WWYCD The aliens are here

[hfergus]

Here is a scenario: Aliens have arrived and neutralized all normal tech, and are destroying, killing, and have stated they want slaves and to strip the world of all resourses (esp. water). You may have one ship that works (or not), but Doctor Destroyer (or big, bad tech bad guy in your campaign) has at least one that works. Do you work with him? What limits do you put on him? He will help because he want to rule, not the aliens, and you are good candidates for helping.

 

My heroes made an arrangement; they had a ship that functioned but had no weapons, they got weapons from the Doctor. They made an agreement for him to not rule the world... He ended taking over the former Yugoslavia instead... but that's a different story.

[CorPse]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Better the megalomanical dictator you know... so yes, you work with him.

 

For my money, Dr. D wouldn't stop at Yugoslavia... he'd a least want to gobble up a real European power if not the ECU itself. But then maybe that's part two of scenario?

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Here is a scenario: Aliens have arrived and neutralized all normal tech' date=' and are destroying, killing, and have stated they want slaves and to strip the world of all resourses (esp. water). [/quote']

Snap Destroyer's neck, walk into the alien ship. "Water is two parts the most abundant element in the universe and one part the fourth most abundant (and the most abundant element on Earth). You passed more water in the Oort cloud than is on the entire Earth. No one in their right mind would travel intersteller distances for water. What are you really after?"

[OctoberRaven]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Mister Nonsense: We need a single weapon that can fire only one laser blast a time, and it can only move left to right. Leave the rest to me, my 2 liter bottle of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape!

 

Shift: Lucky for me, my weapon is anything but normal tech. And there's two more like it. Give em to two people I trust and let's get down to business.

 

Emerald Dragon: Dude, this is just like that movie. You know the one I'm talking about. Columbus Day. Oh, but we don't have airplanes, do we? Hm.

 

October Raven: Interesting. Should we trust Doctor Destroyer? I think we can, after all, what good is the world to him if it's dead.

[Drhoz]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Well, Vitus has nothing against Dr Destroyer. If it didn't seem simpler just to give up this dimension as a bad job, and actually carry out his occasionally muttered threat to write over the top, he'ld team up.

 

If they're that desperate for resources I'll teach them a few dimensional gates and tell them to **** off home. Of course, i'll let them discover about Elementals all by themselves... hehehheh

 

Truman, on the other hand, would freak. He's got Destroyer as a hunted, for impersonating the guy to avoid a mugging.

[Pariah]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

The old cliché applies: The enemy of my enemy....

 

Yes, any of my heroes would work with Doctor Destroyer under those conditions. Why? Because they know they can trust him implicitly.

 

Explanation: He can be trusted to do whatever is in his own best interest and whatever is necessary to fulfill his own plans. In order to rule the Earth one day, he has to get rid of the invaders first. Logically, then, he can be trusted 100% not to sell out the heroes to the opposition.

 

Once the invaders are gone...well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

[Alverant]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Snap Destroyer's neck' date=' walk into the alien ship. "Water is two parts the most abundant element in the universe and one part the fourth most abundant (and the most abundant element on Earth). You passed more water in the Oort cloud than is on the entire Earth. No one in their right mind would travel intersteller distances for water. What are you [i']really[/i] after?"

 

Aliens: We want Evian bottled water! Are you claiming the Oort cloud has a Walmart? Come show us. If we don't find it, we will leave you there.

 

OR

 

Aliens: We prefer our water to be mixed with hemoglobin. Thank you for your donation?

[McCoy]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Snap Destroyer's neck' date=' walk into the alien ship. "Water is two parts the most abundant element in the universe and one part the fourth most abundant (and the most abundant element on Earth). You passed more water in the Oort cloud than is on the entire Earth. No one in their right mind would travel intersteller distances for water. What are you [i']really[/i] after?"

 

Aliens: We want Evian bottled water! Are you claiming the Oort cloud has a Walmart? Come show us. If we don't find it, we will leave you there.

 

OR

 

Aliens: We prefer our water to be mixed with hemoglobin. Thank you for your donation?

Either way, Dolphin's the one to talk to them. Not only does he have full life support, but half his blood is hemocyanin. (Yes, he still has red corpuscles, but he also has blue ones.)

 

Snow Leopard thinks they deserve to have a plague of Walmarts unleased on their home planet.

[Alverant]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Either way' date=' Dolphin's the one to talk to them. Not only does he have full life support, but half his blood is hemocyanin. (Yes, he still has red corpuscles, but he also has blue ones.)[/quote']

 

Aliens: Blue corpuscles? Does that mean you're raspberry flavored? Yum!

 

Snow Leopard thinks they deserve to have a plague of Walmarts unleased on their home planet.

 

Aliens: We would like that very much. But by Walmart tradition there is a human "greeter" at each one. We need all humans to be greeters as Walmarts spread over our empire. They will earn low pay, be cast to the dire wolves of Slagamat III if they talk of unions, and they will wear dorky uniforms.

[Alverant]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Seriously though, this is like what happened in a game. Aliens are threatening to invade. Dr.D offers to help if he's released from prison. My character and another are given remotes for the cortex bomb implanted in his head (we have the least problems with killing) to use if Dr.D betrays us. Of course everyone is thinking, not if - when. We thwart the invasion and Dr.D betrayed us. A stroke of luck got us teleported into the sewer. (I'm cutting a lot of stuff out you know). We know the bomb was removed. My character goes, "Well we know it won't do anything, but this will make me feel better. [click]" We didn't know the bomb was enchanted to teleport back if removed. So while Dr.D is making his "you have no choice but to surrender" speech to the world, his head goes BOOM inside his helmet. The segment becomes the most popular download on YouTube involving a man who is NOT drunk. The team decides to keep quiet about it.

[Hermit]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Gaze would try to find any other method of doing this without the Doctor's help. Working with the butcher of Detroit would disgust him.

[Badger]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Badger- well a Dr. Destroyer equivalent was a sworn enemy. Killed his mother and sister and all. On the other hand, Badger is half-alien (though probably not these aliens). Anyhow, he would refuse to work directly with the Doc under any circumstances. Though he wouldnt stop his teammates from doing what they have to do. Maybe Badger could hit-and-run the aliens and keep them occupied to buy them (his teammates) time.

 

Frosty Bob- no particulars here, just go along with the team (but he better get full chance to whoop @$$ )

 

Question: What if the character's powers arent technology-related. How would the aliens match up to these?

[Certified]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

This one's easy, get a mac laptop, definitely not normal. Upload a computer virus because obviously they use the same OS that's why the Mac still works. Then have Lonestar jam them with raspberry. Biggity Bam the aliens go down just like the death star at the end of jedi.

[Wyrm Ouroboros]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Freedom: Ignore Dr. D -- though he's a well-equipped and megalomaniacal nutjob, he's still 'just' a nutjob. 'Stand' before massive alien ship; emphatically eliminate every technological item on board, then proceed to deposit it in Sol. Go home, leave voice message on Dr. D's answering machine that if he tries to conquer the world any time in the next week, she'll be very irritated. Enjoy bubble bath and foot rub.

[hfergus]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

"You passed more water in the Oort cloud than is on the entire Earth. No one in their right mind would travel intersteller distances for water. What are you really after?"

Note for one I said espcially water, not exclusivly. Another is that if you do not care about the gravity well problem, just put a big hose in the ocean and suck. For fresh water, use lakes. The Oort cloud would take time to roam around and get the same amount. And why make it from hydrogen and oxygen when you have the hose?

As to why the Doctor took over the former Yugoslavia: 1) He did not have time to take over a bigger and more difficult target (By the way, he renamed it "Excelsior", meaning "higher" and not "wood shavings." Also a dig against some New York heroes") 2) Most of Europe breathed a sigh of relief, as he took a problem off their list as they saw it. (Most of Europe did that same thing when Hitler marched into, I believe, Chech territory. Not sure of where Hitler went, but most of Europe was relieved when he did it.)

[Silverswirl]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

We're not sure he's *quite* human, but Dr. D. is at least from Earth. Let's just hope that when the team negotiates with him that they employ the trickiest of all lawyers: Super-Solicitor, who (of course) is a refugee from Q'onoS (the Klingon homeworld). Nothing scarier than a Klingon lawyer!

[Legatus]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

The First Ladies

Primadonna: Oh no, Dr. D's voice is pure torture. I cannot stand him. Do we really need him? We do? Oh my god! He should use a voice modulator then that turns everything he utters in a nice tenor or bariton!

 

Primaballerina: I refuse to work with that guy. He will not coordinate my dance of death. I will stun the aliens with my grace, beauty and my lethal martial arts, the ballerina jutsu. Wait... maybe he could set up a sound system and play some fine music, that would aid to my fighting skills. Maybe there is a way...

 

Diva: That man is interesting. Sure, he's evil as hell, but he sure knows how to make an impression. And power makes a man sexy, don't you think. But his looks, his looks...awful. He needs a stylist. I could do wonders for him. Besides, we need him, right?

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

"War makes for strange bedfellows."

 

Cougar - Accept his help and worry about the consequences later.

 

Lifeguard - Accept his help and worry about the consequences later. Then Show him the light. (Photokinetic yah know).

 

Nemesis - Accept his help and worry about the consequences later. Then gather together an alliance to overthrow the Megalomaniac.

 

 

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't"

 

 

QM

[Houston GM]

A couple questions.

 

Aliens have arrived and neutralized all normal tech' date='[/quote']

How did they neutralize it? Did they detonate nukes in the upper atmosphere to fry all electronics?

 

Did they shoot all the satellites in orbit, blow up all the power stations and communications hubs, then destroy every military with overwhelming force?

 

Did the GM wave his wand of GM fiat and every piece of technology from handguns to AIs inexplicably stopped working?

 

Aliens have arrived and neutralized all normal tech' date='[/quote']

Which tech is normal? Which tech is abnormal enough to still function? If I paid points for it, does it still work?

 

Why is Dr. Destroyer's technology still working?

 

 

Based on your post, I can't even figure out which of my heroes can still function.

[Houston GM]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

'Mancer: (technological supergenius who pretends to be a sorceror)

Provided his technology is still working...

 

'Mancer would (cautiously) team up with Dr. Destroyer. 'Mancer would expect to be betrayed as soon as the aliens were beaten to the point where Dr. Destroyer could finish them off without additional assistance.

 

'Mancer would do everything in his power to conceal the true nature of his powers from Dr. Destroyer and his minions. 'Mancer would also use the opportunity to study Dr. Destroyer's technology up close to discover its strengths and weaknesses.

 

'Mancer's preferred method of attack would be to discover an element that was rare on earth, but vital to the construction of the alien spaceships. He would then create nanites to disassemble anything built of that element and attempt to release them on the main alien ships.

 

He would also design nanites that would do the same thing to Dr. Destroyer's technology. He would incorporate some form of time-release trigger into those nanites so they wouldn't activate until after the aliens' defeat. 'Mancer would use the opportunity presented by working with Dr. Destroyer to leave these nanites on some of Destroyer's technology (in his spaceship, on some Talons).

 

'Mancer would also arrange to fake his own demise before Dr. Destroyer could turn on him. (Explosions in space work well for this.)

 

Ideally, two enemies would be taken down, one right after the other.

 

 

The Count: (anachronistic vampiric vigilante)

 

The Count wouldn't need to team up with Dr. Destroyer to attack the aliens. As long as the Count can learn the alien language (2 points would be sufficient, 1 point might be enough), he's ready to take them on.

 

Furthermore, it wouldn't occur to the Count to ally with Dr. Destroyer, though he'd welcome the opportunity. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Sabotaging Dr. Destroyer through an alliance would be almost as high priority as defeating the aliens.

 

If the Count is attacking the aliens without allying with Dr. Destroyer:

 

The Count has a standard pattern for attacking organizations. He captures a low-level minion and interrogates him (Mind Control makes this fairly simple). Using the information he's gathered, he goes a little up the chain of command and repeats the process. After a few interrogations, the Count has a substantial amount of information.

 

The Count would want to get onto the flagship. Using Dr. Destroyer's spaceship would be too risky. It would be much safer to stow away on an alien shuttle (Desolidifying into mist form or using Mind Control on the pilot). He could also sneak on with a group of human slaves. If worse came to worse, he could survive getting sucked up the giant hose.

 

(Is anyone else having Spaceballs flashbacks? "Suck, suck, suck.")

 

The Count's anachronism does impair his effectiveness. He doesn't understand the value of venting atmosphere out of the ship, disrupting the central computer, causing the main reactor to go critical, etc. However, he does have several trustworthy allies (not Dr. Destroyer) who could assist him. The most effective might be an AI, who could be uploaded into the alien flagship's central computer.

 

Once on board, the Count would attempt to sabotage the central command structure. Hierarchical organizations always have ambitious people who will sieze any opportunity for promotion. It takes very little to persuade them to kill their superiors in order to get promoted. Repeat this process dozens (or hundreds) of times throughout the alien ship in order to erode the command structure, morale, discipline, etc.

 

After the command structure has been damaged, a few ambitious high ranking officers can be mind controlled into staging mutinies. Simultaneous (or successive) mutinies could devastate the fleet's ability to function. If any officers are successfully preventing the chain of command from shattering, they can be assassinated.

 

If the Count is attacking the aliens with Dr. Destroyer's "help":

 

The Count would appreciate having some of Dr. Destroyer's elite troops along when invading an alien ship. Dr. Destroyer views his troops as being useful, but expendable if necessary. The Count views these troops as potentially useful, highly expendable, and as a tasty snack.

 

The Count would take the time to interrogate some of Dr. Destroyer's troops, to learn as much as possible about his organization.

 

While formenting mutinies inside the alien spaceship, the Count would lead the aliens to believe that their elusive intruder was working for Dr. Destroyer, not just with Dr. Destroyer.

 

Once the Count had heavily disrupted the aliens' command structure, he would let an ambitious officer know the location of Dr. Destroyer's base. When the aliens were almost ready to attack the base, the Count would warn Dr. Destroyer (through his surviving minions on the ship) that an attack was imminent. The Count would want Dr. Destroyer to do as much damage as possible to the aliens as his forces were defeated. (The Count would assume that Dr. Destroyer would escape such an attack, but would lose a lot of valuable resources in the fighting.)

 

After the alien attack had been driven off, the Count would send Dr. Destroyers surviving troops back to him. The Count appreciates the value of a good 5th Column or Manchurian Candidate.

 

 

Somebody should ask Dr. Destroyer whether he'd be willing to ally with my characters.

[hfergus]

Re: A couple questions.

 

How did they neutralize it? Did they detonate nukes in the upper atmosphere to fry all electronics?

 

Did the GM wave his wand of GM fiat and every piece of technology from handguns to AIs inexplicably stopped working?

 

 

Which tech is normal? Which tech is abnormal enough to still function? If I paid points for it, does it still work?

 

Why is Dr. Destroyer's technology still working?

 

 

Based on your post, I can't even figure out which of my heroes can still function.

It was GM fiat of course, but explained by 4 ships in orbit at tetrahedronal points emitting a "tech suppressor". Think a sort of emp that does not fry chips, but interferes with them. As to what I mean as normal - non super tech. That is why the doctor has tech that works. If you are using normal tech with high skills or just barely cutting edge, you are out of luck. If you have unique or nearly unique tech, you are in business.

[hfergus]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

This one's easy' date=' get a mac laptop, definitely not normal. Upload a computer virus because obviously they use the same OS that's why the Mac still works. Then have Lonestar jam them with raspberry. Biggity Bam the aliens go down just like the death star at the end of jedi.[/quote']

I like the mac comment, even though I am a windows user. See my previous quote as what I mean by "normal" tech. Operating systems are not the problem here; it is the hardware (Oddly enough, old vacuum tubes may still work here.) Windows ,Mac, Unix, Posix, Solaris, Linux, OS/2 and even OS/390 (a mainframe [now enterprise server] operating system) and all other "normal" operating systems would not be working, as the chips are very similar.

[hfergus]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Another point to make about what I mean as to normal tech. The tech supression effects mainly computer chips. Try to shoot down something in orbit with tech from the fourties and fifties. Can be done, but 1) Who has a missle that still has tech from this period? It would be hard to make a new one with computers not working. 2) Unless you are lucky or can swarm the enemy with many missles, they'd shoot em down. Hand guns work fine. RPG's, ok. Stingers? I think they use computers, besides, these guys are in geosynchronus orbit and the ships that are not have good speed and defenses. Cruise missles? Forget it! They have an armada they can use, but it is not nearby as they are confident their tech supression and few ships to do what they want. ("Friendly" aliens are keeping the armada busy, but we are behind enemy lines and they can't get to us before millions die and many resources disappear.)Normal computer tech could take down these few ships - if it were working. This is what they are counting on.

 

Most power armor heroes would be fine, I just wanted to make sure the worlds military would be mostly useless - it's up to the supers!

 

One more thing if you think it through with this effect (and I did in my campaign) is - people are dying just due to no computers working, an addition to the ones the aliens are actively killing. They don't care, they want resources, and slaves are one minor resource (and we have plenty of people - in fact too many; most must go in their opinion.)

[Stone]

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here

 

Quantum - Enemy of my enemy is my friend. He would team up w/him, but keep an eye on him and be ready for Dr. D's double cross

 

Stone - He's smarter than I am. Just tell me when I get to start kicking alien butt

 

Spectre - The innocent call for retrobution against the aliens. If I must joini forces w/this villian do so, then so be it. Besides it gets me closer to Dr. D to avenge the innocent souls of Detroit.