BZPRPG News and Discussion

It sounds like Rahkshi Bounty Hunter could become a viable occupation right about...now. 

So what I believe is being asked is not the open options for an Auto hit so much as a "If allowed by the player" to what extent could they actually effect both the suit directly or through the pilot and then the pilot themselves. The same goes for Toa of Gravity. Their power allows for them to control the mass of the targeted object yes? Making them lighter or heavier as desired?

 

Well, Ba-Toa can affect weight, not mass, by increasing or decreasing gravity. They can also manipulate gravity into different directions. It was stated a while ago that Ex-Matoran can't withstand drops any more than a normal being; my suggestion is to develop something to counteract that. Mostly since it would be really cool.

And there is a difference here between 'allowed'. One has to have a common amount of sense when RPing combat; tearing someone in half with gravity falls under that. But there is also the matter of stuff that can't really be dodged. If the entire room has reverse gravity, and you're in that room without gravity powers, you're going to fall up. No bones about it.

Nuju, I don't suppose my own Onu koroan inventor could theoretically have knowledge of the Exo Matoran program given his background?

While such a character could definitely make minor alterations/modifications, and even perform some repairs, on extant Exo-Matoran, I'd prefer if the know-how on building new ones stayed in my and Geardirector's hands, just for staffly regulation's sake.

No, I wouldn't build one, of course. Just that he'd know about the program.

If your character is unable IC to procure a suit or inventor, that's nobody's problem to fix but yours.

Ouch that seemed a bit harsh to open your post with. Even though it is a given that my character is not going to just magically have one without RPing getting it first. I wasn't sure if given enough of a case that I could get one on hold ooc until my character could actually IC do it. Or if it was an IC "First come first serve" type deal. I wasn't suggesting that someone else do the work for me.

Currently none of the Exo-Matoran are equipped to go underwater, and if they tried they'd short-circuit. It'd be a major undertaking to modify one of the first 12 Exo-Matoran suits to be functional underwater; pursuing water functionality from the get-go would be a much more efficient way to produce an aquatic Exo-Matoran. You'd definitely be better able to equip it to do more than just sink. Silvan's right to point out that the best you could hope for, at least if you were to modify a "generation 1" Exo-Matoran, would be a very heavy walker for the seafloor, which probably wouldn't be able to go too deep because of mounting water pressure and limited air supply.

While it is good to know that while possible it would be better to start from scratch due to becoming waterlogged lol. See my above post regarding the possibly maneuverability once in the water itself. With the right modifications powered underwater movement would not be as farfetched an idea as one would think. The Pressure deal and air supply would be the biggest hurtle I'd think in regards to both modifying an existing exo and building one from scratch.

If you go lava diving in an Exo-Matoran, both suit and pilot are gonna come out the other side as slag; I said above that the suit isn't good with high temperatures, and there's not much anybody can do to fix that. While the Exo-Matoran is designed to take a pretty long fall without too much damage, flight is out of the question for something so heavy and ill-suited for aerodynamics. Both of these potential applications for the suit are less likely to happen than aquatic compatibility. And to get aquatic capability, you'll really want to start from scratch to get the best result.

Well I may have missed the whole high temperature deal. So while lava diving may be out of the question, would the actual farming be as such? I mean if it is possible to craft or modify a water version that could if though limited be able to survive the pressures of underwater travel, what of maybe better heat resistance? 

If you wanted to have one of your own mechanic characters outfit a generation 1 Exo-Matoran for water use, you could do that, and you wouldn't need to kill any more Rahkshi to make the modifications... that is, if you wanted your new air tanks, etc. to be more vulnerable to damage than the hard Rahkshi armor that makes up the rest of the suit. So, again, I'd encourage you to kill the Rahkshi yourself, bring them to an Onu-Koronan inventor who knows how to make an Exo-Matoran, and get the thing made the right way.

Yeah I don't think while Doseki has the crafting skills to do some things he has the mechanical skill to take on a tasks that large. Do we have a list of possible authorities who'd be able to make such a suit? 

It sounds like Rahkshi Bounty Hunter could become a viable occupation right about...now.

Indeed. You wouldn't happen to know any off chance? I don't think my Ga-Matoran could fight off one Rahkshi by herself. Let along the 6 or more needed for her own exo-suit.

 

Nuju, I don't suppose my own Onu koroan inventor could theoretically have knowledge of the Exo Matoran program given his background?

 

While such a character could definitely make minor alterations/modifications, and even perform some repairs, on extant Exo-Matoran, I'd prefer if the know-how on building new ones stayed in my and Geardirector's hands, just for staffly regulation's sake.

 

So it would appear that the Player base for the knowledge I seek is very limited but what about the inventors themselves? Your above stamen said I needed to find an Onu-Koronan with the knowledge I seek so that one could be made the right way. So who has this knowledge IC? Also now that they are built would it be possible ads have been showing up in the Koros? You know to keep the Meta-gaming to a minimal and allow for reasonable knowledge of such inventions so that a PC could seek out one for their own?

Alright, a lot of discussion over the past bit has been centered around Magnetism, and how it works. Given how many questions it means me or my colleagues have to field. I'm going to clear all of this up now. If there are questions after that, feel free to ask. But what is established here is the way it is.

Control of non-ferrous materials with magnetism is completely forbidden*.  Echelon's Dark Magnetism is special for a reason; it permits him to affect all solid matter with magnetism. Normally Fa-Toa cannot, to any degree, do this. If it's metal and ferrous, you're set. If it isn't, you can't affect it. This is both for balance reasons, and to prevent the boundary between Magnetism and Gravity from getting too blurred with regards to what they can do. The first person to try and use Magneto-style justification for doing something is going to find that it does not work the way they want it to. 

Next up, Magnetism Toa are not capable of any manipulation, whatsoever, of the Ex-Matoran, and are not capable of fine manipulation of anything regarding the pilot. Affecting the pilot from the outside requires a significant amount of effort, concentration, and energy, and affecting the pilot from inside requires sensory information that the user outside simply does not have. In short, affecting the pilot through use of Magnetism is not a viable strategy. Certain effects can be caused, but none proposed are worth the level of concentration and energy that must be maintained for it to be effective. Moving the machine using the pilot for force is not viable, either, for reasons that should be common sense. 

Magnetism is capable of quite a lot, and that is why it is an element hit with many of the restrictions. This is for balancing reasons. With an unspecified biomechanical ratio, affecting a character's body directly has a lot of difficult ramifications bundled in that can of worms. And if magnetism were permitted to do all it is theoretically capable of, it would be nearly unstoppable. Hence why a lot of things it technically could, it can't. If it isn't something you could justify with a basic level high school physics class, it isn't wise to attempt here.

And Echelon is never an example to take tactics from, given multiple complicating factors regarding his abilities. Namely that they required talks and approval from staff years ago, long before Ghost's ascension to staff.

*Lightning and plasma, obviously, are affected by magnetism. 

 

On farther thought my previous statement was not entirely correct. It would be possible to give the exo-matoran an airtight seal and internal air system.

 

However as I brought up before, these suits are going to be heavy. Full three dimensional movement capabilities underwater is asking for a bit much.

May I lead you to the idea that many of the aquatic life is large and quite heavy however due to natural buoyancy and/or the nature of water (liquid protodermis) to put pressure on an object makes both floating and acrobatic swimming fully feasible. So while underwater weight with the added bonus of a ballast tank type deal would not hinder the idea as much as one would think. With the proper additions a hefty cumbersome land based Exo-Matoran could become quite graceful once placed in water. 

 

Most of those large animals also have things like large lungs and organic bits with a much better size/weight ratio than metal armor that help them float. These suits are going to weigh as much as a car, it's going to take more than just an air tank to give them any sort of agility.

MECH REQUEST GUIDELINES

Alright, guys, I figured I'd just make something clear before I get flooded with requests. I want to have just a little bit of system to this, so here goes:

Make sure your request includes the following information:

1. Why do you want a mech?

Indeed. You wouldn't happen to know any off chance? I don't think my Ga-Matoran could fight off one Rahkshi by herself. Let along the 6 or more needed for her own exo-suit.

I might, it will be costly though c:

this is probably a dumb time to bring this up, and it may have been answered somewhere before?

but i just really want to be sure here, the mask of x-ray vision when powerless. does it, in this canon, still get the zoom scopes ability?

My Fa-Matoran Farzan has an Akaku that works like that, as far as I can tell it's fair game.

It all depends on whether or not the mask was built with a lens.

Just look at Solek or whatever that av-matoran was who was paired with Kopaka in the canon. His mask was a powerless akaku without a lens. Same thing with the mahiki.

Neither come with a lens as a requirement for the mask being what it is.

EDIT: Since I didn't even say what I meant to say

yeah you can have your mask with a telescoping lens on it go for it brah

I dunno what the problem is

My Toa of Magnetism'd just punch through the canopy and get the juicy bits inside

this is probably a dumb time to bring this up, and it may have been answered somewhere before?

 

but i just really want to be sure here, the mask of x-ray vision when powerless. does it, in this canon, still get the zoom scopes ability?

Any Kanohi can have a built-in scope in the BZPRPG.

Just make sure you note it in the character's profile.

Now. Here comes the real question.

Who has control of the quartz windscreen?

Wait, no, character entry. Can't do that.

Ironically, i only wanted that info to be sure i could include the info about one of the lenses being broken beyond visibility. :U

Now. Here comes the real question.

 

Who has control of the quartz windscreen?

 

Wait, no, character entry. Can't do that.

It would have to be a Toa of Crystal. Assuming the player allowed such a move.

This goes into something else but... why wouldn't Rock have equal control? Because its a rock. No arguing, any geologist would say its a rock.

Because it's a crystal and anything that falls under crystals can no longer be controlled by Stone Toa.

BZPRPG elements are funny like that.

Oh gods this game hurts my brain. So much. Because pretty much all rocks are crystals at some level, and by definition crystals are rocks AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGH

You've already been here for months.

How are you only just figuring this out.

It's the first time its been brought up. I knew it was ridiculous, since I'm taking Geology classes, but this is the first time I've actually thought about how ridiculously stupid the divergence is

Ouch that seemed a bit harsh to open your post with. Even though it is a given that my character is not going to just magically have one without RPing getting it first. I wasn't sure if given enough of a case that I could get one on hold ooc until my character could actually IC do it. Or if it was an IC "First come first serve" type deal. I wasn't suggesting that someone else do the work for me.

Sorry, wasn't intending to be too harsh up there. I think I misunderstood what you were asking about; now that you've articulated what you meant, I can answer you by saying that I'm not sure if Geardirector is willing to "reserve" one of the Exo-Matoran for you/others OOC. That's his call, since he gets to distribute them however he wants.

Well I may have missed the whole high temperature deal. So while lava diving may be out of the question, would the actual farming be as such? I mean if it is possible to craft or modify a water version that could if though limited be able to survive the pressures of underwater travel, what of maybe better heat resistance?

Making a suit that can withstand higher pressures is a structural engineering issue; making one that can resist higher temperatures is a substance engineering issue. While it's definitely within their power to shore up the suits by using more Rahkshi armor, and/or shaping the armor into stronger lattice shapes, the Onu-Koronan engineers have neither the know-how nor the ability to augment the actual metallic material they're working with so as to make it withstand heat any better than it already does.

Yeah I don't think while Doseki has the crafting skills to do some things he has the mechanical skill to take on a tasks that large. Do we have a list of possible authorities who'd be able to make such a suit?

No, there's no list; I'd say again that this is something to bring up with Geardirector. As the leader of Onu-Koro, and the RPer of the lead engineer behind the Exo-Matoran project, he'll be best equipped (and uniquely qualified) to let you know who is actually able to manufacture these things. Odds are good that it's just an NPC engineer team, of which PC Wiremu is the head, that materializes the Exo-Matoran on their Akiri's say-so.

However, if one or more talented engineer PC(s) got their hands on an Exo-Matoran, and studied it, and had the requisite 5 Rahkshi suits available, and got staff permission first, I wouldn't necessarily eliminate the possibility of second-party Exo-Matoran manufacture and customization...

So it would appear that the Player base for the knowledge I seek is very limited but what about the inventors themselves? Your above stamen said I needed to find an Onu-Koronan with the knowledge I seek so that one could be made the right way. So who has this knowledge IC? Also now that they are built would it be possible ads have been showing up in the Koros? You know to keep the Meta-gaming to a minimal and allow for reasonable knowledge of such inventions so that a PC could seek out one for their own?

The original Exo-Matoran engineers, having the most thorough understanding of the machines, would be best equipped to innovate further and make a waterproof variety of suit. This would be new territory for them, but I can say definitively from an OOC staff perspective that if you brought the materials to Onu-Koronan engineers (whichever they may be; refer back to earlier in this post where I mentioned that Gear is the sole authority now on who has/doesn't have the know-how to make new ones), I'd allow them to make some kind of waterproof Exo-Matoran.

I doubt any of the currently qualified inventors live in Koros other than Onu, but I'm not the one who can say for sure. IC knowledge would likely still dictate that Onu-Koro is the place to go for this kind of machine.

Try not to go any more sciencey than a visual inspection.

If it looks like a kind of rock, it goes to the Stone Toa.

If it looks like a crystal or gemstone, it goes to the Crystal Toa.

Really the only reason it's set up like that is so that the latter element actually has a reason to exist.

The only clear one I can think of is obsidian; no crystal structure, just glass, so Crystal wouldn't have any control over it. Or normal glass, either.

You're really overthinking it.

It's for the same reason (normal) Toa of Stone can't control sand, really. Sure, they're kinda all in the same scientific grouping of things, but they do behave somewhat differently.

I'm... not... overthinking it. That was literally day two of Geology class.

Geology class is overthinking this.

I don't think you understand what I say when I say you're overthinking this.

You're putting thought into something that doesn't require thought and calling it stupid for no reason other than the fact that it doesn't exactly perfectly reflect how these things work in real life.

I call that overthinking it.

Just go with the flow, man, let it happen. It's nothing to worry about. Same as why we don't have the stone-earth debate for elements either.

The stone/earth dynamic, while confusing at first, makes sense, because dirt is not rock. And Earth has overtones of seismic activity as well.

You're doing it again.

Think about it as ice and water. Sure, ultimately the same things, but they do behave slightly differently and are therefore different elements here.

Other than that just

stop

worrying about it

 

Indeed. You wouldn't happen to know any off chance? I don't think my Ga-Matoran could fight off one Rahkshi by herself. Let along the 6 or more needed for her own exo-suit.

 

I might, it will be costly though c:

 

Costly how? Orca is not exactly rolling in widgets and if she survives the temple raid, what she earns will likely go towards repairing her boat. Though if you are serious maybe drop me PM and we can talk further. So as to not clog up this topic with RP barters and alike.

Oh gods this game hurts my brain. So much. Because pretty much all rocks are crystals at some level, and by definition crystals are rocks AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGH

I think it works similary to how a Toa of stone can affect different aspects of the element than say Toa of Earth. While in theory both elements are interchangeable. For example how a Toa of Stone cannot affect Sand even though it is made up of tiny stones. or quarts crystals... IDEA!! Hey can a Toa of Crystals be able to effect sand or does it fall under the same restriction as Stone Toa being unable to control it?

For that matter what level of control over the element does Earth Toa have? ON BioSector it states

Onu-Matoran represent the element of Earth and come in shades of black, gray, purple, orange, and tan. Onu-Matoran also contain a very minuscule amount of elemental Earth energy, to the extent that they are able to sense vibrations in the ground and have excellent night vision. They are also physically stronger than some other types of Matoran, though they are not as strong as Po-Matoran. All Matoran, Toa, and Turaga of Earth are male.

Toa of Earth possess the Elemental Power of Earth, allowing them to create, control and absorb earth and earth-like substances. Their only real limitation is that when they run out of Elemental Earth Energy, they must wait for it to recharge.

Turaga of Earth possess small traces of Elemental Earth power.

So could that possibly make Earth the Core element where Stone and Crystal are sub-elements? Was just a thought. Oh and boy did you call this one Grochi ad Infinitum. Almost like you know this subject would follow.

Thing is, crystal and rock ARE the same things, unlike Water and Ice. One is liquids, the other is Cold.

Okay, I'll try to make sense of it. Crystal has power over individual crystals. That would cover sand. Rock, however, can control aggregate, which is different. I think I can see it now.

what have we done

can we just go back to the wonderful status quo of elements we had just an hour ago

and really

crystal and rock aren't the same things

most rocks aren't perfectly crystalline all the way through

the crystals in this game made by toa of crystal are

as for controlling sand, taht can be done by a toa of stone who specializes in controlling sand (verak or whatever his name was in the RPG) but they can't control the large stones if they specialize on controlling the sands

and as for the ice vs. water

I was talking about

literally controlling ice

which they -can- do

which is frozen water

and believe it or not toa of crystal can't control ice even though it has a crystalline structure because something else already laid claim

So really, for rock vs. crystal, Toa of Crystal control real crystals, Toa of Rock/Stone/w/e we call it control Polycrystals

like

y'know

normal rocks

And yet, it doesn't matter at all. None of it does. They're separate elements because the game says so, the staff say so. That should be enough. 

I JUST said that.

Anyway. Idle hands, you know.

Thing is, crystal and rock ARE the same things, unlike Water and Ice. One is liquids, the other is Cold.

 

Okay, I'll try to make sense of it. Crystal has power over individual crystals. That would cover sand. Rock, however, can control aggregate, which is different. I think I can see it now.

Yeah I think we are getting to a level of the properties of the element in question. Much like my Earth Primary to Stone Crystal secondary.

While in theory a water Toa could manipulate the water within the Ice, however because it's not exactly water any more. It would be hard pressed for them to do if at all. Where an Ice Toa has full control over said element.

P.S. may I ask why when I quoted the above message it has an extra line of text not visible on the actual post? Did you actually type all that or is it bugged?

He edited it and your quoting caught the edit even though the rest of the page wasn't refreshed to show the edit.

I JUST said that.

 

Anyway. Idle hands, you know.

Nice to know that I missed an edit you made in the process of adding on to my post so that it didn't just look like mindless complaining and spam, I guess? =P

so when do I get my element of fist and become the cqc version of that joker ech over there

That is so weird how that happened. So I must have popped into the topic right before the edit was being published? Talk about split second timing.
 

Sorry, wasn't intending to be too harsh up there. I think I misunderstood what you were asking about; now that you've articulated what you meant, I can answer you by saying that I'm not sure if Geardirector is willing to "reserve" one of the Exo-Matoran for you/others OOC. That's his call, since he gets to distribute them however he wants.

It is all good Nuju. Guess my next step may be to PM him Directly to see where this can go.

 

Making a suit that can withstand higher pressures is a structural engineering issue; making one that can resist higher temperatures is a substance engineering issue. While it's definitely within their power to shore up the suits by using more Rahkshi armor, and/or shaping the armor into stronger lattice shapes, the Onu-Koronan engineers have neither the know-how nor the ability to augment the actual metallic material they're working with so as to make it withstand heat any better than it already does.

I guess I can see your point there. Was not really thinking about that...
 
 

No, there's no list; I'd say again that this is something to bring up with Geardirector. As the leader of Onu-Koro, and the RPer of the lead engineer behind the Exo-Matoran project, he'll be best equipped (and uniquely qualified) to let you know who is actually able to manufacture these things. Odds are good that it's just an NPC engineer team, of which PC Wiremu is the head, that materializes the Exo-Matoran on their Akiri's say-so.
 
However, if one or more talented engineer PC(s) got their hands on an Exo-Matoran, and studied it, and had the requisite 5 Rahkshi suits available, and got staff permission first, I wouldn't necessarily eliminate the possibility of second-party Exo-Matoran manufacture and customization...

Well do not look to me to do that. I don't currently have any Onu-Koronans or engineers in general who'd fit that bill. There is that name again. So Wiremu would be the best bet IC who could direct my character to the ownership of such a devise. Now how to go about her meeting them in the RP? Guess that is something else I can discuss with Geardirector in my PM to him.

 

The original Exo-Matoran engineers, having the most thorough understanding of the machines, would be best equipped to innovate further and make a waterproof variety of suit. This would be new territory for them, but I can say definitively from an OOC staff perspective that if you brought the materials to Onu-Koronan engineers (whichever they may be; refer back to earlier in this post where I mentioned that Gear is the sole authority now on who has/doesn't have the know-how to make new ones), I'd allow them to make some kind of waterproof Exo-Matoran.
 
I doubt any of the currently qualified inventors live in Koros other than Onu, but I'm not the one who can say for sure. IC knowledge would likely still dictate that Onu-Koro is the place to go for this kind of machine.

I figured as much, being both that this is an Onu-Matoran creation. Was thinking more along the lines of Mass Ads telling the other villages that such an advancement in tech has been achieved and to come to Onu-Koro to witness a demonstration. That way non-Onu-Koronans could be informed and flock to the Koro to get their own...