A Few Random Thoughts about Sentinels of the Multiverse

So, in a recent post, I mentioned that I've been playing a lot of Sentinels of the Multiverse lately, at least when out and about playing board games.  As you may already know, I particularly like cooperative games, but I thought that I'd mention here a few things that have been running through my brain lately. 

I like that characters aren't completely useless after they die are defeated.  This is actually common among modern board gamers:  Player elimination is generally considered a bad thing.  I do like one particular game series - The Red Dragon Inn - that requires player elimination, since it's last man standing, but, in my experience, by the time that one player is finally eliminated, the game isn't terribly far from the end.  In Sentinels, since the game-wide lose condition (some villains have additional ways to defeat the heroes) is the defeat of all of the heroes, there must be some threat that one of the heroes will go down; unless a single hero's defeat meant a loss - which wouldn't work thematically - this would have to happen.  While it doesn't seem to be a perfect solution, I can't think of anything better automatically, and it works thematically. 

I like that all villains flip, and flip differently.  They did this cool thing where every villain basically has two "forms" that (can) both come up during battle.  However, what I like even more is that each villain has a different way to flip.  In the base game alone, the four villains have either three or four (depending on how picky you are) different ways to flip:  Omnitron flips every turn (spending half the game in each form), Baron Blade flips when he's "defeated" the first time (as he jumps into his power armor), and Citizen Dawn and Grand Warlord Voss each flip when the heroes have fought their way through their mooks.  I also had a chance recently to fight against a promotional villain who flips when he gets his cloaking device out of his deck, and flips back when he loses it. 

Fanatic and Visionary:  Challenging or Underpowered?  These are two of the heroes in the base game (out of ten), and the two that have given me the most chagrin.  Visionary just dies at the slightest provocation:  Since she has no healing or damage reduction, she basically has to luck into either of two rather flimsy defenses:  One that takes a very small amount of damage for her, and another that makes her invulnerable, but prevents her from doing anything at the same time.  Fanatic, on the other hand, has a teeny bit of healing, but deals herself so much damage during the game that it's very negated.  In both cases, I'm trying to decide whether the hero is just challenging to play, or should just be played by someone who doesn't mind being defeated a third of the way in. 

Those are just a few thoughts that I thought that I'd share.  Overall, is good times. 

General Update May 2013

I figure that I should give you guys a general update on what's going on in my life.  Here's a quick rundown: 

• New Job:  I forget whether I've mentioned that I've got a (comparatively) new job.  I've also gotten past the initial trial period thingy.  Also, work's good.  
• Minecraft:  I haven't gotten around to playing Minecraft much in the past ... awhile.  I'm still liking Thaumcraft, though. 
• Board Games:  Sentinels of the Multiverse is quite fun!  Also other games, but there's already quite a lot of replay value in Sentinels.  
• Tabletop RPGs:  Where the frak is everybody?  I has no friends.  :(
• Sleep:  What's that?  
• Reading:  working on The King in Yellow
• Webcomics:  I've fallen way behind, and it's really really really hard to catch up.  
• Western Print Comics:  I might see if I can get my friendly local comic shop to start carrying Mouse Guard.  

 I was going to say more, but this bulleted list is actually pretty good for a quick rundown. 
...
Maybe more details next time?  

Sudden Short Story 49

"-- joins us for our discussion.  Mr. Fontaine, let me start with you.  You've been quick to dismiss theories that the weapon was Israeli in origin, but where do you think that it originated?" 
"Well, first off, I'd like to clarify that I only said that if it was an antimatter weapon, then it's not Israeli.  While it would make a certain degree of strategic sense, to keep surrounding militaries at bay, remember that Israel's advanced weaponry still comes mostly from the United States, who, to the best of anyone's understanding, have yet to develop the technology to weaponize antimatter." 
"An interesting point, Mr. Fontaine, and I'd like to return to it, but first, let's see what our other guests have to say.  Ms. Andersen, what are your thoughts on this." 
"The weapon, whatever it is, is obviously Russian in origin.  While I don't personally believe that it was an antimatter bomb, the fact is that a weapon of such magnitude could only be developed by an economic superpower.  Among them, only Russia would have even a chance of performing the entire project in secret.  While China is a significant cybersecurity threat, their power is in their numbers; they're good at hacking, but even then they're always caught out." 
"Very good points as well, but before we continue, let us hear from Prof. Sauveterre.  Prof. Sauveterre, what are your thoughts on this?" 
"Let me begin by saying that all of this talk of whether it is an antimatter weapon is a waste of time.  --" 
"You think that it's safe to assume that we are not, in fact, dealing with an antimatter weapon?" interrupted the host. 
"No, I think that it's safe to assume that it is.  The radiation signature, scale, and seismic patterns were all consistent with the release of a large quantity of antimatter at or near the Earth's surface." 
"You don't suppose that the Russians used it, though, do you?" chimed in Fontaine.  "It runs entirely against their global geo-political self-interest." 
"But they're the only ones who could have," proclaimed Andersen.  "Neither China nor the U.S. could have kept it under wraps for so long." 
"Since you two seem so keen on politics," began Sauveterre, "I'll ask you:  Is Russia's investigation into the origin of this weapon so extensive as to make you suspect that they doth protest too much?"
For once, the talking heads were silent. 
"The fact is that nobody - not even the superpowers - has any idea who made or used this antimatter bomb.  ...  And that should scare the hell out of you."  

Sudden Short Story 48

Before them stood the apparition of their recently deceased friend.  Amidst them lay his corpse.
"Noooo!" moaned the specter.  "I died.  What's the respawn time in this world?"
"1.5 planetary days unobserved," replied one of his still-living comrades.  "You want us to hide the body?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Hey, wait," interjected another of the living.  "Our CO's expecting us back before then.  If we're late, then we'll take a penalty to our Careers.  Can't you just rein?"
"Dude, reincarnating resets everything.  Do you know how hard it was to get that achievement with the NPC?"
"'Marriage'?"
"Yeah, that's the one.  Look, just hide my body."
Another friend had already scouted from a ridge and returned.  "It's just sand as far as I can see.  I think that we'll have to bury him."  A groan emanated from the local living.
"It's not that bad."
"Says that one guy who doesn't have to dig."
"Well, what would you have me do?" asked the specter.
"Well, since you're dead anyway, why don't you go check the universe list?  We're almost halfway through our lives, anyway, so we might as well see what we can line up.  Maybe find one with magic installed."
"On it," answered the ghost, with a slight salute, and disappeared.

Random Song Lyrics of Silliness

A corpse is a corpse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a corpse, of course.
That is, of course, unless the corpse is the famous Mr. Dead.
Go right to the source and ask the corpse.
He'll give you an answer full of remorse.
He's always an unsteady corpse.
Talk to Mr. Dead.

---

Yes, this is a re-lyricing of the Mr. Ed song.
Yes, I know that there's a fuller version, but no smoothly-integrated ideas popped into my head for the part that almost nobody remembers.  If I think of something, then I'll amend this post.

Easter 2013 Update

Things have been pretty busy around here, so I haven't done as much writing or Nuzlocke as I'd like to have done.  However, things should go a bit more smoothly now, as I've finally gotten my hands on a proper gaming PC.  I'm in the process of moving things over there, but I should eventually be able to get nearly all of my games off of my main machine, which should really speed everything up.  This should also make things a bit less stressful, as I can have more fun when I play and have fewer hiccups in general.
I have taken the opportunity to get a more recent version of Minecraft, though mostly so that I could try out the Thaumcraft mod that I've seen.  So far, it's really hard, since it adds Angry Zombies, which do more damage, have a ridiculous number of hit points, can break down doors even on Normal, and seem to be just as common as normal zombies.  I might make a separate post on my Minecraft blog once I get farther into it.

SolLock's Log: Day 8

This morning, I went back to the Apricorn trees, letting King lead the way.  I was able to find some, which was nice.  After resting at the pokémon center in Violet City, I spent some time in the morning training King against the wild pokémon on the northern part of Route 32.  There were plenty of Ekans about, so most of the fights were basically grappling matches.  King was able to learn Bite, at least, which should come in handy.
Thinking that King was strong enough for it, I snuck through Union Cave.  As a note, the reception is surprisingly good in there, as Liz called to tell me about MooMoo Milk, which can be obtained at MooMoo Farm.  Supposedly, it's quite nutritious, so, if I ever encounter the place, I'll make a point to investigate.
The Apricorns on Route 33 were available, so I harvested them, too.  I decided to retreat through Union Cave to heal at the pokémon center, when I was accidentally spotted by Russel, a hiker.  As King was in a weakened state, I had Arsonist handle his first Geodude.  I sent Scrounger against the second, figuring that he could use some exercise.  Geodude's rocky hide was tough to penetrate, especially as it repeatedly used Defense Curl, but Scrounger was able to Bite his way to victory.  I used Pitcher against his third Geodude, to play it safe.  Russel will apparently be continuing to train in the cave.
I decided, after healing, to take on the other trainers that I had seen.  First was Bill, a fire breather.  Since King was weakened from wild encounters, I let Arsonist finish off his first Koffing.  His second was dispatched out of hand by Togepi.  As it happens, there was a Great Ball lying on the ground near him.  After I returned to the center to heal my pokémon again, Joey called.  He apparently missed an opportunity to catch a Weedle.  That made me think to lead with Sting once more.
With Sting at the front of my party, I sought out the final trainer that I'd spotted in Union Cave - though I admit that the cave goes deeper than I'd yet cared to explore.  I fought Larry, who claims to competitively collect pokémon, yet had only a single Slowpoke when I went to fight him.  Still, I erred on the side of caution and sent Scrounger out in Sting's place.  Although his Bite did significant damage, the foe's Yawn had him sleeping.  Still, it wouldn't serve to have my entire party asleep, so I pressed on and, as it happened, Scrounger woke up the very next turn, to deliver a devastating Bite.  I thought that a Quick Attack would finish the job, but it didn't quite, so I had to give it another one.  After the match, Scrounger learned Pursuit, which replaced Tail Whip.  I also put King in front, to give Sting a break.
As an aside, Larry mentioned, after the fight, that the roars of a pokémon could sometimes be heard from deep inside Union Cave, but only on Fridays.  I may wish to make it a point to return later, on a Friday.
I decided to return to the pokémon center for the evening.  On the way back through the tunnel, King got into a wrestling contest with a wile Onix, and learned Glare for his efforts.
Tomorrow, I intend to finally reach Azalea town.