Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XXXV: DJ Callan Turns the Tables

[Oracle_Hunter]

Wait a damn second. Weren't a lot of you saying earlier in the week that if DJ Callan was smart, he'd start going after all possible seers? Isn't this pretty much that?

What, so it's stupid now because it actually happened, or am I missing something?

Oh, DJ Callan is acting intelligently as far as we can tell. The real problem is Mookie's implementation.

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To start with, spying on "all Second Sight" is an amusing concept. For one, it's not clear how this is could be done considering what we know about magic - which is, very little. Second Sight appeared to be directed scrying on events in the present, past and future; it did not look like it went through a phone system that could be tapped. Saying that you're spying on all Second Sight is a lot like saying you're spying on all fireballs in that sense.

Next, there is the annoying ability of Seers to detect when they are being scryed on makes "tapping" the scry-lines of Seers an odd choice of tactic if you're trying to be subtle. The fact that a scrub like Quilt detected this tap only highlights that point.

And finally, you do have to ask why DJ Callan is doing this now. If he's just looking for Celesto, he should be, y'know, looking for Celesto, not wasting his time watching everyone else in the world. Since he has the best anti-scrying wards in the kingdom he really shouldn't worry about random people detecting his actions but even if he's being cautious there is no call for keeping a net out for anyone with Second Sight, ever. At the very least he should have a short-list of "powerful Seers who can crack our wards" and keep them observed somehow. Oh, and if he was so worried about being detected, why didn't he have the Scry Net up earlier as opposed to just now?

[mwchase]

I think the issue is, we were expecting him to do detective work. Previously, we've seen people notice scries and visions that were directed at them. Since, so far as we know, DJ Callan is not secretly Celesto, he can't make that work. What Luna is saying implies that the Battlecasters are basically monitoring all scries on this point in time.

I mean, are you really saying that spamming battlecasters all over the scrychoplane is a better use of resources than hiring a private detective to look into the lives of a few outspoken dissidents?

Also, question: what happened to Barnet's Blinder gear? Was it destroyed, given to the museum that she had the fake documentation for, or seized by the state?

Because it would be kind of hilarious if all of this just ended with some assassin wandering up in blinder-gear, and stabbing Dominic in the back.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Because it would be kind of hilarious if all of this just ended with some assassin wandering up in blinder-gear, and stabbing Dominic in the back.

If I were DJ Callan, I'd have a single, loyal assassin in Blinder Gear whose purpose is to track down and kill Seers powerful enough to see through my Advanced Warding.

Then I'd put a magical Cranial Bomb in him, set to go off if he ever thought about harming me.

But, much like Vilrath's Glyph, this powerful anti-Seer technology is totally forgotten by everyone after its introduction

[mwchase]

But, much like Vilrath's Glyph, this powerful anti-Seer technology is totally forgotten by everyone after its introduction

Anti-seer?

*cough*Null Magic*cough*

Also, might as well go a bit further. Have the gear teleport off to a preset location on death (piggybacking on the teleport network? I... don't know how that is a network, anyway. More of a nexus, or something.), and, ideally, replace it with Devil Dust, so any seer trying to investigate just goes into a coma full of mayhem.

Okay, wait, here it is: upon detecting disloyalty, the implant floods the assassin's system with devil dust or a similar compound, then activates a stored teleport, after death is confirmed.

[Fawkes]

I'm so bored by this. So bored I'm not even reading the thread. Wake me when something interesting happens.

[Darkmyst]

Wait a damn second. Weren't a lot of you saying earlier in the week that if DJ Callan was smart, he'd start going after all possible seers? Isn't this pretty much that?

What, so it's stupid now because it actually happened, or am I missing something?

Yes, We don't know, Yes, and Probably not, respectively.

To elaborate on the third answer, it's not so much that DJ's plan here is stupid (whatever it turns out to be), and more that Mookie posesses the bizzare ability to make anything appear stupid when expressed in typical DD form. Before anything involving the BCers occured, it hadn't been exposed to the moronic taint of Luna and Quilt, and thus appeared sound in concept.

The thing that you're almost certainly not missing is that this ex-fanbase has been running without even the memory of the fumes of the final dregs of goodwill for a rather long time now. Everything is assumed to be negative until proven otherwise... and to be fair, in recent years these assumptions have seldom been unjust or incorrect.

[mwchase]

Everything is assumed to be negative until proven otherwise... and to be fair, in recent years these assumptions have seldom been unjust or incorrect.

I'll give him Kaldonia, excepting my confusion over whether there are doctorate degrees in Callan. Technically speaking, the predictions about Dominic beam-spamming Snuggly were wrong. Just not wrong in a good way. And I'm pretty sure some of us were okay with no more than two of the arcs last year.

That said, those don't stack up well against the rest of Altered States, what Dominic actually did to Snuggly, either time ("The state of the world is as I will it." "Oh yeah? Well, the state of the world is as I will it more!"), the rest of last year's arcs, or pretty much all of Maltak.

[TamerBill]

Check out TamerBill's "Battle for Barthis 2".

And here I was all set to do my own shilling. I've rehosted the movies elsewhere, though, since SWFcabin's been really flakey lately. If the thread-starter-guy could update the first post with these new links that'd be great and also wicked-sweet.

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Big Stuff
Dominic Deegan: The Animated Series
Battle For Barthis 2
Magical Nerd Lyrical Nimmeloha

Little Stuff
Power-Walking With Nimmel Fenix
Dominic Dansen: Oracle for Hire
Young Men's Chibi Association
Hell Is Other Panels

This... this is simply fantastic. There are no words.
Oh look here they are wordswordswordswordswords.

I admit it, I laughed.

How starved are you guys for content, by the way? I have an old mostly-finished Maltak video that I never published before. It's worth a couple of laughs if you want me to get around to airing it.

Is it bad that Maltak seems like a golden age now? Is it... really bad?

[Ghill]

TamerBill, you sir, are amazing. Fantastic, even. I think I speak for everyone when I say, please air the Maltak video!

But yeah, that is a bad sign.

[Glass Mouse]

How starved are you guys for content, by the way? I have an old mostly-finished Maltak video that I never published before. It's worth a couple of laughs if you want me to get around to airing it.

Is it bad that Maltak seems like a golden age now? Is it... really bad?

I'm so starved that I can hardly hit the keyboard right.

No, wait, that's the skipped lunch and dinner.

Post it anyway!

[Gez]

Okay, wait, here it is: upon detecting disloyalty, the implant floods the assassin's system with devil dust or a similar compound, then activates a stored teleport, after death is confirmed.

Okay stop that. You're making me think of a medieval-fantasy cyberpunk setting with magic instead of technology (corporations would be called guilds), and that's way too awesome to be allowed in a DD thread.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Okay stop that. You're making me think of a medieval-fantasy cyberpunk setting with magic instead of technology (corporations would be called guilds), and that's way too awesome to be allowed in a DD thread.

Deeganpunk 2020 would be pretty great

I can see it now.

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Callan is a dystopian society run by powerful magical institutions backed by Guild interests. Of course, since the law of the land is that no Guild may own more than one Business at a time, the Guilds have to engage in shadowy dealings in order to maintain their power and prestige without triggering the ire of DJ Callan. Since DJ Callan has a monopoly on anti-Scry magic, Seers are the mainstay of the shadow, with their ability to both spy on others and detect spies. Generally they fight in the mindsoulscape known as Scry-Net: a realm that all Seers must enter in order to practice their trade and where the mind is king. But with the Royal Blinder Assassins walking the streets no Seer can survive without allies.

You are a Seer - one trained in the techniques of Second Sight. Perhaps you are an Oracle (who gains potent information at the whim of Destiny); or a Black Hat (a Seer with training in Black Magic); or a White Hat (one with White Magic). Or maybe you're one of the frightening Spellwolves or Necros that has terrifying powers of their own.

[Whoracle]

Deeganpunk 2020

I'd play that.

Let's see, we'll adapt the advanced KULT character sheet and rulework, since it's fairly simple and wouldn't need that much work to retrofit it to the setting.

Spoiler

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Throws: D20 under score, the greater the difference the better the success, 1 is crit, 20 is botch)
Damage: via table, D20 + DmgBonus
Ini: D10+IniBonus as high as possible

Point-Buy system, 100 points for 8 attributes, human average is around 10, superhuman starts at 15:
STR
DEX
CON
PER(ception)
APP(earance)
CHA
EGO (INT and willpower as well as a bit of CoC's Sanity)
EDU(cation, for scholar characters)

Note here: All skills will be linked to respective attributes as far as their point caps go, so for example:
Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) is linked to EDU. Your EDU score is 12. For point buy, each point in Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) costs 1 point, each point over the linked attribute costs 3 points. So Knowledge(bla) 12 would cost 12 points, and Knowledge(bla) 13 would cost 12 + (1*3) = 15 points.

Secondary attributes (derived from primary, d'oh):
Carrying capacity: STR | STR * 10 (first is what you can carry in kg without eventually getting tired, second one is the maximum weight you're able to lift short term)
Stamina: (CON*5)+30
Movement: DEX/2 per round
Initiative Bonus: +1 for each DEX over 12, -1 for each DEX under 8
Damage Bonus: A table I don't have around right now. (STR+DEX)/2 and then look it up
Actions per round: 2 ( + 1 for every 2 DEX over 12)
Mental Breakdown: gotta think of something for this one

Skills: KULT has too many to list here, so suggestions anyone?
Magic: Either buy spells like skills (How KULT does it, means pretty low spell count, not ideal for this setting) or buy schools of spells like skills and link spells/day to EGO*2 or something like that.

Anyone in for a game?

And yes, I am serious.

[Acheron]

Deeganpunk 2020 would be pretty great

I can see it now.

Spoiler

Show

Callan is a dystopian society run by powerful magical institutions backed by Guild interests. Of course, since the law of the land is that no Guild may own more than one Business at a time, the Guilds have to engage in shadowy dealings in order to maintain their power and prestige without triggering the ire of DJ Callan. Since DJ Callan has a monopoly on anti-Scry magic, Seers are the mainstay of the shadow, with their ability to both spy on others and detect spies. Generally they fight in the mindsoulscape known as Scry-Net: a realm that all Seers must enter in order to practice their trade and where the mind is king. But with the Royal Blinder Assassins walking the streets no Seer can survive without allies.

You are a Seer - one trained in the techniques of Second Sight. Perhaps you are an Oracle (who gains potent information at the whim of Destiny); or a Black Hat (a Seer with training in Black Magic); or a White Hat (one with White Magic). Or maybe you're one of the frightening Spellwolves or Necros that has terrifying powers of their own.

I'd play that.

Let's see, we'll adapt the advanced KULT character sheet and rulework, since it's fairly simple and wouldn't need that much work to retrofit it to the setting.

Spoiler

Show

Throws: D20 under score, the greater the difference the better the success, 1 is crit, 20 is botch)
Damage: via table, D20 + DmgBonus
Ini: D10+IniBonus as high as possible

Point-Buy system, 100 points for 8 attributes, human average is around 10, superhuman starts at 15:
STR
DEX
CON
PER(ception)
APP(earance)
CHA
EGO (INT and willpower as well as a bit of CoC's Sanity)
EDU(cation, for scholar characters)

Note here: All skills will be linked to respective attributes as far as their point caps go, so for example:
Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) is linked to EDU. Your EDU score is 12. For point buy, each point in Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) costs 1 point, each point over the linked attribute costs 3 points. So Knowledge(bla) 12 would cost 12 points, and Knowledge(bla) 13 would cost 12 + (1*3) = 15 points.

Secondary attributes (derived from primary, d'oh):
Carrying capacity: STR | STR * 10 (first is what you can carry in kg without eventually getting tired, second one is the maximum weight you're able to lift short term)
Stamina: (CON*5)+30
Movement: DEX/2 per round
Initiative Bonus: +1 for each DEX over 12, -1 for each DEX under 8
Damage Bonus: A table I don't have around right now. (STR+DEX)/2 and then look it up
Actions per round: 2 ( + 1 for every 2 DEX over 12)
Mental Breakdown: gotta think of something for this one

Skills: KULT has too many to list here, so suggestions anyone?
Magic: Either buy spells like skills (How KULT does it, means pretty low spell count, not ideal for this setting) or buy schools of spells like skills and link spells/day to EGO*2 or something like that.

Anyone in for a game?

And yes, I am serious.

...curse you both...this sounds interesting... D8

Mind-Break should be the result of Mental Breakdown...destroy everything around you in a fit of seer-madness XD
...like...when you run out of Mental Breakdown points...BOOM, Mind-Break...of course, I have no idea how the KULT system works so...eh...

[mwchase]

Hmm... With my last final tomorrow, I might be able to make time over the summer. Just got to make sure my other gaming obligation is squared away. Anyway, should get back to work on my passably written and badly drawn comic. It is not getting graded on art, fortunately.

[Helanna]

I'd play that.

Let's see, we'll adapt the advanced KULT character sheet and rulework, since it's fairly simple and wouldn't need that much work to retrofit it to the setting.

Spoiler

Show

Throws: D20 under score, the greater the difference the better the success, 1 is crit, 20 is botch)
Damage: via table, D20 + DmgBonus
Ini: D10+IniBonus as high as possible

Point-Buy system, 100 points for 8 attributes, human average is around 10, superhuman starts at 15:
STR
DEX
CON
PER(ception)
APP(earance)
CHA
EGO (INT and willpower as well as a bit of CoC's Sanity)
EDU(cation, for scholar characters)

Note here: All skills will be linked to respective attributes as far as their point caps go, so for example:
Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) is linked to EDU. Your EDU score is 12. For point buy, each point in Knowledge(Psychoplanar Planes) costs 1 point, each point over the linked attribute costs 3 points. So Knowledge(bla) 12 would cost 12 points, and Knowledge(bla) 13 would cost 12 + (1*3) = 15 points.

Secondary attributes (derived from primary, d'oh):
Carrying capacity: STR | STR * 10 (first is what you can carry in kg without eventually getting tired, second one is the maximum weight you're able to lift short term)
Stamina: (CON*5)+30
Movement: DEX/2 per round
Initiative Bonus: +1 for each DEX over 12, -1 for each DEX under 8
Damage Bonus: A table I don't have around right now. (STR+DEX)/2 and then look it up
Actions per round: 2 ( + 1 for every 2 DEX over 12)
Mental Breakdown: gotta think of something for this one

Skills: KULT has too many to list here, so suggestions anyone?
Magic: Either buy spells like skills (How KULT does it, means pretty low spell count, not ideal for this setting) or buy schools of spells like skills and link spells/day to EGO*2 or something like that.

Anyone in for a game?

And yes, I am serious.

Well, I don't know how to play this system, but it sounds interesting enough that I would learn. And since school is ending, I might actually have some time . . .

[Whoracle]

I'll go make a post over in the homebrew section. I'll be able to post more details on KULT 'til saturday, and in the meantime we can work out the skills and mental breakdown.

Another thing that'd fit right into DD from KULT is the character background which in addition to perks and flaws introduces the "Dark Secret" that most characters have. Since most characters in DD actually do have some traumatizing past or terrible secret (or long lost terrible sibling... *cough*luna*cough*), it'd fit.

Quick heads up: In KULT mental breakdown is done with a throw against EGO, with modifiers depending on the circumstances (see your best friend eviscerated right next to you? take a +5. BY you? +10) and in addition to this there is a stat called Mental Balance, which is Points of Flaws - Points of Perks and determines how balanced between good/evil and emotion/apathy the character is. Most (playable) chars in KULT are around +-10, and I think this could be adapted, too.

Also, rip a page out of the Buffy RPG book and give the chars some drama points for dei ex machinae (or whatever the plural is... we figured that one out a while ago, I think).

I'm gonna make that thread now.
Here we go

[mwchase]

Ooh, I just got a doozy of confusion, trying to lay out magic as it's been shown.

So, Archmages are masters of all schools of magic. How many of the current Archmages are necromancers? Remember, necromancy was developed by Rilian, centuries (unless he's a serious lightweight about the whole world-weariness thing) before DJ Callan got the fifth circle recognized. So how did that work? Did every archmage until then use necromancy in ignorance of its origins, or did the other four go on sabbatical to learn about Death Is Not Zombies after they admitted that DJ Callan was hardcore?

Argh, Mookie.

[Traab]

I think its more that they know about all branches of magic. I mean, they dont become infernomancers, but im sure they know how that school of magic WORKS. It may be the same for necromancy.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Ooh, I just got a doozy of confusion, trying to lay out magic as it's been shown.

So, Archmages are masters of all schools of magic. How many of the current Archmages are necromancers? Remember, necromancy was developed by Rilian, centuries (unless he's a serious lightweight about the whole world-weariness thing) before DJ Callan got the fifth circle recognized. So how did that work? Did every archmage until then use necromancy in ignorance of its origins, or did the other four go on sabbatical to learn about Death Is Not Zombies after they admitted that DJ Callan was hardcore?

Argh, Mookie.

This question is unanswerable for several reasons:

(1) Are Dominion Archmagi and Circle Archmagi even the same thing? Do they have the same standards?

(2) What are the other "people planes" like? Is magic a multiversal force, or does it vary from Universe to Universe?

(3) What is Necromancy, anyways? Is it tied to one of the Planes of Creation? Does it work on all dead people? Do people in other Universes even have souls? Does that matter?

[TheLaughingMan]

Sneaky Gate.

Ohhh, I get it now! The reason Celesto can't just visit Deegan like a sensible person is because [DATA EXPUNGED]!

[Bobikus]

Sneaky Gate
Future Link

Mookie is once again showcasing his ability to assassinate any tension.

[Fawkes]

GERALD KNOWS ALL

[Kris Strife]

Actually, for Mookie, this is not that bad a strip. It actually reveals something I don't think anyone saw coming, dialogue isn't cringe inducing, and it actually moves the plot.

[Palmer]

Oh yeah, Celesto's a mad dog. We couldn't just directly scry on him, he would've torn us to pieces! Just look at him grin, I'd get a drink with this guy!

I guess we're just ignoring that part in the last page where Quilt was about to reveal where Celesto is, meaning Gerald doesn't really factor into this storyline at all. God knows there isn't enough wackiness.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Actually, for Mookie, this is not that bad a strip. It actually reveals something I don't think anyone saw coming, dialogue isn't cringe inducing, and it actually moves the plot.

Bah!

You can't see plot-points like this coming because there is no internal consistency in the comic. We didn't know what the Battlecasters really are, exactly what they're doing, or even why they were doing it. This is just another Shocking Swerve like Dom Lobster. The only things that are predictable in Dominic Deegan is Mookie's method: a problem will present itself, the protagonists will produce an answer out of thin air, the villains will be punished and the heroes will be lauded

Worse, it looks like these past two weeks of comics were completely meaningless! The ostensible point of going to Quilt was for him to find Celesto. However, rather than reasonably relying on his questionable detective skills, they relied on his authoritatively awful Scrying skills and somehow we ended back up at the point that Quilt is going to use his detective skills to find Celesto!

[Trazoi]

Obligatory Dominikudigan.

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Worse, it looks like these past two weeks of comics were completely meaningless! The ostensible point of going to Quilt was for him to find Celesto. However, rather than reasonably relying on his questionable detective skills, they relied on his authoritatively awful Scrying skills and somehow we ended back up at the point that Quilt is going to use his detective skills to find Celesto!

The lesson of the last couple of weeks: Luna ruins everything, always.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Obligatory Dominikudigan.

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OK, Celesto's penultimate speech bubble is a perfect prediction of the next few weeks of comics.

"I must be inexplicable" indeed

[Bobikus]

This one angers me a bit really.

[TheLaughingMan]

OK, Celesto's penultimate speech bubble is a perfect prediction of the next few weeks of comics.

"I must be inexplicable" indeed

Please Please Please Please.

Please.

Relax.