Sociotard

Version 5 just dropped. Hands are much better. (although two people in the background still have sausage piles)

Oddly, it isn't as good at comic style art as the specialist version they made called Niji. Here is another "Iron Man selling George Foreman grills in the style of Jack Kirby"

Option: Distinguished Alumni: Philip K. Dick.

Option: University Staff: Gladys Kravitz (Bewitched)

Role: Trustee

I better catch up before Monday

I think the commissioner missed:

Option: Skull and Bones (Secret Fraternity)

University Character: The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon.

Staff Role: Food Services

"Wait, I thought she was sent to ..."

"Prison. Yes. But she's using a University homunculus to avoid doing the time herself. So, we get her services on the cheap. Plus she reminds the undergrads that misrepresentation will get you far, but only so far."

The Grad Student: Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos Founder, Blood Mage)

"Paoulini! Return this man at once!"

The wizard continued messing about with his disks. "My equipment was never intended for ... passengers. It will take weeks to get something together to return him with any degree of safety." He mumbled on, something about it not being his fault the rude Yankee grabbed his sleeve at just the wrong moment.

The man looked at the wonders around him. Maybe staying a few weeks, or longer?, wouldn't be so bad. He already had a university degree, engineering, but those had gone centuries out of date in the blink of an eye. Well, there was no reason he couldn't start over at any age ...

Freshman: Hank Morgan (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

I want our school to have a secret fraternity, but none popped to mind and wading through TV Tropes seems like cheating. Go with the classics!

Option: The Skull and Bones (secret fraternity)

Megamind organized his thoughts by dangling papers with isolated clues from the ceiling. He began with a Poem. Next to it were times he'd noticed other students trying to memorize the poem, who'd changed the suspect whenever he asked what class it was for. Odd. Students loved complaining about specific professors and the workloads they demanded.

Around the edge of the room were sylabi from dozens of classes. English. Philosophy. History. None of them seemed to reference that piece. He hung copies of a few other poems he'd overheard with similar circumstances. He hung references to numbers of instructors in the Conservatory for Misdirection with the actual instructor lists.

The counts were off by one. (Which Oz always denied.)

The poems generally discussed ways of knowing and perceiving, subjects tightly bound to the very mission of the Conservatory.

There had to be a connection.

He tried memorizing the poem himself. It wasn't bad, if a bit long. It began as a simple ode to natural beauty, before moving on to questions of whether it was possible to understand that natural world, or only possible to understand perceptions of it. If the reality could not be known then perhaps it was reality that was a lie and perception that was truth. The phenomenal world was more tactile than the noumenal, and that made it more real.

The strange ideas proved to be a bigger hurdle to memorizing the lines than the length of the poem. Megamind decided to try a walk in the park. Maybe immersing himself in those perceptions would help the poem make sense and stick a little better, and he had no better leads at the moment. He walked, reciting the poem, glancing at the paper as needed, until the paper was snatched from his hands.

He took off chasing the ... raven? Raven through the park until it dropped the pages. Megamind picked them up and resumed repetition while he put them in order.

"Ah, but if our perceptions are reality, is the perceiver real?" Megamind glanced to the man that asked the question. He was filthy, from his stained clothes to his matted beard, and even the patch over his left eye was caked with something Megamind declined to speculate on. The old man picked a worm out of a bowl and tossed it to one of the ravens in front of him.

The poem was finally back in order, beakmarks notwithstanding. "I know that I am thinking about your bird and perceive it, therefore I know that I am real. Mr?"

"Just call me Grimnir. And why do you call it a bird?"

Megamind rolled his eyes. "because I've seen birds before, and I know that 'bird' is the word for them."

"Your old perceptions appear to interpret your ones. Do you know what a rat king is?"

Megamind almost sat on the bench, thought of bugs in the old mans clothes, and sat on the path instead. "A bunch of rats somehow stuck in a single mass."

"A rat king rolls through a sewer. It rolls over another rat. Did the rat encounter a thing that is not a rat, or did it encounter a bunch of rats?"

"I ... a bunch of rats?"

"If you were tabula rasa, clean of all perceptions of birds and people saying 'bird' and black things and flying things, would the perception of a raven happen at all? But if you must have old perceptions to receive new ones, is there a you, or is there only the mass your perceptions? A rat king finding a rat. Here, there is something you should read."

Grimnir wrote a reference on Megaminds paper, and that was that. The papers wound up hung from the ceiling. So did others Grimnir suggested later. Was Grimnir the secret instructor? He'd never say. If he was, what was he teaching? Why would the Conservatory use a homeless man? Was he homeless, or was he something greater? Or was wondering if he was something other than what he appeared noumenal chauvinism?

Megamind wondered if he had enough room to hang paper from.

Professor: Grimnir (maybe Odin?)
Specialty: Epistemology and poetry

There. I had professors who appeared strong when they were weak, now I have one who appears weak but is strong.

Artificer lights flooded the arena, and illusionists projected huge versions of the two wizards entering it for the crowd to better see. The first stroked his shining bolus and smirked. "I'm actually impressed you made it this far. Truly. This is a moment you should savor. You're about to see what a real mage can do."

"Oh, you're a mage all right. Just not an Archmage."

A raised brow. "I suppose you'll tell me the difference?"

Lightning exploded in arcs from the second wizards bolus in dazzling lines that jumped out of the arena and clear to the sky. "PRESENTATION"

Star Pupil: Megamind (Megamind)

Thanks for the piglets, Hagrid.

Question: how low can we go with the other professors' titles/positions?

I was considering a Boothby-type, a groundskeeper who nevertheless gave useful instructions to students lucky enough to ask. I might be able to work with 'adjunct'.

Next up for the Misrepresentation Conservatory

Professor: Willow Ufgood (Willow)

Specialty: Slight of Hand and Psychological Manipulation

... and then the High Aldwyn says, "The bones choose *you* Burglekutt." The class responded with a wave of laughter.

"Now the High Aldwyn was an excellent sorcerer. He could do actual divination, but he knew when it was better to just *appear* to use magic. Magic is a tool, and good wizards are masters at using that tool. Great wizards know it isn't the only tool and know when it is the wrong tool. I learned that the hard way when a disappearing pig trick succeeded where a petrification spell failed. And that leads us to our first lesson: students, grab your piglets!

Oh, why not.

University Department: The Misrepresentation Conservatory

Dean: The Wizard of Oz

Official Motto: Vide debilus quando fortus es. Vide fortus quando debilus es.

Unofficial Motto: If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with b******t.

"Give it back, Pinhead!" Dean Clarke stormed into the office.

"I will accept Dean Diggs. Or Oz, if you say it kindly. Now, I have no idea what you are talking about." The little man clinked a spoon in his tea.

"Someone broke into our school and stole a cutting edge holoprojector. Give. It. Back."

The little man pursed his lips and clinked a little longer, then took a deep sniff of his tea. "I'm afraid you department uses such technical jargon, we may not understand each other. What is a Halo Protector? Sounds like something for the Hermetics. They love halos."

"Don't give me that." Dean Clarke took a moment to breathe. Never argue angry. "Our Holoprojector. A piece of artifice that can cast illusions. It went missing, and some recent cleaning faculty disappeared too. This has every indication of your departments skullduggery. Your lot love our technomancy to back your little ... feints."

"You wound me sir. I am Oz, the Great and Mighty! I have no need of your little trinkets." He set the tea on the counter. "And with that, good day, Arthur!" A burst of smoke, and the little man was gone. The other man stormed forward and started stomping around. "Get out here! I'll find your trapdoor and test broken robots on you!"

Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs (O.Z.P.I.N.H.E.A.D. or Oz to his friends and Pinhead to nobody, thank you) heads the Misrepresentation Conservatory. They train wizards to manage their reputations, to let their appearance as weak or almighty be a strategic decision, not a prison. Oz himself specializes in public relations and stagecraft. He doesn't have any magic, but handles his position in a world of wizards with ease.

4 hours ago, Cancer said:

The Department of Modern Urban Magics,  usually referred to as "M.U.M.".  "MUM's the word!"

 

Department head: Professor Goodgulf Greyteeth

Um, what does Modern Urban Magic teach?

Belarusian partisans bomb a Russian AWACS plane. Later reporting shows 'destroyed' is much too strong a word. More 'dinged or damaged'. A slim possibility of "temporarily incapacitated awaiting minor repairs".

https://eurasiantimes.com/deficient-in-awcas-russian-air-force-loses-a-50-plane-at-a-base/?amp

On 2/23/2023 at 11:07 AM, DShomshak said:

Got a notion, a location, a few characters, a twist that I hope people find amusing. I just hope I don't get sniped. Not much luck finding suitable images on the internet, since people seem to like the purty pitchurs, and my first attempts to use AI art generation sites have not been encouraging.

 

Dean Shomshak

I've gotten pretty good at Midjourney. Or I think so. PM me if you want me to try my hand at something.

A castle which is a refrigerator:

A bear with a Howdah on its back

Question

Okay, I think I get the concept of Academic Department and Dean. But the other professors ... have a specialty?  So specialty would have to be a narrower version of the Department?

So there's a History department, and a professor has a specialty in Antiquities? There's a Mathematics department and a professor has a specialty in knots?

I apologize. This question seems obvious and it must have been asked, but a search didn't reveal it.

If a character has Missile Deflection, can they use Martial Block to get that nice +2 OCV to make the attack?

5 minutes ago, csyphrett said:

Did we get credit, Soc?

CES

Logan go credit for creating the original rules, though he never gave me his real name so it is just his handle. I credited "Playtesting by the NGD". I forgot to credit ... Solomon? I think that was his name? for the original superdraft concept.

Heh, 10 points is life support, immunity to toxins. I could do life support, immunity to impact damage from natural gravity

1 hour ago, Grailknight said:

None of the above.

 

Terminal velocity Flight, position shift with No Conscious Control and Only to avoid falling damage.

 

Not appearing to slow down and sticking the landing is the SFX.

 

 

 

What size limitation would you put "only to avoid falling damage" as?

Well, I did it. I continued polishing the pdf and finally put it on drivethrurpg.com When it is free vanity press just doesn't take that much vanity.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/424251/The-Fantasy-Worldbuilding-Draft?affiliate_id=78613

If Logan wants half the money, I'll do it. Bear in mind its pretty small time and I've only sold 3 copies, and one of those was to my mother.

Inspired by the opening scene in Underworld, in which Kate Beckinsale drops out of a tall building and just casually walks away. Yay being a vampire.

So obviously this is the breakfall skill, except the example is so extreme I think it would have to be a power. How would you build the ability to fall any height and just walk away?

1) Lots of levels in Breakfall. terminal velocity is at 90" fallen, so a character with a 48- would be most likely to walk off any fall on a 14-. That comes to 77 pts.

2) Forcefield. 37 PD would cover 95% of all falls. I do allow Forcefield to buy 3 normal PD for 2 points, so 19 points there, plus "only to avoid falling damage" How much should that limitation be? -1? -2? As we are avoiding damage, this does seem to be "reasoning from effect"

3) Leaping. 60" inches, probably with Trigger +1/4 on hitting the ground, Only to avoid falling damage. Again, I don't know what that limitation is worth.

4) Teleportation. 5" (generally the minimum for movement powers), +10 no relative velocity, only to avoid falling damage.

Which option seems best.

Ever read about that city that uses oysters to monitor water quality? They're attached to switches. If enough close, it indicates bad water.

For some research projects, oyster communication could be handy!

Mr. Log may have some explaining to do.

Boulder's main library closed due to high levels of methamphetamine

Yes, that is very common. In fairness, the US has orchestrated a lot of coups, both by our governments and corporations. Even our common ex-pats can be a problem (Hawaii and Texas).

If there are so many where clandestine interference was brought to the public knowledge, it stands to reason that there are some that managed to stay secret.

It stung when I watched the movie "Ghost Writer". *sigh* Yes, the US probably meddles more than it should with Allies.

I'm just envisioning a Ukrainian, sitting in a candlelit apartment, hearing about the United States attacking its own electrical grid.