Avatar Battle Royale Discussion Thread XXV: The Future (Imperfect) is...Soon

[Mina Kobold]

New comic is upp-ish... hopefully I did not break anyone's plans for next few comics with it. If you wish it can very easily be made non-canon.

And I agree, Beren is not really your best choice for first mate, though I think he could be a narrator of sorts. Everyone else sees his mutterings propably as sign of insanity

Well for once Will isn't drinking more rum than anyone else, he just ain't used to it and then there's the whole Bursuc deal too (it was mostly to show that he is new at the job). Rum was the only drink real pirates drank because water gets bad remember?

PS: He ain't a kleptomaniac either, those steal for fun or challenge, Will steal because that's how he used to survive and he hasn't really had any positive encounter with the law (and he lives on pirate ship)

[Threeshades]

Okay you guys have a point. Let's keep the magic down. All the wizard schools have been lost when the world flooded over and and most sorcerer families sunk like rocks because swim was cross-class for them.

[Darklord Bright]

I have discovered that having two comics prepared for my thread and not being able to post them due to setting a schedule and needing a buffer is frustrating because I wanna know what people say :P

[Grim ranger]

TSS 16
It's not what it looks like

Spoiler

Show

Bunny Hopping

Heh heh heh

Not all bad, allright...

[Darklord Bright]

Heh heh heh

Not all bad, allright...

I originally titled it "Not sure if want".
Glad you liked it!

[Threeshades]

New TSS up.

[Darklord Bright]

New TSS up.

The only thing I can say is...

[Falgorn]

The only thing I can say is...

Wow....that picture was awesome. So was the comic, TS.
...
Go Budgies!

[Squark]

I love how everybody else makes drunks, kleptomaniacs, and other comedically inept and quirky mariners, and you go for a hypercompetant brooding Planeswalker, which, if I remember the MTG novels correctly, is a nigh-unkillable superwizard powerful enough to create entire planets (Re: Mirrodin). The type of guy who is essentially a god.

So yeah, just to make sure, you ARE putting llimitations on mister X right? Like, serious limitations. The type that put him on a level with our perfectly mundane sword-swingers (Not Unstoppable Blademasters mind you, just Sailors who know which end of a cutlass to stick in people. Remember, a Pirate's duties are pretty much identical to an ordinary sailor's like 98% of the time. ) Or you're not using the MtG version of a planeswalker.

Sort of. I've never understood MTG's rules of Planeswalkers greatly, so to me, it just means powerful magi. However, Mr. X. does have self-imposed limitations. As a general rule, he prefers to hit things with his sword than cast spells, and even then, he rarely uses more than one spell, and it almost never costs more than 2 mana. (for the record, he uses red, black, and blue spells). In fact, I might tie this in to his... condition.

He also almost never summons things.


Also, great comic TS, and great LOLBird, DarklordBright.


EDIT: Some proposed stuff for FI

WARNING: LONG

Spoiler

Show

UNA Response Times to Resistance Actions

Basic Peacekeeper- 1 minute or less: An ordinary Peacekeeper can be on the scene in 1 minute or less, however, these peacekeepers arrive solely to evacuate civillians, as they are armed only with their sidearms and do not carry their gas masks. It is not that they are less competent than other UNA forces, it is that they are, first and foremost, POLICEMEN, and large guns and gas masks are a detriment to basic policework

Peacekeeper Tactical Response Team- 2 minutes: A fully armed, gas mask wearing team of peacekeepers has a response time of about 2 minutes. They carry extra gas masks for the initial responders. However, their gaseous arsenal is limited to knock-out gas, to ensure no harm comes to civillians.

Military squads- 3-5 minutes: Squads of UNA troopers will be on the scene in 5 minutes. These soldiers are armed much like peacekeepers, but have permission to fire their weapons on full auto for extended period of time, and are carry fragmentation grenades.

Armored Response- 15 minutes: Armored Response teams include tanks and rocket launcher armed soldiers, however, except in cases involving the Citadel of Bis Anu or the mothballed Vendetta, this team is held back, as most ALF actions are urban in nature, and such heavy weaponry causes too much property damage.

Ghost Arcane Response- 2 minutes: The Ghosts and their lesser arcanists can be on the scene in 2 minutes; however, they are only deployed if a high-risk resistance member is spotted, like Jake Grant or Oliver.

Sovice Response- 2 minutes: Sovice are almost never used in response to a threat except in theoretical situations involving a combined attack by the Vendetta and the Citadel, because Ghosts are sufficient for most Resistance high-level characters, and Sovice units can be... distressing to bystanders.


UNA Military Breakdown-

Peacekeepers: Peacekeepers are a subset of the military, who sacrifice heavy weapons training and military tactics training in favor of traditional police training. Peacekeepers are armed much like the UNA ground forces, and even share a uniform with them. However, Peacekeepers do not carry their rifles or gas masks when on patrol, as such large weapons and an obscured face are a hamper when performing the task of policework.*

Peacekeeper tactical response team: Elite Peacekeepers, sort of a modern SWAT team. These peacekeepers carry their gas masks as well as rifles, but since they do have police training, are more cautious with automatic fire and grenades, in case any civilians are hiding.

UNA Army: the UNA military is better-equipped than a peacekeeper tactical response team, carrying a full arsenal of grenades instead of just knock-out gas. They also have fewer inhibitions about automatic fire. Most of them do not have quite as much training as a tactical response team member, but they have the numbers and weaponry to make up for it.

UNA Army Armored Division: The small UNA armored division is seldom used. Consisting of both tanks, artillery, and heavy weapons, they are used mostly to defend key locations and during traps, as they are impractical within a city, and their response time is too slow to deal with the lightning raids Resistance air forces typically employ.

UNA Air Force: The UNA Airforce is well equipped and numerous, but seldom used, as they can only match the Citadel's speed, while the jury-rigged Vendetta can nonetheless exceed their speed. The Air Force is used primarily to deal with the few squadrons of fighters on board the 'Detta, which are seldom deployed.

UNA Navy: The UNA navy is somewhat unused in nature, as few Resistance organizations besides the ALF have any ships whatsoever, and even they have only the sole surviving Aphlantican ship supplemented by a few Schizian light gunboats. This has led to the UNA Navy becoming a small, discriminating group, that only takes the best, making getting into the Navy very prestigious.

The Ghosts: Besides the Ghosts and their few apprentices, the UNA relies primarily on the Academy for Sorcerers** to provide for their most of their arcane needs and all of their divine ones***, since a surplus of Magic**** users is viewed as a bad thing, and the general consensus with sorcerers is, "We can't stop them from appearing, so we might as well use them." While the majority of the students at the Academy are guided to develop their talents for non-combat purposes, those who show talents for teleporting or combat spells are targeted for recruitment by the Ghosts Arcane support group, which is the UNA's primary source of combat magic.

Sovice: The Sovice, while easily the UNA's most powerful military resource, are almost never used outside of a few nanite-implanted personnel skilled in the art of pretending not to be sovice. The reasoning for this is twofold- Early use of the sovice in combat led to the ALF developing Sovice-sensor baffling, which has made the Vendetta and the Citadel impossible to track, and sovice units combat abilities can be distressing to bystanders.


*It is important to remember that a Peacekeeper is a policeman, and as such, he handles all crimes, not just resistance ones.
**Somewhat of a misnomer, as anyone with inborn magical abilities, be they favored soul, sorcerer, warlock, psion, or who knows what is sent there.
***Religion, although not persecuted, is not very large in the UNA, as many people have turned to the Sovice Gods, who do not grant spells. As such, the favored Souls and the like from the academy of sorcerers are the ONLY real source of divine magic available to the UNA.
****Non-government magic isn't illegal in the UNA, its just discouraged. Of course, the fact that most magical texts are in the Ghost's vaults kind of limits the presence of any non-inborn magic.


The ALF's major bases


The Citadel: HQ of the resistance, the citadel is still in relatively good repair.

The Vendetta: Raised from the sea, the Vendetta has been put to good use by the resistance. However, spending a year on the bottom of the ocean did not do wonders for the ship, and much of its armor has worn away, and less than a quarter of its weapons are functioning.

The (what was the surviving Aphlantican ship): The ALF's least powerful command ship, it is only rarely employed in combat situations.


ALF High command notes: the members of the ALF high command never meet in person, using Aphlantican illusions to perform a similar service to holograms. This, along with the fact that the three major Resistance ships are never allowed to meat, is a survival tactic: High command reasons that the resistance can survive the loss of one of its ships and one of its council members, but not much more. As such, keeping most of the high council and their military forces spread out prevents the UNA from wiping them out in one fell swoop.

EDIT2: Also, I was thinking, since I'm starting to incorporate MTG elements into ABR, I could create a mtg set for ABR. So would anyone like to do art for their character?

[Falgorn]

I blame the ninjas. In other news, I'm making my character as we speak! Quick question: Would anyone prefer male to female, or female to male?

[Squark]

TBH, the Heart of Booty could use another female to avert the smurfette principle.

EDIT: Darklord Bright, could I get a square image of the Alana "Bunny 'op"-ing for the Magic set?

[Green-Shirt Q]

I blame the ninjas. In other news, I'm making my character as we speak! Quick question: Would anyone prefer male to female, or female to male?

Female. Any time. You can't have too many of those strange creatures around.

When you think about it, a female is infinitely a more interesting character then an alien or a fish-monster or a chinchilla ANY DAY OF THE FRIGGEN WEEK! Am I right or am I right?

[Threeshades]

Female. Any time. You can't have too many of those strange creatures around.

When you think about it, a female is infinitely a more interesting character then an alien or a fish-monster or a chinchilla ANY DAY OF THE FRIGGEN WEEK! Am I right or am I right?

What about a female alien fish-monster chinchilla?

[BRC]

@ Squark's FI Suggestions
a 2 minute response time for anywhere in the world? That's ridiculously fast. Maybe for the hub of a major city, unless if the UNA has an army of wizards capable of casting Teleport that can port Peacekeeper squads into trouble zones, in which case the 2-minutes is the time it takes to mobilize the squad after the message gets out. But since wizards high-enough level to cast teleport are going to be somewhat rare, I find that unlikely


Also, we already worked out the UNA's millitary into the Peacekeepers and the Navy didn't we? Mad Mask keeps track of this stuff more than I do, so wait for him to come online to explain things.

Edit: Also, standard tech level is WWI era, so with very very few exceptions, there are no handheld automatic weapons, only crew-serviced ones.

Edit: Also @ Squark's Character you can do alot with 2 mana, but since it sounds like he only casts spells as a last resort that works.

[Mina Kobold]

EDIT2: Also, I was thinking, since I'm starting to incorporate MTG elements into ABR, I could create a mtg set for ABR. So would anyone like to do art for their character?

Maybe I would, but I don' know anything about MTG. Care to say what you need?

[Squark]

Well no, obviously they're not that fast in the country, but I thought most Resistance actions were in urban centers.


Also, I've never been entirely sure when hand-held automatic weapons came into service, so sorry about that. Also, these were only suggestions, which I added because I don't really know what the existing UNA organization is.


Also, is ANYONE interested in doing art for my ABR MTG idea? Ninja'd!

Maybe I would, but I don' know anything about MTG. Care to say what you need?

Art, and Ideas of popular spells and running gags. Actual mechanics suggetions would be welcome from anyone who does play MTG.


Immediate Art Requests:
-Calamity-Kpenguin Grope (for the card Grope!)
-Alana Bunny Hopping (for the card Bunny Hop)
MM, can I use your peacekeeper avatar for the Peacekeeper card? Or could you make a larger version in a square background?

[Grim ranger]

New TSS up.

Beren is sooooo going to remember that

Payback will be incoming when our ship is safely outside the range of Manpower's cannonade

[Darklord Bright]

Here's an image of her bunnyhopping for ya. You're lucky I already had it

[The Gremlin]

I like the squirrel man. Aquaroy is alreayd shaping up to have its own selection of unique races.

[Shades of Gray]

I like the squirrel man. Aquaroy is alreayd shaping up to have its own selection of Anthros.

Fixed it for ya.

[Darklord Bright]

Fixed it for ya.

Indeed. We have already had a Bunnygirl a Squidman and a Catboy, didn't we? Not sure where he went though...

[SinisterPenguin]

Indeed. We have already had a Bunnygirl a Squidman and a Catboy, didn't we? Not sure where he went though...

And Lemming's fish-person thing. And a were-badger, but that probably doesn't count.

[Green-Shirt Q]

There's also the Furon, but then again that's both an extra-terrestrial race and a race ripped off from one of my favourite video games.

[Shades of Gray]

We also have the guinoids.

When I get back from my vacation I'll probably make a TSS character.

[Squark]

Guinoids are not native to Aquaroy, I believe.


EDIT: Sorry, Darklord Bright. As it turns out, the picture needs to be 182x134 pixels, not a square like I orignally thought. Can you mess with the image so it looks like that? And give it some sort of Background, if you could. Sorry if I'm being demanding here.

EDIT2: Actually... I'm still trying to get the hang of adding art to the program here, so hold off on any art for the cards. It seems to give me different pixel values if the card has a different size.


EDIT: I think I have the basic Idea now. Just try to make the pictures larger than normal (scale the lines up as well) while adding a large background. I'll need a few images to test though, so if anyone wants to make a swamp, forest, island, mountain, or plains card, go ahead, and I'll test my theory with that.

[The Gremlin]

Fixed it for ya.

Um, no, you didn't.

[Nameless]

*Comes back from two week holiday*
Hi.
*Makes a comic*
What I miss?

[Green-Shirt Q]

*Comes back from two week holiday*
Hi.
*Makes a comic*
What I miss?

Since I was gone for a one-week holiday, I can't say for sure. But I wager a guess that there was quite a bit of faffing about being done about FI still.

Also, The Sea Scoundrels is up and running smoothly. Well, for now. The plot seems to be standing still at the moment, but I'm sure that'll be fixed in a bit.

[Shades of Gray]

Um, no, you didn't.

... Okay? I was just joking. >.>

[Nameless]

Since I was gone for a one-week holiday, I can't say for sure. But I wager a guess that there was quite a bit of faffing about being done about FI still.

Also, The Sea Scoundrels is up and running smoothly. Well, for now. The plot seems to be standing still at the moment, but I'm sure that'll be fixed in a bit.

Ahh good, I'm making a TSS comic.