I had an idea that mostly solves a huge problem I was having with justifying the gameplay of MaA: sorXa being the way I want it to be while maintaining reasonable armor functionality, but that simultaneously creates an absolute nightmare for the Machine at Arms TTRPG :^I
Maybe the TTRPG needs to be explicitly set in a slightly different period than sorXa's story... or maybe MaA: sorXa isn't canon from the perspective of the TTRPG (and vice-versa)...??? Fuck if I know :^/
The idea, for the record, is that the gold ether that gives sorXa her golden eyes and her sword its golden blade (when in its two-handed form) is somehow different from (and superior to) the sky blue/cyan ether seen in the sword I depicted her with in the first draft of her pre-transition appearance. I don't know if gold ether is "purer" or what, but it's far more effective at damaging matter when concentrated into a beam or a pellet,¹ to the point where it cuts through most things - even etherite² armor - like a knife through butter.³ "Blue" ether is potent in its own right, but etherite is able to stand up to it well enough to be worth wearing. With this specific concept, part of the idea is that Jos somehow found a way to harness gold ether without it becoming blue ether or something, allowing them to create weapons for sorXa et al. that utilize it offensively, and uhhhhhhhh doing something to sorXa's function that wouldn't be possible if she were powered with blue ether I guess? maybe? If I do end up going with this, it means sorXa can cleave through reasonably armored enemies without having to go for gaps in their armor the whole time or whatever,⁴ which better matches the "Mega Man Zero but it's in 3D" gameplay style I had in mind.
This still doesn't solve the issue of sorXa's non-ether weapons, though, like her sword and spear in their "vibro" forms, or her axe's blade... Hm. Much to think about.
(Also the reason it fucks with the TTRPG is that it seems to me like a nightmare to incorporate while keeping things reasonable, considering how powerful it is)
... for lack of a better term. Y'know, like the lemons that come out of busters in the Mega Mans those darned kids play these days.
Well, that's what I've been calling the material in my head, anyway. No clue how it incorporates ether exactly, just that it's strong, hard, tough, and (relatively) lightweight.
When it comes to stuff like armor or whatever it's more like a cold knife through chilled butter, but you get what I mean. You can still cut through armor with a blade of gold ether, it just might take a few good hits.
I know I could obviously just say "I don't care, whatever, cleave through the armor anyway, who gives a shit, don't think about it too hard", but like. I do care, at least in the specific context of my own work. I find the material realities of arms and armor interesting, and I like to have some semblance of believability to the setting, so having someone just cleave through armor with relatively normal weapon types raises the question of why the hell anyone bothers with that armor in the first place, y'know? There are probably other ways to deal with this problem - like, I dunno, maybe the people sorXa's fighting are equipped to deal with people who don't have access to modern military-grade weapons, so when someone comes along with a vibro-sword and a buster pistol they're suddenly underdressed for the occasion⁵ - but this is the one that occurred to me first, so it's the one I'm writing about. :^]
.... Shit, I actually kinda like that................... Hm. Hmmmmmmmm. :^I We'll see where I decide to go with all this.
