pseudo metropolis quest: schrodingers cat from pseudo-robot

[jspad]

(note: my initial idea was to use pseudo-metropolis for a new enemy that alludes to the movie. developed into a quest after thinking about it):

pseudo-robot looks like this:
http://www.multimedia.slam-zine.de/uplo ... _cover.jpg
maybe add human limbs to give it the pseudo-look.

the pseudo-robot could pseudo-attack through swinging Schrodinger's cat at you and semi-die when killed.

this enemy would fit nicely to pseudo-metropolis but not to any current zone in there yet.

solution: a quest "bring the quest master schrodinger's cat". the quest master's lolcat died recently (maybe run over by a can of cheezeburgers?) and because he's so sad about it he wants you to get him an extravagant replacement, i.e. schrodinger's cat

schrodinger's cat gets dropped by pseudo-robot, an extra hard boss with her own level in pseudo-metropolis. the level is a chinese restaurant. in the chinese restaurant, there are several areas (that could all drop fortune cookies a lot):
- the aquarium, where you fight lobsters, shells, fish etc. this would be a good place for seafood to drop which could then be used for cooking as well (on pizza/pasta for seafood pizza/pasta, paella or sushi (cook with rice) or even a new pet: jellyfish on a leash (need to combine seafood & jelly first = jellyfish. not very useful on its own, needs to be combined with a hooked leash. hooked leash = duct tape & paper clip. leash also useful for other pets, up to Merlin's imagination. paper clip also useful for McGyer set, see my post on that).
- the dining area, where you fight:
- lotus feet (that trample you for attacking and shrivel or wither for dying),
- chopsticks (that poke for attacking and snap for dying). btw that might be a good place for a stick to drop with higher probability or for dropping chopsticks themselves that could be combined (LOTS of them) into a normal stick
- spring rolls. attack: the spring rolls make a rolling spring at you. dying: the spring rolls springingly roll over and die.
- a welcoming cat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko). naturally, it would attack by swinging its paw back and forth. dying: the welcoming cat runs out of luck and dies.
- most importantly: chinese symbols (need to add pun here by using a signs that reads something funny. maybe something like "this is not chinese"?). they attack by screeching in several tones. they die from a stroke. only the chinese symbols drop chinese dictionaries. (alternatively: chinese dictionaries drop in library of pseudo-metropolis.)

- once you have the chinese dictionary, you can use it. using it gives a few hints (to asian recipes with soy sauce etc). it explodes after 2 uses. if you have tried the door at the chinese room before (it seems to be locked and everytime you try to turn the handle, a sheet of paper with chinese symbols is slid under the door to you.) AND ONLY THEN: with a probability of 20% you read an entry on "door" that you recognise from the paper slid under the door so that you are finally able to decipher the message. it reads: "the door is open. just push real hard, the door is jammed." you are then able to enter the chinese room (where the pseudo-robot and other minions reside, cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room) with the following sections:

- library of western philosophy (btw: the old bookworm sage could hint at on how to get into the chinese room). here we fight:
- russels tea pot. could attack by falling on your head straight from orbit. dies by diseappearing between earth and mars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot
- occam's razor. could cut the player with simple explanations and die from complex explanations, cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
- buridan's ass. attacks by pondering over its options and swinging its head left to right and right to left. killing: the ass ponders whether he should attack or not but ultimately dies from indecision. cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buridan%27s_ass
- a brain in a vat. attacks by making you believe it is you. thus: damage dealt to brain always equals damage inflicted on you. dies when you crack the vat and the nutrient solution runs out. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-in-a-vat
- Zeno's tortoise: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes For more fun, Zeno's tortoise could even drop the occasional arrow, a right-hand weapon

2nd section of chinese room:
- cheap mass production corner. the pseudo-robot boss sits there. the pseudo robot attacks by mass producing schrodinger cats but because most of them spontaneously diseappear, he only swings one at you. the boss is hard to beat and drops schrodinger's cat every time when beaten. however, as you try to grab it, the cat always disappears -- unless you wear the cardboard box as headgear. when doing so, the pseudo-robot dies, you take your cardboard box off your head and put the cat in it.

with the cat in the box you visit the quest master. when he opens the box, you hear a few clicks (nb: this is the geiger counter) and the cat seems to die. or not: you are not really sure whether it is alive or dead or alive and dead or alive and/or dead or/and alive and/or dead. either way, the quest master is happy and hands over some exp points/gold/item.

of course, the cardboard box needs to be introduced earlier and should drop multiple times. it could be used as:
- pet: an atypical, rectangular/box-shaped ghost (combine with bedsheet) or a poor man's shepherd dog (combine with ox hair)
- headgear. you extend all flaps of the cardbox on your head and suddenly look like a big innocent cardbox. your enemy misses (and that with high probability)
- a hobo home on the campground

the western philosophy library could also be used for another quest where the sage is mute for some days because his alzheimer's has made him lose his wiseness/forget wise stuff. the quest master sends you to get a "philosophy for dummies". bonus points for this quest to come up earlier than the chinese restaurant but after the library in pseudo-metropolis so users typically search in library first.

hope this meets your taste. jspad.

[Mad Merlin]

That's a very detailed quest description, I like it.

I didn't even realize there was a movie named Metropolis, so any allusion there was happy coincidence.

I've made a note in my TODO list.