DShomshak

If Donald Trump has incontinence issues, I neither mock nor condemn him for that. I only mock and condemn him for his moral attributes. We cannot always control our bodies. We can always control our morals. No matter what culture we are born into or how twisted our upbringing, we can choose whether to be kind or cruel, generous or greedy, loyal or treacherous, modest or proud. I have seen this in my own friends. People suffering utter deprivation or hemmed in by horror have behaved well. Donald Trump, blessed with every social and material advantage, has not.
 
(Though if Trump is addicted to adderall, that probably falls under morals. I doubt that there's a medical need or that anyone held a gun to his head to make him take the drug.)
 
Dean Shomshak
 
 

If Donald Trump has incontinence issues, I neither mock nor condemn him for that. I only mock and condemn him for his moral attributes. We cannot always control our bodies. We can always control our morals. No matter what culture we are born into or how twisted our upbringing, we can choose whether to be kind or cruel, generous or greedy, loyal or treacherous, modest or proud. I have seen this in my own friends. People suffering utter deprivation or hemmed in by horror have behaved well. Donald Trump, blessed with every social and material advantage, has not.
 
(Though if Trump is addicted to adderall, that probably falls under morals. I doubt that there's a medical need or that anyone held a gun to his head to make him take the drug.)
 
Dean Shomshak
 
 

Friends who claim to know more about Reagan than I do add another difference: Whatever his politics, Reagan liked people, or at least a lot of people. He didn't live in a Trumpian world of fear, calculated cruelty and vindictive rage. (Cannot so vouch for some of the people around him.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Back in my old "Seattle Sentinels" campaign world, one PC greatly disliked the fan site devoted to the nude video posted by a really annoying prankster villain: alt.bluejay.nudevideo.pant.pant.pant. Yes, this was waaay back in the days of Usenet.
 
But of course there was plenty of other super-porn, mostly clumsy cut-and-paste jobs splicing the heads of heroes and villains onto existing porn. And if anyone with actual super-powers was in the biz... Nah, let's not go there, it's a family-friendly forum.
 
The supervillain Blitz had an annoying online presence, too, but for different reasons. Though he was the mutant progeny of twisted Nazi eugenics, and raised to serve the setting's HYDRA/VIPER homage, his martial arts sifus inadvertantly gave him many admirable qualities. Plus, male-model gorgeous (see: twisted Nazi eugenics). There were fan sites devoted to him -- to which he sometimes posted fitness and self-defense videos and urged young people to stay off drugs. All very annoying to heroes, especially to those who care that Blitz had a bigger fan club than they did. Kind of annoying to the evil world-spanning criminal conspiracy as well, caught in the paradox that they are bad guys but everyone likes good publicity.
 
Dean Shomshak

Friends who claim to know more about Reagan than I do add another difference: Whatever his politics, Reagan liked people, or at least a lot of people. He didn't live in a Trumpian world of fear, calculated cruelty and vindictive rage. (Cannot so vouch for some of the people around him.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Friends who claim to know more about Reagan than I do add another difference: Whatever his politics, Reagan liked people, or at least a lot of people. He didn't live in a Trumpian world of fear, calculated cruelty and vindictive rage. (Cannot so vouch for some of the people around him.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Friends who claim to know more about Reagan than I do add another difference: Whatever his politics, Reagan liked people, or at least a lot of people. He didn't live in a Trumpian world of fear, calculated cruelty and vindictive rage. (Cannot so vouch for some of the people around him.)
 
Dean Shomshak

Friends who claim to know more about Reagan than I do add another difference: Whatever his politics, Reagan liked people, or at least a lot of people. He didn't live in a Trumpian world of fear, calculated cruelty and vindictive rage. (Cannot so vouch for some of the people around him.)
 
Dean Shomshak

In my experience all my Trump loving acquaintances spend half their time on Facebook complaining about how much they hate Facebook and that they're leaving Facebook, yet I still see them posting day after day, month after month, year after year....

Back in my old "Seattle Sentinels" campaign world, one PC greatly disliked the fan site devoted to the nude video posted by a really annoying prankster villain: alt.bluejay.nudevideo.pant.pant.pant. Yes, this was waaay back in the days of Usenet.
 
But of course there was plenty of other super-porn, mostly clumsy cut-and-paste jobs splicing the heads of heroes and villains onto existing porn. And if anyone with actual super-powers was in the biz... Nah, let's not go there, it's a family-friendly forum.
 
The supervillain Blitz had an annoying online presence, too, but for different reasons. Though he was the mutant progeny of twisted Nazi eugenics, and raised to serve the setting's HYDRA/VIPER homage, his martial arts sifus inadvertantly gave him many admirable qualities. Plus, male-model gorgeous (see: twisted Nazi eugenics). There were fan sites devoted to him -- to which he sometimes posted fitness and self-defense videos and urged young people to stay off drugs. All very annoying to heroes, especially to those who care that Blitz had a bigger fan club than they did. Kind of annoying to the evil world-spanning criminal conspiracy as well, caught in the paradox that they are bad guys but everyone likes good publicity.
 
Dean Shomshak

An Amazonian looking woman in a red and black costume with exaggerated spikes on her shoulders steps out as the commercial starts, "Hi. I'm the villainess Bonecrush!  Some folks know me for my amazing Prius chucking abilities, others scream in terror as I dangle their chosen heroes such as Australian Ninjas over the wreckage of a building I helped decimate. I was having a successful career as a bad guy! I was really getting up there, but like many twenty first century super-criminal women, I wanted MORE than just career. I wanted someone special in my life. Someone I didn't have to kidnap to get a 10 minute conversation with."
 
A Mars Unit pulls up, their law enforcement vehicle being used as cover as they draw out their high powered weapons "Freeze!"
 
She sighs, grabs an empty garbage dumpster and flinging it up where will land on the Mars Police unit, forcing them to flee. After it comes down with a huge smashing WHAM she continues, "I admit it, I was lonely, and I was missing romance. Sure, I knew other supervilains, but a lot of them just weren't connecting with me. I'm okay with world conquerors, high tech assassins, and vengeful maniacs, but... some of them get handsy before they know you- Ugh, what a turn off."
 
Bonecrush holds up her smart phone, "That's when I found Rend-er! The Dating app for Supervillains! I took a compatibility test, gauging my limits of what's acceptable to me ethically. A personal example? Removing spines non surgically? YES. "  She smiles , then goes on "Ketchup on Spaghetti? NO"  A look of disgust, before her expression  turns cheerful again, "And Rend-er takes that all into account! And now I'm meeting with bad guys who don't just desire and admire this big bullet proof body, they respect and want to talk about what I value in my life of mayhem! Who knows? The chances of meeting Mister Right just went up, " She pauses and covers her mouth coquettishly  with a glove that has an old blood stain on the index finger that just hasn't quite washed out, then winks and smiles as she removes it "Or should I say ? Mister WRONG for everyone else... but me!"
 
SUBTITLES FLASH ACROSS COMMERICAL SCREEN IN SMALL PRINT:
Render is for Entertainment only. Render is not responsible for undercover superheroes who may use you to get information on your next crime and or make you want to reform. Some applicants may lie and seek to use your genetic material, blood, or very soul for even grander dark schemes. Render is also not responsible for your secret identity or plans being discovered by spunky reporters you will want to kill later. Please use the Rend-er app with caution for these reasons and more. But isn't love worth it?

What haven't we covered yet? Tesseracts, or rather a 3D representation of them!
 
 
 

In a friend's homebrew campaign, our heroes encountered super-powered raccoons mutated by illegally dumped waste from a supervillain's experiments.
 
Dean Shomshak

The priests and sages say that Folly does not know he is the God of Stupidity. He indeed believes he can do any god’s work, and likely do it better — but he never understands what the god is actually about. Disaster results. And no gods seem able to Folly-proof their areas of concern.
 
E’il and Vaiyarran perhaps experience the least interference. When fools travel the ocean, they drown. When fools are careless with fire, they get burned. (Possibly along with their entire island, but there are always more islands.) Most gods have it worse.
 
Kuban gave the world beauty. When Folly strove to emulate him, he gave the world gold: beautiful, but blinding mortal fools to anything but its glitter and the hope of gain.
 
The God of Justice gave the world laws. Folly gave the world Bureaucracy: the most cruel of tyrannies, for there is no tyrant to overthrow; just endless clerks saying they don’t have a form for that, and they don’t have the authority to do any different, even as they slit your children’s throats.
 
Timra’keth gave mortals fear to keep them safe; the Justiciar gave karma to bring justice; and Theer gave luck to provide hope. But Folly gave superstition and taboo: false fears that blind mortals to real dangers, false codes that distract from real consequences, and false omens of weal and woe.
 
Theer likewise taught mortals to gamble as a lesson in the play of chance. Folly inspired gamblers to seek systems that would beat the odds. Not a single one has ever worked, though many a gambler lost everything in the search.
 
The God of Life offers Wisdom to mortals who pay attention. Folly replaces the wisdom of life experiences with pedantry and dogma.
 
The Tallywhacker commands that debts be paid. But mortal fools overestimate what they are owed. They may even take a life to avenge an insult or loss. And the slain one’s kin seek vengeance in return, killing the killer or one of his kin; whose relatives take vengeance for the new debt of blood; and so Debt becomes Vendetta, until there is no one left to pay.
 
Mirth’s gift of medicines to ease pain are corrupted, too. Careless folk take them for pleasure, and may become so addicted that the benison destroys them. But death soon takes such fools, so perhaps she has the last laugh after all.
 
Even the Trickster cannot escape Folly’s attention. He encourages mortals to improve themselves, that they may surprise their friends and foes alike. But folk who think themselves cunning devise schemes to extract Attributes from others, improving themselves at great cost to others. It can work… for a while… until Karma catches up to them, possibly in the form of people weary of their depredations. The sages warn that cunning is often but a deeper Folly.
 
But Lhash’ka suffers the deepest corruption. The Goddess of Opposites loves both sides. To her, their struggle is sport by which both are improved. But Folly sees opposition as Negation, a struggle unto annihilation. He turns them into Good and Evil, between whom can be no quarter. In the name of Lhash’ka, mortals declare their wars to be absolute, that can end only in the extermination of their foes… with hosannas of righteous pride that Good is destroying Evil.
 
Secondary Domain: Corrupted concepts. Folly ruins everything.
 
Dean Shomshak
 
 
 

Karma? Knowing that you actually deserve the suffering in your life? That your fortunate neighbor really is better than you? Oh, no, that’ll make people miserable.
 
Karma’s complicated, too. Life would be so much easier if people merely had to follow some simple, definite rule about some simple, definite activity such as what they eat or how they dress. Follow the rule, and you’re a good person. Or at least you think you are, and isn’t that what matters?
 
The Abrizons of Spim will not eat tribble on Fleenday. They believe Lhash’ka forbade it. (She didn’t.) The Buntins won’t eat dird at all, considering it defiled meat and a mortal sin to consume. The Middiks, on the other hand, believe one must eat dird every day. The fairies of Tropheria will not wear blue. The Quantim of Znitz always wear blue. Among the people of Mur’kl’ti’ga, all names must include at least one apostrophe, and it is death for a woman to show her left elbow to an man but her husband. A visitor to Fnee must wear a fish on his head for a week to prove he is not a demon.
 
And the chaos of luck isn’t any better. Things just happen? That your life is the plaything of chance? That’ll make people miserable, too.
 
I won’t allow it. It’s kinder to let them make up their own explanations. I’m sure they’ll be happier. Especially when their suffering happens because they did something stupid. And fear! Mortals have so much to fear that’s beyond their control. Let them have the illusion that there are reasons for their lives, reasons they might have some power to control.
 
SO MOTE IT BE.
 
Godrig was startled when the golden retreagle barked at him from the tree. It stuck in his mind. A week later, when he left his hearth unattended and his hut burned down, he remembered the golden retreagle. It was an omen! Godrig told everyone in his village to be wary when a golden retreagle barks. It portends disaster! Many people remembered other cases when they saw or heard golden retreagles before something bad happened. Soon, most people were convinced. From then on, the people of the village feared the evil omen of the golden retreagle. But they knew what to do. Catch the dird and burn it! Surely the sacrifice to Vaiyarran would burn away the ill luck!
 
The people of Nng wept and cried to E’il after three storms struck their island in close succession. What sin had they committed? What taboo had they broken? Then someone remembered the Eech on the shore. The huge, talking rock was of E’il. They beseeched it to intercede with its maker, to avert the storms. “How?” it asked. “I have no power over storms. I haven’t seen E’il since the god made me.” The Nngese were angry in their disappointment. One man said, “Perhaps it will not intercede because it called the storms! It does not suffer; it laughs as our boats are wrecked and our homes fall!” And many answered, “Yes, it is the Eech that brought the storms, the Eech is our enemy!” And so they expended great effort building rafts and ropes to drag the Eech off the shore and dump it out at sea. That meant the tribbles bred out of control, leaving the island nearly barren, but the Nngese rejoiced at their triumph.
 
Chewing strumweed cures blue fever. But the people of Jidrilezza refuse this gift of Mirth, no matter how many of them die. They saw their enemies the Orcks using strumweed for this purpose, and so do not believe it will help them. Indeed, some say that chewing strumweed might turn you into an Orck!
 
The people of Obrox believe that Quantim are demons. They festoon their homes with charms to prevent Quantim from entering to work evil upon them. No one on Obrox has seen a Quantim in generations, which they take as proof the charms are working.
 
The people of Pung He, on the other hand, think the Seaborn are witches and kill any of them they can catch. Any curse, they believe, can be lifted by eating the heart of a Seaborn.
 
The Orcks of Krung are determined and mighty hunters of tribbles and other prey. They attribute much of their prowess to the charms they make from the feathers of three rare dirds. Hunters who lose their charms are cast out and cannot return until they manage to slay the requisite dirds and make new ones: They would jinx the hunts otherwise.
 
The people of Kimble Kimble Kimble know how to identify a murderer, a thief or a witch. Each suspect carries a bit of snork meat. The witch-doctor carries a sacred dird from suspect to suspect: The dird snatches the meat from the guilty, who is slain at once before he can utter a curse. If it later turns out the dird was wrong, it means a sorcerer must have cast a spell to deceive it! Set up another lineup and bring out the dird…
 
And so on, across the countless islands. Humans, as Folly’s creatures, are most prone to fear witches and demons of their own imagining, to seek omens of good or bad luck in waves, clouds or the flight of butterflies, to believe they are cursed and must do something ridiculous to remove it, to wear or not wear something, to eat some foods and refuse others. But no one is completely immune — except maybe the Eech, who have very little to fear and very little choice in their stony lives.
 
Secondary Domain: Superstition and Taboo.
 
TABOO2.BMP

 
…And for the people cunning enough to recognize Folly’s work, it makes a great scam. Witch-finders and self-proclaimed sorcerers easily buy up their Attributes from the gullible. At least until someone thinks they are the witch or warlock causing the problem.
 
 

That's... so profound. And rules give people stability and certainty in a world of chaos and fear. Security. And iof some laws are good, more laws are better. Here, I'll help out by being a God of Laws too! Laws for what people can wear, and when. Laws for where people can build, and how. Laws for how big the holes can be in cheese!  Licenses for every form of work, and every regulations for how it should be done. All written down -- since someone already gave the world writing, I know somebody mentioned books -- written down in detail, so no one ever has to wonder what to do or how to do it. SO MOTE IT BE.
 
People will be so happy!
 
Gift to Civilization: Bureaucracy.
 
Bureaucracy probably can't be avoided for a large and complex society. It's how ordinary minds perform tasks that are too big for any individual, but wow, there's no stupidity like bureaucratic stupidity.
 
And though there is law -- endless, swaddling, stifling law -- there is rarely justice. Only procedure.
 
Our world probably does not have a DMV, but any society develops something like it once it reaches a certain complexity. Drab chambers of bored people filling out paperwork.

 
Dean Shomshak

From Hell It Came isn't as (unintentinally) funny as Robot Monster or Plan 9. More's the pity. I haven't seen those others.
 
Tempting though it is to to make Folly's monster a very slow walking tree stump, I already had a monster in mind: the Wish-Granting Genie. The genie can take many forms. Sometimes it's an actual spirit, perhaps summoned by an object (such as a ring or a lampo). Sometimes it's a talking animal. Sometimes it's just an object, such as an animal's paw. Sometimes it offers wishes to a specific person; sometimes its mere proximity is enough, and it acts whenever someone says, "I wish..." But the number of wishes granted to any single person is always strictly limited: never more than three, because tradition.
 
The genie is at best literal-minded, at worst an utter dick who grants wishes in the worst way possible within the letter of the wish. Modest and personal wishes are typically granted without any problems: For instance, "I wish my poor hovel was transformed into a comfortable stone cottage." But people tend to become idiots when they make wishes. They wish to become invisible, so they can spy on people and steal stuff -- but forget to ask that their clothes become invisible, too. And what about becoming visible again? Or they wish for a magnificent palace with servants and dancing girls to replace their miserable hovel -- and a king knocks down the hovel to build his palace. And wishing to raise the dead never seems to work out well.
 
And sometimes people are just careless, as in the familiar story of a poor dird-catcher and his wfe. One day he catches a dird. To his surprise, it can talk. The dird promises the man three wishes if he sets it free. The man does so.
 
His wife is dubious when he tells her about the day's strange event. "You could get a lot of gold for a talking dird," she points out. "And just because the dird talks, doesn't mean it can grant wishes. You should have demanded a wish before you set it free."
 
The man feels kind of a fool then, but it's dinnertime and he's hungry. How about sausages? His wife says they're out. She hasn't been able to buy any more sausages because they're also out of money. The man sighs. "I wishe we had a nice, big sausage." And >ker-poof!< A nice, big sausage appears before him.
 
His wife shrieks, "You idiot! You wasted a wish just to get a sausage! Oh, I wish that sausage was on your nose!" And >ker-poof!< the sausage was merged with the man's nose. "Now who's the idiot?" he says bitterly. "We have only one wish left!"
 
"Well, I'm not going to waste it getting that sausage off your face," the wife says grimly. She picks up a big knife.... But before she can do anything, the man blurts, "I wishthesausagewasoffmyfaceandIhadmynoseagain!" >Kef-poof!< The sausage was back on its plate on the table. So after being given the power to reshape the world, all they got out of it was a sausage.
 
Okay, it was a pretty good sausage. But still, just a sausage.
 
N.B.: By its nature, the Wish-Granting Genie potentially trespasses on the domains of every other god. By cosmic symmetry, therefore, every other god can interfere wish a wish that so trespasses. It's one reason why big wishes tend to go so badly awry. For instance, raising the dead? That's a direct challenge to Mirth's authority, and she tends to make the results humorous, though possibly not for the wisher. Wishing to win every gamble, in direct defiance of Theer? The God of Chaos will find some other way to disrupt your life.
 
(I wanted to add an image of a genie from DeviantArt, but AOHell is being more than usually sluggish today. Maybe later.)
 
Dean Shomshak

So, I just watched a movie called From Hell It Came on "Svengoolie." Set on a South Sea island, so naturally of interest in the circumstances. The plot, as such goes thus: An evil witch doctor connives to execute the son of the chief who just died. The son swears revenge and comes back as... a killer walking tree, called a Tobonga. Sort of a low-budget, evil Ent, with a touch of the Brady Tiki. Despite being very slow, it manages to start killing people off. When it's beyond the power of the natives, it's up to a few American doctors and scientists to stop the creature.
 
I am tempted to have the Tobonga be Folly's mythic guardian/monster, because this is one of the stupidest movie monsters I've ever seen. But I'll spare you. I'll try to have something better by Monday.
 
EDIT: Ah, and here's a shot of the Tobonga! And of course somebody whote it up as a monster, and aomone else made a miniature of it.

 
Dean Shomshak

Wow, Kulan, you've made a lot of beautiful stuff! Those sunsets? Magnificent!
 
Hey, can I be a God of Beauty too? Of course I can! It's not fair that people should have to wait all day to see that lovely color the sun turns when it sets. The world should have sunset you can hold in your hand to look at whenever you want. And make stuff from it. I give the world... GOLD.
 
Bonus pick used for a second Plant/Animal/Ore. Gold. And many are the mortals who become fools for it, and great the misery caused for lust of it.
 
I'm also seeing a theme emerge for Folly: Secondary Domain: Instant Gratification. The wise are patient. The foolish want things naaaoooow. Regardless of consequences.
 
Dean Shomshak

Next: Flora, Fauna or Ore:
 
Struggle? You mean, my Humans will have to work hard just to eat, and maybe starve anyway? No way!
 
But I'll show you, Lhash'ka. Because I'm a God of Life, too! Maybe an even better God of Life than the God of Life! I'll prove it by making something for people to eat that'll be easy to raise. [Begin playing Thus Spake Zarathustra: Dum...] It'll be able to eat just about anything. At least anything that sits still to be eaten. It's small, and slow, and doesn't have any nasty sharp pointy teeth, so it's no danger. Nothing to fear. (Ha, Timra'Keth!) [Dum...] It'll have nice soft fur too, that Humans can use to make warm clothes. It'll even make a pleasant sound -- a beautiful purr, because I'm a God of Beauty, too! That'll make people want to keep my beasts and take them wherever they go. [dum...] And it'll breed real fast, without need for mates, to make sure people always have enough. I give the world... THE TRIBBLE! [DA-DUM!]
 
Genius!
 

 
And they were fruitful and multiplied... and multiplied... and multipled...
 
Dean Shomshak
Shameless

You're right, Timra'Kath, it's a beautiful world! But it needs people to appreciate it. All the fashionable worlds have people. And I know just the people to live here -- they're trending on several other worlds. Called "Humans." LET IT BE DONE! I give the world Humans! Brilliant, am I right?
 
Trending? You idiot, what's trending now is old hat next eon!
 
So they've been done before. A lot. Real artistry there, Folly.
 
And on a world of ocean, they can't breathe underwater. Oh, right. Bloody brilliant. You realize all the gifts we're going to have to give these Humans just to let them survive?
 
<Sigh> No backsies, right? We agreed those were the rules? God of Justice and Law?
 
Well, crap.
 
Tempting though it would be to give an illo drawn from current politics as the image of Human Folly, I'm not that foolish. So watch the video to Weird Al Yankovic's "Dare to be Stupid."
 
Dean Shomshak

Well, drat. I may have been sniped, since the god I planned was the god of what is most worth fearing:
 
He is the god to whom no one prays.
 
Illworker, mortals call him, and Eternal Bane.
 
Why We Cannot Have Nice Things.
 
The God Against Whom Gods Strive in Vain.
 
He that Destroyeth All and Is Unconquered.
 
The Wise fear him, but say most folk do not fear him enough.
 
Old priests whisper to novices, with gestures to ward off evil, that his fellow gods address him thus:
 
Idiot!
 
Moron!
 
Imbecile!
 
You Stupid Git, What Were You Thinking!?
 
For the name of this god is
 
FOLLY
 
He is not the God of Evil, but he is the cause of evil. My entry this year is the God of Stupidity.
 
Dean Shomshak
 
I may have to rethink this.

As a reference/inspiration source, I bumped forward my Guide to the Gods thread in the FH forum.
 
Dean Shomshak

I can't speak to Mr. Brucato's personality or personal philosophy since I only met him once and never worked with him, but "paradigm" is a big buzzword in Mage: the Ascension, and "What is reality, really" is an important concept. If Prof. Paradigm isn't an in-joke on Brucato personally, it seems very much an in-joke on his role as one of Mage's developers, and on the game.
 
Dean Shomshak
 
 

Mostly how much of that is available depends on the GM. If he wants a more high tech world, more is going to be available. If he's wanting closer to real world, not so much.
 
Yeah, there's an official CU but even for campaigns in an official CU setting, the main determining factor will be the GM's desires.
 
The second most important thing is how important the devastated area is. It's a hard fact of life but if New York City gets hit, it's going to get a more comprehensive and high tech response than a similar event which happens in Outer Wideplaceintheroadistan.
 
I can't make firm proclamations for the official CU. But if I were running a campaign there, responding to disasters would be a large part of the mandate for UNTIL. It's good public relations and it's good precedent for UNTIL troops going into member nations during emergency situations. Also not a bad idea to have UNTIL units nearby in case someone dangerous wants to take advantage of the chaos.
 
They'd be showing up with manpower, generators, and minimal supplies to set the stage for a more sustained relief effort. (The initial coordination of the response and having a place for relief workers to land and set up are often significant roadblocks so I'd imagine that UNTIL focuses it's efforts there.)
 
That initial UNTIL response would include whatever tech they have close at hand (potentially like "deep radar" to look for survivors). And again, more would be available to them closer to important sites than to out of the way places.
 
The longer the emergency situation lasts, the more tech would be brought in. So I'd imagine the first hours of an emergency wouldn't look much different than the first hours of a real world disaster. But if you're talking about week four of an ongoing disaster, every gimcrack and prototype device from every company on the planet will be onsite (both trying to make a difference and trying to get publicity for the company which made it).
 
I don't think low tech stuff like dogs, flashlights, crowbars, and shovels will go out of fashion until you reach a Galactic Champions campaign and would continue to be the predominantly-used tools until such time.