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Chapter Three Is Now Up
 
#51
Quote:Bob Schroeck wrote:
Quote:Which does bring up the question: What effect is his aura likely to have on spells that target him?
The same effect it has on anything else that targets him, good or bad.
Quote: I looked over at the Death Eaters, panting from the exertion of throwing curses in my general direction. Every one of them looked like they'd been running up stairs for the past ten minutes. To show for their efforts, I was surrounded by a field of eidelweiss; the wall behind me was covered in a fascinating mural of the Jackson Pollack style; two windows in the wall had been broken and then abruptly repaired; four Death Eaters were unconscious from ricochets (though they did look quite content, leading me to believe that the spells had been transmuted en route); two House Elves caught in the blast had been abruptly and elegantly groomed and clothed in something that looked like it came from Richard James (much to their surprise and possibly horror); and three very surprised sheep were celebrating their spontaneous creation/apportation by enjoying some fresh eidelweiss. I met the lead Death Eater's exhausted and terrified gaze, and grinned. "You missed."
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#52
You're just determined to give me lots of stuff to steal this week, aren't you, Ebony? 
Okay, because I have to top that...  Remember that I model everything in V&V 2nd Edition where possible to figure out combat effects.  Well, V&V has a "Death Ray" attack type.  No points for figuring out that's what I'm using to model the Killing Curse.  Well, Death Ray is a death sentence if you're anywhere in the vicinity of a normal, but...
Here are the V&V 2nd Ed mechanics for the Death Ray:
First, roll to hit with the target number from the combat table, which is lower than almost any other attack.  Doug's field applies here (-8 on d20 roll), so unless the opponent is ungodly skilled or superhuman, that's a hit only on a critical.  (I'm assuming Voldemort is going to count as "ungodly skilled or superhuman", but the average Death Eater? I don't think so.)
If if hits, roll two saves on d20 -- one against Agility, one against Endurance.  Fail the one, you lose all HP; fail the other, all power points.  (Remember that death in V&V happens when both of those quantities hit zero.)  I can't remember off the top of my head which is which, but it really doesn't matter -- Doug's scores are such that he'll miss either one only on a 20.  I'm envisioning the Agility saves as turning just barely out of the path of the beam, and the Endurance saves as simply toughing it out, even though that makes no sense if he makes both.
Anyway... you don't need to do the math up completely to realize that Doug is going to be able to walk through a roomful of flashing green light, even take a hit or two, and simply not stop coming.  At least until Lord Emo puts in his appearance:
Quote:"We need reinforcements!  Potter showed up with an *army*!"
"An army?"
"There are dozens of them!  Hundreds!  That defense professor 
is the worst of them!  He's unstoppable!"
"Fool!  Use the killing curse on him!"
"We have!  Dozens of times!  It had no effect!"  (whimpers)  "Ithink he's *eating* them."
 
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#53
I'd recommend against doing that, at least so blatantly. Being able to shrug off the Killing Curse is one of the most obvious signs of Mary-Sue-dom in HP fics, to the point where most don't do it (at least in the fics I read), or it is a major plot point. Besides that, the Killing Curse is unblockable, barring the involvement of old magic, Aslan at the Stone Table level stuff.

In any case though, it probably wouldn't come up, as, IIRC, the only wizard that uses the Killing Curse in combat in canon is Voldemort. That "roomful of flashing green light" just wouldn't happen. Instead, Doug would be up against a veritable rainbow of rays, capable of combining to create bizarre, unexpected effects.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#54
Quote:Jorlem wrote:
In any case though, it probably wouldn't come up, as, IIRC, the only wizard that uses the Killing Curse in combat in canon is Voldemort. That "roomful of flashing green light" just wouldn't happen. Instead, Doug would be up against a veritable rainbow of rays, capable of combining to create bizarre, unexpected effects.
And this would be on top of Doug's field doing weird shit...
  
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#55
Jorlem Wrote:I'd recommend against doing that, at least so blatantly. Being able to
shrug off the Killing Curse is one of the most obvious signs of
Mary-Sue-dom in HP fics, to the point where most don't do it (at least
in the fics I read), or it is a major plot point. Besides that, the Killing Curse is unblockable, barring the involvement of old magic, Aslan at the Stone Table level stuff.
I think of the killing curse as something akin to using a bow and
arrow.  It's a good, accurate, deadly ranged weapon, but difficult to master,
hard to use untrained, and takes a long time to "reload".  I wonder if
bullets or blades would actually be more effective, though I suspect
most wizards consider themselves to "civilized" to resort to such things.
To me, the only reason Doug's metagift isn't old magic is because the story isn't happening in olden times.  It's something that the fates themselves make use of (to his chagrin); I wouldn't be shocked if at least some of these steps weren't purely determined by a drunkard's walk.
Harry Potter strikes me as a low magic world.  It's a high magic setting, but the magic itself isn't all that overpowering.  I don't see 6th level D&D spells like mass suggestion or circle of death being slung around; and those sort of things seems like stock supervillain powers.  The magical power of the other worlds in the steps seems even higher.  Vanyel and Urtho, Belldandy and Mara, Usagi and Metalia, Akio and Anthy -- I feel like all of them would outclass anyone in the Potterverse in terms of magical power.
But remember, the victory condition isn't just "kill the bad guy".  It's "protect the children who are going to be in the middle of a war zone", and "work around a criminally incompetent Ministry of Magic that allowed this situation to happen".  Just because Doug is powerful doesn't mean this is going to be a Mary Sue cakewalk.
-- ∇×V
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#56
What finally happens in the Ministry... well, just remember the Sorting Hat's song. Just because Doug can walk through fields of AKs without harm doesn't mean he's the one who's going to win the day at the end.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#57
Quote:Bob Schroeck wrote:
What finally happens in the Ministry... well, just remember the Sorting Hat's song. Just because Doug can walk through fields of AKs without harm doesn't mean he's the one who's going to win the day at the end.
Really, there's a *lot* of ways to build drama and tension there, even if Doug can tank the AK.
1.)  The smart DEs (Inner Circle types) will notice.  Remember, those guys are the ones with actual combat skill to go with the nastiness and pedigree (in the dog-breeding sense); they'd have the experience to realize when a tactic isn't working, and shift gears.  If anything, it'd make them more dangerous.
2.)  One order, and any minion-types will stop AKing.  The DE mooks aren't as strong or as skilled; I daresay they'd be able to put out a good bit more low-level spells-per-minute than AKs-per-minute, which would be a lot harder to dodge and a lot more likely to hurt Doug.
3.)  Doug doesn't have to be killed to be stopped.  Keep him busy, and he can't help other people.  Or heck, just start transfiguring steel walls in his path- that'd slow him down long enough for other DEs to mop up, right?
(Not really, but it's something that they could try.)

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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#58
Bluemage Wrote:3.) Doug doesn't have to be killed to be stopped. Keep him busy, and he can't help other people. Or heck, just start transfiguring steel walls in his path- that'd slow him down long enough for other DEs to mop up, right?
"Break on through to the other side..."

Can the DEs change tactics often enough to keep Doug busy long enough that the DEs can escape?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#59
One things I forgot to mention in the description of the death ray defense mechanics, because they're general rules: if he loses all his power points, he's unconscious, and if he loses all his HP, he's fatally wounded and holding on by sheer cussedness (until his power points run out). Just one half-assed Killing Curse can knock him out of the fight, even if it doesn't kill him outright.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#60
So, it seems that Umbridge hasn't shown up yet. How much of an ass is she going to make of herself to the general school population when she tries forcing her authority on Doug?
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#61
Quote:Terrace wrote:
So, it seems that Umbridge hasn't shown up yet. How much of an ass is she going to make of herself to the general school population when she tries forcing her authority on Doug?
Umbridge is a member of the British government. Like her or not, she could, fairly easily, have Doug jailed or even deported (as he is rather obviously a foreign-born citizen, given his accent).  
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#62
It will be... interesting.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#63
Think that this technically belongs in the Chapter Two thread, but you've successfully introduced me to a Josh Groban song I didn't know existed.  Bravo, sir.  Bravo.
(I missed "Remember", on account of it not being from an album.  Thought it was an alt-verse creation, like some from DWII, but nope.)

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.

I've been writing a bit.
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#64
Quote:Thought it was an alt-verse creation
Nah, that'd be something like... hmmm.... the James Brown version of "Beat It"!
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#65
Quote:Jorlem wrote:
In any case though, it probably wouldn't come up, as, IIRC, the only wizard that uses the Killing Curse in combat in canon is Voldemort. That "roomful of flashing green light" just wouldn't happen. Instead, Doug would be up against a veritable rainbow of rays, capable of combining to create bizarre, unexpected effects.
*GUH-SNRRRKKK!*
You guys are probably gonna hate me for inflicting this on you.

CARE BEAR STARE!!!
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#66
If Doug plays music from Katamari Damacy, can we see a ROYAL RAINBOW!!!

?
I know whenever I play that soundtrack while driving, it has the magical effect of making my driving much worse.
When Bob first mentioned AK's, I thought he was talking about Kalishnakovs.  Though he could probably walk through a field of those, too.
-- ∇×V
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Access HAS Been Denied
#67
I don't know what caused the problem, but there's no longer a link to Chapter 3 out on the Access Denied! page.  When I come to the first entry in this thread and click on the link, it takes me to Chapter 3 just fine, but if I then hit "Previous" to visit Chapter 2, there's no "Next" in Chapter 2 to get back to Chapter 3.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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#68
Okay, I'll take a look. I might have broken it when I did a typo fix a few weeks back.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#69
Okay, that's weird. The copies of the relevant files that I carry around on my thumb drive are all correctly coded. And because I did a file/directory compare to update from the thumbdrive to my hard drive at home just a few weeks ago in order to FTP from that machine to implement that typo fix, I know that both my home machine and the website were up to date.

My best guess? Something happened at NetCarrier and they quietly restored from an out-of-date backup.

When I get home tonight I'll check -- if I'm right, chapter 3 will be missing entirely -- and then refresh the site. (I can't do it from work because I don't remember my "maintenance" login for the site.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#70
Looks like my suspicion about a backup might be right -- the entire site, including the various subdirectories, had been basically reset to what it had been somewhere between July and December 2013. I've restored everything that had changed or been missing.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#71
Mooses gracious.
Edit: I'm not wise or noble enough to be Charlie.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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