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

[Chaotic Bob]

I had already previously written them arriving at New Appleoosa.
Admittedly simply, but it was done.

Whether the refugees and Bright Eyes disperse, or carry on, at this point is on Purity.

[BladeofObliviom]

Lamianos x Delirious Hex! Someone write this trainwreck of a shipfic!

In other news, I took a massive trawl through canon and sidefics to see if Cybernetic Wings were actually a thing. Interestingly enough, they didn't appear anywhere one would expect:

Spoiler

Red Eye's Cyberdragon had fully natural wings, Talon Vermilion from Project Horizons had unusually large but natural wings, and none of the Cyborgs present at the Cathedral were flight-capable.

However, apparently Raspberry Tart's Bodyguard, Gizmo, had a pair of cybernetic wings allowing flight. I admit to having completely forgotten about him, due to basically being a throwaway reference to Izo from Junktown in Fallout 1 for Littlepip to fight. The more you know, I guess.

[Chaotic Bob]

Hmmm, interesting.
I suspect those would probably be the most expensive and complicated of the cybernetics, with the necessary implied magic they'd require.

Probably can't even produce those in the Wasteland environment anymore...


In other news.
Please.
Continue to feed the Stars.
It'll end well.
I promise.

[Lycan 01]

Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom

[Do Tell!]

"Better tools, materials make easier. Dog have neither."

And then the subject is changed.

"Drop spells? Like EMP?"

Bauhaus reaches into his coat and casually pulls out his EMP rod.

"This one mine, but could make another with blank talisman."

An EMP rod?

Like an electro-magnetic pulse on a stick? What's this from? And what effect would it have on spells? I feel like I'm missing something...

[BladeofObliviom]

Originally Posted by Chaotic Bob

Hmmm, interesting.
I suspect those would probably be the most expensive and complicated of the cybernetics, with the necessary implied magic they'd require.

Probably can't even produce those in the Wasteland environment anymore...


In other news.
Please.
Continue to feed the Stars.
It'll end well.
I promise.

Well, it could probably be done, but it would require a lot of effort and some really good scavenging. A talented unicorn or zebra could make telekinesis-based talismans to offset the user's weight while in flight, and a skilled engineer could make the wings generate enough lift to get a light pony off the ground. Theoretically working together would at least come close to the effectiveness of a typical pegasus or griffon in the air.


As for the stars...

...In b4 we start seeing Starspawn.


EDIT:

Originally Posted by Lycan 01

An EMP rod?

Like an electro-magnetic pulse on a stick? What's this from? And what effect would it have on spells? I feel like I'm missing something...

Yeah, though it's magical rather than magnetic. I can't think of an instance in the main fic, but it is notably used in Heroes to escape from a Steel Ranger outpost by disabling the spell matrix of any Power-armored badass who got in the way.

EMP also exists in Project Horizons in the form of special shotgun ammo, but that's another story.

Presumably it also disrupts most Cybernetics caught in its area of effect, definitely affects robots, and might even be able to dispel or weaken active spells. Probably disorients Unicorns, too. Plenty of uses for the clever!

[Benson]

I must wonder how Ducard got there so quickly there, even if he was running. I would have at least expected one round of posts from Luka, Finder, Elestre and Swift Star before he got there at least, kinda killing the atmosphere I was trying to set up before before he got there. It perturbs me more than it should I find it. 9_6

[Chaotic Bob]

A lot of good scavenging would be necessary, I'm sure.
But compiling scavenged components is a bit different than producing them.

As for making talismans...
There's a reason they're valuable enough to spark little wars amongst groups and to inspire suicidal missions into Stables. Producing them is all but a lost art to Equestrians.
Although I guess if you find a Zebra will knowledge of the War Time, maybe...it was their culture that thrived on the things.

Learnable, but not without effort, connections, and power.

It will always be very important to remember that this is a Wasteland. Most of what made the Old World great is lost, destroyed, or unusable. If every other unicorn could just whip up a water talisman onto a gem they found, where would the value in them be?


Also, Starspawn already roam the Wastes, I must mention.

[Lycan 01]

Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom

Yeah, though it's magical rather than magnetic. I can't think of an instance in the main fic, but it is notably used in Heroes to escape from a Steel Ranger outpost by disabling the spell matrix of any Power-armored badass who got in the way.

EMP also exists in Project Horizons in the form of special shotgun ammo, but that's another story.

Presumably it also disrupts most Cybernetics caught in its area of effect, definitely affects robots, and might even be able to dispel or weaken active spells. Probably disorients Unicorns, too. Plenty of uses for the clever!

I'm starting feel very disadvantaged about having only read the main fic (and Anywhere But Here, but that's not relevant).

And I'm starting to feel kinda apprehensive about allowing things from other fics, as it creates a lot of complications for other players and GMs without knowledge of such things. Player A who's read several fics has a much larger bag of tricks than Player B who's only read one or two, and GM's who don't know about such things (like meeeeee) don't know how to weigh in or what to allow/disallow.

[Chaotic Bob]

Taaaalking. We need taaaaaaaalking.

[TheAmishPirate]

Originally Posted by Chaotic Bob

Taaaalking. We need taaaaaaaalking.

^This. If it's from a side story, miiiiight be a good idea to bring it up here first. Not only does it help figure out what is and isn't allowed, it helps those of us who might not have read them figure out what's going on. If, say, Pastry Bullets are a common thing in one of the side stories, then it helps to know that our characters shouldn't completely flip out when they're assaulted with cakes.

And did somepony mention the Stars?

Spoiler

[BladeofObliviom]

Originally Posted by Lycan 01

I'm starting feel very disadvantaged about having only read the main fic (and Anywhere But Here, but that's not relevant).

And I'm starting to feel kinda apprehensive about allowing things from other fics, as it creates a lot of complications for other players and GMs without knowledge of such things. Player A who's read several fics has a much larger bag of tricks than Player B who's only read one or two, and GM's who don't know about such things (like meeeeee) don't know how to weigh in or what to allow/disallow.

Well, I'm definitely Player A here, since I've finished both the Original story and Pink Eyes, and I'm up to date on both Project Horizons and Heroes. On the other hand, isn't it true of any setting that those more familiar with said setting have more awareness of what's in it?

I could understand limiting which fics we're considering canon, given that there are a lot of poorly written fics out there with overpowered equipment, overpowered characters, and/or massive inconsistencies. However, we're already using stuff from Project Horizons pretty much freely, and both Pink Eyes and Heroes are at nearly the same level of community acceptance, if not necessarily familiarity.

My point is, it seems kinda arbitrary to okay stuff from Project Horizons but not the other members of the "Big Three" side stories.

[Lycan 01]

Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom

Well, I'm definitely Player A here, since I've finished both the Original story and Pink Eyes, and I'm up to date on both Project Horizons and Heroes. On the other hand, isn't it true of any setting that those more familiar with said setting have more awareness of what's in it?

I could understand limiting which fics we're considering canon, given that there are a lot of poorly written fics out there with overpowered equipment, overpowered characters, and/or massive inconsistencies. However, we're already using stuff from Project Horizons pretty much freely, and both Pink Eyes and Heroes are at nearly the same level of community acceptance, if not necessarily familiarity.

My point is, it seems kinda arbitrary to okay stuff from Project Horizons but not the other members of the "Big Three" side stories.

I'm not saying stuff from those other fics isn't allowed. I'm just-

Originally Posted by TheAmishPirate

^This. If it's from a side story, miiiiight be a good idea to bring it up here first. Not only does it help figure out what is and isn't allowed, it helps those of us who might not have read them figure out what's going on. If, say, Pastry Bullets are a common thing in one of the side stories, then it helps to know that our characters shouldn't completely flip out when they're assaulted with cakes.

Yeah, this.


Communication would be wise. Some players haven't even read the main fic, and I haven't read most of the side fics. So, bringing up certain materials and stuff in the OOC thread before using it IC would probably be wise. If not to ask permission, then to at least give a heads up to the other players/GMs so they know what's going on.

Like the EMP stick. I wasn't saying you couldn't have it, though I am a tiny bit wary of something that powerful just happening to be in your character's possession. I was mainly just confused as to why a normal EMP would work against magic.

[Chaotic Bob]

What I care about more than "whether it's been done before", is just that it...fits.
Some sort of rhyme or reason that gives it a place within established limits of the setting.

There's obviously room for some silly things (perhaps a random encounter with some pastry bullets...) as long as they're not dominating concepts.
Fallout thriiiiives in that idea. Without said silly-doesn't-quite-make-sense the setting would just be endless grimdark that would probably be slightly less popular than it is.

But at its heart, it is still a rather dark setting. For the most part, it really isn't and can't be a setting about thriving, so much as a setting about surviving.
At least, for the main characters. Things that thrive in the wastes are generally not things that you want to continue existing, in an ideal world.

The Pre-Bomb time, by a sense of necessity, has to be the highlight of pony/zebra/griffon power, in terms of industry and progress. We don't get most of the toys they could back then, without having to dig it out of a pile of rubble first.
It just...can't be made anymore, without extensive work.

And in cases where the extensive work has been done...
Well. There's a lot of eyes in the Wasteland that would rather take what has already been done for them. You got a facility that can produce talismans?
We want it. Your life optional.


...and I'll pause my rant there, because I suspect it may have wandered slightly.
But that is likely to always be my biggest podium for this setting.

Fallen industry and progress.

[BladeofObliviom]

Originally Posted by Lycan 01

I'm not saying stuff from those other fics isn't allowed. I'm just-

Yeah, this.

Communication would be wise. Some players haven't even read the main fic, and I haven't read most of the side fics. So, bringing up certain materials and stuff in the OOC thread before using it IC would probably be wise. If not to ask permission, then to at least give a heads up to the other players/GMs so they know what's going on.

Like the EMP stick. I wasn't saying you couldn't have it, though I am a tiny bit wary of something that powerful just happening to be in your character's possession. I was mainly just confused as to why a normal EMP would work against magic.

Ah, I'd misunderstood. My apologies.

I'll make an effort to do so, though note that I am always willing to explain if someone is confused about something.

Though now that I think about it, real-world EMP would do exactly nothing in this setting. Why? Because literally the only place where electromagnetism seems to do anything at all is in the barrel of a Railgun. Everything aside from that is just magical energy from Gems and Sparkle Batteries referred to as electricity for the sake of convenience.

Which is probably why the EMP weapons in Project Horizons and Heroes actually do screw with magic.




EDIT @Bob:

I should note that you're right that consistency and versimilitude are probably the biggest things to strive for outside of "Wild Wasteland" moments where things are a bit less serious. (Like EVERYTHING SURPRISE DOES. )

Anyway, if the bit about not being able to produce things is pointed at me, I'd like to point out that the primary thing that makes the Sand Dogs special, the thing that kept them from dying out or turning into Hellhounds, is (spoilered for PH)

Spoiler

that Rover was given access to Project Steelpony as one of Goldenblood's rare acts of kindness, allowing the members of his pack who were injured during the reconstruction of Hoofington to replace lost limbs and greatly expand longevity.

This information was kept, stored, documented, and used, giving the pack what amounts to LOTR-elf style immortality so long as they keep their augmentations powered.

Bauhaus has trained in this, in addition to a very good understanding of many other prewar devices, and his own talent for engineering on top of this has put him in a position where he probably could construct a surprising number of prewar devices if he had the materials and resources to do so.

He's definitely unable to make talismans due to not having Unicorn or Zebra magic, but he at least understands how they work and can incorporate functional ones into things.

[Benson]

Purity, when I made my post in the OOC, I meant that Railright would stop them, considering she's bringing in a herd of ghastly ponies. Because of what happened the day before, he'd have established inspection checks on ponies coming in. sorta like what he would have done with Sparky had Steel creel not vouched for him.

[Chaotic Bob]

I don't really have an issue with diamond dogs being the clever engineers that they are. Even they are dependent upon salvage, for the most part.

They're just good at applying said salvage and that's Their Big Thing.

But their resources are still unsustainable, at their core.
Producing steel is a rather expensive process, resource and time-wise...

It's the point that what they do is still fairly unique and expensive, in the grand scheme of things.

[PurityIcekiller]

Originally Posted by Benson

Purity, when I made my post in the OOC, I meant that Railright would stop them, considering she's bringing in a herd of ghastly ponies. Because of what happened the day before, he'd have established inspection checks on ponies coming in. sorta like what he would have done with Sparky had Steel creel not vouched for him.

Oh. I'll edit it. And since Bright Eyes pretty much has nothing to do before getting stopped, maybe you should post the start of this sequence, actually.

[MCerberus]

You know what would make complete sense in the setting and explain a whole lot with surprise?

The mistress that wiggles the sphere's music
The bringer of The Party
Pinkie may be dead, but it still needs an avatar

Spoiler

The Pink One

[Rebonack]

On electro-magical-pulse weapons:

They disrupt the enchantments on talismans and spell matrix. So they would work great against a robot, a Steel Ranger, or a cyberpony like Surprise Party. But I don't think they would do much against a unicorn's innate magic. Though to be fair being too close to a strong EMP is still like standing inside a running microwave... Not lethal. But not exactly fun either.

Also: Nothing regarding Pinkie Pie makes sense >_>

I'm still convinced that she has Draconequus ancestry or something.

[MCerberus]

Actually she's just the chosen one of the aforementioned elder god.

[Rebonack]

That smells like head-canon to me =P

[BladeofObliviom]

<-- *Realizes that post has been sitting previewed in a forgotten browser window for hours*

*Is an idiot*




EDIT: In other news, Sergeant Sprinkles is my new favorite character.

[TheAmishPirate]

@Purity: Fleetwing has gone looking for Violetta in Girdershade.

[Tychris1]

Originally Posted by Benson

I must wonder how Ducard got there so quickly there, even if he was running. I would have at least expected one round of posts from Luka, Finder, Elestre and Swift Star before he got there at least, kinda killing the atmosphere I was trying to set up before before he got there. It perturbs me more than it should I find it. 9_6

I said what Ducard will say. That doesn't mean he grew wings and flew there like a lightning bolt. They can still react to what's happening, but when Ducard arrives he's promptly telling them to GTFO. If it felt instantaneous then I apologize, I keep almost slipping and accidentally swapping the three ponies color speech that finding out I gimped a part of a sentence is bothering me. Again, sorry.

Also, Delirious x Lamianos, there aren't enough buckets and mops to clean the horrid mess that would wreak. And that wouldn't even be past the prologue.

[Benson]

Luka, I'm waiting on you with Luka in the Southern Thread.

Originally Posted by Tychris1

I said what Ducard will say. That doesn't mean he grew wings and flew there like a lightning bolt. They can still react to what's happening, but when Ducard arrives he's promptly telling them to GTFO. If it felt instantaneous then I apologize, I keep almost slipping and accidentally swapping the three ponies color speech that finding out I gimped a part of a sentence is bothering me. Again, sorry.

actually, nothing indicates that, that is something he *will* say. Nothing to indicate future tense. It was all present tense, all of it, all instantaneous present tense.

[Benson]

*continues to wait for Purity.......and whoever's next for the Wild Rabbit Woods scene*

[Luka]

I think everyone's done in Wild Rabbit Woods

[Benson]

All I know, is that I'm waiting for something, someone, unless, no one minds an extra turn/action from 'ol Swifty.

[Chaotic Bob]

Originally Posted by Drowlord

"Yep."

Sparky was nonchalant, shrugging lightly. He acted as if it were no big deal.

"So, you all going to see the sun? I could prob'ly take the both of you at once; Mags isn't that heavy."

Good luck.
Cresting the cloud layer is always a dangerous idea.

"That one of ours, Corporal?"
"No sir, not to my knowledge."
"Send it back to the mud in pieces."
"Of course sir."

[BladeofObliviom]

Hey, who are we waiting on in Ponyville? I'm thinking it's Bob, but I haven't actually gone back and checked.