And in the most recent page we see that Conservation of Sophistry applies. Kentucky's force won't present a credible threat until it's whittled down to the Quirky Miniboss Squad.
/tropeface
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Seasonal Dragons
Spoiler
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Scarecrow Guy is pretty good at the whole 'looming in the background' thingy. Dragon or Midboss?
Definitely not inanimate, though.
Spoiler
PI--NG!
Interesting name. "Maxwell's North-South Imploder".
Looks like it's a lightning card, likely those electric sophers are capable of magnetic manipulation. Lots of +s and -s, those could be electric charges, or magnetic attractions.
And the word imploder is making me think... Sopher go Squish.
__________________ Demilich avatar by Smuchmuch. Thank you VERY much!
I just want to know one thing...
What is he drinking that has skulls-n-cross bones on it
My first guess would be this - denaturated alcohol intended for technical use only, but some people (hopefuly not many) plainly don't care, since it's cheap and strong.
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In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
I like the thought that in Thaumaturge, James Clerk Maxwell exists and is a sopher.
Given how surreal this 'verse has been, I wouldn't be surprised if that spell is a reference to Maxwell's Demon (who is an actual demon whom Nomen has personally met).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterwind
Mewtarthio, you have scared my brain into hiding, a trembling, broken shadow of a thing, cowering somewhere in the soothing darkness and singing nursery rhymes in the hope of obscuring the Lovecraftian facts you so boldly brought into daylight.
Given how surreal this 'verse has been, I wouldn't be surprised if that spell is a reference to Maxwell's Demon (who is an actual demon whom Nomen has personally met).
Not likely, since Maxwell's Demon had nothing to do with magnetism - it was related to statistical mechanics.
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In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
Not likely, since Maxwell's Demon had nothing to do with magnetism - it was related to statistical mechanics.
Our Maxwell's Demon is related to statistical mechanics.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterwind
Mewtarthio, you have scared my brain into hiding, a trembling, broken shadow of a thing, cowering somewhere in the soothing darkness and singing nursery rhymes in the hope of obscuring the Lovecraftian facts you so boldly brought into daylight.
Our Maxwell's Demon is related to statistical mechanics.
I could settle for a Demon of The Second Kind:
"We want the Demon, you see, to extract from the dance of atoms only information that is genuine, like mathematical theorems, fashion magazines, blueprints, historical chronicles, or a recipe for ion crumpets, or how to clean and iron a suit of asbestos, and poetry too, and scientific advice, and almanacs, and calendars, and secret documents, and everything that ever appeared in any newspaper in the Universe, and telephone books of the future…"
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In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
Well I'm pretty sure that the sophers have more on them, so the winner would probably have a net gain from the fight. That and I think that it's easier to beat people up with the cards then it is to do it the regular way.
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Mine started in the wilderness outside of town
Also, I gather that Kentucky is really filthy rich. Assuming he's bankrolling these sophers, they can afford to spend a few cards in this fight. Besides, they're up against a highly skilled mercenary now; if they're ever going to spend those cards, now's the time.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterwind
Mewtarthio, you have scared my brain into hiding, a trembling, broken shadow of a thing, cowering somewhere in the soothing darkness and singing nursery rhymes in the hope of obscuring the Lovecraftian facts you so boldly brought into daylight.
Has it been stated that using a card makes it disappear? They might be able to be reused - the amount of cards they have might just increase the amount of power and flexibility they have at their disposal.
Has it been stated that using a card makes it disappear? They might be able to be reused - the amount of cards they have might just increase the amount of power and flexibility they have at their disposal.
You can see one of his three ice cards on this page dissolving as he hides behind that barrier...
__________________ Demilich avatar by Smuchmuch. Thank you VERY much!
As does the wind card when he launches the ice cards. I think one of Dalton's cards met a similar fate in the last fight.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterwind
Mewtarthio, you have scared my brain into hiding, a trembling, broken shadow of a thing, cowering somewhere in the soothing darkness and singing nursery rhymes in the hope of obscuring the Lovecraftian facts you so boldly brought into daylight.
Has it been stated that using a card makes it disappear? They might be able to be reused - the amount of cards they have might just increase the amount of power and flexibility they have at their disposal.
Yes, back here, Wendy steals one of Nomen's Fire cards and tries casting a spell, he then explicitly states that these things aren't reusable.
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Adoption Box
Spoiler
Last edited by Zeful : 04-04-2012 at 09:11 PM.
Reason: added link, accuracy
Don't know how I missed that. Since the cards are supposedly valuable, and they are used up at quite a fast pace, I'm guessing that sufficiently skilled sophers can create their own.
I think the best way to look at the facts that these cards are expensive, non-reusable, and spent like there's no tomorrow in combat is this one:
Quote:
I am Heavy Weapons Guy. And this... [grips Sasha] is my weapon. She weighs 150 kilograms and fires $200 custom tooled cartridges at 10 000 rounds per minute. It costs $400 000 to fire this weapon... for twelve seconds.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Midnight Roamer
I think he did the only morally acceptable thing by killing everyone.
However everyone dies in those twelve seconds. I just felt it had to be said.
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78% of DM's started their first campaign in a tavern. If you're one of the 22% that didn't, copy and paste this into your signature.
Mine started in the wilderness outside of town
I think the best way to look at the facts that these cards are expensive, non-reusable, and spent like there's no tomorrow in combat is this one:
I don't really see why a justification is necessary. Wealthy backers or large organizations can handle the cost. Spamming cards like there's no tomorrow probably will break the budget eventually, but how often will Kentucky's goons end up doing that? Nomen is probably a pretty rare threat; most people won't have his power. Your average farmer isn't a threat to your average sopher. Maybe one miracle as a show of force would cow him. Look at Dalton and Doolin: Before Nomen comes on the scene, they've cast one miracle just to show they can, and the rest of the "negotiations" involve mundane intimidation.
In short, we're not looking at how Kentucky and Company go about an average job. We're seeing how they deal with an extremely formidable threat.
That doesn't explain Nomen's liberal use of miracles, of course, but Nomen is mysterious. He's probably got some unconventional way of getting his cards.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterwind
Mewtarthio, you have scared my brain into hiding, a trembling, broken shadow of a thing, cowering somewhere in the soothing darkness and singing nursery rhymes in the hope of obscuring the Lovecraftian facts you so boldly brought into daylight.
My theory is Nomen is actually going a bit overboard. His mastery seems to be based around the length of the miracles he can cast (and being fast). If he can blow off a team of sophers no sweat we're likely to be seeing some extreme power creep coming on. If he only manages to defeat them through over spending his cards these low level sophers can come back later as a still credible threat.
That doesn't explain Nomen's liberal use of miracles, of course, but Nomen is mysterious. He's probably got some unconventional way of getting his cards.
First of all, he is able to wield at least four different elements - we've seen Earth, Ice, Wind and Lightning (considering the almost visible emblem on the card). Considering, he has Fire cards, it's safe to bet, he can use them as well. Second of, he can use up to three cards to form a single miracle, which invoked "No, impossible!"
I guess, either he uses those cards like there's no tommorow, or there won't be tommorow for him.
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In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
My theory is Nomen is actually going a bit overboard. His mastery seems to be based around the length of the miracles he can cast (and being fast). If he can blow off a team of sophers no sweat we're likely to be seeing some extreme power creep coming on. If he only manages to defeat them through over spending his cards these low level sophers can come back later as a still credible threat.
I think its because we are not watching him go from lvl 1 to 20, we're watching him at level 10 or so wiping the floor of a bunch of level 5s
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