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Author Topic: C.A.L.M (Heroes VS Villains, Villains, Turn 9, Project phase.)  (Read 13889 times)

A_Curious_Cat

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Quote from: votebad
Creiggwin Branch of the Pren Gwyn Youth Program (1): A_Curious_Cat
Metahuman Unrest Reduction Delivers Extensive Recruiting (1): A_Curious_Cat
The Grand Race (1): A_Curious_Cat
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ZBridges

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Quote from: votebad
Creiggwin Branch of the Pren Gwyn Youth Program (1): A_Curious_Cat
Metahuman Unrest Reduction Delivers Extensive Recruiting (2): A_Curious_Cat, ZBridges
The Grand Race (1): A_Curious_Cat
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Doomblade187

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Quote from: votebad
Creiggwin Branch of the Pren Gwyn Youth Program (1): A_Curious_Cat
Metahuman Unrest Reduction Delivers Extensive Recruiting (3): A_Curious_Cat, ZBridges, Doomblade
The Grand Race (1): A_Curious_Cat
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In any case it would be a battle of critical thinking and I refuse to fight an unarmed individual.
One mustn't stare into the pathos, lest one become Pathos.

piratejoe

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Project: Metahuman Unrest Reduction Delivers Extensive Recruiting

Initial Rolls: Time (1) Cost (1)

As it turns out, turning the existing youth program into one for metahumans is hard. In fact, this is an understatement. While metahumans can join in like any other, and a youth program in the general slump the economy has had after the second war between the Principality and the Empire is something that will get quite a bit of support, taking a side in the whole metahuman debate is something that is far, far more divisive. Both sides of the political spectrum aren't too keen on the issue, and the only real place that there is any major support for equality and not tracking every last one like a criminal, or even making the average person into them is in Nemorland, specifically a single city and a handful of towns in the United States. And even then, in the case of the former things have gone a bit sour. Still, we can set up a separate branch dedicated to helping getting Metahumans on their feet. Yet, even with Feng's support, this is something that will take a lot more investment into in order to get the local politicians to agree to it. Though making it into a way for how best a metahuman can utilize their powers means we'll also need to use a lot more unique way's of thinking for the project. That, and obviously we need a reinforced building, possibly with bullet proof windows...Just in case.

In other news, Feng was mildly upset with Vinod's choice of anacronym...Luckily it will only be known between members. Vinod meanwhile, found this fairly amusing.



It is currently the Deployment phase.

You may now assign a character to either work on one of you projects, recruit more heroes into the fold, move to another city, or lastly engage in the world for one action or another. In the case of the latter, it is best to devise a plan. Otherwise, they will simply do more generic actions that fit their character. (You also can pick one action to progress by two ticks instead of one, considering the whole Vinod thing)



Status of the Cabal:
Spoiler: Status of the Cabal (click to show/hide)

Villain list:
Spoiler: Feng Zhelan (click to show/hide)
Current Reputation - 33

Spoiler: Vinod Ashtekar (click to show/hide)
Current Reputation - 0
Completed Projects:
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Current Projects:
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

« Last Edit: September 26, 2021, 01:44:29 am by piratejoe »
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ZBridges

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Hire one heist squad and send them to steal valuables from somewhere low-key (so we can see how they perform before trying anything difficult).  Vinod will come along as the getaway driver.  Feng will work on the sneaking suits.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2021, 02:21:35 am by ZBridges »
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Man of Paper

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Quote from: Plan Two - Electric Burgleoo
Feng continues work on Sneaking Suits.
Vinod takes a self-guided tour around Pentrefsiapaneaidd to identify and scout out potential targets for a future heist.

I imagine trying to perform heists without tossing a turn to actually identifying potential scores is more likely to result in "successful" operations that result in the theft of, like, toddler shoes. Vinod likes to drive and has a car, so he should be able to get some basic info on a number of sites.
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ZBridges

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We've spent so much time preparing and working on projects that I wouldn't be surprised if we are massively behind the heroes in terms of progress.  If we keep waiting for everything to be perfect, we'll fall even further behind.

Vinod lives here and has transported stolen property in the past.  I'm sure he has some ideas already.  These "master thieves" in the heist squad also live in the city and likely have some good insights on this as well.  You complain about the pace of the game, but that's entirely a result of our decisions.  Here's a radical idea: let's actually do something.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2021, 02:51:12 am by ZBridges »
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Man of Paper

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It’s not the result of our decisions though. It’s the result of how pj runs games. We literally can’t progress at more than a snails pace because pj chooses to have projects that take multiple turns. We aren’t the ones that threw away a turn with vinod working on the youth program. We aren’t the ones who decided to make it possible to create another youth program that is somehow borderline useless and also takes a relatively long time to complete.

There’s a difference between wanting everything to be perfect and reading the writing on the wall.

Edit: And that’s not to mention the fact that intrinsically the heroes will be ahead of us at the start because unlike them we need to play smart and cautious if we want to maintain the subtlety that comes with being a team of elite thieves. As good guys they can go out and do whatever the hell they can to push their agenda without worrying about being tripped up by much. We, meanwhile, probably gotta not make ourselves obvious not just to the other team but to the public and police lest they go crying to the good dudes about it.

And that’s yet another issue with this game, because while it is asymmetric and that’s far from a bad thing, the nature of arms races pj runs is more susceptible to snowballing than a normal arms race, since fucking up a project or assigning the wrong person to a task will nuke an action that affects multiple turns.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2021, 09:02:28 am by Man of Paper »
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A_Curious_Cat

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It’s not the result of our decisions though. It’s the result of how pj runs games. We literally can’t progress at more than a snails pace because pj chooses to have projects that take multiple turns. We aren’t the ones that threw away a turn with vinod working on the youth program. We aren’t the ones who decided to make it possible to create another youth program that is somehow borderline useless and also takes a relatively long time to complete.

There’s a difference between wanting everything to be perfect and reading the writing on the wall.

Edit: And that’s not to mention the fact that intrinsically the heroes will be ahead of us at the start because unlike them we need to play smart and cautious if we want to maintain the subtlety that comes with being a team of elite thieves. As good guys they can go out and do whatever the hell they can to push their agenda without worrying about being tripped up by much. We, meanwhile, probably gotta not make ourselves obvious not just to the other team but to the public and police lest they go crying to the good dudes about it.

And that’s yet another issue with this game, because while it is asymmetric and that’s far from a bad thing, the nature of arms races pj runs is more susceptible to snowballing than a normal arms race, since fucking up a project or assigning the wrong person to a task will nuke an action that affects multiple turns.

So if I understand correctly:

1.  It would be better if projects only took one turn.

2.  It would be better if we didn’t have to choose a person to work on a project.

Correct?
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Man of Paper

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I don't necessarily have an issue with either of those. It's when you put them together that I have the problem. It makes the difference between making the game slower paced and making it slowpaced while also tying the action economy to sacrificing action economy. Requiring someone to work on absolutely everything we do while also making projects that take more than two or three turns in an arms race, which typically tend to fall off in activity by the double digits of turns with normal pacing, while also tying projects to three separate rolls, each of which can individually torpedo a project, is not a great combination in my opinion.

And then it's not necessarily just the rules that are a problem, because as we found out, you can still get zero progress on something that takes one turn if you assign someone to it that the GM doesn't think should be able to pull it off, instead of just, say, giving it a small hit to efficacy.

It's a whole lot of small issues, not enough for me to completely write it off though. And they're things that can be adjusted by the GM should they decide to take more action than "have a token that knocks a turn off a single project", because that does nothing to address any issues and was honestly a little insulting, in the sense that it felt like everything I said was written off as a misinterpretation of rules instead of an issue with an old copy-pasted ruleset that wasn't balanced for the changes made to the game.
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ZBridges

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Quote from: Plan Two - Electric Burgleoo
Feng continues work on Sneaking Suits.
Vinod takes a self-guided tour around Pentrefsiapaneaidd to identify and scout out potential targets for a future heist.
+1

I still think that the inhabitants of this town already know it well enough to have some good ideas for targets, and Vinod and the master thieves do live here.  I'm not sure how useful Vinod driving around the city would be, since he's already familiar with it and has done jobs like this in the past.  However, in the interests of time since no one else is weighing in, I'm voting for that plan.
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A_Curious_Cat

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Quote from: Plan Two - Electric Burgleoo
Feng continues work on Sneaking Suits.
Vinod takes a self-guided tour around Pentrefsiapaneaidd to identify and scout out potential targets for a future heist.
+1

I still think that the inhabitants of this town already know it well enough to have some good ideas for targets, and Vinod and the master thieves do live here.  I'm not sure how useful Vinod driving around the city would be, since he's already familiar with it and has done jobs like this in the past.  However, in the interests of time since no one else is weighing in, I'm voting for that plan.

Meh.  I guess you’re right...

+1
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piratejoe

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Re: Cabal of Villain's (Heroes VS Villains, Villains, Turn 4, Project phase.)
« Reply #102 on: August 05, 2021, 03:44:44 am »

The Outside World and Previous Actions

A number of protests have erupted in Nemorland, specifically outside the courthouses where the leaders of the New Clear Visionaries are being tried for connections in the smuggling of radioactive material. Despite the large number of people, there has been little violence, and those committing such have been detained by the protesters themselves alongside police. In Sothweg, a major scientist working on the personal armor system has defected to the United States. While he has confirmed the project isn't ready yet, he has concerningly raised the alarm that the project is in fact not too far from completion. Tragically, he died shortly after his defection during a commercial flight alongside 149 other passengers. Reason for the plane crash is under investigation, though some suspect sabotage. Meanwhile, in Shirohon, crime has significantly dropped overnight as two of the largest crime syndicates have practically been destroyed destroyed as a large number of their higher members have been arrested. Naturally, this is seen as a great success of their newest police branch which was responsible for finding a number of key pieces of evidence that lead to said arrests.


Project: Sneaking Suits

Work has continued and at a decent pace. The situation as it stands right now is still in the planning and early testing stage, as many of the current designs don't meet the standards we hope for. Even so, work is currently going well enough as a number of avenues of materials that actually might work all with their advantages and disadvantages have come about. Of course, it's entirely possible and probable that a number of these branching and promising paths will prove to fall apart and be completely overshadowed and outperformed by the refined results of other promising paths. It likely will in the end result in only one or two good enough for our needs. Even so, something good enough for us is good enough period, and it's likely the best of these possible combinations of various synthetic, refined and natural material will show greater promise than current. Still, progress is proceeding well.



Assignment: Scouting

Vinod naturally has a fair bit of skill in driving, and knows a fair few places that he can use to his advantage in a getaway in the city. However, what he doesn't know is actual proper targets. He was the getaway driver after all, he didn't really care about the what was being robbed in heists, or the why. Just the where. Of course, when his mind is actually put to it he isn't bad at discovering good places to rob, and getting himself further familiarized with the area also helps, as it opens up ways to escape that he likely wouldn't have ever noticed without the pre planning, or even find if he didn't go looking for them. So far he has found three particularly interesting targets for our thieves.

Bryn y Gorllewin Bank.
A moderately sized bank that is fairly large. Of course, as any bank robber knows, banks actually don't often have much in the way of money unless a transfer is done...If, say, a multi millionaire was to request a sizable withdrawal however, and we were to strike just after the money was transferred to the vault...
Risk is likely medium to high, depending on the time our thieves take.
Getaway opportunities offer a massive escape bonus due to a nearby construction site that has a tight section that will likely ruin lesser drivers and has a section that could easily be used to jump free and make less confident drivers slam on the breaks while more confident ones slam into the wall.

Kerwyn Art Gallery
A gallery that has about thirty paintings that are all worth a fair chunk of change. More importantly has a number of Ming era jade statuettes and statues alongside some antique jewelry from the time on display. There are a few other pieces of art from other cultures, though likely due to the current limitations with what we can realistically fit in the getaway vehicle, we'd mainly strike the Ming section.
Risk is likely low. Provided our team is careful enough they should be in and out after a good view from the inside is gained by them.
Getaway opportunities offer a possible escape bonus due to a nearby train station. 

Yoshida Medicine and Drugs
A small drugstore that was owned by a local of Shirohon heritage until a rival gang that recently came in to try and take a chunk of the city pressured him to sell the business. Vinod didn't even need to scout the place out, it already existed in his memory. The building is connected to one in the back where illegal drugs are made and the shipments for the various chemicals used to make them are brought in under the disguise for the use of other materials. Striking here would not only get us their illegal produce to sell for ourself but also damage a rival gang.
Risk is likely low low mid. How many gang members are there is unknown.
Getaway opportunity is simply that we likely won't be chased. After all, they'd be insane to call the cops over, or to do something so overt as to engage in a car chase...



It is currently the Project and Research phase.

You may at this moment in time describe and start one project which you would like to work on. The full effects of a project will be known upon completion, and the price and time of a project will be known once it is started. Do note that once you start a project, you do not need to work on it in the deployment phase, though electing not to will not advance it closer to completion.



Status of the Cabal:
Spoiler: Status of the Cabal (click to show/hide)

Villain list:
Spoiler: Feng Zhelan (click to show/hide)
Current Reputation - 33

Spoiler: Vinod Ashtekar (click to show/hide)
Current Reputation - 0
Completed Projects:
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Current Projects:
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: September 26, 2021, 01:44:48 am by piratejoe »
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A_Curious_Cat

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I still say we should rename ourselves as C.A.L.M.: C.A.L.M. Association of Larcenous Masterminds.
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TricMagic

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Re: Cabal of Villain's (Heroes VS Villains, Villains, Turn 4, Deployment phase.)
« Reply #104 on: September 04, 2021, 05:42:32 pm »

I still say we should rename ourselves as C.A.L.M.: C.A.L.M. Association of Larcenous Masterminds.
Seconded. But Calamitous Association of Larcenous Masterminds.

On that note,

Corrupt Heroes

One thing all mankind likes is Money. And among heroes, there are bound to be those who are more interested in marketing deals and coverups than heroism. Sure, they will still do Heroism, but it will be against those that are against us instead of against us. It will take a lot of work to gather the profiles, but we can make use of that portfolio to found Metahuman Responsibilty Agency down the line to knock the true heroes out of business later, laving only our own brand of Heroes.
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