@PlatinumSkink@Sickle-cell
I AM THE WORST ABOUT PINGING!

PING!

@Banana[@PlantinumSkink]Found the support :-P

Also, since it's becoming more and more relevant - and I'm on break at work, but don't feel like trying to type an IC post with a phone keyboard - I reckon I'll give you all a primer on combat in Boston.

I personally hate autoattacking. I much prefer when people narrate their attack and allow the target to narrate the damage. With a decent group - which I feel you all are - it makes for much cooler, streamlined struggles like between Askaryan and Automaton. Obviously, I can't stop you doing it, but I will give NPCs plot armour to survive any attack that you narrate connecting automatically.

Outside of that, however, no NPC has plot armour. That isn't to say they can always be killed in combat. Named parahumans and high-ranking faction members will function similarly to Alien Rulers from XCOM 2. They can be killed, but it will require a combat win on several different occasions. Victory over a cape, though, will have narrative consequences for them. Maybe they now have a visible scar and people don't take them seriously anymore. Maybe they now struggle to follow orders or go up against your faction. The severity of the consequence will be directly related to how creative and stylish your victory over them was, and will either be decided on by me, or we can work together to come up with one.

For @Lasrever's victory over Askaryan, she's gained a contact who just might be willing to provide information on Wonderland ops that will put her in danger, for instance.

And Knight's creativity by supporting the VTOl roof instead of the entire VTOL has been rewarded with the fact it actually worked without any physical injuries.

Keep this in mind going forward, and we'll have one of the best quality RPs on the site, with our little group right here :-P

@Sickle-cell I have numerous questions I want to ask. My apologies if I shouldn't be asking and should just post.

Firstly, er. Septima can retrieve those she takes into her separate worlds, right? So we're not killing them because that'd be terrible with the unsaid rules and all of that... XD

Secondly, roughly how does the situation outside look to us?

I know Mary's up there on the smokey roof with Sidestep, we're probably not seeing those.
Automaton and Askaryan are by a car over there if I understood correctly, but perhaps far enough away that they won't be drawing attention and likely leaving?
Freakshow and Curbstomp are engaging one another, I guess. Unless Curbstomp has curbstomped all Freakshow's creations already, or any other development has happened.
I suppose Dragon's over there where the Covenant are emerging in full force, heh. And Holly+Mandy are protected. How much of that do we see?
Pipeline's lying around somewhere, I suppose, do we see that? I know Vice's in the group of Wonderland gang members but I suppose we can't see that because of Spite's Stranger power?

Other than that, which gang does the fight seem to go in favor of in general? In plain terms Gladius VS Wonderland? Or did Covenants arrival mess everything up? What's the most notable thing we're seeing? Which side's the closest one to us, what direction will we be approaching the fight from if we state Gladuis to be south and Wonderland to be north? Where's the Covenant emerging from in the same comparison?

Honestly, do we know of any of the other capes here? I'll assume that Knight has read up on the known local capes so shouldn't be taken by surprise by the powers she might be seeing, unless they've never appeared before. Like, Dragon, I don't know if we've ever seen her? Hah.

That's about it. Other than the slight detail about how I imagined Knight's power to work, for the future. I imagine that if she tries to move her field of paused time against an existing force, like the falling VTOL, it pains her and might not work, but if that something else pushes on her field then it won't budge because it's paused time. So, if they already managed to slow down the craft, then the other engine breaking shouldn't suddenly cause massive pain and cause sudden crash-landing because the field suddenly turned defensive instead of offensive. But, eh, let's go with this.

And yes, I'll personally never assume that my attack has hit an enemy. That feels so preposterous of me to assume. They might have secret tricks or whatever that I don't know of, so, yeah. Always just type what I'm attempting to do.

_{"Plant"inumSkink. XD ... That's a new one. I'm amused. Thanks.}

@PlatinumSkink Always feel free to ask if you have questions. If I'm giving you complete artistic license, I'll tell you then.

Septima can, yes, so they aren't dead. Although some would prefer to be. :-P

Sidestep and Mary can't even see one another, so you can't see them. Askaryan and Automaton are both visible, but not an immediate threat, so you likely won't notice them. Freakshow and Curbstomp are moving between cover and holding each other at bay, ducking in and out of alleys. Dragon is roughly dead centre and very visible ATM, and is probably the first thing you'll see. The Covenant won't be entirely visible, but you will see both Vegas protecting Holly and Mandy, and Sickle-Cell walking into the fray. Vice will be out of sight of you ATM until he makes another big move.

Gladius are highly trained soldiers, and have been outgunning Wonderland from the word go, and the fight has well and truly gone in their favour. The arrival of the Covenant has spooked both sides, with the braver members grouping to attack and the smarter ones turning tail. Dragon, Sickle and Vegas are the most visible things to you right now. You have touched down behind Wonderland's lines. Beyond them are Dragon and The Covenant. Beyond them are Gladius.

You'll know the Boston capes belonging to a faction. You won't know Sidestep, Curbstomp, Freakshow or any of the PCs except Anomaly. But knowing is not the same as seeing. You might know what the Boston capes can do, but actually witnessing it firsthand is another thing entirely.

The thing about the paused time is a good point. I can reword it later tonight if you'd prefer. Maybe you extend the area to stop the roof tearing off, and slightly over extend yourself. Would that be better?

Awesome ^.^

I certainly plan to do the same.

Now then, if you have anything else you want to know, don't hesitate to ask. I'm more than willing to give artistic license, just run any ideas by me first ^.^

@ProPro@Sickle-cell
Hey, I'm starting to think we may want to consider moving along without @FancyHats, they haven't been on for a while and it's been even longer since they last posted... I don't mean to sound rude and if I'm jumping the gun let me know, I just don't want to get role-blocked while we wait, you feel?

@hagroden To be fair, being absent for 3 days isn't terribly uncommon and waiting for a post usually requires more patience than that. Most GMs that want to keep a "fast pace" game still have an average grace period of a week, and Sickle's last update for us was also only 3 days ago. It's concerning because Hats is so new, sure, but it's hardly a big deal for most members of this site. I'd suggest waiting a few more days. That's just how things go in a post by post format with all players living all over the world.

@ProPro@hagrodenSince you aren't embroiled in any specific conflict right now, I'll give it another few days. From now on, if everyone is alright with it, what I'll do is give people a week. If, after a week, they still haven't posted, I'll make a post to advance the scene using their character as an NPC. That way, if you can;t post or aren't around, we aren't holding anyone up. I will try to keep the post as in-keeping with the attitude of the character thus far, though.

I won't be able to post that much tonight since I'm super busy on work days, however I will make a sort IC post for Poohead so he can get his character doing something. The rest of you; I'll respond tomorrow ^.^

@Sickle-cell I haven't had Maryland leave the scene yet because I expect Sickle to chase them, but they're attempting to bogey out. It'll take them some time to clip in for their escape, so there's time for them to be interrupted before they can get out.

Pro tagging strats right there. Accidentally mentioned @Username.

@POOHEAD189 Fixed. There we go.

@KiddoHe probably won't given your display. Contrary to his boasting, he's trying to drive people off rather than murder you all.

He'd have brought more blood in that case =P

@Sickle-cell Alright. Thank you.

I did worry that perhaps the roof would break. That sounds more in-line with what I imagined. I'll make it vague in my post how exactly she crashed down, heh.

Edit: ... Um. That's another aspect of her power that I didn't consider. Would her telekinetic force become stronger the bigger the field she's controlling, or is the force she's controlling it with always as strong? Both of these come with serious consequences. If it's the former, it feels like the best strategy would simply be to create a giant wall and mash it at her enemies with considerable extra power. Then making a hammer makes more sense than a sword, it smashes better. If it's the later then she could do extremely cheaty things like creating tiny needles that come flying with the same force she'd swing a sword with and that could turn deadly as heck. ... ... ... Eh. I'll just roleplay her as I imagined her to use her power. Hah.

@PlatinumSkink I'd say the force remains the same. If it didn't, she could feasibly create a massive field and crush everyone in a huge area. This would be hilarious, but also a bit fatalistic :-P

And that's fine, I'll edit the last post to have the VTOL roof tear off instead, and inflict light injuries to Gestalt.

@Sickle-cell Okay. Tiny needles in a potential dark future it is. Heh.

Left the details about why they fell vague for now. Tell me if I did anything strange anywhere. Otherwise, Knight intends to engage and break through. There we go.

@Sickle-cell
Does Xoxi see Sickle right now? I have a stupid idea.

@Banana I'm pretty sure all of us see him right now, and heard his announcement. Though, Knight's going to tell you all to "GET INTO DEFENSIVE STATION, DON'T DO ANYTHING RASH" as soon as I can get a post up. I know I basically just posted, BUT DAMN I'M WORKING ON ANOTHER ONE. XD

So, yeah. Knight's looking at Sickle-Cell as an extreme danger right now, and I just had to post as soon as possible. Because planning became important and I really wanted to write her facing towards him, not knowing what he had been thinking. Heh.

@DracoLunaris The mention of the Knight + Ward group as the "Protectorate's teen girl squad" caused me amusement. Thank you.

Edit: Now, because I posted so soon on top of one another, I'm going to wait a while. Wooo. *sits in corner somewhere*

Okay, I know I said Maryland would be leaving, but heck, you can't give them a target like that and not expect them to take it xD

@knifeman I think that realistically, your characters are Vegas' only hope here, if they would be able to see Mary coming through the fire that's trying to engulf them through Vegas' shield.

Will try and get a post up sometime tomorrow or on tuesday.

@DuoyaAwesome ^.^

@KiddoI was going to say Sickle may notice the dropping girl when he turns to see Dragon, but he may also be too terrified to do anything, so you might have a point there. =P

@PlatinumSkink"When frozen, I want Septima’s portals to banish the frozen fields" That is actually a terrific idea. I'll admit to not having thought of it myself =P

@Sickle-cell Maryland is like a good jungler. They show up, and then make you think they're leaving and then GANK YOU AGAIN. It's Season 5 Hecarim all over again!

@Sickle-cell Have to make up plans with the powers at my disposal. Speaking of which...

@Sickle-cell@Banana I edited in a paragraph at the end of my post addressing what Anomaly said. Because, Knight was frightened by Sickle-Cell. Not enough to cause sheer panic, but enough that it isn't doing her any favors. So, yes. Anomaly can balance the team's emotional state, which Knight's addressing there. There we go.