- 15,532
- 11,833
Nothin' too big, just a lot of minor additions to John Cruelty. Profile's not bad, I just have a few nitpicks.
I don't think this actually reflects on Joe Squad's own stats since the Trauma Loop ending is perfectly fine in my eyes, and it should scale to his physicals given it's done by "picking up" the universe and "peeling" it. In fact, I think this would be an Infinite/Immeasurable LS feat. But given Trauma Loop is framed as an ascension of sort I don't think it'd scale to the game's bosses. They don't have profiles yet, so this is academic, really.
I'm open to debate on all of this though.
PROFILE NAME
Now in some other game forgotten by god and man alike Cruelty Joe appears under the name of MT Foxtrot. This is a reference to the common fan nickname "Empty ****". This leaves us three viable options:- The Safe Option: We keep the name "The Protagonist" as "MT Foxtrot" is a code-name assigned to him by an association that doesn't exist in CS itself.
- The Technical Option: We go with MT Foxtrot as it is the closest thing we have to a canonical name.
- The Based Option: empty ****
POWERS & ABILITIES
Just some minor stuff : )By himself=
- Damage Reduction: As implied by the fact that the weakest purchasable armor type is the CSIJ Level II Body Armor and that equipping the Extravagant Suit ("Only for special occasions. Offers zero protection.") causes you to get one-shot, the protagonist is seemingly by default wearing body armor. Given BA shaves off a percentage of damage in CS, pretty straightforward DR. DN.
- Stealth Mastery: Game's got pretty prominent stealth elements, 'nuff said.
- Acrobatics: Wall jumps lol
- Fragrance Manipulation and Poison Manipulation: The toilet in the protagonist's home, just like any other, releases a lethal gas cloud when destroyed. (Only scan I could find was from a mod showcase unfortunately but I don't think this specific clip is actually affected by that. Also yes I'm giving him P&A via pooping)
- Self-Destruction: Upon dying, the protagonist explodes and emits a cloud of the same gas. So yeah I guess it wasn't just pooping P&A I lied.
- Self-Sustenance (Type 1): Can swim underwater indefinitely.
- Immortality (Type 2) and Regeneration (Low-Mid): Skull Gun: "A little bit of stuff is scooped out of the skull to make a better fit." The Skull Gun also inflicts damage while firing which implies it's either draining brain juice or damaging the brain with its recoil. This is quickly undone when the item is unequipped which would give the protag combat applicable regen.
- That said I'd like the over-time stuff to be removed because of the reasons I gave in this thread which kinda died out so um um ummm : )
- Resistance to Poison Manipulation: NPCs in Alpine Hospitality have a chance of saying "Thank god the fleshrats haven't reached here yet. I was in the hospital for a week after getting bit by one. Nasty." In comparison, getting bitten by one only makes you lose some health, then you're fine. The Flushing Biological Systems text that comes up implies this works by purging their body of the poison so this would also be Body Control
- Resistance to Biological Manipulation: The boss in Cruelty Squad Headquarters wields a Parasonic C3 DNA Scrambler, which normally instantly transforms those it hits into globs of flesh. Meanwhile, it takes them about ten shots to transform you, and even then you're still capable of moving around a bit.
- Resistance to Sleep Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation: ZZzzz Special Sedative Grenade: "Not in production anymore after most of the first batch ended up on the illegal drug market. Highly sought after for its capacity to induce euphoria that is said to be unlike anything else." Has no effect on the player.
- Minor Resistance to Acid Manipulation: Can withstand exposure to the Riot Pacifier's gas for longer than civilians. Mostly reliant on the player having more HP, you're in no way immune to it, but it is still a bit of a resist.
With weapons=
- Acid Manipulation: Riot Pacifier "Fires a grenade filled with corrosive gas. Eats through almost everything."
- Radiation Manipulation addition: Stern AWS 3000 "The AWS 3000 uses a special sabot round with a 30 cm long depleted uranium penetrator.". Parasonic MP-1 Nailer "Fires ultra high velocity deplete uranium nails from a high-capacity helical magazine." The AMG4 also seemingly uses depleted uranium bullets given the radiation symbol on its side and that its ammo is called "7.6251 DU"
- Smoke Manipulation: Can release clouds of corrosive/radioactive gas with the Riot Pacifier and Bolt ACR.
- Explosion Manipulation: With Security Systems Anti-Armor Device.
- Life Manipulation and Absorption: Security Systems Cerebral Bore: "For energy it sucks some life force out of the user. Neat huh?"
- Corruption: Parasonic C3 DNA Scrambler; "High value targets often have immediate access to body reconstruction services and as such it has become a popular choice to mangle their genetic makeup beyond all repair with a hi-tech weapon like the Parasonic C3."
- Fire Manipulation: With the RPO-80 Sanitization System
- Empowerment: The ZKZ Transactional Rifle gains power the higher the user's stock holdings are.
With implants/equipment=
- Enhanced Damage Reduction: See same ability in "By himself". Bouncy Suit also qualifies
- Enhanced Senses: Zoom n Go Bionic Eyes improve aim and allow to see further when aiming.
- Cyborgization and Bodily Weaponry: With Skull Gun.
- Reality Warping: With the Eyes of Corporate Hindsight honestly I have no idea what you'd rate them as, some have suggested Law Manip? Maybe Time Manip? Open to suggestion lol. I think Abominator also qualifies: "Creates a reality bubble where the unbearable weight of Life is reversed."
- Minor Illusion Negation: The Holy Scope allows one to see and pass through a normally impassable fake wall
literally everyone does it by changing their resolution instead I couldn't find anyone doing it with the HS. - Statistics Amplification addition: Flowerchute increases intelligence: "Works as a parachute and augments cognitive skills.". Also various things increase speed or jumping height.
- Healing Addition: First Aid Kit.
- Camouflage: With Military Camouflage, as well as Stealth Suit.
- Elasticity: With Bouncy Suit and Grappendix.
- Addition to Adhesive Manipulation: Goo Overdrive is a more notable example I think.
- Organic Manipulation: Various Implants see the protagonist squirting around all manners of bodily fluids.
- Fragrance Manipulation: Similarly various Implants see the protagonist carrying a very unpleasant odor.
- Body Control: Various Implants install new functions in the recipient's body, allowing them to perform previously impossible actions.
- Curse Manipulation: Cursed Torch, lol
Second key P&A
The Protagonist's end-game key doesn't have any P&A associated with it. I'm not fully sure what he'd get since it's so abstract but Spatial Manipulation for unmaking the universe, obviously. Slap Reality Warping in there too, I guess.STATS
- Attack speed should become Subsonic to Supersonic. For the lower end, "Uses special 10mm subsonic ammunition for extremely silent operation. Popular among high-end private security and wetworks services, as well as tactical wannabes." (Parasonic D2 Silenced Pistol, rocket launchers are also Subsonic). For the higher end the gun that inspired the Stern AWS 3000 would have a muzzle speed of 1450 m/s which is Supersonic+.
- Higher LS with Augmented Arms
- Higher Speed with a bunch of stuff
- Higher SS with Alien Leg Wetware
- Higher Durability in Power In Misery and with armor.
Second Key Stats.
Again minor, I don't disagree with High 3-A/Low 2-C but the key is lacking a speed and LS section. I'm also not fully sure if Abraxas and the HQ Target would scale to this, while it's true Abraxas' ending might be interpreted as a universal feat of its own I think that's too vague to judge even by CS standards, the way I originally interpreted it was the protagonist entering a sort of anti-enlightenment state, and the world "appearing" different may just be the reflection of their different view of the world. Given the lines "BUT YOU LACK KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. YOU WILL BE TRAPPED FOREVER. THE PAST IS EVER-PRESENT. THE SUN SMILES AT YOU WITH ETERNAL MALICE." I'm not sure anything changed at all in the world around him (The Sun may represent Abraxas, given that it turns into his face on Hope Eradicated. The Cursed Torch's description also may hint at that). There's also the fact that this ending may not scale to their stats and just be ED in the first place even if legitimateI don't think this actually reflects on Joe Squad's own stats since the Trauma Loop ending is perfectly fine in my eyes, and it should scale to his physicals given it's done by "picking up" the universe and "peeling" it. In fact, I think this would be an Infinite/Immeasurable LS feat. But given Trauma Loop is framed as an ascension of sort I don't think it'd scale to the game's bosses. They don't have profiles yet, so this is academic, really.
I'm open to debate on all of this though.
OTHER
Big boy tabber for equipment section : )
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