The sheer scope of what I am attempting to do is becoming literally unmanageable. Therefore, in the interest of using some of these goddamned Steam coupons, I have had an epiphany.
See some game on Steam you’d love to have but don’t have $55 to fucking waste, or your wife/parents/college debt won’t let you? Have some spare time you would be willing to expend in mindshatteringly boring tasks in exchange for said games?
Contact me. I have put off cleaning up and editing a number of documents, and I literally need someone to clean up the OSABC version on AO3 and get some of the other works on there.
Good with art? Same deal. (I’m looking at you, LuckyFK. I have a literal muscle-woman that needs art, she makes your ripped up Shepard look like an anorexic.)
As for the Great Work ™:
- The next chapter of TWCD is … sort of written but still in very heavy first-stage revisions. I have to be careful how I do this so it doesn’t come off as silly….while being completely fucking silly. I also have to come up with associated memestorm for the aftermath. Beyond that the next few chapters are outlined but I may have to revise them.
- The Engineer’s Guide to Oh God What the Fuck is proceeding well, although I’m going to have to dig out some Conspiracy X and Shadowrun sourcebooks and medical texts and fully crib together my half-ass theories on augmetics. Most of my bionetic stuff is original, while the nanonics is a mix of ConX Atlanean tech and stuff I liked in the Neutronium Alchemist. My cyberware is a blatant homage / ripoff of Shadowrun style cybernetics with a touch of Deus Ex and Megatraveller thrown in, so it literally conflicts itself…and of course despite tossing out the word several times in the game, the Mass Effect canon is completely worthless in defining ANYTHING about the state of cyberware. Say it with me … Goddamn it, Bioware
- Ahern says the next chapter of Lions is halfway done and if I wasn’t such a lazy fucking pile of shit it would have been put out nineteen fucking years ago, or something like that.
- I’ve been working on No Single Raindrop to find some sort of concluding arc to it. Maybe by midyear.
- I’ve done some heavy edits and cleanup to the Encyclopedia Biotica but it’s not published yet. I would love some new ideas for biotic powers.
- I REALLY need to do some minor retcons around the Hanar, as my original design document did not have the Ascendancy so hostile and had the drell as serving as the main line of communication between the Citadel and the Hanar. May need to revisit that before I get too far into the Hanar Cerberus Files.
- Speaking of Cerberus Files, I am thinking of re-writing the Batarian Section to be AFTER the collapse of the Hegemony and the Rise of the Batarian Empire. Thoughts?
- Absolutely no work has been done on the crackfic or happyfic Memories we Forget to Remember. Sorry.
I think the Baterian section should indeed be AFTER the fall of the Hegemony.
Biotic idea:
Biotic grenade/bomb
A biotic ability tat lets the user throw a kinda of bomb. Only usable for biotic users with a lot of control since it’s hard to let the bomb exlode when THEY want instead of in their face.
Thanks for the update,
Regards,
Metaladdict
Your “biotic bomb” is literally flare
The Batarian file should be put on hold until after the fall of the Hegemony. If for no other reason to avoid needless retcons, character edits and the like.
My thoughts on the Hanar File became less charitable as of late, especially after a second and third reread. I’m having serious trouble trying to swallow that they stood off the Citadel and made them live through what was an ’embarrassing defeat’. My only request is that you don’t go overboard with the hanar and don’t write yourself into a corner with them.
Ideas for biotics:
Splice(asari only, Temple of Athame upper echelons of priesthood) – Physical separation of biotic matrix from body. A forbidden art only to be used against sworn enemies of the Thirty and the Republic. At first glance it looks like a regular ‘disc’ of Throw Field when it fact it is anything but. Upon contact with the intended target the Splice Field causes the native biotic current(of the target) to turn upon itself and trigger a cascade of dark energy that severs the biotic matrix(eezo nodules within the body) from the user. Permanently and irrevocably damaging the target’s biotics. Splice leads to the death of the target within days of being affected, triggering out of control tumorous growth along the lymphatic system because of eezo poisoning.
Well – Increases the gravity at the target’s feet, up to and including, reducing a target from 3d to 2d.
The Hourglass – Also know as the Twister – a more advanced version of the Well. Instead of creating a singular Well Field at the target’s feet it generates two such fields – one at the target’s feet and the other overhead. The overhead field is less stable and instead of pulling up it holds and twists the upper body while the lower is anchored.
AFTER Hegemony collapse – so Kai and Pel can sneak around more easily.
As for Biotics; I got a few – that could be for Drell and Hanar; since they are said to have ‘different’ kind.
Biotics:
Drain (Drell) – touch the forehead, of somebody – and literally drain the eezo from the other’ body. Causing massive internal bleeding – as the eezo from inside a biotic, is literally ripped out of their body.
Entrap (Drell) – trap an opponent, in a statis field – that is wrapped in warpfield. Literally boil an enemy with warpfire, inside the stasis bubble.
I don’t think you need to re-write the batarian files, unless you have things you need to ret-con. Here’s a thought; keep the early chapters but have the progression of the files interrupted by the fall of the hegemony, then resume post-collapse as Cerberus sees an opportunity to capitalize on the chaos to collect more information – it goes well for a while until the empire reestablishes control over the chaotic sectors Cerberus has been using for Intel and then they have to flee because they’re losing agents.
As for biotics…
Lance – A misnomer; named because its effects seem to be like a lance of biotic force drives through an enemy; in fact, the principles behind it are more similar to the kanquess, except externally directed. Effect is to take a narrow column of space extending from directly in front of the user to some thirty feet or so ahead of them and then, using something similar to the kanquess, brutally shifts the entirety of that column forward in space some ten feet or so. The rest of the matter around the column of biotically controlled space stays where it is. Unlike an actual lance of force, the biotic lance does not transfer momentum to the surrounding matter; often those hit by it do not realize they have been hit until they see a large plug of their innards has been transported ten feet behind them.
Needle – Variant of lance. Requires a degree of fine control but has potential for endless variations depending on the skill, creativity, and fine biotic control of the user. Like lance, but smaller and multiple – generating each new “needle” requires cumulatively more focus than the last – among the rare practitioners who specialize in this Variant it is not uncommon to find graybox augmentation to help with the intense amount of calculation needed. Payoff is that like lance, it mostly ignores shielding and material composition of the material to be moved.
What games are you offering and which stories need editing? I’m certainly willing to help out with all this.
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A batarian rewrite might make it more interesting, but I’m not sure if it’s necessary. I probably couldn’t tell until I read it in finished form.
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1 – What about a biotic power similar to the Portal games? Something that can hit an enemy and fling them through a mass corridor. Could act like an accelerator to splatter them into a wall, or just trip them up by making them lose their balance.
2 – Biotic surfing? Like when Sub-Zero/Iceman slide on a sheet of ice. Similar to the kanquess, but slower and available to non-asari. Maybe an elcor or krogan technique to give them rapid mobility.
3 – Biotic mine/grenade? Microscopic orbiting spheres of negative mass and extreme mass which merge after a set time or after being triggered and explode in either warpfire or alternating gravitational fields that shear anything within.
4 – Something that creates a vacuum (like outer space) and causes the blood of the target to instantly vaporize.
Addendum (#3) – Have you ever played Doom 3 or Dishonored?
In Doom the last weapon you get is the Soul Cube, a baseball-sized cube that extends alternating saw blades from its surface and then flies toward an enemy and cuts them up.
In Dishonored you can use a Spring Razor, which is a wall mine that, when triggered, releases a coil of razor wire into the air that minces anyone nearby.
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So a biotic mine/grenade would be similar to that.
Just send me whatever you want me to proofread/edit on Google Docs. I am perfectly willing to work on what ever you need done. I’m a bit busy this week but I should be able to get through a few chapters.
I suggest giving the Cerberus File, namely the Council Races, priority. That way we have a ‘source book’ to work off of. Then do the same with the Alliance Officer’s Handbook and Cerberus Files System’s Alliance.
I have said before I am not the greatest editor, but I am in your debt, and would be more then willing to try and clean up some of your work.
I agree with the above that I find it difficult to believe the hanar could unlock Prothean tech, be defeated in two wars, and not have the tech stolen by the Citadel. Hanar unlocked tech should become galactic standard tech by osmosis.
I will send you a PM soon.
The major reasons why the hanar have not been looted are discussed more in depth in the document as I go on. There’s a very good reason, trust me — mainly that the hanar have an advantage no other race does, and that it’s really hard to sneak into underwater cities where there are nothing but hanar and not instantly stand out.
I had a similar idea to SLotH4.
Launch (Turian) – Place a vertical or nearly vertical mass tunnel above the target, then use a combination of lift and throw to toss them into it. The target goes flying into the air at high speed and dies from the resulting fall.