a trap for those who may follow you.
    9. Cloud Of Insects [Difficulty 3, Momentum +2]
    Your blood peels off the floor in flakes, drifting around as though pushed by a strange wind. A low humming comes from the cloud, revealing it to be a dense swarm of blood red insects. The insects will patrol the hall and attack whoever approaches.
    10. Acid Blood [Difficulty 4, Momentum +3]
    You set your blood boiling within your body and without, and it begins melting through the floor. Until you lose Momentum, any injury caused to you will cause you to spray your acid blood over the surrounding area. (Including the injury that causes you to lose Momentum)
    11. Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

---
As you can see, I've implemented those changes I mentioned earlier, which will hopefully incentivize a little bit of risk. Broadly, same level difficulty gets you +1 Momentum, one level below you gets you +0 Momentum, and anything beyond that increases the magnitude of the change by +1 per step.

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.

Theantero posted:

11: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Animate this unbeatable goddamn door as our trusty servant to beat up every goon on this ship. It's clearly way tougher than we are at any rate :v:

Haha! Difficulty 3, Momentum +2

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Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.


You had just begun to make your way down to the Cargo Bay when you stop, suddenly thoughtful. That drat door would be a worthy ally - and it would be highly satisfactory to watch an animated door crush One into paste. You reached out with your mind, explaining to the door that it ought to look like this and move like this.

2d6 = 7 vs. 2d6 = 8 [Momentum Lost!]

The door disagreed. From down the hallway, the door creaked and grinded against the wall, subtly warped by your interference. Well, screw you too, door! Limping down the stairs, you made your way towards the mystery cargo. You hoped fervently that someone was smuggling bandaids or hamburgers.

-O-
The cargo bay was cavernous, but packed almost to the ceiling with metal shipping containers of various sizes. You estimated the largest one could hold several cars, while the smaller ones scattered about looked like they were chiefly international food shipments. The bay was subdivided by catwalks into three levels, patrolled by sleepy looking security guards and a smattering of workers. No one looked especially concerned that a dangerous prisoner had gotten loose, so either they weren’t with the mercenaries or - more likely - that your absence hadn’t been noted. But with the door mangled and the trail of blood leading down here, it wouldn’t take them too long to put the pieces together. Hopefully you’d have some time to do some shopping first.
    1. Look For Guns [Difficulty 2, Momentum +1]
    This was a civilian ship, but there was turmoil all over the world. You quickly scan the containers for weaponry to help you out. It wasn’t as though you were helpless without guns, but not having to depend entirely on your powers would be nice.
    2. Look For Armor [Difficulty 2, Momentum +1]
    Getting shot sucks. They’d stripped you down to jeans and a t-shirt before they locked you up in here, and neither of them seemed to be doing a great job of protecting you. Also, they were bloody and starting to smell a little gross.
    3. Look For Chemicals [Difficulty 2, Momentum +1]
    A whole lot of stuff would be easier if you had access to raw, volatile chemicals. Maybe they’re shipping biohazards or radioactive stuff. Maybe just a bunch of fuel. You can make use of it, whatever it is.
    4. Look For Treasure [Difficulty 2, Momentum +1]
    Honestly, you’re not too concerned about your situation. You died: you came back. You got shot in the knee: look, it’s almost back to normal. No, what would really be awesome would be finding some sort of treasure. Something priceless you could sell or barter when you got out of here. It’s not like you couldn’t just generate money from thin air, but it’s nice to work for your cash, you know?
    5. Collapse The Waveform [Difficulty 3, Momentum +2]
    Why bother looking? There’s a container right beside you. You don’t know what’s in it. Why, anything could be inside! It could even be… (What? It can be anything you want (that would conceivably be shipped in a crate, so no naked singularities, Theantero!)
    6. Prepare Your Army [Difficulty 4, Momentum +3]
    You sing a siren song, hooking your will into the hapless workers and security guards. They’ll defend you to the death with whatever they’ve got.
    7.Write In [Difficulty ?]
    Write anything. A few short sentences at most - I’ll assign it a Difficulty.

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