Question Combat Finals: Who fights whom? And why?

the title says it all. Time for speculation on who fights whom in the combat finals. Anything goes for suggested pairing. Use the proposed scenario or write your own scenario.

Suggested scenario: Stop an alien invasion.
Setup: The aliens have a portal that must be destroyed. They're taking over people and using them to achieve their conquest. You have a device which can 'expel' an alien from a person. Goal - destroy the portal. Minimize civilian casualties. Points for each civilian rescued. Bonus points for getting the queen.

Cooperate or compete? Who fights whom? How does the battle go?

Actually the theme of the spring finals is Unexpected Cooperation. You must team up against a common foe with either a stranger or...

Your worst enemy.

E. E. Nalley wrote: Actually the theme of the spring finals is Unexpected Cooperation. You must team up against a common foe with either a stranger or...

Your worst enemy.

And just how are they going to get Bloodwolf into the arena with Jade, or Buster into the arena with Anna?

Belphegor is going to be partnered with every Devisor and Gadgeteer.

Nemesis and She-Beast.

One scenario dancing around in my head is a 4-way battle royale between Whisper, Cyberkitty, Ringo and Deus ex Machina (AKA Carmen) utilizing half the computers in the combat simulator cluster. This wouldn't be your 'typical' simulated combat though. Instead, it would be an IT-style capture the flag scenario. Each contestant would have the goal of placing their marker file on as many systems as possible, and removing the marker file of the other contestants at the same time. Naturally, the nature and pacing of the contest (not to mention the special talents exhibited) would dictate that this contest is not broadcast to the arena.

One part of me would have Loophole, Kayda, Tansy and Tisiphone.

Ib12us wrote: One part of me would have Loophole, Kayda, Tansy and Tisiphone.

And pray-tell, why?

I actually put this up earlier, as a response to what would happen to Ayla next, but it is quite apropos of the current topic.

Isodecan wrote: Doctor Diabolik will donate a Mind Web unit for use in the Crash. Ayla and a team composed of Belphegor, Kismet, Ferret, and Golden Girl will have to do the Cincinnati Scenario.

As to why we end up with that group, it is a crash scenario, and if the group could actually work together, I (in storyline, the instructors) believe that they could actually handle a scenario like what happened to SPECTRUM in Cincinnati. Of course, even with all of them hating Ayla, even if Ayla weren't there I doubt that they could work together. It might be fun to have Ayla get them to work together against him in order to complete the mission.

elrodw wrote:

Ib12us wrote: One part of me would have Loophole, Kayda, Tansy and Tisiphone.

And pray-tell, why?

One. Its an all girl team, whereas most appear to be a mixture of the two. Each person has their own unique set of skills thus its a quick match up with no formal training. If its a contest of being placed with a set of pre-determined people then each is aware of the others abilities and how to work as a group. By mixing and matching on the fly the team must work quickly to form a cohesive effort to take down their opponent.

Two. Given that there may be some animosity among the team, they must either work together or fail thus dooming the team. By learning to overcome their rivalry or differences of one another they may learn more about the other. Not all teams work together at first and there is a bit of rivalry that sets each and everyone apart. Who's the leader, who's the tactician, who can put it all together to make it work for them.

Three. When they go out into the real world they may not have the luxury of being teamed, if at all, with someone that has the sort of abilities that they learned to work with in a controlled environment. By shaking up the mix they learn to adapt.

Just because you don't want to get into a fight doesn't mean that you can't learn to expect the unexpected.

I, of course, am seeing this from a military perspective. I am not saying that they are being trained to be weapons, far from it. Given the world they live in, I'm saying that with super villains, hero's or normal humans, they are being taught how to defend themselves if thrust into an unsavory situation.

Ib12us wrote:

elrodw wrote:

Ib12us wrote: One part of me would have Loophole, Kayda, Tansy and Tisiphone.

And pray-tell, why?

One. Its an all girl team, whereas most appear to be a mixture of the two. Each person has their own unique set of skills thus its a quick match up with no formal training. If its a contest of being placed with a set of pre-determined people then each is aware of the others abilities and how to work as a group. By mixing and matching on the fly the team must work quickly to form a cohesive effort to take down their opponent.

Two. Given that there may be some animosity among the team, they must either work together or fail thus dooming the team. By learning to overcome their rivalry or differences of one another they may learn more about the other. Not all teams work together at first and there is a bit of rivalry that sets each and everyone apart. Who's the leader, who's the tactician, who can put it all together to make it work for them.

Three. When they go out into the real world they may not have the luxury of being teamed, if at all, with someone that has the sort of abilities that they learned to work with in a controlled environment. By shaking up the mix they learn to adapt.

Just because you don't want to get into a fight doesn't mean that you can't learn to expect the unexpected.

I, of course, am seeing this from a military perspective. I am not saying that they are being trained to be weapons, far from it. Given the world they live in, I'm saying that with super villains, hero's or normal humans, they are being taught how to defend themselves if thrust into an unsavory situation.

If I was to pit this team against another it would be Kodiak, Ayla, Nitro, Lancer.

Why? You may never know who your friends or enemies would be. But also how hard would you fight if you had to fight someone you liked or loved.

I posted this in the Ayla discussion, but it also goes here.

Vox and Adele are the 'enemies' who must come together to assist each other, Ayla is the Dark Pheonix 'alien controlled' enemy.

Reason? It's nearly the perfect triple nightmare scenario.

1) the new girlfriend / ex-girlfriend vibe would be one of the hardest 'enemies' scenarios to overcome.

2) there would be real emotions at play, making it very hard for them to directly attack each other, it would really bring home the angst of the scenario.

3) we already know from the previous Dark Phoenix stories that Ayla couldn't do it. He could not attack his friends. He was told he needs to work on it, upping the stacks to his girlfriends (past and present), as well as putting real consequences on the line (his academic standings as this is fifty percent of his grade), this could go close to breaking Ayla.

4) Vox vs. Ayla? Now that we know the problem is partially self inflicted, and mostly inner self worth issues, working with the girl who has all the things she feels inadequate about and who has succeeded her with Ayla, and on top of that they need to fight a Dark Phoenix Ayla?

This story could end up being a massive three way psycic snap, with all of them catatonic wreaks.

Oh!

Bonus points for it being first up, really scaring the bejesus out of the students as they realise that the facility is serious, pitting lover against lover, forcing the worst enemies together. The freakouts in the stands when they see the combatants would be monumental!

Extra angst bonus round?

Start it off with all of Team Kimba, as well as Adele and Vox in a sim battle against Ayla, but have it that Sam is actually running Ayla while Ayla is in the Sim, viewing it all as Ayla but unable to control anything while Sam rips the rest of Team Kimba apart, the when only Vox and Adele is left control is given back to Ayla, but only if he continues being Dark Ayla, and he is reminded that fifty percent of his course score is at stake, and that he is being graded not on what he does, but on what he is capable off, and that they are in the simulators, so there is no need to hold back.

I love how you think.

Beltane and Thorn (the one wooing Nacht, not the Sidhe) would make a great noodle incident, simply due to the sheer absurdity that would be unleashed in the arena.

If Sara were free, it would be great seeing her paired with any of the Grunts, but Bunker especially, as per the fallout of that simulation where Sara *destroyed* the Grunts.

Eldritch and Imperious would provide a lot of tension, were it to happen.

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Extra angst bonus round?

Start it off with all of Team Kimba, as well as Adele and Vox in a sim battle against Ayla, but have it that Sam is actually running Ayla while Ayla is in the Sim, viewing it all as Ayla but unable to control anything while Sam rips the rest of Team Kimba apart, the when only Vox and Adele is left control is given back to Ayla, but only if he continues being Dark Ayla, and he is reminded that fifty percent of his course score is at stake, and that he is being graded not on what he does, but on what he is capable off, and that they are in the simulators, so there is no need to hold back.

Incidentally, it's always bothered me that Gunny et al had such a problem with Ayla being unwilling to play the part of Dark Phase. He never showed any problem with dealing with his friends when they were villains, so why exactly is it a problem that he has a phobia of being a villain himself?

Defending the many from one is how he has been bought up, even when the one is family or friend.

Being the one attacking the many, that is Ayla's worst nightmare come true. Ayla is already a mutant, the thing he feared the most as he grew up, becoming the thing of his nightmares, attacking those he loves, was it any wonder he broke down and couldn't do it, even as just a game?

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Incidentally, it's always bothered me that Gunny et al had such a problem with Ayla being unwilling to play the part of Dark Phase. He never showed any problem with dealing with his friends when they were villains, so why exactly is it a problem that he has a phobia of being a villain himself?

Well, they're authoritarians, and Ayla refused to follow orders. People like that get very offended when their authority is questioned or rejected by somebody they consider below them in the hierarchy.

Also, Ayla's issues reflect weakness. Some might say that particular weakness is a good one to have, but that kind of thing is not Sam and Gunny's concern. Their job is to expunge all weakness, because all weaknesses can be turned against you. In Ayla's case, he can be crippled with self doubt if you're good enough at manipulation. That's dangerous.

Furthermore, his refusal to participate meant that he let his team down -- they missed out on the opportunity to face a true Dark Phase scenario and got a cheap knockoff instead. (For that matter, Sam and Gunny missed out on things they might have been able to learn as well.)

Oh, and then there's the more personal angle -- Ayla's refusal to carry his weight meant more work for Sam. Very inconsiderate of him!

I think that every student needs to fight the CITY, not another student.
As Tennyo did in her first one, the enemy is the entire city.

This would give the students an opportunity to learn how to gauge when to go offensive instead of trying to blend in.
The students would be forced to learn how to deal with being targeted by a mob.

If you can give Dr. Bender a giant-sized injection of motivation and inspiration to release Sara...

The range crew are even more than usual and decide to team up Sara and Sarah...

Jericho and Eldritch vs. Diamondback and Razorback. Not only does this face a split in Outcast Corner, but both sizes have a potential rager on their team.

From Jade 8 "Exams: ' “After much discussion, the staff decided to give Tennyo a special test, based on ideas for the upcoming spring test. Tennyo’s challenge is to survive, and to use minimal powers while doing so. Take notes and pay close attention, because you may be facing this test yourself in a few months. And unlike Tennyo here, your only goal would be survival.” '

This one was dancing through my mind today. Kayda and Magic Mike vs. Amber and someone from the dream team (A.D.?). Let the back-stabbing (with mythos infused water panther spikes) commence!

I'm treating this as the thread for Combat Final questions...

Is there any actual Whateley Academy rules against pitting members of a team / group against each other, for Combat Finals?

Or siblings against each other?

***

Combat Final Ideas:

Lodestone vs. Fey, or some other Sidhe, to test Fey vs. iron... What's in it for Lodestone... I dunno.

Fey vs. Jobe 'Cause Aunghadhail didn't like the Drow...

Drow Collective vs. Faerie Queen Appreciation Society ; 'Cause the Sidhe / Faeries don't like the Drow, and the FQAS is championing that, or something. Totally out of left-field, for FQAS motivation? 'Cause that's sort of crazy, as it's Underdogs vs. Jobe and his drow... But, restricting Jobe to not use some of his illnesses and stuff could even it out, or make the FQAS feel safer, even if Jobe wouldn't have used his banned stuff due to his personal ethics / morality / standards / whatever.

Sphere vs. Force Bubble Madcap ; Mirror Match / Fun House Mirror Match.

No, I don't think there's such a rule, at least not a permanent one. But there are "themes" for each Combat Final.
Generally speaking, they favor having students facing people that they DON'T know well, so their tricks, fighting style etc. will be a surprise.
But it's possible that one of these days the theme of the Final will be "backstabbing", so they will mostly have to compete against someone they are close to.

Sir Lee wrote: No, I don't think there's such a rule, at least not a permanent one. But there are "themes" for each Combat Final.
Generally speaking, they favor having students facing people that they DON'T know well, so their tricks, fighting style etc. will be a surprise.
But it's possible that one of these days the theme of the Final will be "backstabbing", so they will mostly have to compete against someone they are close to.

I would say "thanks for the idea", but that would give away whether we had or had not considered such a concept.

Suffice to say that we come up with unique themes and then the whole 'who fights whom' is dependent on what matches the authors can have fun with...

Once the cabal decides on a theme - like Hostage Rescue for Spring 07, it becomes a free-for-all in terms of who is paired against whom. And sometimes the pairings are driven by a story idea. Example - for the hostage rescue, I thought of a bank robbery to simply pay off the kidnappers. So - to make that unusual, it drove one of the pair to be a Cape, which made the obvious pair someone else - Mastermind? Seed? For another example, the idea of a hostage rescue devolving into "the great pie fight" pushed the outline; the core idea was two who wouldn't normally cooperate. And in picking one of mine, Headrush came to mind, so finding a suitable opponent became the primary matter of choice. On the contrary, the pairing of Tissy and Ayla was a foregone conclusion once the theme was set; the goal then became framing a story around that ongoing feud.

So basically, it's kind of a circular logic thing. Some authors have a deliberate pairing in mind while we're discussing the theme, and that influences the theme. The theme is influenced by the pairings / story ideas, and the resulting theme drives the stories. That takes one of two paths - either the theme drives pairings OR the theme drives the story ideas, which then determines who are paired in those matches. But can we make a flow diagram of the process? No - and the reason is simply that the theme, pairings, and story ideas all influence each other.

If it sounds like a mess, it really isn't. Apart from our, ahem, 'vigorous' discussions about the theme