The Lorax

OK, so the essential difference between the Chapter One Mata Nui Civil war that was a train wreck (monorail wreck?) and the upcoming Kentoku Civil war that seems to be going so well at the moment is..?

You are a carrot. Is Makuta behind the ussal uprising?

No, but I have visited Auckland walked into Mordor. Twice. TPBM lives in the Southern Hemisphere.

Why thank you. In my opinion, the most interesting table I pulled out of the data was this one, about which masks are used more by toa of which gender. Healing, sensory aptitude, levitation, water-breathing and translation are all favoured for female characters, while down at the manly end of the table we have strength speed, teleportation, flight, accuracy and crazy physical stunts. It seems that, despite everything, the females still get the passive powers while the males take the brawny masks. The glaring exception to this is the hau. Why? I have no idea. Interestingly, the trend is reversed for our Dasaka characters. Over on Kentoku, the males' masks are: ruru, ruru, iden, huna, tryna, hau, kadin, while the females take on the pakaris, calixes and sanoks. Read into that what you will.

@ Norik: I think you meant Toatapio. And yes, that would be correct.

It was approved, so it was included. Since the mask needed approval, though, I counted it as a custom mask.

To quote myself:

Of course, if it is a toa of stone throwing a rock at you, the sanok isn't really necessary for a near-guaranteed hit. They can move the rock around with elemental power and correct its course, make it swerve to follow a target or make it change direction to dodge obstacles. A toa working with their own element can turn it into the homing projectile that a sanok can't, provided they they maintain concentration and elemental control over the projectile after it is launched. The same theoretically goes for Ko-Toa throwing icicles, Fe-Toa throwing knives, and Bo-Toa throwing Madu Cabolo.

I'm assuming this part of canon still hold for the game: From that, I would guess that it guides their arm as they throw the thing so that it will hit the target, even of it takes a crazy-complicated Rube Goldberg-esque route to get there. It will hit unless someone can somehow break that in a way that the mask couldn't deal with, like stopping the projectile dead and holding onto it, or has some power to counter it, like dodge rahkshi.

Nope. More than one seems to be fine, or at least Nuju didn't tell me otherwise when I sent him a double request.

Speaking of requests, I've got more sheets of data sitting around than Echelon has dead bodies, so if anyone wants to see another table or two, pulling out some new trend or difference, I can probably do it and add it to the main census.

Very nice! I love the detail of the crystal, especially on the weapons.

True. The most metagame-prone mask would be the mask of clairvoyance. It is, unsurprisingly, not on the list.

I realise that with the announcement of loot, this might not be the best time to do this, but I put a lot of time into this and a wake up this morning to find that it's out of date already. Anyway... Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present to you the third annual-ish census of characters in the BZPRPG, or, as I like to call it, the BZ3. I promised that I would take another trip through the profile pages this year, and even though this is later than expected, the beginning of Chapter three seemed a good time. This census included every character with a profile posted in the profile topic, so long as that profile was complete and didn't violate any rules (most commonly having the character possess an unapproved mask, such as an Ignika). Staff NPCs that did not have profiles were not included. This was profiled PCs only. The names suggested for the Masks of Healing, Sensory Aptitude and Rebounding that were suggested after the last census (Sana, Omnus, Marki) are used here to save space. As of Tuesday the First of Spetember 2014, the PC population of Mata Nui is 626, the population of the Kentoku Archipelego is 86, placing the overall number of PCs in the game at 708. Read on for further data and analysis on species, powers, kanohi, gender castes and clans in the BZPRPG. Mata Nui Population of Mata Nui by Species and Gender Toa By Element and Gender Matoran by Element and Gender Skakdi by Element and Gender Lesterin by Element and Gender Turaga by Element and Gender Parakuka by Host Species Toas' Kanohi by Gender Difference in Toas' Mask Frequencies by Gender Difference in Toas' Element Frequencies by Gender Kanohi/Element Combinations of Toa Characters - Males Kanohi/Element Combinations of Toa Characters - Females Kanohi/Element Combinations of Toa Characters - All Frequencies of Toa Kanohi/Element Combinations Compared to Those Expected from Separate Kanohi and Element Frequencies Matorans' Kanohi by Gender Difference in Matoran mask Frequencies by Gender Difference in Matoran Element Frequencies by Gender Kanohi/Element Combinations of Matoran Characters - Males Kanohi/Element Combinations of Matoran Characters - Females Kanohi/Element Combinations of Matoran Characters - All Frequencies of Matoran Kanohi/Element Combinations Compared to Those Expected from Separate Kanohi and Element Frequencies Skakdi Vision Powers Lesterin Kanohi Kentoku Archipelego Characters by Species and Gender Characters by Clan, Species and Power Dasaka Kanohi Datsue Kanohi Dashi Kanohi Menti Disciplines Datsue Disciplines Dashi Castes And finally, for the purposes of comparison, links for the first and second censuses of the BZPRPG, along with an appendix to the second. The first: http://www.bzpower.c...004#entry538523 The second: http://www.bzpower.c...ssion/?p=556184 The add-on: http://www.bzpower.cssion/page-40#entry561989

Lewa can rock dreadlocks, but Pohatu can rock anything. Am I a carrot?

If it helps with your descriptions at all, I'm reasonably confident that the beastie we're dealing with here is the Ancient Sea Behemoth.

IC (Ofeo, the Ocean): The ship was speeding up, pulling away. "NO!" he yelled, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" The deep cold of the ocean stabbed deeper into his chest as he realised what was happening. The ship's captain was trying to outrun the monster, to escape and save as many of his crew as possible, while leaving one poor, inconsequential Matoran to die. It even made sense. Staying in one place to rescue him made the whole ship a sitting duck for the monster, but by leaving him there, he might distract the monster for long enough that the others could escape alive. He would be like the great heroes of old, like Matoro and Lhikan, who had sacrificed their lives so that others might live. The difference was that, unlike them, Ofeo didn't get the choice. When he had heard their stories, he had praised their selfless heroism, and thought that, one day, maybe he might too give his life, if the right circumstances came up and his sacrifice could buy something truly worthwhile. They had been idle thoughts, however, and had done nothing to prepare him for this reality, being lost at sea while his companions sailed away through the churned up waters. He had been thrust into this, scapegoated by bad luck and abandoned by the ship. He didn't feel like a hero. He felt like a lamb being throw to the wolves. He didn't want this! He wanted to live! Ofeo struck out, swimming against the tide in pursuit of the barge, putting everything he had into the strokes, and yelling for help between breaths. At last, with a surge of hope and gratitude, he saw another matoran on deck pick up a life ring and hurl it out towards him. With a final, supreme effort, he threw himself onto the rope and clung to it for dear life. He could see the monster coming, nearing the surface again for another strike at the boat, but he was so spent, both emotionally and physically, that he could only hold on and wait for whatever came next.

We haven't seen all 42 types of Rahkshi in the game yet, but based on the large number and variety of types we have seen, I think it would be a reasonable assumption that the canon 42 types are mirrored in the BZPRPG universe.

OOC: Now that is tempting fate. Alright then, you were asking for a fight... GM IC: The darkness exploded. It devoured the flame that lit their way and forced itself upon them like a physical presence, pressing them up against the chasm wall and working its way beyond their eyes until their minds and hearts seemed smothered by the deep, impenetrable blackness that had no end. This lasted only a fraction of a second. There wasn't even time for a scream before the shadows gave way to the lesser, gentler blackness of unconscious oblivion. Some time later... The first thing that any of them would notice on waking up would be a remarkable lack of pain. One would expect a certain degree of discomfort after being ambushed by a Makuta, but none existed other than the slight pressure of the manacles on their hands and feet. There wasn't even a post-knocked-out headache. They had been put to sleep very gently, it seemed. The second thing to notice as they lay chained against a tank of liquid protodermis was the strong green light that surrounded them. They were in the Makuta's lab now, and the vats were uncovered and active. Steam billowed from a large one on the far side of the lab as it bubbled vigorously. Their host, silhouetted against the green light, bent over it eagerly as he ladled in a deep purple substance that quivered slightly in its container. The third thing as a bang. Clouds of acrid smoke issued from the vat and a third of its liquid contests sloshed out across the lab's stone floor. The Makuta straightened up, spitting angrily as he wiped the thick green goo from his kanohi jutlin. He kicked the vat savagely before stomping off to retrieve a bucket of water, which he threw over the spilled mutagen. It drained away to a small gutter at one side of the lab, taking the vile substance with it, presumably into the small stream that had heard earlier. By how the system was set up, it was apparent that this kind of thing had happened before. Still muttering curses, the Makuta took the chance to look over the lab before starting over with his project, and noticed that his prisoners were beginning to stir. The fact seemed to surprise him, but, after a moment's consideration, he made his decision and the winged mass of metal stomped over to them and began tearing away their masks and weapons, tossing them away in a haphazard pile a few bio away. He was happy to let his captives wake up, it seemed, but wanted to preclude any attempts at escape.

Matakana Island

In most situations, yes. Is BZP the greatest site on the internet?

d'Urville Island

IC (Kitano): "It will do" Kitano decided. "I can always come back to the village later if we need anything, and it saves both of us from having to sneak around that mob. Come now, the entrance is this way. We have only half an hour to meet Karemo on top of the glacier." The toa of crystal studies the Maroean for a moment, then waved his hand in a burst of elemental power. When the glow of power faded, a pair of dark crystalline snowshoes lay on the ice in front of the Ko-matoran, as well as a pair of ice axes that would help him with the climb. "Consider these gifts a down-payment on your services" he told the Matoran as he strode off into the snow. "Prove yourself useful to the Master of Shadows and his servants, and more will follow."

IC (Kitano): Oh dear. Kitano was beginning to have serious doubts about this matoran's competence as a follower of Makuta. If he couldn't keep a secret, he might not be worth bringing along for the trip. Then again, Makuta's followers were thin on the ground, and it could be that they would soon need to take on anyone they could get, much as that hurt his pride. "I am on my way to visit the Dark Toa Echelon" he told the matoran "and to report back after the mission he gave to my brother and I. First, however, I wished to come by the Koro to pick up some supplies. Perhaps we can be helpful to each other and this fortunate meeting will not be wasted. You may not have had anything incriminating in your dwelling, but I presume you have food, rope, fuel and the like. Give me what I need, and I could take you to the gathering of Makuta's Legacy. Echelon could almost certainly find a way for you to contribute to our cause." If only as an undead servant, he added mentally.

So Clan Daikura is back. Any young Menti characters or Daikura should feel free to jump in on this first squad, and to any trouble-makers who feel like coming near - watch out.