October 15, 2009 at 8:35 pm (setting-related) (my blood hurts, ow my brain)
Reasons Why I Should Not Drink Caffiene and Take Cough Syrup Simultaneously:
“hey, you know what would make the KMV better? if there was an alternate continuity where everyone was a magical girl.”
then again the KMV as it currently is clearly does not have enough frills of justice
central government setup
June 14, 2009 at 10:14 pm (setting-related) (90% of this multiverse is shoutouts, oh central administration, sigeki is unexpectedly marvelous)
Originally, the Central Administration ruled most of the solar system and was led by a single hereditary emperor/empress. The last empress, as anyone can tell you, was Zephos; she is basically in a coma and kept in a hibernation state somewhere in some sort of shadowy facility (there isn’t a shortage of them, after all). After this the power formerly held by the empress was placed in a ruling council which was an advisory body when she was alive.
In fact, it vests in no such place, because in Sigeki the empress is a thousand-year immortal who manipulates you, not the other way around.
‘Zephos’ was one of the survivors of the oldKMV; like pretty much all of them on record she was somehow rendered immortal by this (though she may well have been so before, I’m not entirely sure what my 10-year-old self thought). She’s an immensely powerful air elemental, compounded by both age and job title, and her primary weapon is the original form of the Shining Laser; Michael uses a relatively accurate copy of it. Actually they share a few key points, in that they are both flying deadpan snarkers with stafflaserbeams.
…Well, technically speaking she put most of her skill points into being book-dumb and very, very lucky, so mostly she delegates the manipulation out to several contractors. Most notably Marcus Silverberg, Helena’s younger… psuedobrother with the changing name, Wizard unit number five (Helena being one, and the Psycho Prototype Primus being zero). Despite Helena being a prototype-y unit, he’s roughly equivalent to her in overall potential. Most of the reason Helena is so high above him in plotlevel is because she’s effectively a Warforged Cleric (take that).
Marcus is basically a Battle Butler. Who defends her top-secret moonbase from intruders with the help of his giant orbital dimension-warping laser. I haven’t thought of a good Bilingual Bonus Gratuitous German name for it yet, though.
I’m not entirely sure how she manages to hide her general existence that well, but… I assume a thousand-year-old superpowered human(oid) would have some tricks, and there’s also Marcus, so that can be handwaved comparatively easily.
May 3, 2009 at 7:05 pm (setting-related) (kmvrpg mechanics, metaphysics, with mad science!)
an explanation for the HP system, both in any vidyagame adaptation and in the KMV as a whole considering it does occasionally get referenced:
deflector shielding!
In Sigeki it is generally expressed as good old tron lines inset into things (though most of the time they only glow while actively taking hits), and in the Sphere due to the rather different aesthetic qualities they tend towards instant rune levels of intricacy; Aquarii replaces the ’sufficiently advanced’ explanation with a ‘yeah this is basically magic’ justification and as such also involves the more instant rune visual style (generally displaying directly on skin as opposed to on clothes/armor like with the other two).
Basically, then, HP is the remaining strength in this shielding; in kmvrpg terms only a last few hundred (for comparison I tend to imagine it with Super Robot Wars-level totals) actually are the physical strength-willpower combined concept which something like DnD applies to the term.
April 6, 2009 at 2:00 pm (setting-related) (nobody except me will care about this post, oh central administration, why did i write this)
Random bit of scenery detail written down for my own reference:
Central Administration Military Injury Codes woooo
Code 1 is for minor injuries not considered critical, mostly just accidental (although if you’re really good, some combat injuries of the ‘tiny’ variety probably fall here). Nothing would be aborted for a Code 1 except in really special circumstances.
Code 2 is for minor injuries which are considered dangerous, most commonly including graze shot wounds and some blade ones as well; in need of some medical attention, but not immediately. Code 2 would only merit a testing exercise abort if multiple people registered one.
Code 3 is more substantial, most commonly shot wounds with a clean pass through or larger blade injuries in a relatively secondary/tertiary location, and would almost certainly merit a testing exercise abort for one individual.
Code 4 is in need of medical aid immediately or else death is a severe risk, often a code 3 with bonus internal bleeding or a shoulder/some torso shot. Most shrapnel wounds, at this tech level and in this world, end up landing here. Instant abort if one is registered, no questions asked.
Code 5 is ‘this person’s gonna die no matter what we do, might as well give them time to get to grips with it/call family/whatever else’.
Code 6 is instadeath.
Worldbuilding Notes I (general ramble and Sigeki)
October 28, 2008 at 10:55 pm (setting-related) (90% of this multiverse is shoutouts, general kmvian mechanics, i have no sense of scale, oh central administration, oh no gurps again?, sigeki is unexpectedly marvelous)
once more, with other universes in addition to the Revised Unified Sphere.
Most of the universes are, essentially, the single planet (or in the case of Sigeki, the single solar system). This might actually be the way they are in the overall universe, or it could be me not wanting to have to write up entire universes proper… Sigeki in particular seems to have other areas implied to exist, but it may wind up being not actually possible due to the author GM Fiating the rest of the unwieldy mess away somehow, leaving only its effects on the focus area available. That, or travel between solar systems is experimental and/or impossible.
To sum up the previous paragraph: I have no sense of scale and often willfully ignore realistic space on any level above planetary, but at least I don’t have Single Biome Planet Towns for the most part. That and it’s a superheroic-style universe governed by the rule of cool as its main physical law, really…
These are rather abbreviated summaries, which I may well expand on later (some of these universes really do seem to be developing character-like tendencies). Knowing me, they will still end up being ridiculously long despite my intentions.
- Sigeki: (GURPS TL9-10) The first world created for the new-KMV, and thus the recipient of a lot of Lost Technology / Black Boxen, the most notable of which is probably the ability-enhancing artifact termed the Red Hare (… and don’t ask me why it would be called that in-universe). Consists of an entire solar system with about five (?) extant planets and a sizeable asteroid cluster, most of which were somehow terraformed into submission (even, apparently, where keeping them so would break climate laws) and several of which have inhabited moons; travel between planets takes a number of days, in some cases a week or more, and is somewhat similar in aesthetic to ocean liner/long-distance train travel. Some form of instant teleporter exists, but it’s mostly reserved for military or high-class corporate use and has heavy limits on range (from around low space station orbit to planetary surface as of Apocynthion-07). There is, for some reason, also Space Friction; it is furthermore not exempt from a number of the tropes brought on by space being an ocean, and for that matter might go so far as to qualify as Refuge In Audacity in that the author has done a lot of the research, but throws it out the window because it’s vastly more entertaining for her this way…
Although the other planets occasionally recieve vague references, the main focus of the universe remains on Oran, which I believe is second in planetary order and slightly further away from the Sun than Venus. (Its climate pre-terraforming was probably quite similar.) After that effort, which is at least seventy years in the past as of any story of note, it wound up being fairly Earthlike in climate due mostly to the influence of Most Writers Being Human*, although there are some marginally larger patches of desert than that would generally indicate**. Most travel is done on the ground or on the water; actual jetliner-style commercial air travel doesn’t seem to have caught on as well as it has here, most likely due to some adverse atmospheric condition, although in the event of really rapid travel being needed it has occasionally shown up. There appear to be some hover cars, but considering the specific type of The Future! it often lapses into in terms of aesthetics they are only to be expected.
Theoretically Oran is overseen by a government known as the Central Administration, along with one other planet in the system; in reality pretty much no actual territory on Oran is under its direct control apart from a number of the larger cities packed fairly close together and the space between them. The lion’s share of the active governing efforts are definitely invested in the other (as-yet-unnamed) planet, and it says something about the CA that despite having plotted about four stories/arcs set mostly on Oran that not even the author knows whether or not it’s imperial or federation-like or a republic or an oligarchy or what.
Oran is supposedly split into a number of different substates under the control of the CA city group; in reality most of the substates are effectively countries of their own (although most do seem to give the CA and its representatives some credit, certainly more than you’d expect considering Oran’s metafictional origin, but I digress randomly). Recently, active deposits of Lost Technology have begun resurfacing rather more often than before; these deposits are often found by actually loyal CA-based/funded expeditions, and as such the Administration’s foothold on and interest in Oran seems to be increasing.
The Bureau of Interdimensional Communications and Research also exists. So does the ordinary realspace Red Mountain, but considering it exists (or at the very least can exist) practically everywhere that isn’t as important.
Really, Sigeki is where the majority of characters ultimately come from… and within it the majority are from either Oran itself or the other Administration planet which still refuses to get a name. (The majority of the rest are from the Sphere, with a number of outliers from the O Fortuna ‘verse or the Hope Diamond group.)
* Pretty much all KMVians (well, I doubt there are any exceptions, but this precludes retcon by being vague) are technically Ridiculously Human Aliens; the Sphere and the O Fortuna ‘verse have no apparent other planets (although they do have night skies, regardless) and Sigeki is A Long Time Ago In A Solar System Far Far Away, so no Earth there. Regardless of the universe, all known inhabitants share the same general species template, which usually includes superpower options (even if they’re commented out, or inactive until certain conditions are met).
** The author really took to space western aesthetics, okay? See also: Galzburg, pretty much the entire country of, and Conjunction’s Backstory Arc, pretty much the entire style of.
October 20, 2008 at 7:21 pm (setting-related) (hibernal/prismatic redux, if i were a better writer this wouldn't happen this often, nan08 notes, the sphere)
The Sphere has VTOL aircraft and helicopters available, so why do they use larger-scale zeppelins and airships even, occasionally, for less leisurely travel? I can understand that it might be less expensive for an individual person, but Julien and Mikkau are almost certainly backed by the Magometry Research Agency for the entirety of Prismatic and thus them being low enough on funds for that doesn’t make much sense.
And that scene idea is one of the ones I really quite liked, so I’m loathe to get rid of it.
maybe I should post a thread in plot doctoring
October 8, 2008 at 8:24 pm (setting-related) (90% of this multiverse is shoutouts, apocynthion, kmvrpg mechanics, metaphysics)
On the concept of character data etc.:
It tends to blend some of the more common variants of afore-linked trope; if any means of character data transplanting exists, the basic consciousness/memories/even abilities, most of the time of the data will go along with it, leaving the former external shell effectively immobile with Mind Control Eyes. Data transplanting such as this is, however, very difficult. This is also the vague justification/handwave for any non-plot revival mechanism in the KMV (in general, medical technology is That Good); if character data is destroyed, though, it renders the destroyed completely unrevivable. The main difference from your average use of said trope is probably the last transferrable factor, as any special abilities seem to transfer along with the consciousness except in specialized cases.
Maria the Serene’s basic ability is to affect and rewrite this character data, most often to transfer the loyalties of anyone she can get to her. She also appears capable of limited data creation, although such units are entirely combat-focused and possess no personality or real sentience, apart from her acting as a psuedo-mastermind for guiding the things.
The main application of this concept is to her Elite troops; due to the specific markers used in TELOS-class units for identification, they’re basically the Mass-Produced RH05, which are all fire-elemental. Although fortunately the central superpower-amplifying Black Box present in the RH04 is still a Black Box, even to Maria…
October 7, 2008 at 11:24 am (character-related, setting-related) (metaphysics, o fortuna)
In the O Fortuna-’verse, gods appear to be pretty killable; it just takes a lot more investment of time, as well as one of several mostly obscure artifacts to do so. In fact, doing so is probably the easiest way to become a god, as it doesn’t require all that mucking about with belief or being enough of a Heroic Mortal to get upgraded in the first place.
A lot of the metaphysics in that ‘verse is mostly borrowed and patched together from any mythology with which I am even slightly familiar, really. The thing about being dependent on belief is pretty common in postmodern fantasy, but the interplay between all of the actual god characters is common to almost any pantheon in mythology, although this being the KMV it’s often more intellectual.
Some more detail on Xanatov himself, as he’s one of the two god characters to really get a good amount of history/character development… Originally he was a strategist/intellectual of some description (who is never canonically named, but is basically a Distaff Counterpart of Helena without as much obfuscation). I’m not actually sure how he would have ascended, but I’m guessing from his character that he used the basic idea outlined in the first paragraph. He was then essentially forgotten, as the previous main cleric he had was rather overly dedicated to the secretive bit of his domain and anyone judged by said cleric to be ‘worthy’ eventually died out.
Quite a while later, during her initial appearance in the O Fortunaverse, Helena somehow came across a number of sources describing the history of this particular sect, and decided that he was her best option for taking levels in Cleric. A bit of social engineering later, and it was revived rather quickly…
Both Xanatov and Helena are definitely True Neutral, with tendencies every which way but Chaotic Evil as other alignments become useful for their own ends. Xanatov himself is almost apathetic, preferring to create plans for any contingency and almost never using them, largely because it takes active power for divine-class entities to take physical form in this universe.
September 12, 2008 at 4:48 pm (character-related, setting-related) (90% of this multiverse is shoutouts, iris is behind everything ever apparently, oh central administration)
The Telos series of Artificial Humans were some of the first created in the Multiverse, before it became a ridiculously common trope. It originated as a project of the Central Administration to create a sort of mostly-artificial supersoldier; considering two of three are pyrokinetic, I’d say they had access to some sort of data on Dylan Colver available to copy. Originally it was developed in concert with the RH series, but after the Super Prototype proved implausible to copy in large numbers due to feasibility issues with calibration, materials, Lowen being an outlier compared to most armor drivers, etc., the Telos project was discontinued and the RH project scaled back significantly.
Three models of the Telos type exist, then; one was created in part using IRIS-level data (Ignatius) but proved ever-so-slightly impossible to control or monitor, and thus sort of exploded a considerable amount of the project and left, so they also decided to scale back. The second (Mona) removed the IRIS component, and the third (Molotov) removed the somewhat unstable pyrokinetic factor in favor of general enhancements to speed and combat strength. Ultimately, neither of these removals really helped the controllability all that much…
All three models of Telos are comparatively high-Constitution versus more normal psuedohumans. They also use a more copper-based artificial blood system, which mostly adds to clotting and is artifically modified to boost air circulation capacity; the downside of this is that it’s blue rather than red. (Ignatius has a visible sort of pale bluish-grey tone to his skin, not to mention his normal hair color, which was later adjusted in Mona/Molotov to look more typically human.)
The only real ‘tell’ apart from endurance is the different blood color; they’re still biological, although Molotov has some degree of cybernetic add-ons.
Mytharc Ideas
September 6, 2008 at 10:11 am (scripting, setting-related) (i has a mytharc)
right so alternative continuities:
1. More realistic physics in general (although still definitely a superheroic universe), more on the cynical side than the mainstream (but still definitely more idealistic in general)… Cara takes over after Elias’s death instead of dying in the same battle; five-year war becomes fifteen-year war, Kain and Ignatius die in it at some point, Lowen isn’t dead but in the absence of Lancer being operational is stuck offworld. Where Estragon/the first alt-Alexander comes from (Lieutenant General, rather than whatever rank he held in the main continuity, looks a lot like Dale Kuiper except with dark red hair and has his Morph Weapon). Helena’s solution to the fifteen-year war problem involves alt-Alexander using IRIS corruption to gain enough power to destroy their version of Cara; this might have led to this part of the entire mytharc, and thus alt-Helena is quite possibly the most important character to appear in one scene and nothing else.
2. IRIS-Darian’s continuity; mostly just the Good and Evil bits of her and Janelle’s alignments are swapped. Presumably everything else is as close to mainstream as it can be under these circumstances.
3. Heroic Elias and Cara. Yeah, I don’t know either. Probably where the slightly-older Lt. Col. Lowen Tremearne comes from, who’s the only alternate version of him in anything (probably because in most other for want of a nail situations he winds up dead or close to)
As they just get progressively less and less detailed after that, most of the rest are also just ’single character continuities’. Maybe they’ll get fleshed out later.
