/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>170502
"There was, yes. We studied in the woods and left."

>>170503
He shrugs, writes something down, and waves them along.

>>170504
Huzzah! Encounter resolved.

>>170505
And so, the three make it back to the manor. The sun is out, and it’s early morning.

>>170506
Posey carries the coffin inside the manor.

>>170505
>>170508
[YouTube] Pony Coffin Dance [Embed]

This is carried in easily enough.

Oddly Lament is not waiting for them; he seems to have passed out on his bed

>>170509
Posey doesn't bother Lament, and instead takes Backa to a room with no windows or one with heavy curtains.

>>170510
Posey's next course of action is to tend to Gloomy and ensure that nobody's stolen him in the night (force of habit).

>>170510
>>170511
Backa would no doubt have many comments, but those may be best saved for later

Posey goes back to find Gloomy sleeping in the cabin. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a light sleeper, so Posey likely wakes him up. Fortunately Gloomy has not been stolen in the night, but she should be cautious, as bat-winged ponies have been reported in the Baltimare area, and also changelings are still a thing.

>>170513
Possy would proceed to stay with Gloomy throughout the day, as part of the 8 hours of rest she needs to recover arcane spell slots.

>>170514
Shouldn't Gloomy be going to school, or playing outside, or socializing with other foals of his age?

>>170515
Posey is grooming training him as her apprentice, teaching him in the dark arts as he perfects his soul binding skills.
Gloomy has only been here for two days. It's a little early to send him to school. He has a haunted and earie disposition that would probably alarm the other foals, but it could be worth a shot.
Raising him to be evil and insane is kind of the goal anyway. Posey just likes spoiling him because... well, idk why. He's already quite damaged, coming from the same abusive vampire-thrall background that Posey does, teetering on the edge of insanity and loathing of life itself.
Tbh, I've been meaning to try to touch up on roleplaying Gloomy a bit more; I just haven't gotten to since Posey has been busy on side quests that take months to resolve. He's actually supposed to be pretty important to her character development.

>>170516
Well, now that her recent quest is done, she has some freedom on what to do next.

>>170517
Possy would like to set up some facilities to perform her research and educate Gloomy. Seeing as how she's only been here two nights, she's not eager to run around town very soon.
She would like to appraise the treasure she brought back as well.
>>170515
Perhaps the next arc could focus on him a bit more.

>>170518
> set up some facilities to perform her research and educate Gloomy
That sounds... concerning

>>170519
Well, it's the only thing I can really think of, but idk how I'd go about it yet. I'm only lvl 3. There aren't very many facilities I'd like to buy yet.
Could Posey spend the next day as downtime trying to appraise the treasure?
I'm wondering if that hyena mask might be a Mask Of The Matriarch. Idk though, Posey doesn't have Identify, or the gold to afford an Artificer's monocle yet.
The sword had a magical aura, so it should be at least a +1 sword. Not that useful for Posey (unless she has archaic weapon proficiency? How are we doing weapon proficiencies in this modern mileau?), but could be good for resale value, or eventually a weapon for an undead minion.

Ngl, I'm not sure what to do with Posey from here going forward.

>>170524
Explore, talk with NPCs, inspect items, prepare another quest, Make some friends

>>170525
Well, before I get ready for any other quest, I should at least update my level equipment. I need to get a full understanding of the value of the items.
Posey can take 10 to appraise the value of common items, and exotic items if she uses a magnifying glass (could there be one in the lab?). Can she begin to estimate the value of the treasures she's gathered so far?

Posey will inquire Backa about his relics (it technically belongs to him, and while Posey isn't above stealing, having a friendly priest around is more valuable), what they do, and what he'd like to do with them.

>plan quests
Were I the right level, I'll like to go hunt for Hydra cadavers. Might like to do that anyway, actually, since the XP could get me to the level where I could animate them.
A bit out of my league, but worth a shot.

Also warning, I'm leaving out of town soon, and so will be less responsive

>>170526
Appraising the items is actually a bit of a complicated task. What Posey has found are works of art that have value for their metal content, but much of the value lies in the workmanship. The problem is that the items are obviously stolen, and thus hard to resell at anything near their full value.

>hunt for Hydra cadavers
Hydras that are already dead or hydras that are still alive when you find them?

Actually both make sense

>>170527
>the items are obviously stolen
What makes them look different from other magical items?
Well, I would like their gp value anyway. If I can't sell them now, I could hold them to bargain with fiends later in the game.
I would also like to know their magical function, if any.
>Hydras that are already dead or hydras that are still alive when you find them?
Yes.

>>170450
Amber gulps, knowing that she is still not out of danger and this wild plan could unravel at this crucial point. Still, she is dependent on the engineer's knowledge and naïveté and pushing even his credulity too far would certainly doom them. Once again, Amber plays the part of an old conductor, blowing a whistle to allow passengers to disembark.

>Posey contemplating her plans to take over Baltimore (and later Equestria) while she's lvl 3
"Nope, nope, nope... That'll take too long... Too risky... Expensive... Maybe I should just run for Mayor and see how that goes... Who am I kidding... Oh well, better set up shop for the long haul."
(she is impatient; being restless dead)

GM, do I need to roll something to appraise the value of the treasure?

>>170564
Appraisal

>>170565
Can Posey just take 10 (modified 15-20 with tools/assistance) on that, or does she need to roll for each individual item?

She'll also cast Detect Magic.

Fuck it
First roll
[1d20+3 = (18+3) = 21]
This is before bonuses

>>170568
Based Orcus putting his fat thumb on the scale for Posey once again.

>>170528
>>170568
>>170567
>What makes them look different from other magical items?
Basically, the items obviously came from an important church, though little would tie them to anything specific.

The items are worth likely at least 300 gold just from melt value. Their full collector value would be over 2000 bits. As works of art, perhaps 1600 bits.

The cup and the container both have signatures of transmutation magic, though Posey can tell that this is from build up of ambient transmutation magic in the precious metals, and not from the items being magical themselves. The reliquary on the other hoof... That has a much stronger magical signature.

>>170577
Can Posey estimate the value of the mask and totem that she recovered from her previous quest?
>The reliquary on the other hoof... That has a much stronger magical signature.
Ooh, that's interesting.
I am going to roll religion to see if Posey can tell the function of this item.
[1d20+9 = (13+9) = 22]
Although, I guess Posey could simply ask Backa about it.
>Their full collector value would be over 2000 bits. As works of art, perhaps 1600 bits.
Excellent.

>>170578
The relic is supposed to bestow good luck and perhaps other benefits upon those rub it. The problem is that it is Good aligned.

>The mask
_shrugs_
These items are harder to assess, but surely greatly lower in value that the silversmithed items.

>>170579
>The problem is that it is Good aligned.
As in, like most good-aligned items, gives a negative level to any evil character that holds it for as long as its in their possession? Like a Holy weapon?
That's still nice to have.
Having a relic bone is also potentially useful for other purposes anyway, although I expected it to be a reliquary holy symbol.
However, as a general rule, holy relics can't easily be sold, so Posey won't get any resale value out of that. They're even harder to buy though, so this is still a good find.
>These items are harder to assess
What's their caster levels?
If these are all actually custom items that you wrote and you didn't think to give them an exact gold piece value or caster level because you didn't expect me to sell them or scrutinize them, that's no problem; I understand. Just let me figure out what they do later.

>In character
Posey gives a batlike shriek as she discovers the effects of the holy relic, feeling it drain her powers as she reaches out her hoof towards it and the holy power of the relic burning her impure flesh as she touches it
Rolling damage for having touched a holy relic (not counting the negative level because it's not in her possession
[2d4 = 2] damage
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...!!! ...Still sanctified... It's a wonder why he would have wanted such a dangerous implement in his lair..." She huffs, taking a moment to treat her wounds
She puts on a sickened and horrified expression as she witnesses her reflection (or, lackthereof) on the polished silver treasures, shaking her head profusely before averting her eyes
"Th-that's real s-silver alright...!" she says, wincing

>>170580
The item is a phylactery (not in the D&D sense, but in the sense of a specific type of reliqary designed to hold body parts) in a more or less cyndrical shape, with a thick and somewhat obscuring glass cylinder with a tick silver and gold bottom, and a gold top. The silver and gold are clearly just plating on top of presumably brass structure, so the actual precious metal value is not great. Inside of the glass cylinder is the long pastern bone of a pony or similar equine. There is writing on the item, but it's in that weird foreign language, so Posey cannot read it.

With the aura it exudes, Posey can see why it was off to the side, and wrapped in a garment.

Oh wow, thought this site was kill for a moment.
>>170596
That sounds valuable, magically so. It'll at least make good material component for a reliquary symbol.
Now, about the alignment restriction, did Posey gain a negative level when she picked it up?

>>170598
NOT EVEN IN DEATH DOES THE BOARD MERGER END

I feel like the more interesting answer is Yes, so let's go with Yes

>>170598
Yeah, we all got our hopes up a little bit too soon. Hopefully the servers are wiped out by the next storm or the Canadian gov takes matters into their own hands.

>>170599
Perfect.

Now I just need a corpse/skeleton, and a motivation.

>>170601
I guess that begs the question what Posey's next quest should be.
I could go hunting for Hydras. Posey is just looking to practice to increase her personal powers. There's no obvious place to look for treasure.

Hey, GM.
How do you handle things in 3.5e that consume XP (item creation, LA buy off, certain spells, incantations, sculpt self, rituals, item bonding, familiar death, etc)? It's not time sensitive, but maybe between now and the next time Posey levels. I used some of those in character creation.

Any chance we could restart this week, GM?
[YouTube] Pinkie Rhymes - Ring Around The Pony [Embed]

>>170619
Sure. What do next?

>>170620
After I rework my character sheet, I think Posey should probably invest a few weeks into researching.
Posey would like to spend some time to research the Create Undead incantation. She might also like to create her own incantation, one that might help her with the Kaftar community.
Also, I'm considering turning the old priest into a vampire, if he'd cooperate.

I guess I'll say that the first thing Posey would do at the manor is introduce Baka to Lament

>>170631
would belly rub the acute

>>170531
So
As the train pulls into Soldau station, Amber gets her first look of this odd new land. The flat terrain means that the forest trees obscure view of the settlement until it lines the side of the rails, but when it comes into view, Amber glimpses a realm that in most regards is not radically different from that which she left. Houses are two stories in most instances, with the familiar half timber construction, white walls, crossed timber beams, and high angled rooves with red or more often black tiles. A couple windmills could be seen, one on what passed for a "hill," and another along a field passed perhaps a kilometer before the station. Amber has seen perhaps one mill, if even that is what it was, since crossing the border, and it seems industry is less common in this mostly wild land than in Katerinburg, which itself felt left behind in the primordial chaos.

But for all of the similarities, Amber can feel a distinct difference. No ancient cathedral spires, nor rathaus clock towers pierce the grey, clouded sky, and the whole settlement gives the impression of being new, like a majority of the structures that line the railway are younger than Amber. In this way, the whole land, from the mostly still-green forests, to the bright white and unblemished facades of the houses have a kind of vitality and newness to them. The decay and rot of the old world are gone. But so too is that air of legitimacy that comes about with age, that feeling of being in the presence of an ancient settlement that existed long before you were born, and shall exist long after you are gone.

Through a gap in the trees and the station, and down a slight decline in elevation, Amber can see into the town itself. There isn't that much to see, with a few barrels of potatoes outside of what must be a store, some carts, and an asphalt road rather than more traditional cobblestones. Amber can see a few griffins along the street, though one dark purple-furred creature pulling a cart near the station stands out. Amber can recognize that this creature, standing in the light rain, staring with its head tilted down and with a bit in its mouth, is a pony. It's not the first time Amber has seen a pony - periodically, a traveler or business pony would appear in Katerinburg or the Imperial City - but in those instances, there was always an awareness on the part of both her and the pony that the pony was the alien element, with their odd clothing (or sometimes, lack there of) and gawking at the same mundane temples and castles. Here, however, Amber can feel that she is the foreign element, thrust into a land that still contains remnants of its pony past.

Soldau Hauptbahnhoff is a relatively small station, with only the two platforms and the bypass rail, much like Kronburg's station, with a black tar roof that covers the platforms. Inside of the train, passengers are already lining up by the doors to exit, many with large amounts of luggage. These must be emigrants, looking to take advantage of the land offers. Usurpingly, most passengers remain, presumably heading to Hellquill, though it seems a disproportionately large number of passengers from the last coach car are looking to leave the train. A few police stand on platform, along with passengers looking to enter the train. This is not by itself out of the ordinary, as passengers exiting the train need to be herded to a customs agent waiting at a table inside. What is not as pleasant is that the officers are approaching the coach car.

Amber's companions have started up a conversation, inspired either by the sight of the pony or the unsettling element of the police, over why they did not instead emigrate to the wealthier and less rainy Dominion of New Mareland.

Federkleid: "I don't want to live among ponies. And besides, I don't think they would appreciate our music."
Erich: "No, I've heard there are a lot of griffins there. And Herzlanders too. Enough to appreciate good music. And the thing is they make good wages. They tip well, I've heard."
The griffins miscalculated in this choice of topic, as Helder, who has apparently been several times and considers himself an expert, chimes in with great force, talking about just how few trees he saw in the towns he visited, how flat the terrain was, just how many damned sheep there were, and how nice and generous the ponies were.... at first. Until the money dried up, and they learned to distrust griffins, just the same as the Riverlanders.

By this time, it's clear that the conversation is indeed born of a nervous reflection on the choice to come here, as the police officer approaches Amber with a serious facial expression that is characteristic of Herzlanders.

The grey feathered officer in a black uniform, says "Manifest" to Amber.

>>170620
Posey goes to recount the events of the trip to Lament (omitting the part where she agreed to play dead for August, and instead saying he believed her to be dead), and introduces Baka to him.
She then expresses intent to devote a few days or weeks to magical research.

>>170634
Despite it being a griffon land, and one neighboring Katerinburg, Amber is acutely reminded of how unusual this land is. Besides the fact that the surroundings don't seem well-worn, the presence of ponies wearing an equestrian version of shackles is off-putting. Imperial griffons aren't generally fond of the herbivores, but even when considered second-class citizens they are still citizens. The Hellquill attitude is comparatively draconian and uncompromising, a reminder of distant and brutal pasts thrust into the modern age. She would need to be careful amongst such griffons, even as a griffon.

There isn't much time to dwell on this, as the illusion must be upheld above all else. Once the train rolls to a stop Amber gives the signal for passengers to safely disembark.

The biggest problem of course is that Amber is not an actual conductor, but merely pretending to be one, which means a lack of familiarity with procedure. The simple request catches Amber off-guard.

"It is inside the train. I will go get it," Amber bluffs.
[1d20+3 = (14+3) = 17]

>be Gloomy
>be picking flowers in the yard
>there's so many of them
>they're literally growing out of the ground
>and grass too
>you always thought grass and flowers came from crates
>but they're all around you
>with this many, you can make momma a flower crown
>she likes those
>must be because of her cutie mark
>last time you made one, she said it made her feel like a princess
>when momma is happy, you're happy
>Golly, it sure is hot today
>Hotter than you've ever been
>It must be because of the sun
>That big white ball of hurty-stuff in the sky
>It doesn't visit Magehold very often
>or at all
>first time you saw it was on the boat
>Momma didn't like it
>Momma didn't like the boat either
>Or the salty sea spray
>she said it makes her sick
>Momma? Sick? There's no way
>Momma doesn't get sick
>only you get sick
>Because you're still alive
>She was probably just trying to make you feel better
>It sure is hot...
>All the smells from the grasses and flowers make it hard to breathe
>Bloodycoughingfit.wav
>It hurts to breathe
>Why do you have to breathe anyway?
>Oh yeah, it's because you're alive
>Breathing hurts
>You struggle to your hooves and hobble over to the house
Cont?

>>170633
>>170639
>>170641
Necro-bump

>>170621
>>170633
>>170639
>>170645
="HEY, BAKA? HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF... 'REPLACING' LITTLE LETO? IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO LET HIS DOMINION GO TO WASTE? I KNOW OF SOME WAYS TO DO THAT. MY MASTER PROHIBITS ME FROM EMPOWERING MYSELF SO LONG AS I'M BOUND TO HIM, AND I AM BOUND TO HIM SO UNTIL I EXCEED HIS POWERS, BUT YOU HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF FINALLY BEING FREE OF SERVICE. WITH MY ARCANE SKILL AND YOUR PRIESTLY MAGIC, WE COULD TURN YOU INTO A FULL-BLOODED VAMPIRE? HOW DOES THAT SOUND?"
Posey says, initiating dialogue