[FO:E] Fallout Equestria OOC 2: Ante-Up My Little Ponies

[PurityIcekiller]

Exactly. This is why I wanted to go over this. The issue would be whether or not magic can be used to create living creatures, or things that resemble them. If this is not negotiable, I can remove that part of her powers, and just give her other magic.

[BladeofObliviom]

Exactly. This is why I wanted to go over this. The issue would be whether or not magic can be used to create living creatures, or things that resemble them. If this is not negotiable, I can remove that part of her powers, and just give her other magic.

The answer to this question is... ...kinda. There is magic in the world capable of manipulating life into new forms permanently. However, the only known ways of doing so are Killing Joke (which is Star-infused Poison Joke, probably not part of Violetta's skillset) and Project Chimera.

(Spoilered for Project Horizons)

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It should be noted that Project Chimera manipulates life by exposing it to Flux, a biomagical chemical of mysterious origins.

(Even bigger spoilers)

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Flux isn't even normal magic: It's the primary ingredient of IMP/Taint, and also happens to be Discord's essence extracted via drilling.

@RightUnderMe: Come-to-life is very temporary, however, and doesn't create life so much as it animates things. A permanent come-to-life would be useful if you wanted a Golem. Less so if you wanted a pet.

[TheAmishPirate]

Well, Twilight did use that "Come-to-Life" spell in Winter-Wrap-Up, so there's at least the precedent of "giving objects a semblance of autonomy." Beyond that, I think I'm going to let those with a mite more experience in the setting handle this.

[Lycan 01]

Exactly. This is why I wanted to go over this. The issue would be whether or not magic can be used to create living creatures, or things that resemble them. If this is not negotiable, I can remove that part of her powers, and just give her other magic.

*does some research*

...ah.


I am afraid we're going to have to say no to the Shaper idea. What magic would you be replacing it with? Anything else special we need to know about this character, or others you are playing or planning?

[Chaotic Bob]

There is a difference between animating an object and creating life.

Altering life, has some precident, in the form of horrific things like Killing Joke and Taint, so...that could likely be argued. To an extent.

But just creating life is likely something beyond what a simple mortal pony could accomplish.

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As far as the Hoofington Projects are concerned, even that life is grown, as opposed to simply created.

[BladeofObliviom]

Well, Twilight did use that "Come-to-Life" spell in Winter-Wrap-Up, so there's at least the precedent of "giving objects a semblance of autonomy." Beyond that, I think I'm going to let those with a mite more experience in the setting handle this.

*does some research*

...ah.


I am afraid we're going to have to say no to the Shaper idea. What magic would you be replacing it with? Anything else special we need to know about this character, or others you are playing or planning?

You know, now that I think about it, a special long-duration or even permanent Come-to-Life spell would be a pretty cool special talent. Create your Golems here!

Of course, if you wanted them to actually listen or be intelligent in the slightest you'd probably have to turn them into soul jars.

[TheAmishPirate]

Of course, if you wanted them to actually listen or be intelligent in the slightest you'd probably have to turn them into soul jars.

Now I wonder where she would get the bits of soul...

"Violetta, why do I gotta stand in this fancy magic circle thingy with my eyes closed? This seems an awful funny way to open a secret underground vault. Call me crazy, but I think somepony was playing a joke on you when they told you there was a fancy gun down there."

[PurityIcekiller]

All right, then. Thanks for clearing that up. She'll be sort of like a solo Agent, then, with no creations, weak healing abilities, and some buff, debuff and attack spells. Her power will be kept in check by the fact that she barely knows any magic and by her own rather limited essence.

Oh, come on. Souls do grow back, right? Now hold still, Fleetwing. This won't hurt a bit.

...No. Let's not go there. Even if it would be interesting. I have a reputation for playing non-evil characters that I need to uphold.

[Lycan 01]

Now I wonder where she would get the bits of soul...

"Violetta, why do I gotta stand in this fancy magic circle thingy with my eyes closed? This seems an awful funny way to open a secret underground vault. Call me crazy, but I think somepony was playing a joke on you when they told you there was a fancy gun down there."

Oh, come on. Souls do grow back, right? Now hold still, Fleetwing. This won't hurt a bit.

...No. Let's not go there. Even if it would be interesting. I have a reputation for playing non-evil characters that I need to uphold.

Um... Actually, soul-splitting and soul-binding are legit things in Fallout: Equestria. And IIRC, Amish, that ritual joke ain't too far off the mark.


In fact... A couple of spoilers.

Regarding soul-splitting:

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Rarity learned quite a bit of forbidden magic from the Black Book, including Soul Splitting and Soul Jars. She tested it on Octavia, who voluntarily allowed Rarity to put half her soul in her bass. From what I've heard, her consciousness wound up trapped in the instrument after she eventually died, spending over 200 years alone in an apartment, lost and forsaken, until somepony finally found her...

Rarity, meanwhile, wound up splitting her soul into over 40 pieces, keeping one piece for herself and placing the other fragments in the several dozen statuettes of the Mane 6. Which means.....

Regarding the Mane 6 statuettes scattered around the setting:

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Those little statues each contain a fragment of Rarity's soul, making them both indestructible and granting them magical ability. Specifically, it can lend that magic to the owner of the statuette, giving them a "stat boost" of sorts. Whether this boost is permanent or not, or if it only happens if the owner is special enough or something, I can't recall.

So yeah. When Lucky found that Rainbow Dash statuette, that magical rush he felt was basically Rarity's soul energy in the statue actually granting him More Awesomeness so he could be like Rainbow Dash. And I believe it was Fox Trot who got the Twilight statuette; Rarity's soul shard helped lend him more more Intelligence, so he could be like Twilight.

In conclusion, Necromancy and soul-magic sorta stuff is both pretty powerful and pretty screwed up. Not something PCs should really be dabbling in voluntarily, unless they want to wind up dealing with Very Bad Things.

[Benson]

On a random note. I want the manticore cub to have managed to survive somehow, or at least not dead. I had wanted the manticore cub and Gwendolyn to have been a thing, ya know before falling buildings happened.

[Lycan 01]

On a random note. I want the manticore cub to have managed to survive somehow, or at least not dead. I had wanted the manticore cub and Gwendolyn to have been a thing, ya know before falling buildings happened.

Oh yay, Benson's alive.

As for the manticore, I'm fairly certain it survived, as they're immune to radiation and he'd managed to snuggle his way down into the supplies. We may have to dig it out, but it should be fine.

The brahmin... Well, they might not be as lucky.

[BladeofObliviom]

Um... Actually, soul-splitting and soul-binding are legit things in Fallout: Equestria. And IIRC, Amish, that ritual joke ain't too far off the mark.


In fact... A couple of spoilers.

Regarding soul-splitting:

Spoiler

Show

Rarity learned quite a bit of forbidden magic from the Black Book, including Soul Splitting and Soul Jars. She tested it on Octavia, who voluntarily allowed Rarity to put half her soul in her bass. From what I've heard, her consciousness wound up trapped in the instrument after she eventually died, spending over 200 years alone in an apartment, lost and forsaken, until somepony finally found her...

Rarity, meanwhile, wound up splitting her soul into over 40 pieces, keeping one piece for herself and placing the other fragments in the several dozen statuettes of the Mane 6. Which means.....

Regarding the Mane 6 statuettes scattered around the setting:

Spoiler

Show

Those little statues each contain a fragment of Rarity's soul, making them both indestructible and granting them magical ability. Specifically, it can lend that magic to the owner of the statuette, giving them a "stat boost" of sorts. Whether this boost is permanent or not, or if it only happens if the owner is special enough or something, I can't recall.

So yeah. When Lucky found that Rainbow Dash statuette, that magical rush he felt was basically Rarity's soul energy in the statue actually granting him More Awesomeness so he could be like Rainbow Dash. And I believe it was Fox Trot who got the Twilight statuette; Rarity's soul shard helped lend him more more Intelligence, so he could be like Twilight.

In conclusion, Necromancy and soul-magic sorta stuff is both pretty powerful and pretty screwed up. Not something PCs should really be dabbling in voluntarily, unless they want to wind up dealing with Very Bad Things.

It gets SO MUCH BETTER than that in Project Horizons. The thing you mentioned was pretty much small fry compared to the stuff in (Spoilered below for Project Horizons)

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Project Eternity, operating out of Hightower Prison.

Despite being by far the most ridiculously lethal location that I've read about in the Entire Equestrian Wasteland, with a radiation level that makes Vault 87 look like Child's Play, Anti-Air Plasma Turrets that could vaporize kill Enclave Troopers in seconds, hordes of hyper-irradiated Feral Ghouls, a still-live Balefire bomb just lying there, the GODDAMN SMOOZE living in the basement, and the crazy security systems, Project Eternity was the room that came closest to causing a TPK.

Why? Because it was filled with Animated Soul Jars controlled by agonized, fragmented consciousnesses of those whose souls animate them. Rugs that try to strangle you are only the beginning.

[Rebonack]

Boy, the OOC sure is rainbows and sunshine lately.

And yes, the manticore cub should survive. Manticores are immune to radiation and taint for some reason. And if anyone recalls that crazy ghoul from Manehattan experimenting on them? Well, we've been kicking around the idea of setting him up at Project Chimera down in Hoofington >_>

Also!

Most of the various Projects are active still in this our setting, as seen in our resident chimera Ranger. What does that mean? Terrible things. How terrible? Expect pony-manticore hybrids if you try taking Project Chimera on.

[BladeofObliviom]

Boy, the OOC sure is rainbows and sunshine lately.

And yes, the manticore cub should survive. Manticores are immune to radiation and taint for some reason. And if anyone recalls that crazy ghoul from Manehattan experimenting on them? Well, we've been kicking around the idea of setting him up at Project Chimera down in Hoofington >_>

Also!

Most of the various Projects are active still in this our setting, as seen in our resident chimera Ranger. What does that mean? Terrible things. How terrible? Expect pony-manticore hybrids if you try taking Project Chimera on.

This begs the question: Just where the hell is Sanguine?

[Rebonack]

Combine two mad scientist ghouls into one character for the purpose of our game?

Maybe?

I was never fond of Sanguine's angry pegasus assistant. Her very existence made me want to punch a puppy. So the loss of him from the story wouldn't hurt my feelings.

[BladeofObliviom]

Combine two mad scientist ghouls into one character for the purpose of our game?

Maybe?

I was never fond of Sanguine's angry pegasus assistant. Her very existence made me want to punch a puppy. So the loss of him from the story wouldn't hurt my feelings.

Eh, maybe. Sanguine's quite a bit saner than the other one, and has wildly different goals. Also, he's a Canterlot Ghoul rather than a standard one. Aside from that, though, I suppose it could work.

I'm not much of a fan of said Pegasus either. Sanguine, on the other hand, is one of my favorite villains in the setting.

(Yet more spoilers)

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However, Psychoshy's not particularly relevant if Project Chimera's already active, since the main reason he kept her around was because he believed that her ancestry would let her use EC-1011 to reactivate it.

Besides, she gets neatly put on a bus later on. PROBLEM SOLVED.

Wait... ...Sanguine just wanted his family back, so I guess if Chimera was already active he might have just made the clones, harvested the organs, performed the procedure, and left with them. At that point, he isn't really a villain anymore since he already accomplished his real goal.

Hmm. You know, since this is a setting without the protagonists, the plot of Project Horizons can be neatly avoided by making Deus' attack on Stable 99 entirely successful. As a side effect, this kills off Blackjack before she becomes a proper protagonist, and explains how the Projects got turned on without her involvement.

Except of course Project Horizons itself, because we have no idea whatsoever what it actually does. (I have a theory, but that's speculation.)

[MCerberus]

Oh Fox Trot, you're going to be learning a life lesson soon aren't you?

[Tychris1]

This Ponyville fight is really sad.

I'm just hoping that more Raiders are actually hiding out and will slink out to join when the fightings done/That word of their deaths and the "New Regime" will attract more raiders and slavers to the fold.

[Lycan 01]

Would Sprinkles be able to pick up what's happening with Fox Trot on his sensors? Or is he totally oblivious to the gentlestallion's drugging?

[MCerberus]

Probably not, since his attention was divided between Scoops scooping and Surprise partying. If he mentioned keeping track of where Fox was trotting, then it would seem more plausible.

[Benson]

Oh Fox Trot, you're going to be learning a life lesson soon aren't you?

"Well...lessons...knowledge...Be Smart....its a thing right?"

Would Sprinkles be able to pick up what's happening with Fox Trot on his sensors? Or is he totally oblivious to the gentlestallion's drugging?

Hauh, good question.

Swift Star'd

[MCerberus]

I decided that considering that the post should be overloaded with silly right now since recently there's been too much drama... and the MoM warps reality around it.

[Benson]

I decided that considering that the post should be overloaded with silly right now since recently there's been too much drama... and the MoM warps reality around it.

Its great, because it allows me to play Fox as the dunce who fell for it and let the placebo effect take over.

[Rebonack]

I was thinking we could do much the same thing with Stable 2. The former Fillydelphia Chapter has already absconded due to the growing power of Red Eye and took over Stable 2. They killed all the PipBuck technicians inside. All of them. I would imagine they're still setting up and the Raiders in Ponyvillie proper had the good sense not to mess with them.

Crazy doesn't necessarily mean stupid.

That gets both of the really major protagonists out of the way and frees things up for PCs to do some heroing if they manage to pull it off.

[BladeofObliviom]

I was thinking we could do much the same thing with Stable 2. The former Fillydelphia Chapter has already absconded due to the growing power of Red Eye and took over Stable 2. They killed all the PipBuck technicians inside. All of them. I would imagine they're still setting up and the Raiders in Ponyvillie proper had the good sense not to mess with them.

Crazy doesn't necessarily mean stupid.

That gets both of the really major protagonists out of the way and frees things up for PCs to do some heroing if they manage to pull it off.

Sounds good to me. Though it'll probably be hilariously awkward if Lamianos and co. actually set up in town.

"Oh hey, neighbors! Wait. Buck."

[BladeofObliviom]

Apologies for Double-Posting.

In any case, I will so totally laugh my ass off if/when Rusty and co. run into Mr. Topaz.

[Chaotic Bob]

Meanwhile, I'm just smiling.
Pointing out to your GM that a fight is too easy is generally a Bad Idea.

More often than not, it's too easy for a reason.

But~
If I'm being encouraged to take my kiddie gloves off before the Stars Are Right, so shall it be~

[TheAmishPirate]

Meanwhile, I'm just smiling.
Pointing out to your GM that a fight is too easy is generally a Bad Idea.

More often than not, it's too easy for a reason.

But~
If I'm being encouraged to take my kiddie gloves off before the Stars Are Right, so shall it be~

See also: The reason why every time I've been tempted to comment on the situation in Girdershade, I've sat on my hands until the urge passes.

[MCerberus]

Meanwhile, I'm just smiling.
Pointing out to your GM that a fight is too easy is generally a Bad Idea.

More often than not, it's too easy for a reason.

But~
If I'm being encouraged to take my kiddie gloves off before the Stars Are Right, so shall it be~

And like a good weasel of a player, I am required to point out:
he said it
That other guy

[TheAmishPirate]

You all are going to make me try and figure out what Fleetwing's definition of Love is, aren't you? In a Fallout-based RP, my character's biggest hurdle thus far is trying to explain to a pair of clueless mares what Love is? And his best source of relationship advice is anecdotal information passed on from his folks? One of whom, by the by, may or may not have blackmailed his father into marriage? Woop, spoilers!

You monsters.

On that note, I'ma have to sleep on this post. This is going to take some thinking.