r/whowouldwin • u/mrcelophane ​ • Jul 10 '15

Interactive Character Scramble IV Round 1B Results

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Here are the results...today has been CRAZY. I am so sorry.

I am not ignoring the suggestion box. I will answer it, My first priority though is to get the scenario written though.

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5

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 10 '15

And now folks it's time to post your Character Scramble confessions

My confession is... I wish there was more variety in the character choices, you know? Like, I wish peeps would pick less characters that are super well known, like Spider-Man, and more obscure or, at the very least, less popular on WWW.

3

u/7thSonOfSons ​ Jul 10 '15

Same here. I like seeing characters from stuff I've never heard of (Skullduggery Pleasant and L-Elf come to mind), but I also like the real creative picks (Composite Jack Black, Composite Nick Cage, and Thrax are some of my favorites.)

On the negative side, I really hope I don't go up against an SCP. Nothing against the guy who put 'em in, but I can't stand the SCP Foundation project and its stuff.

3

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 10 '15

I just hate that I didn't actually have to do any research on my team, you know?

And hell yeah, the creative choices are the best. Like the Snorlax with Adam Sandler's brain.

The SCP Foundation is pretty neat, I think. Personally, anyway. It at least leads to some interesting matchups. Though, I prefer actual SCPs to agents using SCPs.

2

u/7thSonOfSons ​ Jul 10 '15

Yeah, I feel you. I sort of had to do research on two of mine. Shichika was new to me, and so was Windranger, but Windranger doesn't have a detailed world to delve into. MOBA's are like that.

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly ​ Jul 10 '15

Shichika was new to me

What did you think of Katanagatari?

2

u/7thSonOfSons ​ Jul 10 '15

Love it. One of my new favorite action anime

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly ​ Jul 10 '15

This is what the Scramble should be about: being introduced to and getting more comfortable with interesting characters. I only really had to do that with Otto, and while he's not exactly the strongest character on my team I thought the books he came from were pretty good.

3

u/ViperhawkZ ​ Jul 10 '15

Skulduggery was a good one, I'd never heard of him but I enjoyed having him.

1

u/Groudon466 ​ Jul 11 '15

On the negative side, I really hope I don't go up against an SCP. Nothing against the guy who put 'em in, but I can't stand the SCP Foundation project and its stuff.

Eheheh, sorry about that. My thought process at the time was "Hey, why don't I challenge myself by finding SCP characters that fit the criteria?" In hindsight, I didn't take into consideration how difficult its unusually technical style is to understand, and as a result I ended up losing two of them to one guy- although that guy was literally planning to only use Ventress from Star Wars, so I don't know how much effort other people would have put in. Still, I don't think I'll be doing the whole "SCP Lineup" next time.

That being said, I brought in one of the strongest lineups in the Scramble.

  • The Orange Suit could conceivably solo most of the competition (not at once), with the only ones that can compete being people who would attack a giant shrieking rampaging mech as a response to the most intense panic of their lives, and even then, it's very powerful, so you'd need either an obscene attack power for the competition or a quirky ability that would do the job.

  • The Baba Yaga thing is basically a nigh-immortal death sentence to anybody that attacks it with bare skin due to the chemical that coats it's hairs, which would basically make someone get sky high and peaceful on contact. They also have speed and possibly strength on par with Captain America.

  • The video game guy with the stats has charisma somewhat under the level required to talk your way out of a heavily-guarded Foundation prison cell and have the cafeteria people serve you free dessert, and bulletproof skin and the strengh to rip a metal door from it's hinges, as well as inhuman intellect.

  • I gave Andrea Adams a probability manipulator weapon that practically guarantees that people who she uses it with will be injured, even if by ridiculous circumstances (such as tripping and getting impaled on something innocuous). She also has a bright, loud EMP with her and an OHKO knife if she can make a large enough cut. In hindsight, she wasn't very well thought out, as the first two weapons are potentially a hazard to her team and the last is kinda situational. She's still comparable to Captain America in terms of physicals.

So there's another couple' a reasons that you won't want to go up against an SCP. Fortunately, you can always ask me for help! So can bteats, for that matter. Seriously, don't hesitate to ask me if you go up against an SCP and you need help.

I like the SCP Foundation more for the content, really- maybe it's just me, but I have an easy time of breaking past the technical language barrier and picturing the stories within as they are.

1

u/7thSonOfSons ​ Jul 11 '15

That's all good for abilities, but what about personality?

I don't mind the technical language, it just offers nothing to me in any sort of enjoyment level.

1

u/Groudon466 ​ Jul 11 '15

There are articles with personality, I swear it- I'll be honest, they're far and few between, but they're there. Take SCP-2846, for instance. There's definitely what I'd call personality in there if you look at the interview logs. For entertainment, SCP-1459 entertains me every time.

I think you're looking in the wrong place, though- the majority of the personality can be found in the Tales. S & C Plastics is notable to me for putting a lot into it's recurring characters, if you're up for 15-minute short stories.

1

u/House_of_Usher ​ Jul 11 '15

Speaking as someone who is about to face off against Andrea and someone who just began his foray into the wonderful world of Warehouse 13 The X-Files The Illuminati The SCP Foundation, where should I start? I've read the SCP's provided to Andrea, but parts are (purposefully) vague. For instance, does the knife work on non-humans? Can I assume Andrea uses the slingshot on her teammates before the battle? Does she have that really powerful gun from the story you linked as well?

Also, seriously, the amount of High Octane Nightmare Fuel on the SCP Foundation site is unsettling.

1

u/Groudon466 ​ Jul 11 '15

I'm sorry about Andrea, I gave her a couple of things that don't really make sense (the slingshot could maybe make sense if she planned on going in alone, but I forgot that the model rockets were a meter long) and are a hazard to basically everybody nearby.

  • The slingshot does create a sort of compulsion to be used, but Adams' suit should protect her from that due to the anti-cognitohazard thingamajigy. The other contestants, even on her own team, will try to convince her to use it. They shouldn't get forceful, though. She knows about it's properties and she'll be willing to use it in a fight, but she's also mindful of the fact that allies could easily be unintentionally hurt. As a result, only expect her to use it in the event that nobody she particularly cares about is nearby, and note that she'll prefer to use guns before anything else. She'll also have the slingshot holstered, so I don't think that anybody will be affected before she pulls it out. Just try not to drive her to using it, unless you want a comedic scene in which the captain trips and breaks 3 bones in an unlikely coincidence or something like that. Even then, assuming that your character somehow survives the injuries they sustain long enouh to win, they will probably try to pick it up and use it after she's defeated, so I'd really caution against letting her use it from an authorial perspective.

  • The knife is more for dealing with regenerators and people with weird durabilities than anyone else. Like I said before in the other post (I think), kinda situational. Just don't get seriously cut by it.

  • The model rockets... Assume that she has a few strapped to her back. They're a meter long, and when lit they fly up 45 meters into the air and falling down to produce a visual and audible explosion that looks and sounds exactly like a nuke, except that it doesn't hurt you (beyond causing literal ear and eye damage, which her suit should protect her from). It also causes a pseudo-EMP that'll disable electronics, but I wanna make clear that it's not a real EMP, as the disabling is only temporary, unlike with real ones. Like the slingshot, this could be a hazard to teammates that aren't ready for it, so I regret giving it to her a bit. Still, it's startlingly effective at startling, and because her suit will protect her from the excess light and sound, she can take the time that the "nuke" is blowing up to act first. She has a box of matches to go with the rockets. I don't know your characters, but remember that if she's teaming up at the time that she uses this, she'll be much more reluctant to use it.

She's kind of stubborn and competitive with people that she's familiar with, but treat her as being professional with people that she doesn't know- professional and stubborn. She won't be phased by anything strange that she sees due to her area of work, an given the way she handled that one reality warper in that one story, she doesn't really care if her opponent could kill her with a thought- she's not apathetic, it's just that she can remain composed. Personality-wise, she has no weaknesses, so you really just have to take her down. Oh yeah, and she's got a helmet. Let's assume she does, anyway. That story I linked in the original post has most of the feats and explanation.

Quick answer time!

  • Assume that the knife will work on non-humans if it's not specific.

  • I don't see why she would use the slingshot on her teammates (intentionally).

  • I don't remember which gun you're talking about, I'll have to check, but as long as it can't 10/10 Spidey then assume that it's there, too

Also, seriously, the amount of High Octane Nightmare Fuel on the SCP Foundation site is unsettling.

Yep.

That's kinda the point and all that.

They see you.

1

u/House_of_Usher ​ Jul 12 '15

Thanks for all the information! Sorry, thought that the slingshot didn't fall under a cognitohazard (it said something about proximity, but you're right, it only works if you see it first, implying some sort of visual trigger). The gun I'm talking about is that gigantic anti-material cannon. The one apparently able to take on White Suits. Who would have perhaps been more fair than the Orange Suit you entered, just saying.

The Nightmare Fuel award still goes to SCP-2000 because it's that kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. Still, I love it all, and every entry is like it's own personal story, left open-ended for you to finish.

In Clef's case, though, I have no idea what he/it is.

2

u/Stranger-er ​ Jul 10 '15

I tried to put in some obscure ones (Rex and Tavi in particular), but the former was knocked out in Round 1A. One of the problems with submitting lesser-known characters is that there is often less source material available online for players to draw off of. For example, I had to use TvTropes in order to find good sharable info for Tavi.

3

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 10 '15

Yeah, but researchin is half the fun, haha.

2

u/MoSBanapple ​ Jul 10 '15

I'm more excited to see my submitted characters advance than to see myself advance. Then again, they're mostly obscure characters, and I'm pretty much the only person who uses them.

2

u/Parysian ​ Jul 11 '15 edited Jul 11 '15

I agree in general, but personally I would have liked to be able to do this with less research. I had to watch a movie, read a manga, and watch an entire season of an anime I didn't really like that much just to be well versed in my characters. Then I had to research my enemies, which included watching every cutscene from God of War, just so I could figure out if Kratos was as broken (edit: I meant as in overpowered) as I thought.

2

u/Cleverly_Clearly ​ Jul 11 '15

Well, I'm sorry about that. Sometimes you get characters you know, other times you're stuck with extremely obscure ones. It's like that great philosopher once said: some will win, some will lose, and some were born to sing the blues.

Anyway, I wrote the respect thread for Kratos. I apologize if my description of his personality was too vague, or made him seem less emotionally stable than he was. I still contend he's seriously mentally imbalanced, though.

2

u/Parysian ​ Jul 11 '15

Oh no, it's a high quality respect thread, didn't mean any offense. My opponent specified that he's not the acting God of War for the competition so I wanted to find out what his demigod strength levels are. And besides, I kinda enjoyed watching all the stuff. Except some of the god executions. Those got pretty brutal by game 3.

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly ​ Jul 10 '15

I tried.

2

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 10 '15

That wasn't directed at you specifically hon don't worry

1

u/ViperhawkZ ​ Jul 10 '15

Yeah, I tried to avoid super popular characters for this kind of thing. I did end up putting in the Doctor when I noticed the theme, although I'd say even that was a less-than-obvious choice given that he's not really a straight-up fighter in most cases.

1

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 10 '15

The Doctor is actually pretty interesting cuz there's a lot of ways to interpret him, y'know?

1

u/selfproclaimed ​ Jul 11 '15

I'm not sure how "obscure" my team was.

I put a Nintendo character, a Jojo, a pony, and Korra. I guess some of my team was kinda obscure, but still mostly mainstream. I'll have better picks for the next round, I promise.

1

u/KiwiArms ​ Jul 11 '15

Man I'm not trying to rag on anyone specifically, don't fret. You're right that your picks weren't really obscure, but they're still pretty creative. Like, I can appreciate Jojos, and a pony, while not a character I really like, is actually a creative choice. Not somebody you'd normally see, which is good (though I thank god I didn't get her).

1

u/ERR40 ​ Jul 11 '15

I wish there were more well know characters with interesting handicaps or buffs rather than lots of lesser knowns.

If I see a team of 4 without a single character I know it is actually rather off putting. But if you have a well known character with a creative nerf or buff it become all the more entertaining.