The Black Tower V-Blog

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February 4th 119 PA,

A screen filled with static is the first image that pops up. The feedback from a radio dial being tuned into the right frequency is broken by an unfamiliar voice.

Mysterious Voice: "I think I-" **static**

Mysterious Voice: "Almost got-" **Static**

Mysterious Voice: "How am I so bad at this? It's just a dial for f-" **static** "-'s sake! Why do I keep turning past it? Wait! Wait, I think I got it! There we go. Alright! got it! Show's not over before it's begun. That's something at least."

*A fuzzy picture of an out-of-focus figure comes into view. As the spikey-haired man steps back, the camera automatically comes back into focus.*

Nero: "Hey out there boys and girls, if you're picking up this video feed, you're tuning into the 'Black Tower Blog' and I'm tuning into you. I'm Nero Torre, coming to you from spa~~~~ace! That's right Earthlings, I'm a space adventurer, native to an Earth planet of one dimension or another. Telling you which Earth would take a degree in metaphysics and space navigation that I clearly do not have. What I do have are some helpful tips on getting started to some hopeful adventurers out there across the lands."

Nero: "Now, I'm still new at this whole adventuring gig, but I 'have' been preparing for it all my life. I've already picked up a few tips to share with you all, and that's what the Black Tower V-Log is all about. I'll share adventures, tips, and tricks to making your way in those dangerous lands. I'm going to try to keep the tips general enough for any adventurer wannabe, but being 'mostly' of the North American human persuasion myself, I'm going to lean heavily in that direction."

Nero: "Tip number one: survive. That's the real name of the adventurer's game. You'll get nowhere at all without having some ability to survive. For most people, that means armour and forcefields. That's right, weaponry comes second. How second? faaaaaaaaaaar second. in fact, I wouldn't even consider it a second. Weapons might be a third or fourth. Being a rookie adventurer isn't about what you can kill, it's about what you can live through. So if you're an S.D.C. being get yourself some major armour to compensate. If you're an M.D.C. being, get some anyway! Jeez guys, you could die out there!"

Nero: "There are several types of armour you can look into. Now, you could go power armour or robot, but if you got that kinda a cash in your back pocket there are more efficient ways to put it to use. More on that in a later blog. For now, let's get into the nitty gritty descriptions of the different armours available.

Nero: Topping the list is spell magic. If you don't have the money, then get the knowledge kids. At one time people said a gun was the great equalizer. Well, those people didn't know about magic. The 'Armour of Ithan' and 'Invincible Armour' spells will save your life. Best thing about them? Can you say cheap? There is no repair cost! As long as you got the magic left to power it up, you can keep renewing them one sticky situation after another. If you don't know magic or can't learn magic, then make a friend with someone who can. You'll probably owe them your life on more than one occasion.

Nero: "Your second choice is technological forcefields. These things are rare and expensive as all hell, but they are worth the price! They are self regenerating, so over time, they'll pay for themselves, you can also wear them over other forms of armour. If stacking armour is an option then your immediate answer should always be 'yes.'

Nero: "if you have the money or a way to get hands on, don't go rummaging through the wastelands with anything less than the Gladiator full enviro. You're talking about 38k for the purchase, but the difference will save your life. Some of the most common energy rifles in the world are the Wilks and Northern Gun, and on average it takes a Wilk's rifle 10 shots just to get through the chest plate. That means you're likely going to live through the first shot of whatever grenade or rail gun you come across."

Nero: "That also means you get to survive long enough to determine skill and equipment of your opponent. But if you wind up with a half broken bit of Gladiator Armour, your best idea is to run and hide like you've never run and hidden before. You're a promising adventurer, a possible hero, a potential inspiration to the next generation, or you're a corpse. I know which I'd choose.

Nero: "The Hunstman armour is a railgun's chew toy, the Plastic Man is a bubble boy in disguise, The Urban Warrior is a gas victim, and the bushman makes you the prey of bigger and badder than you. This is your life we're talking about. Now is not the time to be stingy

Nero: The very last choice of protection you should jump at are any of the conversion benefits. Juicers are a lot of bang for your buck, but never for very long. No matter how fast you go, there's only so much you can accomplish in 5 years. Real adventuring takes weeks, months, even years of just travel alone. It's a life on the road. If you're in it, you're in it for the long haul. Career options for juicers are pretty limited to shady business in large urban centers."

Nero: "A Borg conversion means you owe your life to your sponsors. No adventuring for you unless the organization is profiting from it. Sure you could run, but wherever you run, you better find another pool of wealth to dive into. That's a costly game you're playing, and heroic adventuring usually results in gratitude of small villages, not gigantic paychecks. Welcome to your very long life of never being your own boss due to expensive repair costs they're footing the bill for. Unless you're military, the borg conversion is a dead end career move. And if you're military, you're probably not an adventurer."

Nero: "Lastly the M.O.M. conversion. I've only got one thing to say to that. They call them crazy because you'd have to be nuts before you even get the conversion! Your first time plugging it into your skull could leave you with a phobia that turns you into a whimpering, cowering mass every time you see a computer, and even if you get a benign insanity, it's only down hill from there! Just don't do it people. An adventuring party would be too scared to even consider recruiting you. I'm not even sure who would."

Nero: "That's all for this episode you would-bes! If you got some pro-tips of your own, questions, quests, or requests, toss a reply to 'Black_Tower.com'. This is Nero Torre, signing off, and remember an adventure is a long road of hurdles and fist bumps. Save one for me. Until then, be careful out there, I'm rooting for you.

*Video goes to static and cuts out**


(Black_tower.com is not a real website by Nero)

[sawg138]

Very nice.

[Flip]

February 7th 119 PA,


**The static is interrupted by an annoying whine of high pitched tone being adjusted up and down. When it finally ends Nero's image pops up, with only an odd squick of static and image distortions kicking in every now and again.**


Nero: "Hey would-bes! It's that time again! You're tuned back into the Black Tower V-log. I'm Nero, your host and your guide to living an adventurer's life and surviving it to tell the stories afterwards! Last time I spoke about protecting yourself, and I got all of one response on the website. And it was a comment directed at correcting me. You know what? I’m fine. That’s alright. The internet's still a pretty new beast right now. I can put on a brave face for you guys. I wasn't hurt over it or anything like that."


**The video turns to a different scene of Nero wrapped in a blanket in a dark room in front of a computer, rocking back and forth. The video is being fast-forwarded with the time stamp suggesting days had gone by with Nero just sitting there rocking back in forth growing more and more depressed.**


Nero :"Okay! So it was kind of a buzzkill. But hey, we're just getting started, and there's still a long way to go. Besides, my lone commentator was not wrong. Her response was in concern with the forcefields stacking on armour bit. It can be done, but it's a custom job they have to do to the armour and then re-calibrate the forcefield. This makes it even more expensive than forcefields are normally. So fair warning, extra armour is still worth the price, but in that case you're going to pay through the nose!"


Nero: "Okay, that wraps up our last lesson. Today we move on to roles. Ladies and gentlemen of fortune's favour it takes talent and skill to make it out there. It's not enough to slip on your big metal pants and saunter out into the big, wide world. You're going to need to know two categories of things: How to handle yourself, and how to make yourself useful to others.”


Nero: “That’s right folks, priority one is choice of wardrobe, priority two is getting a band together. Keep the weapons on the shelf for a later topic. It’s really about politics. It’s all about who you know, what they can do, and what you can do for them. Like show biz! While it is possible to adventure alone, no one does it willingly for very long, and usually not until you’re already a highly accomplished adventurer. If you’re an amateur, you’re going to need a team you can trust to fulfil their roles.


Nero: “Roles? Like a play? Not far from it! Like a play everyone’s got their part. And you need to find out which part you’re going to play. You need to find it long before you get out on that road. It takes years of study to even be an amateur at any one of them. So ask yourself, what are you bringing to the stage? There are many schools of thoughts on how adventuring can be handled, so let's go over some of those choices. The most common roles are a combination of one of the following: The Basher, The Blaster, The Scout, the Tactical Support, and The Strategist."


Nero: "But Nero, my one commentator will say, aren't the main categories of adventuring the techno savvy, the magic wielder, and the psionic master?' No! No they're not. Those are just your tools; your means of making it work for you. It doesn't make a spit's difference which tool you use, it's all in what you use them for. Some tools work better at certain roles than others, but when it all comes down to it, each of them are trying to perform the same job out there.”


Nero: “So let’s get into the nitties and the gritties about each role and what they represent. First up to bat is the Basher. This is the role most idealized by the all the good, little would-bes out there. It also has the least chance of success on its own. The Basher is an up close and personal ‘beat em up’ brute. Their finesse revolves around getting up in someone’s face and breaking bones. They’re the heroic figure depicted in most novellas and graphic novels, shown towering over their opponents in triumph on the cover. The reality is the basher is playing the distraction game. The more attention from the bad guys the basher draws the better chance of success the other roles will have at putting the opponents to rest. The basher’s whole motif can be summed up in a two short sentences. ‘It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’


Nero: “A good basher can destroy their opponent as soon as they’re in swinging distance. A great basher doesn’t need to destroy their opponent at all. They need to look big. They need to look bad. They need to be the defensive wall between their team and the baddies. The best bashers know the moment enemies have lined up in their sights on the big brute out front, the victor has been decided.”
Nero: “The blaster is the real damage on the team. They’re the opposite of a Basher in that they focus on brutal offensive capabilities. For a Blaster, It’s all about the best bang for their buck. Armour comes second, contrary to my first V-log. I still advise nothing less than a gladiator, but in every other role, I highly advise much more. A good Blaster ‘can’ get by on Gladiator alone, even if they shouldn’t. Unfortunately it’s really expensive to be a proficient blaster, and the money’s not there for magical forcefields over armour. Their cred chips are being saved for a singular, high-powered, heavy, energy weapon, a variety of mini-missiles, grenades of every type from magic, to gas, to smoke, and an even larger variety of ammunition with a focus on having the vulnerability of whatever their facing in easy reach. With all their armour money spent on an arsenal of epic proportions, their best tactic is to remain at range, behind whatever cover is available, while sending high-powered blasts that instantly incapacitate in some manner. They’re the artillery fire, the reaper, the one that casts the spells or shoots the guns that makes the people fall down. To sum up a blaster’s school of thought, it’s really just about how hard you hit. Also hit first, hit second, hit third, then keep on hitting as much as they can, as fast as they can.


Nero: “The scout is anyone that can get information out of enemy territory. For a scout it’s about the terrain, the forces, their equipment, tactics, and vulnerabilities, then putting that info in the hands of their team. They’re the information gatherers that make survival rates go up. They can play as a secondary blaster in combat scenarios, but adventuring isn’t always about combat. The truth is things are rarely as they seem on the surface. It’s always a better idea to get the low down on any situation you’re about to walk into, and that’s where the scout excels. For the scout it isn’t about who you know, it’s about what you know about who you know.”


Nero: “The tactical support’s surroundings are their best weapons. They are most adept at bending the terrain to their will and keeping their team in the fight. While it’s the bashers and blasters that keep the enemy busy, it’s the tactical support’s job to make it easy for them. They change the terrain to provide the blaster’s needed cover, and to take away cover from the enemy. They replenish forcefields, blind the baddies, basically support their own troops while making it difficult for their opponents. This is way, way easier done with an arsenal of magic toys, spells, or psionics in your tool set. Frankly, support wise technology just isn’t up to snuff in providing mid-combat aid when compared. Lay down cover fire, smoke enemies out of cover, blow cover up, that’s the majority of your options. The military has focused on building bigger and better to destroy the enemy, not to hinder them. It has put some severe limitations on tech-based support roles. If you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve then by all means, send them in! I’ll relay the good news to the new up and comers.”


Nero: “Hey, you operators and inventors out there! Give us some more tech options for hindering the fully armoured personnel and the supernatural already! It doesn't all have to be about death and destruction! All sentient life will thank you for it.”


Nero: “The last on our list is the strategist. This is the level headed, goal orientated push the team needs to be successful. By necessity bashers and blasters tend to center their education on combat. After all, the better they are at it, the longer they survive. And the longer bashers survive the longer everyone else survives too. That does, however, tend to limit their knowledge base. And since the goal of most missions isn’t ‘kill a guy who did a thing’, someone’s gotta be the brains of the outfit. A good strategist knows combat needs to be avoided whenever the option is there, and kept as short and efficient as possible whenever there’s no other way. Frankly, in spite of everything we get taught, combat is almost never what you’re going in for. Usually it’s the obstacle in the way of the goal. The strategist always keeps this in mind. The best ones let the others handle the combat while they go off to complete the task that everyone is putting their lives on the line to complete. Often times, the strategist has almost no combat potential of their own. Instead they’re best treated as a non-combatant that is essential to the mission objective. Everyone else’s job is to keep them alive long enough for the strategist to do what they came there to do.”


Nero: “Now, kiddies, keep in mind that adventures and combat is never so straight forward that you can just stick to being one of these roles. You’ll need bits and pieces of all of them! Adventures are by nature a sticky mess of disorganized chaos, and you’re going to need to step outside your comfort zone to get by. Because of that, many heroes specialize in more than one of these roles at time, but it does help to understand what your comfort zone is, and when and where you need to step back and let a team mate tag in.”


Nero: “That’s about all I got time for this time, would-bes! Pro-tips, questions, quests, or requests are welcome at ‘Black_Tower.com’. This is Nero Torre, reminding you that adventure is a long road of hurdles and fist bumps. Save one for me. Until next time, be careful out there, I’m rooting for you!”


**Video goes to static and cuts out**