☢CAUTION!☢Okay guys. Time to be a dick! Now that I think of it, I should probably explain the reason(s) for my unending rage at this sort of thing.
Three main things, plus an in-character note.
ONE: This was meant to be a 'low-powered' game from the start.
"You play as yourself" was meant to be exactly that: Plain old human dumped in Gensokyo with some modest learning from there. Not vampire demigod captain of Spaceship Yamato (for an excessive hyperbole).
The 'mana' requirements were intended to bring the whole game to this approximate level, including the lolhax residents of Gensokyo.
We've been failing at this since the start, obviously. But I've gotten the impression that MTG has tried, at least a little, to bring it back in line, or at least keep it limited. The Sky Ray demolition was a veiled, but explicit, action in this direction. More subtle is the Covenant base remaining at low power rather than handing out level 100 Yoshitsunas or, more relevantly, assault rifles.
This is to keep things interesting.
TWO: This is not an action movie. This is not a dueling arena.
We are not here to compare e-penises coming up with new and semi-plausible ways to say "I win" or "my guy is better." The story's style is not conductive to shit blowing up or guns firing off every half an hour, despite the constant diversions that apparently want it to be.
We're here to tell a story. To play with characters and their interaction, with dramatic events, and put together an interesting tale from them.
Don't go bullshitting circles around one another. It tends to be an exercise in mutual frustration and/or annoyance, and it isn't entertaining.
THREE: This is a
collaborative effort among the RPers. Yeah, you, the one reading the forum!
This means communicating with one another about what you're planning to do, and having their characters respond appropriately and reasonably. This means acknowledging the current situation in the game and taking the consequences of it into account for characters' actions.
This does NOT mean randomly filling other characters with bullets.
FOUR: This is a 'stealth' mission. We are not taking on the fucking world.
This is more of an in-character thing, and stupidity at our situation (or just me being Jer) may be an excuse, but considering that 1. we don't need to be found out and subsequently investigated or turned into lab rats in the outer world and 2. we're apparently up against someone with
all of Gensokyo's power and then some at their disposal, plus plenty of high-level outer-world connections. Getting noticed would be a little like downing a few dozen active uranium grenades. I don't care if those don't exist.
...
Now. It's worth noting, and has made me feel very guilty, that much of my objection has come from in-character concerns that I currently cannot address, and matters of personal philosophy. But seriously. We keep going about this the wrong way far too often.
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...With all due respect, didn't the Sky Ray have a manufacturing facility capable of producing ammunition for said guns?
Apparently. But at this point I don't really care about this plothole.
Then again, since the ship ran on mana, wouldn't the guns have been made from it? With the ship's generator lost and the local one operating at jack-shit strength, well... basically what MTG said.
Anthony and shotguns
To be honest: 'No ammo period' was probably an overreaction. But 'clearance' for it is probably reasonable at this point.
In your case... considering the limited natural abilities, either a pistol with a good stock of ammo or a very restricted 'bigger' gun could be acceptable. Non-lethal rounds plus (very) limited ammunition could work.
Guns in general, again
Worth noting is that Japan has
rather restrictive gun and weapon laws, making it unrealistic for a local to get away with it (interestingly, aside from a hunter's shotgun). Keeping them well-hidden in, say, the Covenant base, where they could only be used for extreme emergencies, would probably be a wiser idea. Unless we want the local police on our case as well as the yakuza.
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Thread-locking
I'm not 100% certain about this, still, and I'm not the one to make the call. If MTG and a decent amount of the posters want to hold it off for a while, then maybe - but right now, no.
Right, regarding guns, let's avoid using them if at all possible. As someone up there mentioned, the point of the game is to rely on our own strengths and that of our partners. Think Fate Stay Night, Pokemon, Digimon, and stuff along those lines. Guns make things too easy. They lack honour and finesse.
Not to mention style.
GPop mana plothole/"what"
I have a possible plug for this, but I'm not sure if it'd work. Gpop, if you have an explanation in mind already, care to PM it to me and MTG?
oh on that note about characters...
While I understand not wanting to put every detail about your characters in your profile post to keep some surprises for other players, the GM should really know if there's anything that might be important to the main plot.
Of course, MTG has more than enough on his plate right now, but it could have helped if MTG has a good idea of what he's dealing with.
I also support the idea of "profile approval" to ensure that characters are reasonably appropriate to the setting and story.
......
Right then. Time to mope for causing so much drama.
