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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 12:50:06 PM
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Voting closed
For previous eliminations, see this thread
To see the backstory for this battle, the concept art for each contestant's time period, and an example battle entry (for the time period of the Roman Empire) see this thread
Guidelines
1. Battle
1. You will select three famous people/historical figures from your particular time period. These are your "angels." It can be anyone relatively significant to that era. You may not use anyone who is primarily a military or religious figure, you may not choose fictional characters, you may not use any cast of any version of Charlie's Angels (e.g. Kate Jackson, Drew Barrymore, etc.), and you may not choose several people who are all related (e.g. the whole Partridge Family...you may select only one of them. There should be some variety in your choices.) Permissible choices might be to pick an activist, a politician, a celebrity, an artist, a criminal, etc.
2. You will "repurpose" each of them and assign them to one of the following roles -
Your point-man, someone who accompanies you and can get their hands dirty, e.g. breaking and entering, physical fights, disposing of evidence, etc.;
Your utility/special-ops person - this person is a support role which provides monitoring and surveillance, lab analysis, and such;
Your "face" - this person is a double-agent who infiltrates the kingpin's (see backstory) organization using deception. This person may use seduction and feminine wiles, or be a gambling "pal", or a pseudo-corrupt politician, etc. Whatever archetype or role works for you.
You will assign one of your three spy kit items for each of your angels to use.
3. Each contestant will post the following -
a) The location of your secret headquarters.
b) The name and photo (if possible) of your three angels. You will also post which role you assigned them, and which spy kit tool they will use.
c) Persuade us why your team is the best - this can include any strengths they have, and how they work well together as a team. Paint for us a brief "picture" of your team. The context for their strategy is the following...
d) After you provide a brief description of your set up at the kingpin's gala, your angels will be captured and dropped into a Gong-Show. Your three angels will have to survive using wits and comedy. If they can make the kingpin laugh, he will laugh uncontrollably and you can tie him up (or at least make your getaway.) If he is unimpressed, he'll open a trap-door and drop you into a pit filled with delicious sugary desserts and those horrible people from that enneagram board! Avoid that at all costs!
Your team of angels should be, above all...entertaining! Which way will you take this? Will you use the daring exploits of Al Capone? The jiggly boopsiness of Pamela Anderson? The feminist stand-up of Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Or the nostalgic storytelling of J.D. Rockefeller?
The choice is up to you! But the point is - you have to account for how your team not only infiltrates the gala, but how they survive the Gong-Show of silliness I mean doom!
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2. Voting
1. Boardies (including denizens of the jello pit) will cast a vote for two of the five competitors in this round (there are no one-on-one battles this round...each of the 5 players is competing against all the others.) It would be good if voters include a brief reason for their decision.
Entries will be judged on the following -
a) Interesting choice of historical figures;
b) Fun and creative use of angels in their roles (e.g. Is the "face" vampy? Is the point-man intimidating?...or however else such roles might be interpreted and used in a fun way);
c) Use of spykit items;
d) How the angels infiltrate the gala;
e) How the angels survive the kingpin's Gong Show.
Additionally, factors to consider could include e.g. creativity, effectiveness, style, use of theme, use of enneagram or personality-related concepts (if any), or whatever other criteria you decide...in the end, it is personal taste, take in each entry as a whole and decide which one you think wins the battle round. No one thing should be decisive (except perhaps a stroke of utter brilliance, lol), but this is where judging based on creativity and the concept as a whole might come into play.
If something is really confusing, there can be Q&A with the competitor who posted it for clarification.
2. Battles close (Friday, April 6, at 11:59 p.m. EST). Please vote only after all five competitors have posted their strategies, or after the deadline on Friday, April 6, at 11:59 p.m. EST, whichever occurs first. We will determine the window for voting when the battles close.
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3. Winning
1. The entries that receive the top two highest amount of votes are survivors and will go on to the next round of competition, which is the Final Round.
2. If someone forfeits at any time in the competition, they will automatically go to the jello wrestling pit of hilarity. If someone does not post their angels during round 4, they forfeit.
The eliminations will cut deep. We will resolve ties, and there will be no more do-overs.
Fyi, all of the concepts from previous rounds will not carry over into Round 5.
Errata from previous battle threads -
* Ultimately, as long as this thing doesn't become a dogpile or anything like that, whatever happens is cool. Voting can be impressionistic, just which one ultimately you liked better overall - whether as a voter you want to be more analytical or more off-the-cuff about it is fine. The accompanying reasoning is just so people can see a general idea of why you voted the way you did. In that way, two voters might theoretically approach judging entries rather differently.
Therefore, when crafting battle strategies, one can do it with votes in mind, but it is hard to secure votes for sure sure. Just have fun, work with the concept art that you selected (or for you free-thinkers out there, explain sensibly how you got from point A to point B), and let the chips fall where they may.
Now we are down to our
Scheduled competitors
Player: Kate
Time period - The first third of the 20th century (1900-1929)
Spykit items - Grappling hook, Motion sensor, Robot body-double
*See my post in this thread for full description of these items
: Winner
Player: Roshan
Time period - The Renaissance
Spykit items - Infrared/night-vision goggles, Quick-change disguise, Wall-walkers
*See my post in this thread for full description of these items
: Eliminated
Player: Chemical_art
Time period - The second third of the 20th century (1930-1959)
Spykit items - 2-in-1 set of binoculars and telescope, Lockpicking tools, Sleep capsules
*See my post in this thread for full description of these items
: Winner
Player: Invicta
Time period - The "final" third of the 20th century (1960-1989)
Spykit items - Encryption breaker, "Fog spray" rose, Remote surveillance bug
*See my post in this thread for full description of these items
: Winner
Player: Relicquery
Time period - The Victorian Era
Spykit items - Hypnotic pocketwatch, Plastique explosives, UV pen light with microscope/traveling lab
*See my post in this thread for full description of these items
: Winner
Note - I know, I ignored the 90s.
The Jello Wrestling Pit of Hilarity
Roshan, Lee, Abi, Jevoudrais, Robinfalsehood, Riley, Rockthrower, Whitelila, Desdemona, Enforest, Dnimon, Orpheus, Thomg, Thesingularsensation, Fleets, Dusty, Lake, Dfgray, Shakti, Glasgow, 4wants8, May Hem, Cytokine, Crooner, Metimes10, JoL, Eidbuser, Lovemyth, Diamondseeker, Rich, Galen, Radicaled, Enneathing, Vagabond, .ron, Silver, Transformer, Dboon, Delphyne, Ganglion, Artskidmore, Badman, Sappy, Montag, Bear, Astralscream, Manda7panda, Stormy, Savory, Baba, Svenschoene, Veiled One, Ptypes |
Edited by - jevoudrais on 12 Apr 2012 12:20:19 AM |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
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whitelila
Member
5130 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 2:44:58 PM
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Edited by - whitelila on 29 Mar 2012 3:00:23 PM |
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Kate
Member
5931 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 3:27:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jevoudrais
PS. "God moding" is not encouraged. Do it at your own risk. You do not want to end up like these two troublemakers.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12788148@N03/6881266192/
lol
I can so see you in that costume, Lila (with a garter belt underneath)
Ohp  was that God-moding?
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Abi
Member
USA
5911 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 7:15:24 PM
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Trying to drive us over the edge, hmmmmm?
At least I'm the one with the gun.
Hey, wait! How did Lee get my gun???
It's always the quiet ones.
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Edited by - Abi on 29 Mar 2012 7:17:09 PM |
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~lee~
Member
USA
8178 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2012 : 7:42:47 PM
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| lol! |
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Roshan
Member
USA
4788 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2012 : 01:52:49 AM
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I just wrote a post for this thread which began like this: Well, I've decided to jello pit myself now after all.
But it got too long and serious and I felt it's better on the blog I postd so I'm moving it there. But read it please. |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2012 : 09:46:37 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Roshan
I just wrote a post for this thread which began like this: Well, I've decided to jello pit myself now after all.
But it got too long and serious and I felt it's better on the blog I postd so I'm moving it there. But read it please.
Oh! When I woke up, this was the first thing I saw.  |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2012 : 09:49:33 AM
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Dear Contestant Roshan-
Thank you for playing. Here is my lovely assistant to escort you to the jello pit.
Runner down, folks!
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Edited by - jevoudrais on 30 Mar 2012 10:07:53 AM |
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Kate
Member
5931 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2012 : 7:17:56 PM
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Battle Royale Pony shakes hooves with her esteemed competitors.
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2012 : 01:39:31 AM
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Battle Royale Pony is best pony.
(This looks complicated. I'll try to have something ready in time but probably won't be able to work on it till near the deadline.) |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2012 : 11:45:39 AM
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Since that is the case, and I know some other players have stuff on their plates, etc., I pushed the deadline from Thursday to Friday to give everyone an extra day.
Cheers! |
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2012 : 1:50:29 PM
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| Cool, thanks. |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 12:19:03 AM
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Kate
Member
5931 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 09:50:42 AM
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I'm ready for Friday! Are you???
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 10:50:32 PM
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This is the most difficult round for me so far. How is everyone else doing?
_____________
Who is the betrayer, who's the killer in the crowd
The one who creeps in corridors and never makes a sound
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Kate
Member
5931 Posts |
Posted - 05 Apr 2012 : 11:22:33 PM
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It's the easiest for me so far, taking away other factors like time constraints, schedule and what's going on in my life and just considering the challenge of the creativity.
The first battle was getting my feet wet. I've never done this before and I'm not an online gamer. The second battle (Grimoires), I won by default and that was disappointing. I really liked that one as well and I was all set to go really creative with it, when my opponent backed out. So that was a let-down.
The third battle battle was difficult for me because I didn't jive with my photo at all. For that matter, I wouldn't have gotten much inspiration out of any of the city-states. They were all a bit too morose and fantastical for me, so that was a hurdle and a weakness/difficulty for me in the City-State Battle.
This one is up my alley. I've been really busy this week, but have set aside time most nights to compile my battle. It doesn't feel like a battle. It feels fun and that's what I like about it. I'm not done yet. I have been picking up inspiration here and there and have probably about 80% done. I have tomorrow off. So, at this point I will either stay up late and finish it or finish it tomorrow.
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Edited by - Kate on 05 Apr 2012 11:24:30 PM |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 12:33:30 AM
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The strum und drang of the competition. C'mon, final four!
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~lee~
Member
USA
8178 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 12:49:52 AM
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| Y'all have great imaginations--looking forward to the results. |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 3:53:51 PM
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Eight hours left! Here are your super spy countdown watches, issued by HQ.
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Kate
Member
5931 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 5:32:05 PM
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I don't need an HQ watch, thanksallthesame.  Are you trying to put deadline pressure on us? *boo hiss*
This is a lot of work you know! Your constant updates are distracting. 
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 5:47:44 PM
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I'm operating on one and a half hours of sleep.
All for you, jevoudrais. All for you. |
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jevoudrais
Member
1698 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 6:49:45 PM
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| Stakes are high now! |
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~lee~
Member
USA
8178 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 7:04:54 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by relicquery
I'm operating on one and a half hours of sleep.
All for you, jevoudrais. All for you.
Hey Noble Opponent!
I wish great success for you :) |
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 7:32:54 PM
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Player: relicquery
Time Period: The Victorian Era (end of the 19th century)
Secret Headquarters: The Phantom Dirigible
The Phantom Dirigible is one of the legendary mystery airships sighted during the 1880s and 1890s. Sightings of these elusive precusors to UFOs have begun to crop up again in the days leading up to the gala, to the delight of history buffs and modern steampunk enthusiasts. Most people who believe the reports of this new wave of mystery airship sightings agree that it must be a publicity stunt or viral marketing of some kind. The truth is that the sightings are caused by fluctuations in the phlebotinum-powered engines that keep the Phantom in its own encapsulated space-time pocket. My special ops man knows the details of its functionality. Most of the time the ship is invisible and immaterial, as far as the reality Manhattanites dwell in is concerned. It hovers near the gala now, but not too close, phasing in and out of existence, invisible to the naked eye. Some lucky photographers may accidentally catch a glimpse when they develop their photos (or view them in the screen of the digital photo-taking device).
We blew our whole budget on our headquarters. From here on out, we have to make do with a handful of low-tech tools already provided for us by Q.
Before the gala begins, I meet with my angels in the Phantom to review strategy. My angels are all taken from the late Victorian period, near the end of the Queen's long reign, during the 1880s and 1890s when these angels were doing some of their finest work.
Face: Oscar Wilde
Spy Kit Tool: UV pen light with microscope/traveling lab
Oscar Wilde's wit and charisma are legendary. His ability to reveal truths with a stroke of a pen is nothing short of masterful. He infiltrates the organization smoothly, with the help of his "invention," a prototype UV pen light with microscope, or traveling lab. Billing himself as a purveyor of such unique and useful tools, he's managed to rub shoulders with several influential members of the organization. During subsequent appointments promoting and explaining the wonders of this travelling lab, seemingly to secure (or to stall) kickstart funding to mass-produce them for this nefarious organization, he has obtained information about the mechanics of the upcoming gala (location, seating arrangements, et cetera), and he has reported back to us all the information he gleans. Even on days he learned little or nothing, his reports have been a treat to read. Whether or not the organization intends to buy Wilde's "prototype," they keep Wilde around--the boss likes to be amused, and Wilde plays to that.
The kingpin comes to enjoy Wilde's wry commentary more than his "inventions", and gives him a special set with a clear view of the entire room at the gala, so that Wilde can write an uncompromising account of the guests in attendance to read aloud in a private audience with Mr. Kingpin later. Should the rest of us fail, we hope Wilde will take care of the kingpin during this private audience. For now, keeps up his assigned role, demonstrating the wonders of his travelling lab to his table-mates... some of whom are not amused by the stains the ultra-violet light of the pen reveals.
Before the gala, Wilde poses a series of questions that seem to stem from idle curiosity about the building's structure and its electrical and wireless systems. He even charms his way to a copy of the blueprints of the building and gives all of this information to our special ops person.
Special Ops: Nikola Tesla
Spy Kit Tool: Hypnotic Pocketwatch
Nikola Tesla, engineering demigod, is our special ops man. Using the information Wilde obtained, and an army of hypnotized electricians and engineers, Tesla's master plan is to shut down all power in Manhattan at a key point in the gala, during which myself and my point person will make our grand entrance. Tesla gives orders to his hypnotized minions from the deck of the Phantom, which he has renamed Tesla's Flying Machine. The Phantom is powered by phlebotinum, not ionic propulsion, but it makes him happy to use that name so we don't correct him. He's a gorram wizard and we need him.
Through the minions he's hypnotized, Tesla is wired into Manhattan's electric and wireless network. Crews of power company employees await his command to kill the lights... all the lights. Before the gala even begins, Tesla uses his dapper hypnotic pocketwatch and the blueprints Wilde turned over to him to gain access to the mechanical rooms of the building to sabotage any backup generators that exist there. Then, as the Phantom hovers nearby, unaffected by the blackout, Tesla will monitor our progress from its deck, waiting to give the command to restore power at the moment we'll need it.
He wants to do more than this, but the more he talks the less plausible his ideas seem. I tell him we don't have the budget or the tools to accommodate his brilliant ideas, and that he should be happy with his army of highly-suggestible minions, who will, if Tesla's implanted hypnotic suggestions last, keep Manhattan without power for the time it will take for us to set up our diversion.
The blackout will set the stage for myself and my point woman.
Point Woman: Annie Oakley
Spy Kit Tool: Plastique explosives
Annie Oakley, that firecracker superstar of the late 19th century, is my point person. She's shown her sharpshooting skills to Queen Victoria herself but is far from the ideal angelic and demure Victorian lady. She claims to battle-ready, having once offered the services of herself and fifty other women sharpshooters to assist in the Spanish-American war. And I know that after the Victorian period has ended, she will she famously shoot the ashes off of Kaiser Wilhelm II's cigarette, and then request a chance at a second shot after the Great War begins--this time not to show off, but to end the war. When the lights go out, Oakley will bring out the big guns. Or at least, she'll bring out her trusted rifle (which never leaves her side) and her plastique explosives.
(Interesting Victorian fact: gelignite, the first plastic explosive, was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1875. Perhaps that explains Oakley's ease with the substance.)
The plastique explosives won't explode until they are detonated. It's Oakley's job to detonate them. When we burst in, she tosses the plastique into the air and fires at each spinning, scattering piece, setting off blinding bursts of light in the dark. The explosions will go off throughout the gala, causing minor injuries, property damage, and general mayhem. While she provides cover in this way, we will approach the kingpin and his top henchmen. When Tesla turns the lights back on she will then turn her legendary sharp-shooting on to (non-lethally) subdue the criminals. Yippee ki yi yay, Manhattan.
As a team: The Eminent Victorians
(Theme Song)
If the League of Extraordinary Gentleman was about real people instead of fictional ones, it would have these three as core members. These angels are prominent persons of the late Victorian era (1880s, 1890s in particular, which is also the time period the original version of our theme song had its big debut). They are each progressive and forward-thinking in their own ways, ahead of their time: The brilliant writer, artist, and aesthete who will go to prison for a forbidden, taboo love affair; the inventor of the gorram AC current and wireless radio/wireless electricity and tesla coils (which look like science-fiction even today, see Theme Song above); the sharpshooter unrestrained by the expectations of her gender, out to prove that a petite woman with a good eye can outshoot a man any day. Literal or figural pioneers, they are also all natural performers--even Tesla, despite his reputed reclusiveness, loves to put on a show. They are generally respected in the annals of history but not likely to be recognized as themselves by the kingpin, unless the kingpin happens to have a portrait of Oscar Wilde hung in his attic or something. This group of individuals is determined, perfectionistic, hardworking: Wilde is known to labor for hours over the right punctuation to use, Tesla can spend up to 84 hours in his lab without sleep, Oakley follows the harsh demands of touring the world and never loses her spirit. They will give the endeavor their all. And when they fail...
The Gong Show
Of course it all goes to hell. Maybe Tesla's hypnotic suggestions fail to fully control his minions and he must leave the Phantom to shut down the power to the building--not even all of Manhattan as planned--by himself, leaving us without his watchful eyes and wireless directions. (I knew his part of the plan seemed a little too grandiose and complicated to actually work. Shouldn't have listened to him. Cheeky mustachioed son of a Serbian...) Maybe no one believed Wilde as a spy tool purveyor. Maybe Oakley and I couldn't locate the kingpin in time after the lights came back, and they got the jump on us instead. Or maybe I'm not suited for espionage or aggressive attacks and it's my own poor management to blame--trying to stage this assault while working and going to school full-time was foolish. Trying to execute the plan on one and a half hours of sleep was doubly foolish. (Just trying to keep up with Tesla, who claims to need no more than two hours of sleep a night, if that. Gorram wizard.)
Whoever the blame falls on, we're captured.
When we're dropped into the Gong-Show, I rely on my Angels to get us through. They are all performers at heart.
Annie Oakley has her gun. She's a superstar of her time, having top billing in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Tesla's bitter rival Thomas Edison filmed a sample of her skill. Oakley still has some plastique to throw in the air and fire at in entertaining and creative ways. It will be something like this (1:15 onward, but with small explosions rather than glass and feathers). Oakley is our top performer; consider her the opening act.
As for Nikola Tesla, he uses his hypnotic pocketwatch to persuade someone to bring him some small, harmless electronic device--perhaps he borrows Wilde's traveling lab--to give a demonstration. I have nothing better to do and he has a very persuasive pocketwatch, so I might assist during this presentation. Nothing as fancy as the first half of this clip, but perhaps Tesla can rig something similar to the simple light bulb trick at the end of the clip (which is based on demonstrations Tesla actually made, including the "walking through lightning" bit--cf. wizard). It would be nice to get some Tesla Coil demonstrations, but what are the chances of having enough time to construct one while on stage? This is the awkward science part of the show; if we go one after another, it helps wind down from Oakley's explosive performance to transition into Wilde's comparatively subdued monologue.
Oscar Wilde reads his collected observations, sharp witticisms and endearing criticisms of the guests of the gala. He includes his fellow Angels in this commentary. He includes the other Angel teams. His aristocratic eloquence and delightful turns of phrase soothe whatever cuts he might inflict. He will soldier on even if some of his hastily-scrawled work falls flat. This is a man who can stand up for himself under great pressure and do so with eloquence, so I don't think he'll find the Gong Show particularly daunting, and I don't imagine any rational person will be able to resist a live reading from one of the English language's greatest writers. Who knows? Maybe the real reason the kingpin is celebrating reduced Spider Man: The Musical ticket sales is because he longs for some good old fashioned Victorian theatre.
That's it, that's all I've got.
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Who is the betrayer, who's the killer in the crowd
The one who creeps in corridors and never makes a sound
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relicquery
Member
1499 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2012 : 7:43:42 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by ~lee~
Hey Noble Opponent!
I wish great success for you :)
Thank you. :) I'm glad it was my 1100th post. I'll try to rest now, looking forward to everyone else's entries. |
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eidb battle royale - round 4 battle thread
