Jumpchain CYOA Thread #2050: Railguns Are Forever Edition

Can you blame me for expecting something more than railguns after 70k years? Like maybe firing fragments of a Neutron star instead of bits of metal as ammunition of the railgun? Like I was genuinely asking about the technology because railguns are kinda low tech in a setting which mentions 70k years all things considered.

Still looking for feedback/criticism, even if you aren't familiar with the game the jump's based off of.

If no one has any problems, I'll upload it to the drive in a little bit.

How is that different from giving them an appropriate origin?

A little bit, yes.
What kind of import is this.

I turned my head to see A FUCKING TALKING SKULL FLOATING UP IN THE AIR WHAT THE FUCK.

“...what're you screaming about, man?” The skull asked in Al's voice. I just stared in wonderment for a bit before I let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, haha. Very funny. Showing off some new skull puppet you've got to freak me out.”

“Skull? What're you on about?” The ‘skull’ asked.

“You've got this floating skull right in front of me while throwing your voice from somewhere. Don't play dumb.”

“...oh. Huh. Guess I really did die, then.” Al mused. “...do I at least look like a cool skull?”

“I said stop fucking around, dude. Where are you hiding?” I reached around the skull to try and feel for a wire or something, before grabbing it and trying to find electronics. It flailed about in my grasp before biting me. “Ow!”

“I ain't fucking around, man! I died!” Al would proclaim. I took a second to let that sink in, my eyes bugging out. “What, you think I'd lie about something like this?!”

“I, uh...well, not -lie- exactly...”

“I finally did it, man! I found out there's other worlds and shit beyond this one! The kind of shit the Illuminati have been trying to hide for centuries! But, uh...I kinda...screwed up while I was reading from the book...”

“Slow down. How did this happen?” I swear, this was just some weird fever dream and I'd wake up any second now.

“Okay. So, see, I was down at the bookstore on this corner...”

“We still -have- bookstores?”

“I know, scared the shit outta me, too! But hey, bookstores is where you find all the hidden knowledge these days. Can't trust those crazies on the internet.” I bite my tongue and let him keep explaining. “Anyways, the store was being run by this blonde lady in a witch hat. Had eyes that looked like they had little cold fires in them. My first thought was ‘oh hey 8/10 cutie right here’ and my second thought was ‘holy shit this girl is weird’. So I asked her if she's got any weird books. Occult shit.

>Man, fuck the moon.
Geez Heavens, getting started a little early there, aren't you?

“I'm gonna guess that journal said they were r-”

“REAL, MAN! Real shit. And it had this detailed ritual on how to tap into a mechanism that lets you travel between them. All you had to do was chant something a few times. But, uh...I sneezed near the end of my practice run and then this wormhole ate my entire room. And my flesh. And organs. So yeah I'm a skull now.”

“...that is somehow even stupider than what I was expecting.”

“But hey, that means if it can fail, it can WORK! And if it does work, then there's gotta be something in other worlds that can change me back to normal!”

“This is some kind of ploy to get me to do it for you, isn't it?”

Al looked a bit downcast, which was amazing since he no longer had eyebrows or facial muscles. “Come on, man! Whole reason I called you over was so we could both try it and go explore other worlds! What's taking a few minutes to get my body back and then coming back later to try again?”

“And if I mess it up like you did?”

“...well, I dunno. We could go scare the shit out of the neighbors before the spooks eventually find us?”

So that's how I ended up reading from this weird journal in the white space that used to be Al's room, with him floating near me. I was still convinced none of this was real and I had somehow started hallucinating very vividly, but I was determined to get this over with. Just a quick stop in some world, accost...I don't know, some random wizard to change him back to normal, then come back. How hard could it be? Could probably do it in a month or less, tops.

I finished the incantation based on Al's own attempts at translating it. I won't repeat it here because I can't be arsed to remember it all, but as I continued to speak the words, this strange humming filled the air. Sparks of light began to dot the walls and I felt all hairs on my body stand on edge.

Al was chittering with excitement, but the whole time as my stomach sank from the reality I had just plunged into, there was something I couldn't shake.

That whatever force that I was calling on somehow -recognized- me, greeting me like an old friend.

And then we were gone.

And that's the Prologue.

Yes, I would.

That's also going to be an option but giving them the origin and some points is different than them taking over someone who exists jumper style right? Basically they would be getting the whole package is that that character gets.

Tiered by power level, and flexible so you can pick up the character instead if you'd rather have them rather than import an existing companion as them.

Oh god, you're going on a necromancer chain, aren't you?

Let me guess

he tried Klaatu Barada Nekto

You NEVER try Klaatu Barada Nekto until you're sure you can pronounce it clearly and remember it.

I refuse to change my Canadian ways!

Yeah, that would be pretty weird. Not like detrimental to the entire Jump levels of weird, but pretty up there.

Alright, alright. So kinda like the usual +0 "replace X character" bit, but for Companions. I actually kinda like that, lets Companions be relevant for once.

What's the setting?

If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid.

There's a reason that sharks haven't evolved for a really long time, and that's because so far what they have has worked out pretty damn well for them, so why change? It's the same thing with technology. Why are we still using screens and trying to improve screens instead of trying to beam this shit into our brains? Why are we using power cords instead of trying to make it wireless energy? Because it fucking works. We can improve on what works yes, but if it works don't fuck with the idea behind it. Same thing with railguns, especially in a space setting where Sir Isaac Newton is still the deadliest son of a bitch in space.

Nah I just thought it was funny, and I was feeling nostalgic for a certain RPG. Would be appropriate, though.
That part always trips up many would-be sorcerers, yeah.

I missed it, what was the lost edition titled?

"Bring Out Your Writing Edition"

>screens instead of trying to beam this shit into our brains?

We are trying to do that, mind to machine interfaces are something people are trying to create.

> power cords instead of trying to make it wireless energy

Also something we are trying to do, still needing to create the technology on a large scale for it. I'm simply saying you'd expect railguns to advance beyond the point that their firing can be described by something as simple, for a space opera setting, as firing a chunk of material at the speed of c. You'd expect it to advance to such a level over 70k years when an AI is involved.

>advance to such a level

Beyond should be where the to should be in that, messed up when changing my message.

>Klaatu Barada Nekto
>Nekto
IT'S NIKTO. Good lord, no wonder he died.

Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Season Tsuu

and it looks like the majority of people are against it so that's not going to be a thing

For fuck's sake, listen to your psychologist.

Would you waifu/daughteru a railgun?

Collect for completeness sake.

Yes, is cute.

How bad of an idea would it be to introduce magic to WW2?

Shit yeah. Dem curves.

spoiler spam is unpleasant.

Nice prologue tho'

Depends. Are you going to use it to kill commies?

>Implying that magic wasn't already involved in WW2

Indexverse updates when?

Jumpmaker's ALSO gone.

So

Never.

Silly user, the real magic is Mahou Shoujo Loli Hitler.

Yea.

>That picture
I disagree. Saladmanders the best.

Actually, its more like
>Magic for Nazis
>Super Science for the US
>Biopunk stuff for England
>Ki stuff for Japan
>Zombies and the like for Russia

I dunno what the hell this is, but I want a jump of it.

Anons, a giant cylinder isn’t what most would call curves. Now, maybe you need a body shatteringly huge cylinder on your Railgun, not judging, but I don’t think that’s standard issue. You’ll need to purchase a factory upgrade package of some sort.

Using Super Science to kill Nazis is always a good idea.

Just platoon with some modifications

Kill Six Billion Demons, why is becoming Royalty a jump ender? I guess I just don't understand what being Royalty actually means.
But wouldn't comprehending Meti's Sword Manual/Sanctified Action also ascend you to Royalty?

Royalty is basically becoming omnipotent (not truly though, but close)

I think I also put in that you can't be forced to achieve royalty? E.G. If you comprehend the 7 part name you get to choose whether or not you ascend. Sorry if I forgot to put it in.

>Can you blame me for expecting something more than railguns after 70k years?
Yeah, easily. You're expecting something better than the best possible long-ranged space-based weapon. Of course you're not going to see that.

>Like maybe firing fragments of a Neutron star instead of bits of metal as ammunition of the railgun?
Why would you bother with that? Neutron star material is incredibly unstable and difficult to manipulate. It's also inefficient. You get more impact energy from doubling velocity than doubling mass. K=(1/2)mV^2. And heck, once you get to relativistic velocities, mass is going to increase anyway, so for a good enough accelerator it doesn't matter what the rest mass is.

Plot is superior.

Damn. Such a setting would have been awesome.

I kind of like the idea that when it comes to fighting, humans are always going to be throwing shit, one way or another.

>omnipotent

Here we go again.

Aren't the Demiurges and Alice on the path of Royalty? Does that mean that even with a mastered Key you have no chance against them?

Luckily there are several possible options for a plot heavy Misaka.

I am unaware of this. Please educate me.

That's Misaka's mom. Looks pretty much exactly like her daughter, but more voluptuous.

The Demiurges are said to be too stuck up in their own version of victory to be able to truly achieve royalty.

As for Al-Yis-Un, maybe. The plot hasn't gotten far enough to tell, so fanwank it.

In what way is a railgun the best possible space-based weapon in SciFy? It's not real life, it's fucking fiction. A better weapon is fucking simple to come across in fictional space opera settings. You could weaponize your FTL, use wormholes to fuck up enemy ships and even could even just use blackholes. I'm not asking why this technology is good in real life, I'm asking what fucking technology a fictional setting has and why railguns are considered the best in that setting.

They have literal creatures that live on stars and mine stars. Yet somehow railguns are the primary weapon for an AI ship. Even after 70k years of development, it's fucking retarded. You can keep saying railguns are great and avoid my initial question but it makes literally 0 sense when they have had thousands of years to weaponize shit that doesn't need to follow non FTL physics. Make a missile/torpedo that moves FTL and hits ships and you instantly get something far better than a fucking railgun. Or something that weaponizes the Psionics in that universe to just mindfuck the crew of other ships.

Royalty's enlightenment, comprehending the true name of God. Which I believe also means you becoming god, not sure on that?

But no one in-setting has archieved it, even Zoss is still reaching for it. So it's really just speculation on what it'd do.

Though even comprehending a syllable of it makes the Demiurges powerful in some way.

None of the Demiurges have actually archieved royalty. They each just understand a scrap of god's (false) name.

Allison might manage it, eventually.

Yeah, you get the power of YISUN, basically. Imagine CHIM, for reference.

Doesn’t that mean that Railgun is destined for greattits?

Well we know what she will look like when she is older, so there is the waiting option. There is her mum, if you're ok with that kind of stuff, and there is also Misaka Worst, a more grown up Misaka clone.

I'm calling it.

FuckTheMoonJumper was Al all along.

Right, so “save,” read: buy, a bunch of Misakas and wait for them to mature. Got it.

The first two reminded me of The Specialists webcomic.

The biopunk England reminded me of the Leviathan trilogy, but that's WW1. The Allied powers are biopunk and the Central powers use steampunk machines that mimic animals. Their cars have legs and they have some mechs. England has whale blimps with killer bats that shit flechettes.

>I think I also put in that you can't be forced to achieve royalty?
Oh, looks like it's right there next to "royalty is jump ender".
...
I didn't miss it somehow, I was just testing if you remembered it.

So I guess that renders the second half of my question moot but at least I learned a bit about what Royalty is, other than squatting half naked in barrel while constantly drunk.

>A better weapon is fucking simple to come across in fictional space opera settings. You could weaponize your FTL, use wormholes to fuck up enemy ships and even could even just use blackholes.
Did you not read the jump? Their FTL doesn't work that way. You can't make some superluminal missile. The best you can get is a relativistic projectile.

>They have literal creatures that live on stars and mine stars.
Yes, and? Radiant energy isn't going to be any more effective at range just because there are animals that can manipulate it. Not unless you throw those animals at the enemy...but then you get back to the issue that a powerful enough railgun is going to have so much impact energy that any possible warhead is redundant.

>Make a missile/torpedo that moves FTL and hits ships and you instantly get something far better than a fucking railgun.
Again, their FTL doesn't work that way. You can't get that accurate with it unless you make almost-literal pacts with the devil. Also, the missile would have a lower payload than a railgun shell of equal mass, as well as being incredibly expensive. Why bother?

>Or something that weaponizes the Psionics in that universe to just mindfuck the crew of other ships.
That would be the pact with the devil part. Doesn't end well. They're making a smart choice by not using psionic tech.

→

Theseus was not designed to be a warship ai in the first place, theseus was an ai created to be a lab assistant who got released when he was supposed to be destroyed. So a single droid escaped and built himself into a real threat to a galactic superpower. They use railguns because they are reliable and can be fired with minimal design alterations to the server ships, meaning its a fuckload of coils which fling metal really hard and fast. Theseus is not 70k years old. Humanity is not 70k years old iirc, theseus can however wait really damn well. Its a machine and has no concept of boredom.

That said humanity has some very nice toys such as ftl that is made from a certain material only harvestable from inside active stars and antimatter warhead missiles. They also at one time created a cannon (with some help) that ripped a hole in reality and stabbed an eldritch being from beyond spacetime with it, this blew up the moon. Nowdays humanity fights amongst its self and the theseus ships. The science is possible to do all manner of things like lightsabers and holographic furniture which you can sit on. But over all a lot of human tech is not explored as much as it could be.

Oh also humans have quick fab machines to lrint out tech but they are really expensive.

I don't know the fucking setting or it's technology, it's why I asked about it and the answer I got somehow spiraled into you opinion of how railguns are the end all be all of weapons.

Thanks, some of that shit actually sounds kinda awesome and useful.

So you didn't read the jump, then got pissy when I gave an explanation based on the technological limitations of the jump. Wow, you're kind of an asshole, aren't you?

I'm not saying that Germany had an elite group researching the occult, but Germany had an elite group researching the occult.
I'm not saying that England tried to summon Demons to win the war, followed immediately by the USSR getting involved. But England tried to summon Demons to win the war, followed immediately by the USSR getting involved.

Also not all AI are theseus ai. There is a race of ai that are basically backuo brains of this one old race that got destroyed, they did sit and wait for orders for that long iirc. Its been a while. But same story there, AI do not get bored unless they want to get bored.

I did read the jump, but an 11 page document isn't exactly going to describe something that took like 100 threads to complete or some shit. Don't try to make me out to be the asshole when instead of answering a question you went into a spiel about how one piece of technology is the only worthwhile weapon of the future in a universe that I knew nothing about. Moreover you knew I knew nothing of it given the fucking question I asked, makes you out to be the asshole doesn't it mate?

That makes sense for why the perk references 70k years then, cheers for actually answering the question and helping understand a setting rather than just being a shitposter.

Oh also humans have figured out ways to make some un fucking believably good cybernetics. Like full body cybernetics are possible, just a brain in a bot kind of stuff if you want (though that is not recommended as it leads to dissassociative tendancies) human mods can mimic nature to an astounding degree.

She's got her own life. Now, saving at least one of the clones is a goal, but it's more important that they all get to have normal lives - something I can't give them if they're travelling with me.

So really, what I need is a foolproof way to stop Accelerator (and anyone else) from killing any of them.

>stop Accelerator
Balefire

>and anyone else
More balefire

>is a foolproof way to stop Accelerator (and anyone else) from killing any of them.
Just let Touma handle the Ass-elerator, then watch over the clones in silence and protect them

>she's got her own life
I mean, if she wants to go with you isn't that a moot point?
That logic could be applied for most companions. Does that mean you don't generally companion people? (not a sarcastic question, genuinely curious)

But if you do that won't he have killed several of them by then, including best clone?

Oh it's you, user. I recognise you. The guy who gets angry at any little thing because argument and getting enraged over nothing is the only thing that makes your empty shell of a life a little bit more bearable.
How have you been? Angry at petty shit? Good for you.

If she wants to go with me, sure, but I'm not gonna go asking. I still have the Pokemon, but they followed me into the Warehouse when I first got it. I stopped them at the entrance to start explaining how things would work, but Blaziken stepped in and the rest followed.

I don't really go seeking out Companions, but if they insist on coming along, I'm not going to stop them. I'll just tell them what they're in for.

>several
A fair bit more than just several user...
That honestly sounds slightly lonely user, not sure I could do that...

I dont understand balefire, like if it recons something out of existance shouldnt that recon anything connected to the thing out of existance as well?

I respect that user - I'm pretty similar. Sure, I might take someone as a companion in order to meet them in-setting easier but I'm not going to ask them to come unless their life is going to be demonstrably worse by staying in-Jump than leaving with me.

A little, but I've got my six best friends in the multiverse and a lot of pets.

>If she wants to go with me, sure, but I'm not gonna go asking.
Oh my god, I hate people like you.

>has opportunity available
>doesn't offer opportunity to others
>"if people want to hang out with me that's okay, but I'm not going to force them"
There is nothing wrong with extending an offer to someone. The fact that you make the offer does not oblige them to take you up on it. There are plenty of people who could benefit from jumping but who would never ask. A jumper has a lot to offer, there is no reason not to offer some of that to people and see what they say.

As someone who only knows Night In The Woods from the Best Friends Play videos of it, how prepared or ill prepared would I be for that Jump? Also, how do I deal with that creepy elder god at the bottom of the mine? It kinda needs to go if I'm going to help revive the town and get the mine going again to revive the economy

>how do I deal
Balefire

>help revive the town
More balefire

>Balefire
But user, I was Stilled and didn't take the One Power. All I have from there is Dreamwalking

You know you're not supposed to throw that stuff around recklessly, right? Kinda breaks time, doesn't it?

Just use Balefire on the parts that are breaking.

Balefire that jump

What if...we balefire the balefire?