BZPRPG News and Discussion

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

Who's the leader of the good guy forces at the now-destroyed Ko-Koro gates, anyways?  Or at least a major good guy in the general vicinity of the battle?  I'm still having a hard time getting a feel for who's where, apart from the general outline from the map (which may or may not be accurate now that the gate's down).

[The Lorax]

The leader of the defenders outside the gates is badabababa obesity. For inside the village, that would be Visaru.

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

Ah, gotcha.  Thanks, man.

 

...that said, I think the last time badabababa posted in the Ko-Wahi thread was, like, half a week ago or something.  In which case, maybe I'll just have Joskander have a chat with Brontes or something.

[The Lorax]

Yeah, he's got a lot of stuff to keep track of and a lot of people to reply to. Don't  be too surprised if that slows his posting down a bit.

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

I'm not blaming him, trust me- I'm fully aware that he's probably got a lot to deal with, especially with Ko-Wahi itself.  I'm just not the most patient guy in the world, that's all.  

[Nato G]

Okay, I'm still stuck in the hospital, and now I need to come up with a plan to move things along so that dear Dayeth isn't wandering around pointlessly for the next thirty posts. Can someone give me an idea of everyone (PC and NPC) who is in or around the hospital?

 

The servants of Makuta would really appreciate it.

[Palm]

Hey so it looks like I have some actual time to help deal with some entropy beetles/fire in Le-Wahi today.

What's the status currently?

[Not Quite Dead]

Ah, gotcha.  Thanks, man.

 

...that said, I think the last time badabababa posted in the Ko-Wahi thread was, like, half a week ago or something.  In which case, maybe I'll just have Joskander have a chat with Brontes or something.

 

Sounds good to me.

 

Just don't surprise him, he's in a "shoot first, ask questions later." kind of mindset.

[~Xemnas~]

Hey so it looks like I have some actual time to help deal with some entropy beetles/fire in Le-Wahi today.

 

What's the status currently?

Not really sure. I know that they're both spreading, but I don't by know how much. Nobody's really done anything, either.

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

 

Ah, gotcha.  Thanks, man.

 

...that said, I think the last time badabababa posted in the Ko-Wahi thread was, like, half a week ago or something.  In which case, maybe I'll just have Joskander have a chat with Brontes or something.

 

Sounds good to me.

 

Just don't surprise him, he's in a "shoot first, ask questions later." kind of mindset.

 

 

Kinda tempted to do that anyways, just to see his reaction.  Well, that, and I occasionally enjoy torturing my characters for teh lulz.  

[soularin]

"Picture beings with the power and the organization of the Toa, yet unfettered by their consciences or morality." -The Shadowed One

 

Hello all. Remember the Dark Hunters? Cool as heck organization, right?

 

Yes, very. I have come to realize with great disappointment that there is not a single large group composed solely of mercenaries and assassins in the RPG. We have the beloved Bad Company of course, but they are few, and fairly closed off to new members.

 

We have a lot of great groups, don't get me wrong. The Brotherhood, the Legacy, several unique Toa teams, sea voyagers, and many more. But I've seen SO many mercenary-type PCs with no affiliation. This often leads to minimal interaction, and essentially no one for them to KILL besides NPCs, and that's just boring, to be honest, and kinda sad. This is a GAME. PC interaction is the main purpose, as we all know, but it's kinda difficult to have a total bad- character when theres little opportunity to show off their sweet skills. It is my hope and desire to increase the level of interaction between players, as well as establish a new group that always remains open to new members.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not popular enough among you guys to set this up on my own. Even if I was, I don't think I could create something like this by myself. I NEED HELP, and I need YOU.

 

Yes, whoever is reading this. I don't care how experienced a writer you are, or how long you've been here. You are all of equal value in my eyes. The main purpose of this is to get as many people as I can together to help nurture this idea into fruition.

 

Ah yes. The idea.

 

In order to keep things fairly organized, I will play the in-game leader of this group. However, I will not be in charge of everything OOC. Your ideas are your ideas. There are no limits to who your character can be. There are, however, a few simple steps you must follow:

 

1) Your character must be of a neutral allignment. I am fairly lenient on how far your character leans on the spectrum, but essentially your PC can be neither "good" nor "evil".

 

2) Before joining, your character must swear loyalty to the group as a whole. Breaking this pact wouldn't go over well with the other members. The organization's secrets and motives are only to be known by those of the organization. Anyone who attempts to betray the organization is bound to be hunted down and eliminated by its members. I can't prevent you from doing this, as it is your character, and therefore your choice to do as you please. But if you do choose to double cross the group, you can bet you'll make a lot of new enemies.

 

3) Upon taking the vow, your character will receive a nickname. This name must be an existent english word that reflects on your character's abilities and persona. In-game, your PC will recieve the name from the leader of the organization, however it is primarily up to you what you want that name to be.

 

That's basically it, as far as guidlines go. IC, your PC will have to duel an already existing member of the organization in order to prove their abilities to its leading members before they can formally join. This isn't a crucial task you need to overcome OOC in order to become a member. It acts merely as an in-game way for your character to recieve some immediate interaction and acknoledgement.

 

Alright, I think I've rambled on for long enough. If you're interested in this idea, please shoot me a PM and/or message me on Skype. My intention is to gather as many people as I can right off the bat, so we can plan together on how we want things to roll. The organization will need a name, after all, as well as general motives and background information. I AM NOT here to control this idea. Control will be shared by everyone and anyone who would like to take part. I act only as the overseer. My main reason for trying to set this up is to personally get more involved in the game, and to get to know more of you on a closer level.

 

I am not a very recognized player on this RPG, nor do I intend to be. I just want to establish this organization as a catalyst for more opportunities, ideas, and general fun for everyone to participate in. Thanks for reading, and keep up the amazing work!

 

~Req

Edited September 21, 2014 by Requiem

[Keeper of Kraata]

Sooo I did some math.

 

About the Kakama. If someone who is actually competent already calculated the approximate speed the Kakama allows a user to reach, please correct me; but I figured out that the speed a Kakama reaches is ABOUT 1 mile/second. Or 3600 mph. Which easily breaks the speed of sound. So lots of sonic booms.

[Silvan Haven]

Pretty sure we have never seen it going past the speed of sound.

 

How did you get the number?

[Constructelf]

Sooo I did some math.

 

About the Kakama. If someone who is actually competent already calculated the approximate speed the Kakama allows a user to reach, please correct me; but I figured out that the speed a Kakama reaches is ABOUT 1 mile/second. Or 3600 mph. Which easily breaks the speed of sound. So lots of sonic booms.

Somebody in S&T did these calculations a while back.

 

Okay, I took this map and took some measurements. I drew a line from one end of the island to another (which is about 489 km) and getting a count of how many pixels long , then I drew a line from Po-Koro to the edge of Ko-Wahi, got the length in pixels of that line, and used that to get an idea of the distance between Po-Koro and Ko-Wahi. A few reasons kept me from getting a precise answer. We don't know which part of Ko-Wahi Pohatu was running to (what angle he approached it from), or the exact location of the border (it's kind of fuzzy, does Ko-Wahi start right where there's the first snow or not until the ground is completely covered), and Po-Wahi is craggy, so Pohatu probably couldn't have traveled in a straight line. So for a rough answer, given a minute travel time, is Kakama users can go at least 5000 kilometers per hour or 3106.86 miles per hour.The first time I tried it I got something closer to 4000-4500 kph, just to give you an idea of how rough the estimate is. But I hope that helps a little.

I'm not sure how this affects the game though.

[Timageness]

To Nato and anyone else wondering who is at the hospital:

Verulas, my mercenary Toa of Plantlife, is currently there, along with Uncle Chael's Matoran, Kellin Santos, and Ussal Crab, Cancer, Silo's Vortixx, Mortem (currently still in chains), and Skitty's Taleen (though I believe she's wounded). I know that isn't all of them, but it's a helpful start anyway.

Edited September 21, 2014 by timageness411

[Keeper of Kraata]

 

Sooo I did some math.

 

About the Kakama. If someone who is actually competent already calculated the approximate speed the Kakama allows a user to reach, please correct me; but I figured out that the speed a Kakama reaches is ABOUT 1 mile/second. Or 3600 mph. Which easily breaks the speed of sound. So lots of sonic booms.

Somebody in S&T did these calculations a while back.

 

Okay, I took this map and took some measurements. I drew a line from one end of the island to another (which is about 489 km) and getting a count of how many pixels long , then I drew a line from Po-Koro to the edge of Ko-Wahi, got the length in pixels of that line, and used that to get an idea of the distance between Po-Koro and Ko-Wahi. A few reasons kept me from getting a precise answer. We don't know which part of Ko-Wahi Pohatu was running to (what angle he approached it from), or the exact location of the border (it's kind of fuzzy, does Ko-Wahi start right where there's the first snow or not until the ground is completely covered), and Po-Wahi is craggy, so Pohatu probably couldn't have traveled in a straight line. So for a rough answer, given a minute travel time, is Kakama users can go at least 5000 kilometers per hour or 3106.86 miles per hour.The first time I tried it I got something closer to 4000-4500 kph, just to give you an idea of how rough the estimate is. But I hope that helps a little.

I'm not sure how this affects the game though.

 

 

Ah, thanks! The mask explicitly moves faster than the visible eye can see, so it's already pretty darn fast.

[Silvan Haven]

I think its less "moves too fast for the eye to pick up period" and more "by the time you look at that spot the user is already somewhere else."

 

Where was it said that Pohatu took a literal minute to traverse the distance?

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

Ah, so we've got official confirmation on that!  Awesome.  I specifically gave Joskander a Kakama so he could exploit that sort of speed for all its worth.  Like punching fifty times per second or something.  

[The Lorax]

Staff ruling on the issue:

 

A Kakama user has to be careful not to run into anything when they're traveling absurdly quickly... as such, crossing the whole island in a minute is not feasible. Just assume that the Kakama lets you move far faster than anyone else is able to, and you'll be fine. Squabbling over semantics like defining the speed is just ridiculous and a waste of time; I won't define the Kakama's speed because that'd be silly. I should hope you players have enough responsibility for realism and fair play to use the mask wisely. 

 

[Keeper of Kraata]

It was less than a minute, actually. Unfortunately, it does not enhance reflexes and reaction times; the Nuva version does that and the other 'speedster powers'. The Great version of the mask just allows for moving from point A to point B really fast.

 

Which is why Kalyss has impact-resistant armor, augmented by her plasma, and specializes in (comparitively) low speed kicks and tackles.

 

EDIT:

 

Staff ruling on the issue:

 

A Kakama user has to be careful not to run into anything when they're traveling absurdly quickly... as such, crossing the whole island in a minute is not feasible. Just assume that the Kakama lets you move far faster than anyone else is able to, and you'll be fine. Squabbling over semantics like defining the speed is just ridiculous and a waste of time; I won't define the Kakama's speed because that'd be silly. I should hope you players have enough responsibility for realism and fair play to use the mask wisely. 

 

 

 

 

Does my above explanation break the rules?

Edited September 21, 2014 by Keeper of Kraata

[Silvan Haven]

 

Unfortunately, it does not enhance reflexes and reaction times; the Nuva version does that and the other 'speedster powers'. The Great version of the mask just allows for moving from point A to point B really fast.

 

That part of the mask makes no sense at all. Without the ability and reflexes to go with that speed to used would kill themselves by running in to a rock.

 

 

Does my above explanation break the rules?

 

Probably safe to assume that the Kakama's speed limit is somewhat blow three thousand miles per hour. In fact, the only character in the game we have (sort of) seen break the sound barrier would be Joske.

[Keeper of Kraata]

There is a difference between 'active' reaction times (when the user is speeding using the normal version of the mask) and 'passive'.

 

Edit: 'sort of'?

Edited September 21, 2014 by Keeper of Kraata

[BBBBalta]

What's currently going on with Ko-Koro? I had intended to participate in the battle but got caught up in life etc.

[Silvan Haven]

 

There is a difference between 'active' reaction times (when the user is speeding using the mask) and 'passive'.

 

Not sure what you mean by this? Its kind of vague.

 

 

'sort of'?

 

We never saw Joske go over the speed of sound. We did see him thinking about how he could do it.

[Keeper of Kraata]

Okay. Wearing the mask when you are not 'using' it does not increase reaction time. It is 'active'. When it IS on, it compensates, but not enough for the user to be able to precisely perceive his environment.

 

The Kakama Nuva, however, increased Pohatu's reaction speed even when it wasn't being actively used. 'Passive'.

[Simulacrum]

 

Without the ability and reflexes to go with that speed to used would kill themselves by running in to a rock.

 

 

I'm trying my best not to imagine what happened to someone who so much as lightly touched a solid surface at a speed greater than that of sound. Words such as "liquid" and "hideous" come to mind, despite my efforts.

 

[Not Quite Dead]

What's currently going on with Ko-Koro? I had intended to participate in the battle but got caught up in life etc.

Citadel is under attack by Echelon's group.

 

The main gate is destroyed.

 

The hospital has some good guys and a couple restrained bad guys floating about.

[Keeper of Kraata]

 

 

Without the ability and reflexes to go with that speed to used would kill themselves by running in to a rock.

 

 

I'm trying my best not to imagine what happened to someone who so much as lightly touched a solid surface at a speed greater than that of sound. Words such as "liquid" and "hideous" come to mind, despite my efforts.

 

 

 

Good thing those masks come with Required Secondary Powers®!

 

Are you sinking into the earth whenever you activate your Pakari?

 

Do your feet explode whenever you take a step after activating a Kakama?

 

It's always such a pain when your Kualsi merges you with air molecules!

 

It's a good thing masks like these, and more, come with Required Secondary Powers®!

 

Required Secondary Powers®! Because your powers are too cool to let physics to get in the way!

[Constructelf]

 

 

 

 

Without the ability and reflexes to go with that speed to used would kill themselves by running in to a rock.

 

I'm trying my best not to imagine what happened to someone who so much as lightly touched a solid surface at a speed greater than that of sound. Words such as "liquid" and "hideous" come to mind, despite my efforts.

 

Ugh... Stop giving me morbid art ideas.

 

So would that imply that the Kakama gives the user a low level of super durability? Not only because of the above, but to protect against friction (so they don't turn into a fireball), prevent dust particles from leaving bullet holes, grass from shredding their feet, and all that jazz? Or do they just have to be really, really careful?

[Simulacrum]

Headcanon: Kakama users go way beyond the speed of sound, but literally very carefully tip-toe around their environment.

 

Also, Keeper: God, please, no. Required secondary powers in the BZPRPG would devolve into utter madness. Toa of Air controlling oxygen and friction to create flame, anyone?

Edited September 21, 2014 by L'Etranger

[The Lorax]

We never saw Joske go over the speed of sound. We did see him thinking about how he could do it.

 

 

Actually, when he arrived in the Kini-Nui topic, we got this.

 

There was a small pop as my body rematerialized from supersonic. It took skill to minimize the sonic boom that came when using this mask to its fullest potential, if not learned quickly enough the unfortunate Toa could find himself on the wrong end of several violations and citations if caught doing so in populated areas. I suppose I didn't need to have done so here, but it had become habit.

 

[Keeper of Kraata]

I was thinking more 'you break reality in these super-specific ways'. No gross physics manipulation (for fun and profit). And no poaching elements; that's just rude. Lookin' at you, Lewa. Sand plus Fire makes glass...

[Friar Tuck]

I think the part lost in this discussion is HOW MUCH you are using the mask and WHEN.

 

According to Canon, as by the description on BS01, the user of a Kakama CAN break the sound barrier evidenced by Pohatu's run. That does not mean that a Toa can do it all the time or has the skill to do it. Joske doesn't have any elemental powers, hasn't for quite some time, so to compensate he's practiced solely with his mask and thus became the most competent user of it. In cases of extreme competence AND simply doing a relatively straight run from point A to point B, I see no issues with a Kakama user breaking the sound barrier as a means of only transportation.

 

This speed DRASTICALLY slows down however when you are dealing with it on very short distances, such as fighting in a small room. On that level someone could not physically go that fast due to the demands on the concentration because of the battle. It has been described best by a veteran member as your body no longer has a delay in reaction. The moment the mind thinks/sees it, the body moves. This does not make you tougher or give you the ability to dodge attacks that you cannot see, but simply gives you high reaction times.

 

Simply, yes, I would expect sonic booms from Kakama users when traveling long straight distances with few obstacles. Anything more complicated than that and I would call into question some things as well as your playing style

 

Still, a Kulasi is faster when traveling great distances, as proven by Agni! Beat Joske to Ta-Koro he did...

Edited September 21, 2014 by Friar Tuck

[Silvan Haven]

 

Toa of Air controlling oxygen and friction to create flame, anyone?

 

As long as all they did was create the flames and had an outside source to set them of I really don't see the problem with this. Its just a creative use of powers.

[Krayzikk]

Aaaaaaaand this is where I step in.

 

Tuck makes a pretty good point; traveling long distances in a straight path, a Kakama is darn fast. Actually calculating numbers, as noted in the staff ruling Lorax helpfully provided, isn't exactly encouraged; nevertheless, said numbers don't really have a gameplay impact, so if you're bored... Well, I personally would choose to do almost anything else, but whatever works for you.

 

That said, "required secondary powers" is a term that I'm leery of seeing. Kakama users, when traveling at high speeds, don't usually kill themselves with accidental impacts. Anything past that is overthinking it. Now, as Tuck also noted, highest speeds are reached in a mostly straight line; when there are lots of obstacles to avoid, you are, by the very nature of safety, going to have to slow way down. 

 

And, additionally, Kakamas are not nearly as fast in smaller situations as one would like. Punching fifty times in a second, for example, is very much exceeding what is considered "fair use". In large part, for one simple reason; it's not an instantaneous boost. When you start running, you don't go from zero to top speed instantly, bypassing all the steps between. You have to speed up. When you throw a punch with a Kakama, you don't have as much time to speed up. Are you going to be quick? Of course. Are you going to get off more punches with than without? Most certainly.

 

But you're not going to be moving so fast you can't be seen, you're not going to be breaking the sound barrier, and you're not going to have super reflexes. 

 

I hope that helps clear things up.

[Keeper of Kraata]

I think the part lost in this discussion is HOW MUCH you are using the mask and WHEN.

 

According to Canon, as by the description on BS01, the user of a Kakama CAN break the sound barrier evidenced by Pohatu's run. That does not mean that a Toa can do it all the time or has the skill to do it. Joske doesn't have any elemental powers, hasn't for quite some time, so to compensate he's practiced solely with his mask and thus became the most competent user of it. In cases of extreme competence AND simply doing a relatively straight run from point A to point B, I see no issues with a Kakama user breaking the sound barrier as a means of only transportation.

 

This speed DRASTICALLY slows down however when you are dealing with it on very short distances, such as fighting in a small room. On that level someone could not physically go that fast due to the demands on the concentration because of the battle. It has been described best by a veteran member as your body no longer has a delay in reaction. The moment the mind thinks/sees it, the body moves. This does not make you tougher or give you the ability to dodge attacks that you cannot see, but simply gives you high reaction times.

 

Simply, yes, I would expect sonic booms from Kakama users when traveling long straight distances with few obstacles. Anything more complicated than that and I would call into question some things as well as your playing style

 

Still, a Kulasi is faster when traveling great distances, as proven by Agni! Beat Joske to Ta-Koro he did...

 

 

Aaaaaaaand this is where I step in.

 

Tuck makes a pretty good point; traveling long distances in a straight path, a Kakama is darn fast. Actually calculating numbers, as noted in the staff ruling Lorax helpfully provided, isn't exactly encouraged; nevertheless, said numbers don't really have a gameplay impact, so if you're bored... Well, I personally would choose to do almost anything else, but whatever works for you.

 

That said, "required secondary powers" is a term that I'm leery of seeing. Kakama users, when traveling at high speeds, don't usually kill themselves with accidental impacts. Anything past that is overthinking it. Now, as Tuck also noted, highest speeds are reached in a mostly straight line; when there are lots of obstacles to avoid, you are, by the very nature of safety, going to have to slow way down. 

 

And, additionally, Kakamas are not nearly as fast in smaller situations as one would like. Punching fifty times in a second, for example, is very much exceeding what is considered "fair use". In large part, for one simple reason; it's not an instantaneous boost. When you start running, you don't go from zero to top speed instantly, bypassing all the steps between. You have to speed up. When you throw a punch with a Kakama, you don't have as much time to speed up. Are you going to be quick? Of course. Are you going to get off more punches with than without? Most certainly.

 

But you're not going to be moving so fast you can't be seen, you're not going to be breaking the sound barrier, and you're not going to have super reflexes. 

 

I hope that helps clear things up.

 

That's pretty much what I was thinking; variable speeds, from 'all out over flat terrain' to 'tactical movement' (both being ridiculously fast, but one being managable). I envisioned the Toa Kalta as warriors trained to push their powers to the absolute limit/new and creative uses with the 'Kal' set of Elements. Since Kalyss has a more limited power, I imagined she would have been trained to maximize her use of speed in combat. Less fencing, more football (American and otherwise; she was a prolific athlete ). Mainly using the speed as a battlefield advantage; she controls her engagements, with either hit-and-run or a flying tackle.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Keeper of Kraata

[Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)]

Aaaaaaaand this is where I step in.

 

Tuck makes a pretty good point; traveling long distances in a straight path, a Kakama is darn fast. Actually calculating numbers, as noted in the staff ruling Lorax helpfully provided, isn't exactly encouraged; nevertheless, said numbers don't really have a gameplay impact, so if you're bored... Well, I personally would choose to do almost anything else, but whatever works for you.

 

That said, "required secondary powers" is a term that I'm leery of seeing. Kakama users, when traveling at high speeds, don't usually kill themselves with accidental impacts. Anything past that is overthinking it. Now, as Tuck also noted, highest speeds are reached in a mostly straight line; when there are lots of obstacles to avoid, you are, by the very nature of safety, going to have to slow way down. 

 

And, additionally, Kakamas are not nearly as fast in smaller situations as one would like. Punching fifty times in a second, for example, is very much exceeding what is considered "fair use". In large part, for one simple reason; it's not an instantaneous boost. When you start running, you don't go from zero to top speed instantly, bypassing all the steps between. You have to speed up. When you throw a punch with a Kakama, you don't have as much time to speed up. Are you going to be quick? Of course. Are you going to get off more punches with than without? Most certainly.

 

But you're not going to be moving so fast you can't be seen, you're not going to be breaking the sound barrier, and you're not going to have super reflexes. 

 

I hope that helps clear things up.

 

Aw, way to ruin my fun, man.  You just dropped a major nerf on what was gonna be one of my primary fighting styles.  T_T

 

...seriously, though, at the very least, thanks for warning me ahead of time.  

[Not Quite Dead]

How about an "accelerate to top speed and ram in to someone" suicide attack?

 

That sounds fun, if awfully situational.

[Friar Tuck]

^see above^

 

Thank you Kray in being a little more detailed than myself; glad to see we are on the same page at least

 

I definitely support that explanation.

[Keeper of Kraata]

How about an "accelerate to top speed and ram in to someone" suicide attack?

 

That sounds fun, if awfully situational.

 

Have you been looking at my notes?

 

Of course, my version involved coating herself with plasma and going through a giant, superpowered railgun.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Keeper of Kraata