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Please keep out of character discussion contained to this thread. The previous one hit bump limit
I've been away for a week, and to be honest I don't really miss it and don't really want to come back. But this weekend is the last free weekend I will have until march, so I would like to attempt to advance the game if possible.
98% of all of my issues are with remarks and comments out of character. Almost nothing in character has bothered me at all. The only thing that comes to mind is that players consistently refuse to communicate to each other in character, and only ever want to talk out of character. So to that end, I am implementing a new rule: no out of character anything in the gaming thread, except for posts about availability, one sentence positive remarks, basic meta like modifiers or HP, and Sven. Everything else needs to stay in this thread where I can, at the very least, chose to not read it. I would say I would enforce it by deleting posts, but to be honest at this point I'm more likely to just start doing something else and never return.
I don't want your little adversarial or sarcastic remarks. I don't care. My patience wore out in early November. I've been driving on bare rims for a while now. Keep that shit to yourself. Honestly, if you were talking shit about me (and each other) behind my back, I would appreciate it more at this point, because every time I see those little shitty remarks whether they are to me or Posey or Brie or Silver or whomever, all I can think is "why did I chose to move from the chair in front of my desktop computer and to my bed to respond on my laptop, when I could have closed my laptop, gone to my desktop computer, and played Stellaris or Hearts of iron 4 instead?"
I don't care that you don't like any post that Posey makes. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. I don't fucking care. For the love of God, shut the fuck up. I don't care. Mail him a letter for all I give a fuck, do not post shit towards Posey in my thread. I don't care. Shut up. Shut up. Shut the fuck up. I don't care. You are driving me insane, shut the fuck up, I don't care.
I get that sometimes, you have genuine concerns about things like scheduling, or maybe about what other players are doing. I don't want to minimize that, but honestly, now is not a good time. Please suffer it a little longer, because right now I can't really suffer much more bitching.
That's all I have to say at the moment. At the end of next week, I will be going out of the country. As I will be with a friend, I don't think it will be very easy for me to lead intense sessions until March.
https://suno.com/playlist/bb26db02-8d46-4147-8799-02cbfa3ca8cdThis is an Ai-generated Album composed by one of my guildmates for WoW raids, hope you like it! ^_^
>100% chance of thunder!
That's our battle cry btw ^_~
;_; Cowie the druid is about me
>>188151I remember being somewhat excited over the future for my character back when I played her last so it's a shame. However, don't worry. GM, you're mental health has to come first, I really do get that. Just know, I thought it was fun while it lasted.
>>188154I guess, the reason you're ignoring GM's post is because you think that it's an unfair assessment of the situation and you don't wanna delve deeper into it because you...Probably multiple reasons, like you feel that you have the other players stack up against you, that you it's a lot of work writing and going through post to make a good argument for your case, or you feel slighted by how unfair you feel the GM's post is. I'm guessing here.
But perhaps that's the wrong approach. Instead of trying to figure why you're aren't responding to these posts, I should focus solely one what is being discussed.
I feel like I'm a bit out of the loop. Why are we fighting? I'm not being sarcastic to make point either although I figure the point would be something like fighting instead of playing ruins the fun of the game. I understand that fighting happens but at this point I'm not sure.
Was the comment about scheduling not resolved? I guess, when it comes to bad blood things aren't that easy as resentment stews in people who feel like earlier misconducts haven't been air or resolved so any attempt to make up become token gestures rather than something real and lasting. My take is that both parties genuinely have to put in the effort to try to resolve their issues and this will probably be a painful (as the people involved need to be transparent about their feelings, especially fears) and long to truly resolve things but sharing insecurities with someone who is more akin to an enemy in one's mind is difficult for obvious reasons so I guess that's why it's hard to mend relationships that have taken too much damage. Sorry, if I come off as pretentious as I babble on. I just wanted to give my two cents.
Idk, what to say, though. I just felt like someone had to address the elephant in the room.
I guess, while I'm at it, I'm pretty sure the involved parties are Lotus and Ninjas which add more history between them, whatever that may be. I don't believe that people can view things from a neutral and objective stand point. Like, when I hear my mom saying things, I try but it's impossible for me to take in her statements objectively about it due to who she is. It's like a dog that was electrically shocked by a fence as a pup. They are on edge near such fences. Though, maybe I shouldn't brought up this context since it lack relevancy and perhaps it really does. I'm sorry in that case. If you want my point of view, then keep in mind that I'm coming from a place of ignorance but I guess my POV could be used as a jumping off point for other posters if nothing else.
I'd dismissively say something akin that Brie should agree to GM's terms to act in post above meanwhile GM should still try to remain open for constructive criticism.
I understand this statement is probably gonna feel incredibly incorrect but that's also what's good about it. Now others can come in and easily share their point of view by correcting me.
Welp, that was a lot of talking. ^^
>>188049 →>>188119 →>>188120 →>>188124 →>>188127 →>>188128 →>>188129 →>>188130 →>>188131 →>>188140 →>>188141 →>>188143 →>>188144 →>>188145 →>>188146>>188147 →>>188155 →>>188162 →You were told, very clearly, not to shit up the threads with a bunch of consecutive short posts. You were clearly informed of the detrimental effect it has on the GM, the players, the general atmosphere, and the readability of the thread. And yet you are still doing it. Why are you doing this? Why can't you follow basic instructions? Why are you choosing to shut up the thread with your nonsense?
Most of these posts aren't even in-character. They're off topic spam. They don't say anything constructive: it's just annoying noise. Go shitpost in your own thread.
Fucking stop.
>>188152>>188153>>188154And you're doing it here too. This thread is not a designated shitting street; it's for our of character discussion related to the game.
>>188163This
>>188164There (you) are!
>You were toldAre you presuming to speak for GM now? GM is entitled to get more cross with me than I will tolerate from just about anyone, thank you. I am quite confident at where I stand with him, thank you for your attempts to posture on his behalf.
>>188163You probably don't wanna know, tbh
>>188165GM told you, multiple times. He even told you in this very thread, and you're still doing it.
>>188166I'm replying simply to indicated that I see the post, and disregard it's premise. I am confident in individual's ability to argue on their own behalf, and your attempts to do so are summarily rejected, with prejudice. I think you've said quite enough about what other people can say, and Gm is the only actual authority here.
>shits up the thread with no remorse
>"Why does nobody want to interact with me?"
>>188168If it is desired for me to leave, HE has but to ask. I literally offered. Are YOU done?
>fucks off back to listening to HIS SONG
Oh? Do (you) not have a song?
Yes, I'm a petty bastard.
Having said, I have a song. Something someone who really likes me made for me. So miss me with the "no one likes you" nonsense
Frenly reminder
IS the druid who braves the stormy air
Curious, why would that even be your argument, even if it were true? Kinda a malicious point, don't you think? I mean, if I were someone who was struggling with social acceptance, it would be an awfully dick move to shove it in my face, but you do you I guess. I just miss when we were frens.
Oh right, OOC, my bad
https://youtu.be/gZDmpPKggsQ?si=4uItwYptQ_j-HmbDBy now the cigarette is being discarded, and another is being lit
Yes, you can have whatever concessions you want
>>188180Nono, its a fair argument. Posey should get a whole lot of things at this point, I agree
At this point, I would chalk it as a win if Brie wasn't on her target list, when the undeadening happens,... prolly not tho[/spoiler}
>>188169>>188170>>188172>>188175>>188176>>188177>>188179>>188180>>188181>>188182I'm not a player but I see the obvious obstruction tactic you are using.
Not nice.
>>188183Obstruction is the opposite of the tactic I'm using
>>188183Also
>I'm not a player, but I happened across and decided to opineFuckoff, its obvious
Oh, right, we're pretending to be civil. My bad
https://suno.com/song/e5b159c7-571e-4e10-a67e-806c10c1af4eI'll fuckoff back to this sentiment, if anyone needs me
Oh, I'll be here,....
Also, can we dispense with the pearl-clutching?
<ye should prolly stfu at this point
I think we both know I don't listen to reason
<yes, he isnt finished
<GM will notify him when he is finishesh
<Do you think this is a game?
>>188165<You were told, very clearly, not to shit up the threads with a bunch of consecutive short posts.>Are you presuming to speak for GM now? Is that not what he said though? So did GM not already argue his own point? Regardless, most of these posts seem off-topic or tenuously connected at best but I could be wrong.
>I think you've said quite enough about what other people can say, and Gm is the only actual authority here.I kinda disagree. In a DnD group everyone's opinion matters, the GM decides over the rulings of
the game, however, imo my point of view matters if I'm to participate at all. It's a collaboration after all.
So on to that, since I want the game to continue, I'd ask if you could, write a reply to GM's post elaborating your point of view of the situation. I'm sure I'd think you're view has merit if I knew it. Regardless, since emotions are running so hot it would be better to focus on how to reach some form of understanding for the continuation of the game.
These posts where you subtly imply things are unjust, are kinda hard to follow for me and I feel, which I guess is a point of optics though, are the opposite of endearing. I mean it's true that if you're in the right, you don't need to endear yourself to anyone. However, I feel like you could just speak clearly without the, for a lack of a better word, sass. I don't see why you pour fuel on the fire, as if you seek to bring it all to a breaking point of some sort for what I guess is some form of vindication.
Look, I like you. I like the GM and Poesy too even though I have some reservations against his character. It's probably not hard for me to like everyone here. I'm not even sure if I agree with GM's post since I think taking criticism is an important part of improving one's work, however, there's obviously nuances to it that depend on context, which I lack compared to both of you since I have mostly followed the adventures of my own character so far in this campaign. I'm just giving you my off the top of my head POV. You're point matters. Please give it. If nothing else, at least you can say that you tried to reason with him.
>>188199You of ALL people have had the arguable least largesse, please do opine!
<He stopped the songThe prevailing issue - since no one wants to call the elephant - is that we as players, gms, etc., have history that everyone SEEMS to want to ignore. While an appreciable position, I soundly disagree. Be that as it may, a player in particular feels entitled to opine on behalf of Gm, which seems a bit off.
>>188200>please do opine!Thank you. ^^
>The prevailing issue ... is that we as players, gms, etc., have history that everyone SEEMS to want to ignore.Sounds probable to me
(not meant as an ironic statement).
>Be that as it may, a player in particular feels entitled to opine on behalf of Gm, which seems a bit off.That sounds fair.
>The drawingI won't promise anything but if you like, I'd like to draw some of thee pcs. As you can tell; while I don't trace, I use references so it is what it is. But if you feel like it, you can describe your character and a moment you liked from their story and I will
try to draw it (if I'm not too lazy).
>>188201That question about drawings goes out to all in thread btw.
>>188201Brie has a gunmetal grey pelt, with stripes of almost-white and almost-black mane/tail. His eyes are "virulently" yellow. He usually wears a fetching vest that has throwing knives in it
>stripes
Yes, it didn't occur to me at the time, but his mane and tail could be easily misconstrued with that of a zebra, shutup you
<Sniff
<enough of that faggotry
>>188151I'm really sorry you feel that way, GM.
I did have fun this adventure, and I was really looking forward to the climatic battle in the conclusion, but you need to be having fun too for this to work out. I don't blame you for wanting to stop; it seems as though you've been forever-GMing for a long time, and everyone needs a break, especially when they have been thanklessly GMing for so long without even getting to play. Just the week I GM'd an in-person game for some people I knew who seemed less-than-appreciative of all of the work I was putting in to create content for them, to the extent that I questioned if I even wanted to do another session; and I can freshly relate to how demoralizing it is to hear players complain without adequately showing enough appreciation for the work you put in: it's incredibly draining.
Take some time to focus on yourself. I do like your game, and I will patiently wait until you decide if you want to continue in March.
>>188201>>188202>But if you feel like it, you can describe your character and a moment you liked from their story and I will try to draw itI would be glad to see a pic of Posey, tbh.
Maybe a pic of her fighting the hydra in the swamp, flanked by her 'puppies'.
Or a pic of the end of her clash with Luminous, at 1 HP, snarling like a wolf with flesh melting off her bones, wearing her fake 'paladin' armor getup (chain shirt and helmet).
Or a pic of her negotiating with the Kaftar priest in their mosque at night, dresses a mysterious cloaked mage with a dark secret.
Or a pic of her adorably rubbing herself on leviathan bones like a cat.
Or a pic of her admiring her precious new tiara.
Or just a pic of her cuddling Gloomy beside a fireplace.
>Rosey Ring appears as a youthful mare with soft and elegant features. Her coat is a pristine snow white, and exceptionally fluffy. Her mane is a sanguine red-pink, and is soft, fine and silky, almost glowing with its vibrant color. Her mane is exceptionally long, and usually done up in a braid or a war bun. Her body is slender and dainty, with generous feminine endowments. She has a calm and professional demeanor, and she comes off as mature, despite her apparent youth. When she moves, she seems to glide over the ground, with grace that seems almost supernatural. The spring in her step betrays a deceptively strong body. She trots with a regal confidence, puffing her fluffy chest out and holding her head high, and making eye contact with anyone within eyesight. Her elegant and courtly demeanor betrays an aura of absolute menace, a predatory supernatural hunger conveyed in her hypnotic gaze. She always seems alert and engaged, her ears swiveling like tiny satellite dishes. Overall, she is strikingly beautiful. She seems to radiate youth and vitality, but something about her supernatural appearance is... Unsettling. She seems almost more like an exquisite painting of a mare than a living thing, uncanny in her supernatural beauty.>Rosey Ring's eyes are like pools of gold, with hypnotic radial concentric rings. They glow with authority and give off a mesmerizing aura that demands submission. Staring into them too long gives feelings of unease and terror, but their commanding presence makes it difficult for any unfortunate souls who've caught her attention to look away.>Posey's Cutie Mark is a dark sun surrounded by a red flare. It also resemble a buboe from the black plague. It fills out her soft and rotund flank very well. The Dark Sun above a white sky is Posey's mark of destiny.>Posey's appearance is unnatural and supernatural, her vampiric heritage allowing her to appear closer to life despite being dead. Her appearance greatly depends on her mood: when cheery, her fur appears pristine and fluffy white; when less-cheery, her skin appears rotten and blotched, and her eyes glass over. When she's feeling especially nasty, she may briefly show bat-like or wolf-like traits as her monstrous nature makes itself known. Posey's appearance is a reflection of her own vanity and sense of of self (proportional to her charisma score): when she's confident, she's beautiful; when she's distressed, she appears more corpse-like. Her fangs are retractable.>Like most katane, Posey craves blood, but is not dependent on it. Taking in blood helps her control her stress levels, and thus also control her appearance.I based Posey's appearance in part off of Makima from Chainsawman.
Gloomy is an earth pony goal of a blotched pale blue-gray color, with cloudy sleepless eyes in sunken sockets. He's sickly, thin, anemic and diseased, and at a glance he looks closer to undeath than Posey does. His movements are uncanny and erratic, and he wanders to and fro as if sleepwalking through a perpetual nightmare. He's based off of the Pale Horse of Death, and his appearance is based off of a famous painting of the four horsemen. He's a descendant of an extinct tribe of cannibalistic snowponies who revered the windigos in the frozen north, and would be fluffy if his fur weren't so thin from chronic disease. His demeanor is generally somber, and he walks with a slouch, as if carrying the weight of Death itself on his back.
Gloomy is a Long Shadowed One, so his shadow always appears longer and larger than would be normal for the lighting. His shadow may sometimes flicker and distort, or swell to take the silhouette of a malevolent demon.
Occasionally, he may be seen with the sign of Naberious on his forehead due to practicing Pact Magic; the influence of Naberious's possession is partly the source of his somber demeanor. He's may also sometimes have a dull yellow glow to his eyes, reflective of Posey charming him to calm him down. In private, he might be seen with fang prints on his neck, but that's rarely the case because Posey always makes sure to heal him up.
>>188201Now that the cup day is effectively over (who really cares who wins the last match, we get an /mlpol/ quarter-final, allow me to address you directly, and through you everyone else in/around the game.
I've spoken to GM directly about the game. I would have liked to have the opportunity to go into more detail, but circumstances were not permissive, and until next time. Having said, I am confident that he knows where my head is at, and I'm all up in his DMs if there's any miscommunication.
Yes, I'm troublesome, I can't emphasize that enough. My words are crass, irreverent, and generally on the border of acceptability. I will compose entire sentences or entire paragraphs, post them, and then decide I should have worded the last sentence differently, or I should have added "this" detail, or realize that while what I said makes perfect sense to me (you) still have no idea what I'm talking about.
But I'm not leaving the game unless GM asks me to, no matter how long I have to wait to play. And if/when GM decides he has has enough, I'm already planning on starting a game that he can play. And in the meantime, I will continue to check the board every 5-20 minutes, eagerly hoping to see signs of life.
>Oh look, ninjaz is doing it again
I hope this doesn't ruin the mystique, but this previous weekend I had the opportunity to meet GM in person. In fact, he kinda saved my bacon at one point. But in the process, I gave him my original hardcopy set of the 3.5e DnD books; the same set of books that led to Thez, Mixed Nuts, and if you'll forgive me for saying, RPGs in general for alot of you. I also gave him my $350 clay-tempered Ninja sword; yes, he literally has my sword.
So yes, I have a bit of confidence to my posture. He can tell me "Sit boy" and I will abide.
Let me be EVEN MORE specific.
I WENT to the con SOLELY to meet GM. I wasn't going to go to HarmonyCon at all until GM told me to meet him there. I immediately went to our financial officer and said "I NEED TO MAKE HARMONYCON HAPPEN, AND I ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO DO IT. And then when the con happened, I got niggered by some hustlers, and I spent almost the entire day AFRAID I WAS GOING TO MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET HIM, because of the shit I fell into. I have more respect for GM than I do myself, if that doesn't come across.
And when he finally DID appear (I was in fursuit, there was no mistaking me) and I realized who I was staring at, I was taken aback. He was covering his badge, so I couldn't tell it was him immediately, but my target recognition computers detected the extra-ordinary twinkle in his eyes.
For years I had pictured a harsher, more hawkish sort of person, but no. He has a very kind face, prone to smiling (unlike mine), and I felt a twinge of shame for many of the negative things I convinced myself of about him for so long. I don't want to fight with him anymore and he knows it, or anyone here for that matter and I hope to illustrate that with an verisimilarity.
And I know at least one of you would prefer I just fucked off, and if I really thought it would help matters I would do so.
<Are ye fookin done?You should know by now that your discouraging comments do not waver my resolve.
>>188195Fwiw, and I mean this, this song has had a transcendental effect on me. They don't know me like alot of people here "do", and for them to put me at the end of the album makes me want to be the person they see. I never expected it, I'm usually left out of group projects and compilations BECAUSE I'm so tiresome. This will probably be my last post for the night, but its me so who knows. I'll get back to posting horsepussy soon
No offense, but this is kinda the thread for it anymore
I won't repost the link, but
>still braves the stormy air, even if it isn't this context
*emphatically smokes a cigarette*
<While I'm here, lets unpack this so this faggot can quit going on about it
>Cowie the druid swims all night
<Alot of drops are based on water
>in the bay of storms
Thats as much a reference as a direct tie-in
>thorium veins
IYKYK
Ngl, the song is pretty circumspect after that point, you'll get it
>night is long but she's not weary
I made mention of insomnia....
*for the druid who braves the stormy air*
*even more emphatic smoking of a cigarette*
<Feck off, its the ooc thread innit?
>>188237Please be done with the salt-posting
>>188239Please be done with the endless spam
>>188240Oh, is that an invitation to hear more about the lore between Brie and Lacey? Cuz I have PAGES
Yes fine, I'll stfu. Are you happy now?
>>188241>is that an invitationIt is not.
>lore>PAGESIt's not necessary to lore dump. Do it in character.
And if you must lore dump, do it in one post, and not a dozen consecutive posts. People are more likely to actually read it that way.
>Yes fine, I'll stfu.Good.
>Are you happy now?Sure.
>>188242>do it in gameThat would require the game to proceed e_e
I think there is a miscommunication here. I post lore of my characters BECAUSE nothing fucking happens. I'm not begrudging GM or his time, nor (you)rs, I'm saying this is a world and I want to create in it.
It drives me NUTS that nothing is happening, and hasn't for basically months. Getting to the party split was agonizing, and nothing has fucking happened since. I would repost the Chuddha image if I thought it might make a difference, but I don't.
Do I have to call each pony by their 'name'?
>>188151Very clearly understood. I hope we can get this underway because this game will always hold importance to me, even if I'm not available at various times. If not, then see you in March.
>>188163tl;dr there was bad blood between two players that went years back and when they started making comments at each other's expense it spiraled out of control. You are right about the effort needed and it seems both sides have worked towards a better mutual understanding.
I think>>188201Cavaliere hasn't had a lot of cool scenes yet. Maybe you could draw him sitting at the hotel lobby, smoking a cigar? Or have him at the top of a cliff with his revolver drawn.
>Description>Cavaliere is a male griffon of tall build but wiry stature. His feline half resembles almost a jaguar, with dense but short black fur and a tail that ends in a small tuft, as well as front jet black talons that end in well-groomed claws. His avian head is covered with dusty grey feathers and is topped with a black crest. The wings on his back are also black and blend in with his fur. He has a thin black feathered "mustache" over a weathered beak, and his seasoned appearance implies that he is roughly forty years old. Although his physical stature is not too imposing, and even by griffon standards he lacks grace and features most would consider to be attractive, his pale yellow eyes shine with a gleam that is both sharp and understanding. He is lightly equipped; the only "armor" he has on is a black bomber-style leather jacket with a fluffy grey sheepskin liner. Under that he wears a black button-up shirt and black trousers, and filling out his outfit are brown leather boots designed for griffon paws, well-made and embroidered but having seen heavy usage. He additionally wears a black wide-brimmed hat made of felt and upturned at the edges, with the crown rimmed by a leather band and a small silver medallion in the front. Around his waist is a heavy-duty black leather belt covered in cartridges loaded into loops, and on one side is an additional pouch that looks packed, while on the other side is a holster for a long-barreled revolver.>>188209You are a fun guy, Brie.
Okay, this couldn't be a better example of "Whoa, not what I meant" than I could have asked for. Heres what I said:
No, I'm a parasite that needs to be kept at heel. I await the chance to maybe blow up, but in the meantime PLEASE don't encourage me
What I MEANT was a bit of self-affing and discipline
I said self-affacing, you disingenuous nigger
>>188163>GM should still try to remain open for constructive criticism.This is not a good time. I would probably just not create at all.
>>188165I did tell you to stop multiple small posts in sequence. Several times.
>>188167I
did tell you to stop making multiple one sentence posts in sequence, especially when they are out of character. I have told you that several times. You have thus far ignored me.
>>188169I've asked you to not be hostile to everyone and to not make multiple one-sentence posts in sequence.
>>188243The game would proceed if you stopped constantly trying to pick fights with Posey (and everyone else)
>>188244More would happen if you stopped constantly trying to fight Posey
>>188199>I think taking criticism is an important part of improving one's workThat work being worth putting the effort into making in the first place is even more important. Because it's a hell of a lot easier to not create at all
>>188200>is that we as players, gms, etc., have history that everyone SEEMS to want to ignoreIf all "history" means to you is that you are angry in the present, then leave your history on discord, matrix, twitter/x, blue sky, mastodon, 4channel, snail mail, telegram, or the fucking pony express for all I care, it has no business in the thread. I don't give a shit about history. Fuck history. I want a fun creative outlet for ideas I've had. I want a fun pony dating simulator, not a wellspring of infinite rage that is powered by ancient grievances. I don't want any of that here.
>>188208>Makima>chainsawman>long shadowed one>Naberious>Pact MagicI don't listen to hip hop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi5zxL2e27k&pp=ygUZaSBkb24ndCBsaXN0ZW4gdG8gaGlwIGhvcA%3D%3D>>188237All of my thises
>>188252https://suno.com/song/9bfb4c0a-273e-4953-93b8-92bc66d01542You did ask, yes. And I'm retarded. Are you going to say "no u" for that reason?
>I told you>I told you>I told youyes,... I'm not ignoring
>fighting with PoseyOh, you think I'm fighting with HIM? LOL
Preferring to not appear to be picking a fight, but also wanting things well aired so that we can pretend to not be picking a fight later, if your argument is that I'm either sausage or any degree of a bother, yes, but where do you draw distinction? I'm all those things, because I decided to wade into the waters you cultivated. You can't hide anymore, and by all rights, you needn't anymore. I have done my part, please, leave me alone and let the game go on. For fucks sake please.
*curls up in a fucking fetal position*
>>188247>Cavaliere hasn't had a lot of cool scenes yet.Hopefully, he can get a chance to look cool this adventure.
>>188252Very much this ^
>Makima>chainsawmanAnime reference. Point involves a calm, professional-looking woman with crimson hair and demonic yellow eyes.
>long shadowed oneReference to a trait from the shackled city adventure path. The point is that Gloomy is tainted with negative energy.
>Naberious>Pact MagicTome Of Magic. I want Gloomy to be my apprentice and his class to be Binder, which uses a system called Pact Magic to make deals with mysterious vestiges, one of which is Naberious.
I illustrated a scene where Gloomy showed Posey the sign of Amon, which he learned during one of his visions.
>That work being worth putting the effort into making in the first place is even more important.Tbh, I feel like in some ways you're putting a bit more work into certain aspects of this game than is necessary. I do really enjoy your colorful and detailed descriptions of sites, but I can't help but wonder how much work it takes to write them.
I also think there's a lot of official resources in 3.5e/d20 systems that you could utilize to make running the game easier for you. Tables for urban explanation, monsters, warfare events, and adventure outlines are available in books like Cityscape and Heroes Of Battle. The DMG/DMGII has tables for treasure, pre-made NPCs, and similar things that could make things easier.
Then there's the d20 modern and/or d20 Arcana books, which include many pre-written modern adventures that you could adapt from your game. I think you could even check out call of Cthulhu d20 as well for adventures in this vein.
I could try to link you up with supplemental materials if you want.
When I'm DMing, I prefer to take a less labor-intensive approach and defer to tables for monsters/treasure/plotlines, and use pre-written materials when they are available. For me it's more that I'm not really confident in my writing, but also because referring to tables and pre-written content for certain decisions let's me save my effort and creativity for things that I actually want to write, and I personally like the sense of neutral arbitration that rolling a table gives me. It's worth considering it you're struggling to write content and/or find yourself putting in more effort than it is worth.
>>188253>I'm retarded.Being retarded is not an excuse for spam.
>yes,... I'm not ignoringIf you weren't ignoring him, why did you keep doing it? Are you just willfully trying to malign everyone? Because that's what it looks like.
>>188255>where do you draw distinction?The spam.
The spam and the ooc/off-topic posts. That is where the distinction was drawn.
Stop spamming.
>I'm all those things, because I decided to wade into the waters you cultivated.Learn to control yourself instead of blaming others for your behavior.
>please, leave me alone and let the game go on.I'll leave you alone; just stop spamming.
>Spain this time
I'm increasingly unsurprised at this point
Don't be a dick.
Please keep out of character posts in the out of character thread.
Linking posts as a reply to a previous post aids in clarity, both to tell who you are talking to, and in what context.
looks forward to playing again
>>188344"Don't be a dick" was to be a universal standard. I have no objections if other players don't.
You know, if you interacted with the commies some more, maybe you'd discover something interesting and/or that you like?
>>188438I've been pretty busy lately, and I thought GM wouldn't be available until March, but I could put some more effort in for dialogue.
>>188438In fairness, who looks at a commie and thinks "There might be value in this individual"?
Are Cavalier and Brie present here? I thought they were at the airship.
Pardon my aloofness, I just need to visualize the scene so I can get back into proper roleplay.
>>188448It's a fair question, my input has been based on how Blackheel (odd name for a pony) has been conversing with Garv alongside Silver, which suggests that no actual distance has been achieved. Brie just has really good hearing.
>>188448>>188449All of a sudden Blackheel responded to Cavaliere and I thought "Okay, they must have moved to the plane." It confused me too.
Alright, here's a plan.
I think we should stick with the pirate story. I know we're trying to earn Blackheel's trust, but imo admitting to being loot-hungry criminals is likely to be a better strategy than telling them that we work for fascists.
I intend to type out a speech explaining piracy to Blackheel in a way that appeals to the communists, in a way that makes it look like we tangentially align with his communist ideals concerning loyalty. I'll reference individual party members in a bluff describing each of us as people disadvantaged by capitalist society who turned to crime, talk about how we live communally, divide treasure by rule of hoof, etc, in a classic romanticization of piracy that emphasizes shared work ethic and disregard for imperialists' property. It will just a story, but it's a description of our group that will be detailed and humble enough to sound honest, while also distracting from any suspicions that we might be working for fascists.
Blackheel has every reason to be suspicious or even paranoid, but he is also in a desperate situation: he likely wants to believe that he has allies, or at least associates with intentions as simple as piracy. If I'm correct about this, he should take a -5 penalty to his Sense Motive check, so Posey should be able to get him to buy her story with a bluff check.
I'm asking ahead of time because I want to make sure that everyone is on the same page with this plan.
I haven't really been able to carry my role as the party face due to language barriers, but lying is Posey's specialty.
>>188451We ARE loot-hungry criminals; some of us at least
>>188448>>188449>>188450shurgsIf I'm being strict to realism, and I usually do, then the tasks Brie and Cavaliere are engaged in should take enough time such that it should last as long as the engagement with Blackheel and the other three ponies.
But...
The first combat encounter has already "equaled things out" to make up for Cavaliere and Brie having had a combat encounter the others haven't, and in any case, I like NPC interactions and the party thinking together.
I would say the most logical thing to do would be to just move Blackheel and the others to the plane, so everyone is at the same location anyways. But then it may be hard to persuade them to move, so....
>>188448>visualizeThe location is at the base of a hill, and right next to a cliff. Beyond the cliff is the ocean. A string of little rocky islands continue the chain of hills even past the edge of the island, and to the left of the field of view, the sea extends until it is swallowed by a grey horizon. The night is coming soon, and a constant, cool wind, is sure to bring in new, low clouds that cling to the sea and ground in a thick fog. A big, black stallion in full officer's uniform stands as the leader of the group of surviving sailors, along with an orange unicorn in a white, scientists' coat, a green stallion in light blue marine uniform, and a grey stallion in a blue sailor's uniform.
>>188451We aren't really working with fascists, though. Clear Waters sought us out specifically because we're outside of the rest of New Mareland and he doesn't want to spark an international incident with Stalliongrad. I'm also not sure that Black Heel would view us being pirates positively.
>>188457Haven't looked, but am pretty sure it was "Shoal Waters">blackheelWe could always kill him,....
>>188461Shoal Waters, right. Thanks for the correction! Also, we're not killing Black Heel.
>>188451Any objections to this plan of action before I type it out and roll a bluff check (tomorrow)?
Looking at the math, I have a probable chance at succeeding, but I want to make sure everyone is willing to corroborate the story.
>>188470Brie will have the presence of mind to STFU
>>188451I agree with this plan of action. We need to cover our tracks since our actions are meant to be discreet, and the fascists are their mortal enemies. The one downside is that if we bring him along to New Mareland, he will feel betrayed and might do something irrational. It would also be very hard to protect him from New Mareland since he is a political officer of Stalliongrad and he knows too much.
>>188470I know I said I would type this check Friday, but I have been on some pretty strong muscle relaxants due to work-related injury, and I was so drowsy I forgot entirely. Sorry about that.
I'll get to it when I can, but please don't hold your breath waiting for.
>>188504>muscle relaxersUgh, sounds like a back injury. Take care, that shit is usually permanent
>>188505This was me by the way
The unfortunate part is that the torpedo plan hinges on having something that can readily carry almost a ton of explosives, so Posey's bluff check is kinda integral
>>188516 →>gunshotIt seemed a good way to get ponies' attention, and it was declared,... did I hit something hidden?
>>188518Think about the purpose of our mission on our island, our relative strength, and the other threats that are around. Do you
really want to do that?
>>188523Yes, and we're supposed to be pirates; a bit of recklessness is rather characteristic. Its still suppressed (until GM states otherwise), and unlikely to result in an ambush, and could be said to grant a circumstance bonus to the intimidation check (which was an 18) as far as loosening the tongues of Blackheel and this unicorn.
>>188525You know intimidating a target makes them unfriendly or hostile after 1d6 x 10 minutes, right?
>>188526He can be as hostile as he likes once he's answered all our questions. We should disarm him, come to think of it.
If we want him to join us, we should really avoid turning him hostile
>>188528Whether we take him hostage or he joins us willingly, the outcome will be comparable
Also I'm not so sure how vulnerable he'd be to intimidation, anyways. He's already guarded, and he's proven to be fearless against far worse than us.
>>188531Perhaps, but atm Brie is the only one holding a firearm
>>188533The grey stallion is holding a rifle. The green stallion may be, if he isn't still fiddling with the radio. Though, since the earlier battle he's more likely to still have the rifle. Mala should always be holding his shotgun, if he's there and not in the back with the griffins or the other ponies.
>>188540Well, hopefully it doesn't come to that, but that simply means the grey stallion gets shot first. I said Brie would have the presence of mind to shut the fuck up during Posey's bluff/diplomacy check, so technically it hasn't happened yet.
GM, is there any way for Posey to tell if her charm spells are successful?
>>188543Not that I can think of. Can you?
>>188545Well
>You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.)I think it's you who would call for the charisma check when it occurs, which would reveal that the target is charmed.
>>188504>>188541 →This was the best I could type while high and drowsy. I made my skill checks and gave some accompanying text. GM can interpret the results now.
My full participation is going to be limited for a while.
>>188549Rest well, poner.
While tempted to seize the opportunity and do the gunfire intimidation now that Posey has said their spiel - decent overall though it did take Brie a modicum of restraint to not react to "my" crew - I will wait until other players have had the chance to comment
Rules on failed intimidation rolls impacting NPC disposition or not, let's not take that risk. I don't mind if Brie continues to be the "unhinged" one of the group–if anything that helps sell the pirate narrative–but let's not turn the little help we get against us.
>>188557Let's not get it twisted. Brie doesn't want to HAVE to compel their actions, but he already knows how to do so.
>>188559Fuck it, this is the OOC thread.
Nonlethal scenario:
1a. Smoke grenade
1b. Blinding egg
Objective: Disable ready gunstallion (hoof-cuffs) and then "discourage" other guard from getting touchy-feely (with hooves OR bullets).
Violent scenario: Lets not go there
2. Hope that the party realizes Brie isn't insane, that this is intended to be useful in the long term even if panties are bunched and jimmies are rusleled.
Regardless how it ACTUALLY plays out, Brie is ready to tell the Commissar AND his lackeys who is in control, and its (ahem) Captain Posey.
"She wouldn't be captain, except she tells the wind where we're going. It's like in that old fable "Dune" where he who controls the spice melange'." Brie says with a mild mix of disingenuity, coupled with a sense that "this is the best pretext we're likely to have, so go with it.
Assisting Posey's Bluff check, which grants only the +5
>>188560Why would you attack them?
If they don't want to help us fight the Traveller, we could just walk away.
>>188563Ideally one wouldn't, but if they're not willing to assist, they can join the chain gang
>>188564And they will be told this, if push comes to shove
>>188565And when I say this, I mean Brie really doesn't want to use the blinding eggs; lots of reasons. But he also is only playing at the pretense that he couldn't individually disable this entire 4-pony crew single-handedly. Yes, it would be uncomfortable, but there was the time somepony decided to cast daylight over the sneaking rogue and he VERY ANGRILY still won.
Does Posey still have that goat? Just curious
>all these posts
Its contextual, and relevant to Brie's body language and presentation. He's quite tired of the hamby pamby "Golly gee, i dunno if this is a major threat" nonsense, and is ready to start compelling ponies at gunpoint.
Or killing them outright, thats also on the table
Hey Posey, do you have a picture of your character's cutie mark?
>>188599Without intending to detract from this question, let it be observed that GM remains in a timezone approximately 6 hours in advance of CMT
>>188599I do not have a picture, but I have a description:
>Posey's Cutie Mark is a dark sun surrounded by a red flare. It also resemble a buboe from the black plague. It fills out her soft and rotund flank very well. The Dark Sun above a white sky is Posey's mark of destiny.A the concept of a dark Sun was originally meant to be a parody of Celestia's cutie mark, going with the antichrist theme I was going for, but also ropes in a couple d&d references such as the black sun of Cyric from forgotten realms or the Dark Sun of Athas. It's also meant to be simple enough to be open to interpretation as to whether it refers to a red giant (Dark Sun) or a ring of fire ("corona"; "crown") eclipse.
The concept of the Sun going dark is a classic trope vampire apocalypse stories, and it is also a biblical reference to the moment when Christ died (Posey is a Necropolitan, created through ritual crucifixion; she still has little heart shaped stigmata on the bottom of her forehooves).
Rosey Ring is a reference to the Ring Around The Rosey nursery rhyme, which is a reference to the bubonic plague: A plague buboe looks like a black dot with a red ring around it. "A pocket full of posies" refers to filling ones pockets with flowers to mask the stench of plague, which also refers to Posey's skill at hiding her undead nature. The white horseman of conquest is also associated with pestilence.
>>188601Is impressed enough by the lore to simply nod in approval
>>188606 →without having translated the commie-de-gook of either party:
If one HAS to lie, then it is best to keep the elements of deception as small as possible, that they can maximize the sincerity of their other words, such that only a skilled polygraph operator or a very skilled behavioral analyst can detect the deception.
So, without being able to retrieve the ko-fi account from which my commissions were to be delivered to, the artist in question DID post a bat mare that bears quite a resemblance to what instructions and 'source' material the artist was provided with. Well mostly, she's supposed to be fully dressed in a chinese-style dress. In any case, while not certain that this image is in any way related, it still serves as a decent example of Lacey Row
That was not me,... I use a comma when I do that
>>188545Is the torpedo based on the Mark 14?
Ooooh! Can the dialect of donkeys ('asinine') be brainrot?
Skibidy rizz, mewing sigma?
(It would be hilarious)
>>188656 →>Why would he be disheartened? If anything, there's been a multifold interest in it, and thats just amongst the players. And reminder, he can shut me down with the quickness. IDK what you're on about. I think you as players need to trust more in GM, if I'm being honestHe already told you that he was, and he already told you why. Scroll up.
Just wait for him to reply. Additional posts are not necessary so long as he's not active.
>>188655 →>I'm trying to assist your convoluted charisma check, in such as I can.Also, this is not how skill assists work. You need to use the same skill to aid another, so intimidation is not helping my bluff, or my diplomacy. Wanderer's Diplomacy to improve the attitude of an NPC towards an ally. Based on the results of your check, you would only be undoing the results of mine, potentially even making the NPC hostile (or, only hostile towards you; charisma skills work with one-to-one attitudes).
I did not ask for an assist. The results of my check would not benefit from just a +2, because they already hit the DC.
It is possible to coerce a target to treat them as friendly before using Diplomacy to improve that to helpful, but that's risky, and order of operations matters. I know this because Intimidate is my single highest skill and it is my specialty, but I am not using it because we agreed on a plan for negotiation, and we should at least wait and see if the first one worked before we move to coercion.
>no one is fucking postingWe are not posting because GM is not responsive because he has a life and said he would be away for a while, and without GM there is no game.
Just wait for GM like everypony else.
>>188659>he already told you that he wasYes, weeks ago. And yes, I do trust that GM is pony enough to be able to process emotions over a several-week to month period, such that Brie could have such a potentially onerous discussion without things depreciating into outright conflict. If not, I trust GM to advise me in a similar capacity that he talked me 'down' from firing a potentially onerous "reckless" discharge of firearm.
Do you not trust GM to adjudicate when the time comes? I do, if that doesn't come across. My issue is playing a 'challenging' character who tests enough of "boundaries" to be consistent, but without pushing anyone too far.
I did mention I want to retire this characters, to make way for a much more reasonable bat, assuming we can survive this encounter.
So what if I'm the monster?
>that's not how skill assists work
We can debate about how "skill checks are intended to work" if we want, but we already fucked the pooch if we're intending an "uncomplicated" skill check. We fired off half-cocked before Brie even decided to interject. So if there's to be complaint about overlapped and/or inconsistent skill checks, check your boy who wants do do 4 different checks at the same time. Tell me about how that's supposed to work. In the meantime, I don't care whether the commies like us in the aftermath, I just wanna know if they're dying now or not.
And I want them to know that their choices will expedite how quickly they're somewhere between "unharmed" and "violently murdered"
Let's draw this out shall we?
If we're pirates, why are we "asking permission"? If we're pirates, why are we not making sure they're dead? Come on now, how committed to the 'role' do you want to be? I know, it's JUST a story, but stop with the clutching of pearls, please. If (you) have 'issues' getting your hooves dirty, please step aside and stfu for those who don't have such issues.
>>188669Oh don't say that, it would be funny
>>188667 →>Brie is given the Tucker Carlson squintBetter than nothing at all, at least they're paying attention enough to realize that they could die if they don't answer right
>Don't get shot
What I mean to say is, don't make the mistake of assuming that this is a time to get friendly and talk about our feelings. Lets stick to business and leave the personal aside.
>>188679Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Kira's a very friendly creature, though, it's in her nature.
>>188672Pic
>>188679Bro is literally saying "the fate of Equestria does not rest on us making friends
>>188695Yes, but let's not pretend we're gonna be pen pals and shit
>>188695To this end, the best we're likely to end up with is a triumphant "Group Photo" with the government-provided camera, that yes will be sent out if we exchange social medias.
It will be glorious. But lets not get hung up on details, let's get a move on. I know YOU know what the parameters of time are but WE don't, and I/Brie assume that we're wasting it with needless banter.
>>188697Interacting with GM pone's interesting and rich NPCs is never needless. Anyways, as long as we're not being egregious with our time management, I'm sure we'll be fine. And I'm certain GM pone would alert us if we were in danger due to time.
>>188721At least PRETEND to be pirates
Frenly reminder: My objective is to - as quickly as possible - get to where Stix and Scones can play too! ^_^
OMG THEY'RE FINISHED! I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to get them cuz my ko-fi got,... compromised. Presenting, Ms. Lacey Row
>>188772Very nice
rona-chan OC.
But seriously I'm glad you got it bro(s) and it looks great.
>>188773>rona chanREEEEEEEEE, you only say that cuz of the dress Xp
>>188772Nice. Does the first scene involve her breaking out of a lab in Wuhan? Perhaps sneaking out of a cage in a wet market?
>>188773cannot unsee
>>188778 →>>188782 →Before this devolves into another unintended argument, let me explain. Because this game has equal parts DnD modern and classic 3.5, I don't know how you intend technology to translate. The rogue skill "disable device" is SUPPOSED to pertain to swing traps, gear traps, and magical traps, where the only explosives are associated with bat guano.
Without prompting, I don't often know what appropriate skill checks I should be doing. And since generally rolling for unrequested skill checks is not what you're supposed to do - let alone spamming skill checks (which btw is a form of a demand) because you don't know what checks to roll - is not something I'm going to do. So, if you want to RETCON Brie making his skill checks, that's fine. But no, you're not 'finally' going to realize that this 'still needs doing'
>>188779P.S. If keep it up. I don't HAVE to describe lewd scenes with her,...
Okay. I went ALL the way back and reread ALL the posts from the moment we got the initial description of the plane, which occurred on January 10th.
Without going back over all the exchanges, this is the point that occurred most recently after Brie initially disabled the trigger mechanism but before things went off the rails.
>>188124 →>>188128 →Yes, they were not directed, which as I have said means they were implicitly directed at GM.
All of Brie's dialogue from that point was to make small talk with Cavaliere, as he was supposed to be there with Brie working on things. But when Cavaliere was suddenly making dialogue with Black Heel, I assumed that the party had returned and were having a group discussion outside the airplane. Not sure how that's to be resolved, but it invalidates ALOT of what Brie knows about the situation, specifically Black Heel and his commies, as well as all of Cavaliere's dialogue with Black Heel.
Unless we want to play it that Brie and Cavaliere set the equipment to be easily removed and then tracked the party down (which is an easy thing to explain since they can fly)
The problem SPECIFICALLY occurs - not to point fingers - at
>>188308 → when GM had Black Heel addressing Chevaliere,
and orange stallion responding to Brie's spiel about "untethering the traveler", which up until then had not involved the other group.
Does anybody oppose Posey going off to do the bone whale thing I described earlier? I think it is
I guess we could go together, idk.
I've mostly given up on sacrificing the prisoner, even though making an Icegaunt in this context was something I was excited for. Since we're going for the route of leaving the prisoners alive, the scary ice zombie ally isn't as necessary.
IDGAF what anyone does, just don't treat it as your own personal Odyssey
Let me rephrase:
Most of us have a victory condition of GETTING OUT ALIVE, cuz we're actually alive and not ironically. Yes, we can actually die. Oh yes, you can 'die', but it's complicated; it isn't complicated for us. So if you wanna fuck off on your power fantasy, sure.
I have no intention of dying, but risk is part of the thrill of adventure.
Besides, having a floating bone creature is useful in case extraction plans fail and I need a ride off the island.
Also I can't think of any other way to carry a bomb that weighs more than a ton.
Posey can take the Run action and hustle indefinitely, so she can cover ground faster than most creatures of her speed when travelling over land at full gallop.
>>188799Arent you already dead?
>>188799>>188800For the record, this was purely a shitpost and in no way intended as a dig.
>deleted posts
Apologies, its set to not auto update, so Cavaliere's post didnt update before I posted
You know, if I had cast Disguise Undead, I might've been able to bring that aquatic ghast with me. An swimming minion could have been useful around now. Oh well, at least Gloomy is well-guarded.
>>188814 →>It would take only a couple of sentences from the each of us to figure that part out. There is no need to be so reckless.We've been talking about this for months now, tbh.
It's March. Let's get the show rolling.
>That might be something she decidedly does not want, depending on the magic she intends to useYour character's actions are yours to decide. I will not opposed them so long as they are not acts if aggression towards my character (which includes theft).
I already described what magic Posey intends to use OOC. She's animating bones to create minions for the boarding of the Kostroma, particularly the advanced Bone Lurker out of the leviathan bones.
Posey would prefer not to have witnesses in the act, but the party will see the results of her work anyway.
Cavalier being there is useful since he is a Ranger and can therefore safely navigate to and from the whale bones. Since his cruising flight would be about as fast as Posey's undead hustle, he would be able to keep up with her without exhausting himself.
... It would also mean that he would be there to stop her from immediately flying to the top of mended horn to sacrifice the enthralled prisoner to create an Icegaunt though, which she might have been tempted to do in the absence of a flying witness...
>>188818Again, apologies; as a player I thought you were trying to hijack the decision, and as a character Brie doesn't trust the idea of Rosie going solo while she has the 'keys'. No objections
>>188820>while she has the 'keys'What "keys"?
Silver has the feather token we need to escape.
I guess she has her tiara, but that's not a key to anything
(...unless...?)I guess the prisoner is still on her floating disk.
>>188823I missed that, I have it in my notes that Rosie took the feather tokensince she asked for it
>>188823Thanks for reminding me, we really should take the prisoner off your hooves. Less chance he gets sacrificed that way, and Black Heel would likely not appreciate it if Posey returns less one of his sailors.
>>188825Pretty sure its too late for that
>>188833
Oh no, I'm SO scared.
>>188834I do hope you're doing your pushups. Prolly not, cuz yer a bitch
>188835
Easy on the salt. It's not good for your blood pressure.
>>188836Oh right, cuz my blood pressure is the concern. Not like you who needed everything paused for them how many times for whatever the fuck reason? Shutup you goddamn diva.
>188837
>Oh right, cuz my blood pressure is the concern.
Judging by how hard you are sneeding, yes.
>you who needed everything paused
I have never asked for the game to be paused.
On the handful of occasions where I was unable to play in the past two years, I almost always specifically said the party was free to proceed without me.
>Shutup you goddamn diva.
No u.
You are being massively gay for acting offended on someone else's behalf and shitting up the roleplay thread with ooc posts.
If Cavalier has a problem with me asking that he roll a survival check for me, he can tell me himself. He does not need you to speak for him. I will accept such a statement from him, not from you.
>he's still shitting up the RP thread
>>188838Who's sneeding? Oh, you said that a half hour ago. Aren't you precious.
>I never asked for anything paused"GM I demand answers to these 7 questions, and these 5 dice rolls"
"While you're doing that, I want to be doing this other thing, does that require a roll?"
"While it's that other player's general turn, attend to me, would you?"
I could go on.
You literally "Dread Pirate Roberts"ed over everyine, leaving no one any option but to start an ill advised argument OR pretend youre captain.
I never once used the word "captain" in that post.
And in that post, Posey explicitly described to Blackheel how the crew regard eachother as equals.
>>188859With a display like that Rosie is either the captain or the jester. Which is to be assu.ed?
Apolologies:
>equals
Because they were! Historically, pirate crews were 100% democratic. Oh, the captain led how they did things, bit what they did next was put to a 1 to 1 vote. So yes, you didnt say captain, you just painted it on your chest
Whatever you say, m8.
It's not like the story actually matters. It only matters that Blackheel believed it.
>>188864Well, anyone left alive should either believe/testify that we're pirates, or be sworn to some sort of secrecy, as a mission parameter.
Consider this a friendly notification
It was
>>188864>its not like the story really mattersThats the ARROGANCE I would address
Consider the idea that you're a part of a bunch of people who wanna get to the next thing.
Consider no one cares that you're a "extra special thing". Consider that you're verisimilitude accounts for playing along with the group. Consider that the group doesn't care/wont for leaving undead cuz "Its funny to me".
Focus
Please, everyone check in, decide on a not completely stupid course of action, and commit to it.
>>188873My plan was to animate the whale bones, and then fly them towards the Kostroma.
I really want to do that, but I can be persuaded to do otherwise.
>>188875>>188877 →OMG, literal feels from that
>>188873holdsIt would be a lot easier for me if we scheduled the next game day, just so we can get started
>>188879Agreed.
Until then, we're currently at "Meet back at the airplane"
>>188879>>188880Get started doing
what? Agree on a plan and then we can go about executing it
>>188881You are irritatingly easy to irritate. I assume what he means by 'get started' is "continuing onto the next leg", as we're branching off.
And yes, agreeing on the plan and executing it is the first step toward that. All we're lacking now is an agreement on where to meet back.
>>188881>>188882Easy to inadverdently irritate, that wasn't an aspersion. It's hard for me to not come across offensively. Someone once described me as "The most negative person they had ever met" and my response was "That' one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me". When it comes to shitposting - irl or online - can't stop won't stop. But it's almost never persaonal (if it is, you'll know). And if I'm being honest, GM is only one of several facets to the scheduling equation
>>188881I didn't mean to upset you, GM pone, I'm sorry. I'm just saying that it's hard to know when stuff's happening like this without any prior indication.
Anyways, something that would be useful for determining a course of action would be figuring out travel times and distances. Like, if two groups completing different sets of objectives would line up chronologically in parallel with each other. In that case figuring out a meet-up spot would be simple since there wouldn't be much if any waiting around for either group.
The objectives part of it is simple. We have four things we need to accomplish before going to the Kostroma: reanimate the leviathan skeleton, get the explosive and machine gun(s?) from the crashed plane, find the airponies and the airship, and find the last group of surviving commies. The explosive, machine gun, the airponies, and the airship should be self-explanatory: we need the first two for our fight against the Traveler, and the second two for our primary objective on the island. I know Posey keeps talking about the leviathan whale skeleton in terms of fighting the Traveler, and it
would be useful for this aim, but there's two things that are far more important we need it for: first, for it to carry the heavy explosive to the Kostroma, and second, for it to disable the GRU ship so it can't follow us when we make our escape. Rescuing the commies makes Black Heel happy, and it means we have more numbers in our favor for the final fight. If we know how long travel times between the different objectives are, and add on however long we think it will take to complete them, then we can figure out who completes what and when, like if we should split up into different groups and meet back up elsewhere, or if we should stick together to keep things simple.
Also, I'm going to state this loud and clear to everyone so there's no confusion: I want the commies to join Silver as his followers. They're Silver's version of Posey's cursed crown or Brie's airship. That's another reason why I want the commies rescued, and why I will be genuinely furious if people start deliberately killing them or causing them to get killed. This includes the possessed commies, since killing or banishing the Traveler should cause them to be freed. So please, let's not sacrifice any of them to create undead horrors.
>>188885>I/Silver want the commiesNoted, taking 'killing them' off the table. Brie doesn't know that yet, but he won't escalate anymore.As a player, I don't have a preference whether we go first to make the Commissar happy, or find/rescue the marines/airship; GM made the Tucker face at me earlier, so I'm suggesting we make the Commissar happy.
>the GRU have a shipThe GRU have a ship!>greed intensifiesAnyway, I don't think we should worry about itineraries, I think we should make like Nike in the 90's
I was holding my breath all this time to avoid killing the millennial post...
>>188892Magnanimous of you
Taking the last of the pre 900's digits, let's look at this honestly. While as a purist, I could criticize GM for availability issues, there are far more glaring availability issues.
It's funny to me how the MOST available and read-to-play player is the one who is begging for engagement. It's almost like in order to play this game with any reliability you have to be unavailable and unwilling for lengthy periods.
Wouldn't it be nice if the people 'committed' to playing this game actually showed up once in a while.
Okay, can we agree on this course of action?
>Go from airship (current location) to whale bones to do Posey's plan
>Fly whale bones back to airship (current location)
>Pick up bomb from airship with whale bones (huge creature with a Str score high enough to carry it as a light load)
>Carry bomb from airship to Kostroma
>Board Kostroma
>Defeat Traveller's minions in a way that minimizes casualties
>Destroy Traveller
>Continue on to locate missing airponies
Note that I stopped planning here, because we don't know what developments will occur during or after the fight with the Traveller. If the fight reveals to be unwinnable, we should retreat and abandon the siege of the Kostroma in order to prioritize the airponies.
Really, we don't have to split up to visit the whale bones. I just proposed that because it would take less time. If splitting the party complicates things, we can just stay together.
I would like to proceed to the whale bones now.
I'm going to need some information from GM pone. Namely, I'm going to need distances, travel times, dangers between the objectives, a full list of both the party members and the NPC followers we have, and locations near the Kostroma that could be used as rally locations.
>>188903Travel time was the only reason I wanted to split the party, just to take advantage of better overland speed for not needing to rest.
But I don't care about the specifics. Just take me to the whale bones.
>>188903>distances>travel times>dangersThe whaling station is down the hill hugging around the side of the cliff, maybe 10 minutes away going northwest. Maybe 8 minutes if that could be cut down. There are no known dangers between here and there, but monsters can appear out of thin air.
The exact location of the airponies is unknown, but a travel time of 40 minutes, or at least 30 minutes is likely given that the indicated location is on the opposite side of the island. The location is almost the same distance from the whaling station as it is from the cliff. The crashed airplane is maybe 5 minutes, perhaps less, from the current location on the cliff. The way to the airship requires going through the center of the island, either along the hill crest or along either side of the hill. On the north side of that hill is the bay where the GRU ponies are landing. On the south side is the bay where the Kostroma is located. The medieval village is maybe 20 minutes, perhaps less, from the current position and the whaling station alike. The modern village and the small pier are the closest obvious landmark to the Kostroma, being located at the base of the hill by the south bay. The Kostroma is hundreds of feet out into the water, evidently caught on a submerged sandbar. There is also what seems like a medieval keep on the east side of the bay.
The NPCs include the four griffins who are conscious, four mind-controlled ponies (including Sea Stone on the floating disk and three who are presumably tied up), two critically injured ponies (or was it three?), and the conscious ponies include the two who were rescued from the village, Pippette, the engineer who was with her, and then the four at the cliff, who are Blackheel, Starfire, Steppe Eagle and Rustiing Pine
>>188907Thank you for clarifying.
>>188910 →In case anyone cares, a Bone Lurker is neutral. Most mindless undead like skeletons and zombies are evil (despite lacking thoughts or personal agency).
This being said, skeletons and zombies were made Evil in 3.5e (probably because they decided that Paladins should be allowed to smite zombies), and the Bone Lurker is a monster printed before the update, so at DM's discretion he could make it Evil in line with other mindless undead in 3.5e. Or perhaps he may decide that the monster is unique because of the residual magic in the noble leviathans bones.
Or perhaps GM just doesn't want me to reanimate the bones at all, in which case please just tell me clearly so I can give up on it and move on.
>>188913Question: what's the carry limit for a Bone Lurker? Can it carry all of us, including the NPCs, as well as the explosive and machine gun(s) from the crashed plane?
>>188915I have this statblock for a Huge sized advanced Bone Lurker, based on the one that the demon made for me from the hydra bones. It doesn't have as much HP as the demon's, but it's as good as Posey could possibly make with her scroll.
>Hone Kujira (advanced Bone Lurker)>Huge Undead>Alignment: Neutral Evil***>Initiative: +3>AC: 13 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 14>Hit Dice: 9d12 (68 HP)>Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +6>Speed: 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (poor)>Space: 5 ft. by 15 ft./15 ft.>Base Attack +4; Grapple +22>Attack: slam +12 melee>Damage: Slam 2d6+15>Special Attacks/Actions: Constrict 2d6+15, improved grab, paralysis>Abilities: Str 30, Dex 8, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 11>Special Qualities: Immunities, undead traits>Feats: Improved Initiative>Skills: ->Constrict (Ex): Hone Kujira deals 2d6+15 points of damage with a successful grapple check.>Improved Grab (Ex): If Hone Kujira hits an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with its slam attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +21). Hone Kujira has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its body to hold the opponent. Either way, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals slam damage and constrict damage.>Paralysis (Ex): Any creature hit by Hone Kujira's slam attack must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 14) or be paralyzed for 1d6+2 minutes.>Immunities (Ex): Hone Kujira has cold immunity. Because it lacks flesh or internal organs, it takes only half damage from piercing or slashing weapons.***>Hone Kujira attacks by dropping onto its prey and wrapping itself around its victim. Dropping down in this fashion is considered a charge attack from higher ground. If Hone Kujira misses its initial attack, it often flies up and tries to drop on the opponent again.Based on these stats, a light load for it should be 1856 pounds (2784 pounds if it counts as a "quadrupedal" creature). It could carry more than that, but it would not be able to fly while doing so.
>>188916Flying is pretty important to my plan. We'll see what GM pone thinks. Even if it isn't considered quadrupedal, maybe we can save enough weight through the flying members of the group.
>>188916Also I just noticed this, how does it have more AC flat-footed than when not?
>>188918Because I messed up. It's AC should always be the same.
>>188919Oh, okay. While I wait on GM for an answer, I have another couple questions. Is there a limit to how far the Bone Lurker can go from you while still remaining under your control? Like, if you commanded it to do something on the other end of the island, would it still be controlled? A related question to that: do you have to give it commands directly face-to-face, or can you give it commands from a distance through a telepathic-like mind link?
>>188920https://www.d20srd.org/srd/carryingCapacity.htmFor a 30 strength, it appears no less than 1600 for a maximum load, depending on how GM wanted to have encumbrance affect the creature's flying ability. So, while it will be unlikely to cary many/most while carrying the torpedo and the guns, after they've been expended we can probably carry most who can't already fly
>>188920Animated Dead remain under their master's control indefinitely, until or unless they are replaced in the HD control limit. There is no limit in time or distance.
There is a near-identical bone lurker in the swamp, made of hydra bones, but the Artaaglith that animated them may have used its ability since then, so it may have become uncontrolled (the Dreads that Posey keeps with her may become uncontrolled at any moment).
>Like, if you commanded it to do something on the other end of the island, would it still be controlled?Yes, but I would not be able to give it additional orders, or even make it do anything specific on the other side of the island due to lack of intelligence (unlike the ghoul, which is able to carry out precise instructions).
>A related question to that: do you have to give it commands directly face-to-faceYes.
Commands for undead controlled through the Animate Dead spell are verbal (face-to-face), not telepathic (unlike rebuked undead), so there is a limit to what it can accomplish at a distance. Furthermore, the creature is mindless, and not even of humanoid nature, so only the most simple instructions can be given to it. It could function remotely if it were told to obey the orders or another intelligent creature though (such as how the demon ordered the Dreads to obey Posey, or how Posey ordered the zombie to obey Day Low Rain).
>or can you give it commands from a distance through a telepathic-like mind link?No. Only rebuked undead are commanded mentally. Posey currently controls an aquatic ghast with her mind, and is using it as a contingent defense against anything that might harm Gloomy in the beach house.
>>188921It can only fly while carrying a light load.
>A creature with a fly speed can move through the air at the indicated speed if carrying no more than a light load. (Note that medium armor does not necessarily constitute a medium load.)It could still "run" overland while carrying more than that, but it would not be able to fly.
Worth noting that although I used the ghost whale yokai as a faceclaim, the bone lurker itself isn't necessary a creature of a shape that makes it suitable for multiple creatures to ride it.
>These undead creatures appear as portcullises or gridwork-curtains created from interlaced human and beast bones adorned with sharp bone spurs.This isn't necessary mount-shaped, but at least a single medium creature should be able to ride it (same reason why goblins are able to use ogres as mounts, because they are two size categories smaller despite the ogre being an unsuitable bipedal shape).
>>188922Well it's good that it's Huge then, cuz thats a x4 modifier to all carrying capacities. Assuming 30str to be 500lbs, that puts it right back at 1500lbs
>>188916I should probably make this with only 8 HD (62 HP). That way I could afford to have a second smaller large-sized one without Day Low Rain being unexpectedly attacked by her sister (I know Posey wouldn't care about a zigger's safety, but I want to eventually reanimate her at her full power so I don't want her corpse to be destroyed). Having a second, non-advanced lurker would help defend Posey while the Huge one focuses on destroying the Traveller's summons.
It would burn up the last of my scroll though. No more necromancy for me until I get to that level... Oh well, any wise Necromancer knows that sacrifices must be made to reach one's true potential.
>>188924Quit talking about it. Do it or stfu about it
>>188920If it is flying it doesn’t have the carrying capacity of a quadruped. Anything that flies is limited in carrying capacity relative to the same thing in water or on land.
Also don’t forget that a head was not found for the Devil Whale
>>188929 →>planWhatever do you mean? What "plan" is there to be derived?
In a logistical sense, it makes sense to split the party to try and maximize the available time. But that assumes you're dealing with a self-perpetuating reality as the interface; you aren't. Without assuming to speak for anyone, if I was GM I would not tolerate a splitting of the party. I would wait until the party figured out that this is a group effort.
>>188928>Also don’t forget that a head was not found for the Devil WhaleAh, whups. There goes my aesthetic faceclaim
No problem though. It doesn't need a head.
We're set on the plan to go to the whale bones, right? It's just ten minutes away. Let's just go together to avoid complicating things.
We can discuss the ethics of necromancy later. You guys all know ooc that a mindless bone lurker has no will of its own and has no chance of turning on its master (unless another necromancer casts Command Undead to steal it, or a Cleric twice their level rebukes and commands it). It's also immune to mind affecting attacks, so it cannot be enthralled by the Traveller, unless the Traveller is also proficient in necromancy (which I doubt, because it is apparently unfamiliar with the concept of death).
We've made every possible charisma check and dialogue negotiation with Blackheel. A lot of which is probably unnecessary. Blackheel has every reason to distrust us, but he's also in no situation to refuse. The GRU is not responding to him, so he has no real avenue to sabotage our raid of the Kostroma. As a commissar, he should have enough experience to make a logical decision that raiding alongside us would minimize casualties in his crew. If we leave and bring back the bone lurker, Blackheel will have already made his decision: either to join us in our raid, or to attempt to stop us (in which case, I think we could defeat him).
>>188947In and out of character, I think going as a group is the best idea
I can't imagine that the Leviathan group will need either of the satchel charges, nor do I recall who physically has them, but they were expressly intended for the airship if we are unable to get it running.
>>188967 →>Why is it that I ask this twice, it’s the only thing I ask, and I’m ignored twice?I must have missed it, or was so preoccupied trying to convince Blackheel that I forgot to address it.
>>188975 →>Now you're willing to discuss a plan?That's what we've been doing for the past month.
>My priority has always been to find the "marines" (they're not marines, they're aviation sea-ponies)Mine too, I want to get paid, but I was under the impression that we agreed to destroy the Traveller first.
>As for OOC hooks, I recall GM Pony explicitly saying that if we take on the objectives one at a time we will not be able to get all of them.Yeah, this complicates things....
Maybe we should focus on the airponies first.
>>188976I might be wrong on this and end up getting fact checks, but I think there's some confusion on the matter. As I recall, GM pone never said anything about us running out of time if we take on the objectives one at a time. I think everyone is conflating that with the statement he
did make that if we go after the Traveler
before rescuing the airponies, it will result in anywhere from a partial to a total failure of the primary mission.
I just wanna ask, since Posey is talking about Dagon
>>188878 , does that mean that Lovercraft mythos are canon in this campaign?
It's not a problem or anything, it just wasn't my impression that this was the lore GM had for his world but I don't know so I just want to have it clear up.
Also, I would like to know the extent of how much we're going Lovecraft in this world if that's the case. Is it just for flavor in regards to Posey's character or did Azathoth spawn this world?
It also struck me that I kinda like Azathoth. Every other higher being in that mythos are always such douches to humanity but Azathoth they fear. So you can't help but root for him. Kinda you're enemy's enemy is your friend and Samson, I take you with me before I die, kinda of thing also temple of Dagon. <-- I experience synchronicity like this, a lot.
This needs to be said. There's a big difference between what a player declares to have done and what GM accepts the player as having done. Ask me how I know.
So with respect, unless GM acknowledges or affirms what (you) have posted, unless ratified/accepted by GM, I have no way of knowing whether the action is even accepted.
So while Kira wants to get all angry-face at Brie, she should check with GM to see if it even happened.
And hey, if she was leading the fucking way, we wouldn't be at this impasse would we?
>>188987It was so long ago that I forgot.
Why did we even bother looking for Blackheel and negotiating with him if we were just going to find the airponies first?
>>188988>Posey is talking about Dagon >>188878 , does that mean that Lovercraft mythos are canon in this campaign? Posey is talking about obscure occultism that she has personally studied, and it does not necessarily have any bearing on the setting, just Posey's beliefs.
For the record, I was referencing the D&D version of Dagon:
the Obyrith lord.
>>188980 →Dude, you know as well as I do that called shots are not a thing in D&D: you cannot just say "I shoot him in the head".
Dusty has more hitpoints than you: you cannot kill him in one shot, even with your sneak attack, but the rest of us can kill you in one round (particularly Silver or I). The thing you are planning is foolish.
It's also homosexual to hold a PC hostage when their player is not present.
Pardon the consecutive posts
It appears that after all these weeks planning and discussing, we are still not sure what to do and what order to do it.
I believe that Dust could help us with this. If he's good aligned, which I think he is, he should be able to spontaneously cast sanctified spells, particularly Path Of The Exalted:
https://dnd.arkalseif.info/spells/book-of-exalted-deeds--52/path-of-the-exalted--40/>Path of the exalted allows the caster to consult her deity (or an agent of her deity) to help make a difficult decision. This decision is usually more complex than a simple morality question. It may involve strategizing, choosing a particular lead to follow in an investigation, deciding who to help, or other difficult choices.>The deity or agent simply helps the character examine a known situation from a number of different angles and makes a recommendation about the correct path to take. This spell does not reveal unknown factors, but merely helps the caster analyze known elements. The spell ends when the deity or agent has provided sufficient guidance for the caster to arrive at a decision.Path Of The Exalted is basically a direct phone-line to Jesus that tells the caster the most favorable the most favorable course of action with the given information: by casting this spell, we would be able basically have the GM tell us exactly what to do in a way that would benefit us the most.
It has a 24 abstinence component vs divination, so it cannot be spammed, but in mult experience playing 3.5e it has been one of my favorite divination spells.
We cannot spend another month debating what direction to walk in, but Cavalier raised an important point about the airponies. Casting this spell can let the GM make the decision for us in a way that we can trust us the most favorable choice, so that we can keep adventuring.
I just assume the “Brie points a gun at someone” posts to be not-serious, but for the purpose of getting people’s attention.
>>188998Oh wait, I was mistaken. You only need to be non-evil to spontaneously channel sanctified spells as a Cleric. So Dust should be able to do this, so long as he still has a lvl 3 slot.
Somebody get Dust and tell him to make our final decision for us.
>>188999That's pretty much what I assumed.
>>188999You assume that most of Bie's effort-posts are not serious One wonders what it will take for him to be takeb seriously when he posts. E_e
>>189003Your posts go ignored because they're ridiculous and often don't make any sense; and they come in the context of all off the tangential ooc posts, posts you immediately delete, and fourth wall breaking you do in the roleplay thread: you are not taken serious because your posts aren't serious 4/5 times.
>>189008They make sense if you're paying attention and aren't fixated on leaving autonomous corpses everywhere, or finding every which way to dive up another player's asshole.. It doesn't take much to follow what all I've posted that it does what you have. Oh, let me guess, you'tre gpmms "not kno what that means"
It means:|
You have done everything in your power to upset this game. First by being a liar and an 'innocuous new player uwu', then by deciding you were in a position to fuck whoever-whenever cuz its YOU, and finally by daring to take an "I'm a good boi" stance. What's next?
>>189012I cannot speak on behalf of GM, but that was my say in the matter.
>>189013You have had more than your say on the matter, but thank you for your input
>>189014What do you even want, bro? What are you trying to accomplish?
189015
I hope this works, cuz Brie is about to teach Silver
>>189016A dispensation of this meandering plot. I don't care anymore, and I doubt you do either. Lets JUST GET ON WITH IT
>>189017You don't have the hot points to defeat silver, let alone the rest of us. Silver could kill you in one hit.
>>189018Then stop derailing things by threatening to kill PCs, especially not the one with the spells that can solve the problem. You are adding pointless drama to the equation.
>>189019*sigh*
Agree to disagree. The only character Brie can't one-shot is Posey, with an honorable mention to Kira cuz it technically takes more than one round. And that's cuz you don't like rules, not because he's incapable.
>stop derailing things[i]Derailing what? The lack of progress for three goddman months? Is that what my occumental shitposts are derailing? Your anger isn't with me, I'm just an easy target.
>>189021
No one else kept a dialogue going for months
>>189020>And that's cuz you don't like rulesLol, lmao even.
>not because he's incapableAgree to disagree.
>The lack of progress for three goddman months?Attacking PCs does not progress the plot; it just removes them (you in particular) from the story.
>Your anger isn't with meNobody else threaten to kill a PC.
>>189022Literally everyone has been participating in the dialogue these past months, except for Dust I guess.
>>189023 →Way to dodge the question, coward.
I recall you saying "try it!" last year after threatening to kill me, and then refusing to honor the results of the fight you asked for. Is that what you are doing again?
>>189025You're welcome to disagree, which is why he wins.
>no one else threatens PCsClearly I care more about the continuance of the story
>literally everyone muh dialogueFOR GODDAMN MONTHS
>ur a faget and my mental conception can beat your mental conceptionLol son
>>>189009 →>"I could kill this whole party if I was bored" so why is this the character you decided top play?There you go putting words in my mouth again.
I have never claimed this. Dusty could destroy me. Silver could cut me in half. I only mentioned being able to kill Brie in particular, after you threatened to kill me. Rogue vs necromancer is a poor matchup.
It was actually (You) who claimed to be capable of killing the party, which you openly threatened to do before we even started this quest.
>>189026>which is why he winsMy money is on Silver.
>Clearly I care more about the continuance of the storyBased on the reactions of the GM and the party, it is not appreciated.
>Lol sonIt is (You) who started the debate, when you went off on your "I'm gonna plan to kill the whole party!" tirade.
Wouldn't even roll saves vs the ghoul touch when your bragging was tested.
>>189027We're gonna rehash this? Okay.
1. No. This started when you decided that your first move was to co-opt how I played my character with your bullshit charm shit. We'll get to that part.
Yes, this began when you decided you could try to force me or my player to play any which way but how I wanted. It didn't matter the 'effect', all I heard - as a player - was "You're gonna play how I decide, cuz I have all these fancy rules saying you have to."
>putting words in my mouthOh, cuz you haven't expressly stated it? Cuz you haven't "OOC" made very specific reference to how Posey with her "dreads" and all could wipe the remainder of the party in a 1v1? Get FUCKED.
>based on reactiond of GM and the partyBoth GM and the party can be observed to operate off inconceivable motivating factors. While I acknowledge your ability to get GM to respond to your bullshit, I am learning. Maybe one day, but how you do it seems a compromise of integrity
Oh fuckoff, Rosey's weakness is a silence spell
>>1890272. Hell to the no-no
>Silver could cut me in halfIs this before or after the damage reduction, regeneration, and all that other bullshit?
>Brie in particularIt would be interesting if you tried given how he's spec'd. You'd probably win, depending on how generous GM was feeling toward (you). It might make for an interesting exhibition, I'm not opposed.
Meanwhile, all
MY opposition has been toward the laxidaisical attitude that has been directed toward this game. I'd LIKE to criticize GM for it, but if you look back there's a glaring lack of participation from 'some'
>>189028>Oh, cuz you haven't expressly stated it?Point to the post where I said it. I did not say it.
>Cuz you haven't "OOC" made very specific reference to how Posey with her "dreads" and all could wipe the remainder of the party in a 1v1?I have never, ever said that.
The Dreads are barely stronger than skeletons, btw. The most useful thing about them is the decent fly speed.
>>189029Silence is a Cleric/Bard spell. I already said Dust could destroy me, in more ways than one.
>>189030>Is this before or after the damage reduction, regeneration, and all that other bullshit?After. Silver deals 30-50 damage per round with power attack, and has a magic sword. Unless I incapacitate him with a spell he would probably destroy me.
And I don't have regeneration: undead cannot have regeneration. I have negative energy healing that I can use to touch myself to slowly heal overtime in combat. I get fast healing 1 (one) when I am below half health, from being half vampire.
>It might make for an interesting exhibition, I'm not opposed.You say that, but I recall you refusing to roll the saving throws against my ghoul touch last time it was tested.
You also didn't answer the question in
>>189011 →>all MY opposition has been toward the laxidaisical attitude that has been directed toward this game. I'd LIKE to criticize GM for it, but if you look back there's a glaring lack of participation from 'some'I have been doing my best to move the story forward, and so have the others who have been participating in the dialogue.
Everyone is playing the same way that they were playing for the entirety of this game. You only just joined at the start of this quest: you have no business criticizing the other players for not meeting your expectations of pace when they have been playing longer than you, and you are entering their game.
You are not the only one who is frustrated. All the other players are frustrated. We are in a stall that has been reached due to lack of GM availability and communication difficulties. That is how it is. Complaining about it does nothing but annoy everyone involved.
>>189031>point to where I said itthat's my point. You've been very good about implying it but not actually saying it.
>the most useful thing about dreads is when they have guns. Oh, it seems you noticed
And now for the last
>you only just joinedUhm, when was Brie a character? The beginning? Oh thats right, the beginning.
>>189032>You've been very good about implying itI did not imply it. You inferred it.
>when they have gunsSkeletons can have guns too. Nothing special for characters of this level.
>The beginning?Six years ago. That doesn't mean it's right for you to complain about how the other players have been operating since then.
>>189033>you inferred itYou couldn't have said it more plainly with a billboard, fuckoff
>ignore my firing squadI will, after I ignore all the other sploits you decided you got because 'muh master'
Cry all you want but Brie is a well-aged cheese. And you are?
<Remember that double nat-20? When the griffon had a gun but Brie laughed and danced, and then planted throwing knives in their eyes?
<Remember - oh it was referenced - the Kerr and Wesley incident. I Forget the name of the politician, something liike 'Stromo'
<Were'nt (you) (in a different character) the one who set the warehouse of fire? Weren't we still frens then?
>>189034Idk what your point is now. I am satisfied with my character so far and I look forward to her progression, and I do not subscribe to your persistent yet futile attempts to inappropriately characterize my intentions.
>>189036Okay, we're making progress!
Take your reception to my opinion and double it!
Sorry for not posting in here lately. I had totally forgotten this place exists. It would have saved us some arguing if I had participated more. The campaign thread felt dead but I see this place has been lively.
>>188885I back this wholeheartedly.
>>188913Good to know.
>>188923Assuming each character is about 200 lbs (not counting gear), that's only seven characters. Enough for the party, but not for the entourage we've accumulated.
Let's not be nasty to each other though.
>>189038Good of you to join us
>>188996Okay, I see. That makes sense.^^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aurTTwvwF0I15:20
>current fightGuys, let's not fight, then clear up with GM and the party whatever is putting the game on hold. Everything has been said before. Let's just move on. I'm back and want to play so, let's just do this.
What about this, in lol if you afk too much they will send you a message that reads like this, "Blah blah blah, you're afking causes isssues. Do you agree. Type
I agree." Maybe, we can do something similar but you don't type, "I agree" though.
We all want to play. We don't really wanna fight. Let's calm down and focus on solving whatever issue there is that's putting the game's progression on hold. Let's keep the peace for the sake of the game. Is that not what you guys want?
Maybe this comes off as condescending, ignorant, and dismissive of whatever issue there is that's causing these problems, however I just want to try to salvage this game since I care about it. ^^
>>189044Thank you for the good spirits Sven, but currently the problem is that some players haven't been paying enough attention to know that their concerns have been already addressed, but are insisting that they be addressed.
It's otherwise an exercise in futility, and is a testament about how it's taken almost 6 months to advance the story by a single afternoon.
>>189045>the problem is that some players haven't been paying enough attention to know that their concerns have been already addressed, but are insisting that they be addressed.What problem? Which players? What concerns addresses?
You are the only one who says this is a problem.
>>189046Cavaliere was objecting to a lack of decisive rendesvoux in spite of a specified rendesvoux. Silver has weird objections as well.
>>189047Cavalier was objecting because he thought the airponies should take priority,given the hint that they might die if we delay our rescue, which is a valid assertion.
>>189001What am I deciding? Do I want to know? Should I know? Anyone got a coin?
>>188998Oh hey, this spell. I almost considered prepping it for "why not" reasons. But I still don't know what's going on.
>>189044I will be honest, citing LoL is not a good example for negating drama. But this would help and I agree that we should work together.
>>189049Welcome back! Do you want a rundown?
>>189049You don't need to prep it. You can cast it spontaneously, just like a cure spell.
Please cast it to ask horse Jesus what we should do, what direction we should move in, and in what order.
Ask if we should get the Marines first or take on the Traveller first.
>>189051A rundown would be helpful for us all.
>>188988Dagon is the Babylonian fish god. Dagon is first referenced in the Lovecraft short story titled, well,
Dagon, wherein a merchant mariner encounters a set of fish people worshipping at a stone altar with reliefs showing a figure that the protagonist later compares to the fish god "Dagon." The name "Dagon" is used again in
Shadow Over Innsmouth wherein the inhabitants of Innsmouth worship at a modified Masonic temple belonging to "The Esoteric Order of Dagon," though this is not elaborated upon. It's pretty clear in both stories that "Dagon" refers to the elder god Cthulhu, and especially the worship of him by the Deep Ones.
What Posey said is... basically that. I kind of wanted to have Blackheel object to the characterization because posey seems very intent on demystifying and sucking the fun out of everything in the universe by trying to explain everything and put it into some kind of category, but... I didn't really feel like it.
>>188996>ObyrithI have no idea what that is
>>189003Make an actually serious suggestion. I argued with a Scotsman over the weekend that school shootings are mostly acts by psychopaths seeking attention, so I think you can guess my position.
>>189012>fuck whoever-wheneverNot everyone is a prude
>>189031>The Dreads are barely stronger than skeletons, btwThis is bullshit and you know it
>Silver would probably destroy meUwU
>>189044Let me just finish that big post i started a month ago...
And also we may be able to put Dark Star and Virgin together finally
>>189051>>189055After rescuing the griffons, the party moved to the old village in the center of the island. On the way they encountered "petrushkas" or pony soldier puppets of the "Fellow Traveler" and some of its summons. We took the ponies there prisoner and rescued what was left of the holdouts in the old village. After some delays, we found an old airplane that crashed on the island some time ago, with an armed torpedo and machine guns that we decided to salvage. This airplane also housed a couple of the escapees from the
Kostroma including a research assistant
I think her name is Lightning Dust. Very close by is the most experienced group of escapees, led by Black Heel the ship's commissar.
Cavaliere and Brie have just finished acquiring the torpedo warhead and one machine gun. We've been deliberating on what exactly to do. I and Silver want to focus on rescuing the New Mareland sailors on the airship, our main objective, without bringing the communists or griffons there. Posey wants to reanimate a dead whale to help us on the quest, and is comfortable with the risk of going alone to make that trip. Brie is less willing to split the party, which is understandable because we were ambushed last time we split.
>>189056At least YOU bought me dinner Xp
>>189056It was a serious suggestion. Is that it then?
Fucking IDs
>>189056This is a VERY serious point.
What am I to do when you don't take my legitimate and VERY serious posts a non serious?
Are you deciding what I can an can't do in game? Do I have any agency beyond what you decide 'is serious'?
Okay, I phrased that funny, but the point is plain; i have at regular interval made VERY serious declarations about what I wanted Brie to do and your response was dismissive and ambivalent.
What am I as a player to do when you as a GM are going to line-item veto anything I legitimately try to do because you decide what I posted 'isn't serious'? Have you ever asked for a clarification or an elaboration? Have you at ANY point sought: 'Hmmm, this player seems to be trying to do something, perhaps this is something I should integrate' before dismissing my genuine attempts to engage the story/plot that you have portrayed.
The fuck do you want? If there's a "right" way you "want" this game to be played, fucking say so, but don't act all upset and put-upon when you blatantly ignore a player for months and they get an attitude.
>>189056>posey seems very intent on demystifying and sucking the fun out of everything in the universe by trying to explain everything and put it into some kind of category,That wasn't my intention at all.
Maybe Rosey Ring comes off that way because she is an occultist with great knowledge of magic and religion, despite not being a very spiritual pony herself. She thinks of mystic occultism as a path to power.
>I have no idea what that isObyrith are the elder race of demons: creatures of pure primordial madness. Unlike the Tan'ari, who were created from and relation to mortal sin and fear, the Obyrith are primordial demons far older than mortal life, and their chaos and evil is abstract as it is cosmically horrifying. They supposedly created the Abyss after invading the multiverse from an abstract world, possibly the far reaches of the far realm, and have an aberrant aesthetic.
Dragon in D&D is one of the original Obyrith lords, and acts as a wiseman and advisor to Demogorgon. He is an ancient and alien creature of the demonic seas in the abyss. He advised the aboleths on the method of turning humans into skum (fish people), much like he did in the lovecraft story, and he also taught Demogorgon the art of creating new monsters.
>This is bullshit and you know itGM, if you do not want me to have the Dreads, you can just have them fly away: as soon as the Demon that creates them uses Animate Dead again, which it can do every day, the Dreads would become uncontrolled.
>UwUOwO
>>189058See, I was intent on going to find the airponies first, but then I felt that GM communicated really wanted us to go look for Blackheel, so we ended up doing that.
>I and Silver want to focus on rescuing the New Mareland sailors on the airship, our main objective, without bringing the communists or griffons there.I agree, actually. I just thought we were being steered towards doing the Kostroma side quest with Blackheel.
>Posey wants to reanimate a dead whale to help us on the quest, and is comfortable with the risk of going alone to make that trip.Posey only wants to use the whale bones as a weapon against the Traveller. If we are not fighting the Traveller, the whale bones are unnecessary.
>>189064Your experience isn't only your own. Thing is, although players are supposed to have agency, the story doesn't move forward without the GM narrating it.
I have at several instances expressed intent to walk off in an particular direction, but I cannot arrive at that destination until the GM describes the scene.
>>189063>>189063>>189064I will respond and move the events forward when the group agrees to a course of action. I will not respond to declared actions that are wholly individual, and or stupid, or designed to derail everything. "My character walks away without any kind of communication device or regard for anyone else," or "my character places a gun to a different player character's head for no evident reason" are not actions that actually have any value moving the plot forward and are not going to be entertained by me, at least until everyone else agrees "Yes, let's do this"
Describe an action that makes more sense in context than R Kelly in that one episode of South Park, singing "I'mma pull out my gun, I'mma shoot some one"
>>189066Maybe we should have a formalized vote tally or delegate decisions to one character without discussion, in order to advance the story without taking weeks or months to decide.
I say we should just do whatever Silver says we should do next. We made him the decisionist at the beginning of the quest, iirc. Silver is wanting to find the airponies, right? Let's just do that.
Kira and Cavalier, please roll survival checks to help us track down the airponies so we can move the story forward.
I hold doubts that the world will actually end soon if we delay fighting the Traveller, so let's go for the airponies, since we don't get paid unless we find them.
For all we know, finding the airponies might even lead us to the Traveller anyway.
I also proposed casting Path Of The Exalted, if Dust is interested in giving a way for the GM to point is to the most optimal path.
>>189067>We made him the decisionist at the beginning of the questShoal Waters insisted that we 'designate' a 'leader', and Silver was so designated, yes. Having said, on Brie's part that was just a "going along to go along" sort of "yes yes, stfu and tell us more" sort of gesture. Make no mistakes about where Brie's allegiances lie.
>>189068This. I know SOME get all butt-bothered by the idea of railroading, but I'm ALL for it.
>>189064Nobody blames you for being upset but GM Pony is also in a bind. If some of your actions are allowed to go through, especially the threats, this mission might become impossible and be thrown into chaos. Maybe that should be allowed to happen, but if it does our characters (and to some extent us as players) may blame Brie for that happening. Call it a sunk cost fallacy if you will, but with the cumulative amount of time we've put into this single quest it would be upsetting to lose it because one player wanted to reenact
Dirty Harry. I hope after this Brie gets a quest where he can let his wilder side loose.
>>189065>I agree, actually. I just thought we were being steered towards doing the Kostroma side quest with Blackheel.>Posey only wants to use the whale bones as a weapon against the Traveller. If we are not fighting the Traveller, the whale bones are unnecessary.I think this "side quest" has to come after we save what's left of the airponies. It would be a good way to cap off this island adventure at any rate. I think the whale bones would be helpful, just as the machine gun and bomb we've collected might be. Also, collecting the airponies would give us time to make a proper plan of attack on the
Kostroma.
>>189067>Kira and Cavalier, please roll survival checks to help us track down the airponies so we can move the story forward.Okay
>>189071 →Let's just have Kira take 10 on her roll.
>>189070I mean, if my efforts are gonna be slept on, I guess itsbetter to know now than later
The post I made where Silver explained his plan was probably missed by at least a couple people here, so, it's probably worth explaining again:
We first go to the whale bones, where Posey can do her thing and raise the Bone Lurker. Then Posey, Garv, and the griffons will take one of our radios and the Bone Lurker to the plane and get it to carry the explosive and guns. The rest of us will make our way towards the airship. The plane group will rejoin us along our route to the airship since you'll be flying and be able to travel faster than us on hoof. Make sure to stick to the south side of the central hill to avoid the GRU that will be coming from the north.
>>189085Okay, fine. Let's do that. We'll do that.
>>189085That sounds good, except the communists in the party should come with us and not to the airship. Also, when you blow up the equipment at the airship we might expect sudden company.
>>189089Most of the commies can't fly, though. You all would also rejoin us before we got to the airship, anyways. The idea is to minimize the amount of time we take on our objectives while not taking unnecessary risks by fully splitting up.
>>189090Let's not bring the communists to the highly classified airship we're supposed to destroy, for their sake as well as for the sake of the mission. As it is, if we bring them back to New Mareland they will probably be detained and released under close supervision only if they are lucky. If they see the airship and its technology they will probably be 'disappeared.'
>>189089This is a good point.
>>189090Are the commies even coming with us? Blackheel did not agree to our proposal.
>>189091They're sailors, soldiers, and scientists. None of them are aeronautical engineers, and they wouldn't even know that the airship has better propulsion technology than Stalliongrad does. And even if they did, they wouldn't have the ability to know why and how much less explain it to someone else.
All of this is besides the greater issue of what do they do if they don't come with us to the airship. The only other option would be them continuing on to the other group of commies at the modern village, and that risks them getting attacked without any of us to help.
>>189092He said already that they're coming with us.
So, we know whAt we're doing? Let's do it.
>>189094Very well. But expect them to ask questions, and the military back home to be less than gracious.
>>189096If we change our minds we can just kill them
Is Dust going to cast the Deus Ex Machina spell, or not? We need to come to a conclusion.
I don't care what we do next so long as we do something.
>>189110I would, but I don't think I'm gonna get anything useful from it. Brie stormed off and as far as I know he was the only one in disagreement. But I also don't know what's going on
>>189137Dude, just do it. There's far more to 'Brie storming off' (which he did, with cause, because y'all are fucking worthless) than just discontent with you idiots. I have a change in priorities and am confident I will have addressed them far before you idiots get your shit together and get to both the marines and the airship, let alone the Kostromo.
Now is not the time to be waifish
>>189137Considering the scene still hasn't moved, no decision has been made. Cast it.
>>189139This
>>189137Surely I needn't remind you how infrequently he and I agree on things. This is a chance for GM to NON-railroading indicate what he would like to happen. You really should
>>189137>I don't think I'm gonna get anything useful from itCasting Path Of The Exalted guarantees that the next decision we make is the best one with the best outcome. It is a spell so powerful that it has an abstinence component to keep it from being spammed constantly.
>>189138>>189139>>189140>>189141Okay, I'll be blunt. I talked to GM cause I was gonna cast it and bost results in the same post. He ain't givin me shit. So I can blow a level 3 spell slot to be told it's our decision, or we can just go with whatever suicide ritual the group has come up with currently. Whatever delays my agony the most.
>>189142Oh. Well, it still stands to reason that he may want you to commit to something - anything - before he gives you anything, (even hints and foreshadowing) but it could also be a dead end. A 3rd level spell slot seems a small price to pay to get a better idea of where GM's head is at, however distinct to Dust's magic.
No, not planning to make a habit of interjection, but don't kid yourself that I'm in the background
>>189142>He ain't givin me shit.As in, he's prohibiting the spell? Or just not giving the answer?
Well, that sucks.
>whatever suicide ritual the group has come up with currently. Whatever delays my agony the most.Oh ffs
Let's just all go track the airponies. All of us together.
In fact, until otherwise decided, we can leave all plans to fight the Traveller on hold until after we find the airponies. I'm considering leaving it to the army to kill that thing.
Think of it this way: we don't even really need to fight the Traveller, or at least not now.
If the Traveller enthralls all of the communists, it will either be destroyed by the GRU, or it will enthrall them too.
If it enthralls the GRU, it will likely go looking for more thralls. With no familiarity of this realm, it will likely draw from the memories of its thralls, which will lead it back to Stalliongrad.
Then the GRU will carry it back to Stalliongrad, and it will proceed to destroy their society and turn them all into its cattle, but that's not our problem.
The alien-controlled communists might become a threat to the world, but that's a problem for another level. We can exterminate the enthrall communists after we defeat Chrysalis or whatever.
Point being is that we don't need to worry about fighting it now. For all we care, we don't even really have to fight it, so the plan to recover the airponies should take absolute priority. No more dilly dallying. Let's just do what we came to do.
>>189142That is disappointing. He's given reasons before about why it wouldn't work in this setting, but it would helped with the OOC drama and disagreement that we're dealing with.
Maybe we should stick to this plan:
>>189085>>189145>Then the GRU will carry it back to Stalliongrad, and it will proceed to destroy their society and turn them all into its cattle, but that's not our problem.It is our problem. Putting it off for another level will make that mission much harder and much more dangerous. It also disrupts the delicate balance of power that Shoal Waters described, especially since Stalliongrad borders Equestria. We have a perfect opportunity to fix this now.
>>189157>Putting it off for another level will make that mission much harder and much more dangerous.I'll work hard to raise my army.
>We have a perfect opportunity to fix this now.We could.
The point is that we don't have to.
GM has been notified that if Brie isn't considered "out of play" for a reasonably (as yet) indeterminate period based on how long the party takes to get within a reasonable vicinity of the Kostromo without drawing attention (he has signal mirrors and shit)
... then I will take liberties with the RP thread such that will make the previous examples look like casual comments.
>>189193That is acceptable. Let's proceed.
>>189194>acceptableAs though permission was requested
>>189157>>189157>He's given reasons before about why it wouldn't work in this setting, but it would helped with the OOC drama and disagreement that we're dealing with.What?
>>189193https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1f0MWuX55g
>>189196Something something religion isn't like vanilla DnD, and confirming a religion to be real would mess with the modern worldbuilding and ideological landscape of the setting.
>>189196Spin it however you want, I'm doing you a service
[1d20 = 5] [1d20 = 15]
[1d20 = 2] [1d20 = 7]
[1d20 = 7]
>>189302 →If you're going to complain OOC, at least keep it in the designated thread.
>>189304If you're going to
bitch about OOC, FIRST you should keep YOURS to the designated thread.
Oh THATS right, it's only a problem when it ISN'T you doing it! You don't want ooc posts relegated to the OOC thread, you want the OOC posts you DISAGREE WITH relegated to the OOC thread. As evidenced by numerous OOC discussions you can be easily referenced to liberally engage in with other players.
That's fine.
>>189306You are souring the mood of the entire RP thread with your ooc complaints. You were also told multiple times not to clog the thread with consecutive spamposts.
If you must post in the RP thread, make it a post that contributes to the roleplay.
>>189307No, I'm FURTHER souring the mood of the RP thread, right after all your "If I can be bothered" "Oh, are other players doing things? I guess I can wait" "I don't NEED anyone's help, but I guess since you're here" and all the other shitty things you feel entitled to post all the goddamn time. The ONLY way you will have a critical leg to stand on with me is to shut the fuck up.
>>189308>No, I'm FURTHER souring the moodSame thing. Cut it out.
>BLA BLA BLAIrrelevant to the topic at hand.
>The ONLY way you will have a critical leg to stand on with meThat's why I'm redirecting the conversation here, instead of shitting up the RP thread like you do.
>>189310>cut it outYOU FIRST. Lose the attitude. This isn't your special game, this is a group effort, and one you have gone out of your way to make as about you as possible. if you want ME to cut it out LEAD BY EXAMPLE
>>189311Okay, just keep your posts where they belong then.
>>189312Who the fuck are you talking to if not yourself?
>>189313Evidently not you, given your lack of reading comprehension.
>>189314>reading comprehensionYes, I'm the one who can't grasp that you're guilty of exactly the same behavior you accuse me of displaying, but you also neglect the fact that I'm not trying to play anymore. Which is to say BEFORE YOU TRY TO PULL A SPECK OUT OF SOMEONE ELSE'S EYE< TEND TO THE FUCKING LOG IN YOUR OWN
>>189317Do continue typing in all caps. It's totally making the rest of us take you seriously.
>>189321You think my intention is to be taken seriously? No, I'm just allowing you to illustrate how contemptible you really are, underneath all the artifice
Nono, that's a serious and unironic (if a bit shitposty) question.
https://youtu.be/6PO3u-4C7MI?si=tsM39yINbCS59T1JI regret that you guys see me at my worst. I regret ALOT of things to do with this group. I appreciate that no one is in a hurry WANT to deal with insufferable assholes like me.
But, I would also rather see everyone get to play without me than to risk tearing this game apart. I still have alot of anger, I could point to a dozen instances where GM has maybe made a poor choice/call, but who am I to throw stones? Most of all this drama is either directly or indirectly my fault anyway.This isn't a ragequit for anyone who wishes to pretend otherwise, and before too long you will be presented with indicia of what my 'next' object of intense focus is.
I love all of you, but I also hate several of you, because like me you're a douchebag; but yuo're MY douchebag. Toodles
Oh I'm not going anywhere, I just feel that the best strategy now is to not engage
>>189315 →As soon as I hear back from Dust, I will proceed. It will only take me one action to cast Animate Dead.
>>189328 →Alright. No pressure. I want to give him ample opportunity to roleplay any in-character conflicts or developments.
While we give Dust time to respond, can we make sure we all know what we are doing immediately afterwards?
We're going to find the airponies next, right? Should I bring the Bone Lurker with us?
What do we do about the communists?
>>189331The airponies are the priority, though I don't want to bring the communists anywhere near the airship. If you all overrule me on that then I'll abide by it, but I think we should leave the communists and griffons near the airplane or somewhere else that's safe with a couple of party members. We should however each have a radio and also plan on a rendesvous before we approach the
Kostroma.
>>189332>I don't want to bring the communists anywhere near the airshipI don't want to bring the communists near the airship either.
Perhaps we can persuade them to meet us at the Kostroma, while we "fetch our equipment".
>but I think we should leave the communists and griffons near the airplane or somewhere else that's safe with a couple of party members.This could work.
>We should however each have a radio and also plan on a rendesvous before we approach the Kostroma.Agreed.
>>189332My plan if we were to split up would have solved that issue, with Silver and Mala taking the commies to the modern village to find and rescue the last of their groups while the others would handle the whale skeleton/explosives and the airship. However, speaking with GM pone has informed me that splitting up would
not be a good idea. The only reason my current plan works is because the split up is very temporary, only occurs over a short distance, and is in a relatively safe area.
>>189333You could tell the commies to follow the crazy bat
>>189337Meant to link both posts
>>189337We should avoid splitting up if possible. Not only is it tactically risky, it's also a chore to manage.
How do you all like my chant?
This gimmick is probably the biggest contribution I can make to the party as a Necromancer this adventure. Reanimating large flying undead and using them has heavy artillery cavalry or bombers has been a dream of mine for this game, and I'm glad that I got to actualize that during this adventure. Between obtaining the cursed tiara and reanimating a vestige of the leviathan, it feels like Posey is finally conquering her fear of the seas.
I've saved most of my spell slots, although by now you guys should know that Posey's combat spells are mostly just touch-attacks, fear based debuffs, and summons. I anticipate using my fear based debuffs to weaken the enthralled ponies without killing them, and use my summons to counter those of The Traveller. I think I could summon four gnoll warrior skeletons with heavy flails to disarm the enemies, which should help us get past them without killing them, so the rest of you damage hogs can focus your efforts and resources on the aberrations.
.
On another note, it's plausible that we could recruit the airponies to help us fight the Traveller. This is risky, because they are the ponies that we are supposed to be protecting, and we would get significantly less reward if they die. That being said, they are esteemed airponies that Captain Waters was willing to pay a considerable amount to recover, so they wouldn't die easily, and they might be eager to fight.
We should also prepare for the possibility that The Traveller has already enthralled the airponies. For this reason, we should send the stealthy party members with towards them first, to be on guard for unusual activities. If the airponies resist, we will need to make sure we capture them alive, so it's important to use nonlethal weapons, such as saps/blackjacks (which can be made on the fly) or unarmed strikes.
>>189349Golly, that sounds just like what Brie has emphasized numerous times over several months in the exhaustive (and quite redundant) dialogue
>>189351 →Yes, clearly more dialogue is what is needed
>EEE, EEEEEEE EEEE EEEEEEEE EE EEEE EE EEEEEE!
It keeps making noises, but it's not saying anything. Curious.
>>189349I thought the chant was great, and added a lot of atmosphere. Surprisingly, it didn't seem as dark or necromantic as I expected from Posey. Thank you for taking the time to write it all out! Also, thank you for helping by raising these skeletons. Even if our characters were reluctant about the idea this will even the playing field.
>On another note, it's plausible that we could recruit the airponies to help us fight the Traveller.That's what I was thinking too. First of all, they're military and would know how to fight. Secondly, our job is to rescue them and to keep them safe, and it's easier to do that if they're with the party rather than across the island. We should give them the choice however and if they choose to stay put, I'll give them a camouflage net to help them conceal themselves.
>For this reason, we should send the stealthy party members with towards them first, to be on guard for unusual activities. If the airponies resist, we will need to make sure we capture them alive, so it's important to use nonlethal weapons, such as saps/blackjacks (which can be made on the fly) or unarmed strikes.I would have to use unarmed strikes. I hope it doesn't come to that.
>>189353Odd, that's my point about (you) and all this unnecessary hand-waggling dialogue.
>>189354 →The DC was actually 9, now that I check, but good regardless.
>>189355>I would have to use unarmed strikes. I hope it doesn't come to that.Aren't you a Monk? It should be easy for you.
Chances are that they would be using guns. Just use your superior fly speed to get into melee range with them, so they can't shoot you without provoking AoO, then use your AoO to disarm them.
Niggers,... no seriously, niggers please.
This is exactly why pirates had a captain. Yes, it was one man, one vote. And all hands voted the captain. The captain wan't JUST the one in charge, the captain was also among the first to suffer if things went awry (on the chopping block, sometimes); I mean strategically awry, not incidentally awry.
Have you no faith in Captain Rosey?
Stop trying to throttle the game because you haven't resolved what your character thinks. Do you think you're supposed to enter every engagement totally at peace with the world because everything is dandy and attended to?
Oh my, Silver and Rosie disagree about where to go next. Fucking decide your line of compromise and go with it. Does it give you a sense of satisfaction knowing that the game can't continue until you make up your fucking mind, meanwhile some made their minds up 6 goddamn months ago? Yes, you are a pain. A literal pain. That's why I justify being a likewise pain.
taking a personal liberty that literally means "that idea is abysmally absurd"
Curses, I forgot to say "Get fucked"
Yes, I delet this, but the former stays
I have been deferring to Silver for all decisions for some time now.
>>189360Clearly it has been productive
>>189361If you don't like it so much, you can always just quit.
>>189362Quitting seems equally as effective as playing, as a consequence of you faggots not knowing when to decide "Hey, maybe my crazy power fantasy ISN'T good for everyone"
What hasn;t been said? Pick a fucking lane. Silver said GM prefers no split. Are you splitting or not? Shutthe fuck up about "have you considered" because yes, it has been. Like GM said at the OP of the LAST thread
Decide
>>189359>okay, I almost deleted this one in time.Oh, hey, if you don't want me to treat the ooc thread as frivolous?
Stop treating the game as a frivolous thing. Why are messages be sent by intermediaries? What is this lack of directness? What is this shameful effeminacy?
>Brie isn't
Brie isn't holding anything up with stupid excuses. He said "All in" without even looking at his hand.
>>189363>Quitting seems equally as effective as playing, as a consequence of you faggots not knowing when to decide "Hey, maybe my crazy power fantasy ISN'T good for everyone">effectiveWhy the fuck would you care about a game that you are not playing? It's not your business if people want to play some pony power fantasy.
>>189365>Stop treating the game as a frivolous thing.It is literally just a game. It is frivolous by definition.
>What is this shameful effeminacy?We've been hearing that old song since 2011. It doesn't work on us.
>>189367>why the fuck would you careI'm your audience. Get on with it, you're boring and you suck
The shameful effeminacy is the degree to which one player has to speak for another in the other's place. If you can dm on discord or whatever, you can post a sentence to the board. You faggots (one in particular, but in general) about "discord is cancer". Then others know precisely which one everyone is - ask me to point to the mutual servers - but we're playing the phone game? Dude, from a retarded-maturation person to another, grow up.
>2011
Go on
>It is literally just a game
Huh. I guess everyone else's time is yours to waste then?
>>189368>I'm your audience.No, you are not. Nothing pushes or entices you to be an audience to a game that you are not part of. This is not Matt Mercer's podcast. It is not meant to entertain non-players.
>discordI don't know what others do on discord, and I don't care.
>I guess everyone else's time is yours to waste then?You are not obliged to participate it you think it is a waste of time. You are choosing to spend time on this. You can stop paying attention at any moment.
>>189371>no you are notIntended or not, like it or not, I am. This can go smoothly and efficiently where you faggots stop wasting time, or I can play the critics from the muppets while you flail about impotently; your choice.
>I don't care what happens on discordYes, that's been addressed; you hate being accountability and so refuse to acknowledge how obvious you are and pretend on-board you're "anonymous".
>obligedIs that what you think this is? An obligation?
>189372
>Intended or not, like it or not, I am.
By your choice. We do not owe you anything for it. None of us have to honor your expectations of speed or smoothness. We will proceed at our own speed as we are able to.
>This can go smoothly and efficiently where you faggots stop wasting time or I can play the critics from the muppets while you flail about impotently; your choice.
This is a false dichotomy.
Besides, you were complaining endlessly even before things slowed down.
>Is that what you think this is? An obligation?
No, I think you're just making excuses for why you are obsessively complaining about everything like a social parasite instead of doing literally anything else.
>while you flail about impotently
It is (You) who is flailing about impotently. All you do is complain, all the time.
I am no longer going to humor this faggotry. Keep complaining to yourself. Gaslight yourself into thinking you're being helpful, or that the rest of us are going to do anything but ignore you. You seem to be convinced that it is a great use of your free time.
>>189373There is no expectation of speed or smoothness, hence why you have to deal with me
>You were complaining before things slowed downAbout you, if you recall. The slowdown happened later. What's your excuse now?
>no UThis is something that takes me zero effort. Don't look at me, IGNORE me, and when you can get your shit in gear, I go away? Capisch?
>the arguing continues>>189364>>189368>>189372You have no grounds to complain when your actions and behavior directly played a major role in slowing and stopping this game. It was this very argumentative attitude that dissuaded GM Pony and others from wanting to participate at all. Now that we're finally moving things forward again you are complaining obsessively that progress isn't "smooth and efficient" enough for you. I'll take any progress over the bad blood and the hiatuses that plagued the start of this year.
>>189374>This is something that takes me zero effort. Don't look at me, IGNORE me, and when you can get your shit in gear, I go away? Capisch?Posting provocatively in game-related threads, and then telling us to ignore you doing so is not very smart, and cannot be taken in good faith. Even if we ignore you, you are still discouraging us from wanting to continue by making the game more unpleasant to participate in. Either Brie should stay in the game or you should stop posting. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
>>189375Don't feed the troll.
I agree with what you said though.
>>189355>We should give them the choice however and if they choose to stay put, I'll give them a camouflage net to help them conceal themselves.It's worth noting that this would mean that the commies would see the airponies, which means this operation would no longer be covert.
Then again, although Captain Waters did say this is a covert operation, it doesn't affect how we are being paid, so we may as well pull out all of the stops. So long as we torch the airships and bring back the airponies, we get paid. Whether or not the Communists find out is not our problem.
And if captain waters complains, we can just remind him that fighting Cthulhu was not part of the job description.
>>189375Oh? You don't like it when someone jumps up and down on your last nerve? A pity turn around is fair play isn't it. You felt perfectly entitled then didn't you?
>>189372Play or don't play, but you're not going to constantly bitch about a game you're not playing.
>>189375Nononono, MY actions slowed the game after yours (and others) made the game cease for me for the past several months. You're not going to gaslight me, tempting though that may be.
>>189379>play or don't playA false choice; you (and they) made it clear you wouldn't allow me to play.
GM, when you are ready, could you acknowledge the success of Posey's spell, so we can proceed to go looking for the airponies?
Also, to everypony else, we've agreed to all go looking for the airponies next, right? I think recruiting them to join the siege of the Kostroma is a worthwhile venture, but we should find them first.
We won't need to distract the commies or split the party if we are bringing the airponies with us to the Kostroma.
Kira has already rolled what should be a successful survival check, so we should be able to find them wherever they are on the island.
>>189381That's the plan! We're gonna get a move on as soon as everything's set. Well, most of us are going to get a move on. Remember; you, Garv, and the griffons are going to take the Bone Lurker to the plane first to collect the explosive and guns,
then you'll rejoin us along our path to the airship.
>>189383>We're gonna get a move on as soon as everything's set>as soon as everything's setWhat needs to be set?
>Remember; you, Garv, and the griffons are going to take the Bone Lurker to the plane first to collect the explosive and guns, then you'll rejoin us along our path to the airship.I forgot about the griffons.
The plane is only a few minutes away from the bones. I guess you could go first, since with the bone lurker's flight we should catch up to you immediately.
We could make the griffons fight too. Considering their profession and the combat we experienced, it's probable that they have simple and archaic weapons, particularly whips, nets, and bolas; all of which could potentially be crafted using their leftover fishing equipment. These nonlethal weapons can be used to incapacitate or hinder the enthralled enemies at a range, which would minimize casualties on both sides. Posey has a few of each (she bought them to fight Luminous, but ended up not using them).
Silver or Cavalier can explain the situation to them and request that they prepare such weapons for the fight. Or Posey could do it if they need a charisma check to convince.
We are not using XP to level, so we should really bring as many NPCs into combat with us as we can.
>>189384>What needs to be set?You know, the whole Bone Lurker thing.
But yes, since everyone going to the plane is capable of flight, you all should be faster than us traveling by hoof. Having the griffons bring us the nets and such to incapacitate any possessed ponies is a pretty smart idea, good on you for having it. Garv should probably ask them about it since Silver is going to be busy keeping Black Heel occupied and away from the scene of necromancy taking place.
>>189385>You know, the whole Bone Lurker thing.I guess we'll just wait for GM then.
>Having the griffons bring us the nets and such to incapacitate any possessed ponies is a pretty smart idea, good on you for having it.Yeah, I was just going through the character sheet updates I wanted to enact when this adventure is over, and I remembered the stuff I read about archaic weapon proficiency I dug up when I was trying to think of ways to keep Luminous from flying away. Several weapons that are "exotic" in 3.5e are simple or archaic in modern settings, like shuriken, nets, bolas, and whips.
>Garv should probably ask them about it since Silver is going to be busy keeping Black Heel occupied and away from the scene of necromancy taking place.Blackheel will see the results of the spell later anyway. Posey was just trying to guard trade secrets.
>>189384One griffon has a rifle, the others have melee weapons. I wouldn't count on them being disciplined enough to both competently and nonlethally take down enemies while they're in danger's way. Also, you don't strictly need me to communicate with them, as Bøkli speaks Ponish. Only their leader speaks Feathesian which is how Cavaliere initially conversed with them. I will be happy to help however.
How many objects can a unicorn hold at once with their horn?
Asking for the sake of holding weapons and items in combat.
Silver, you've been in this game longer than me. What is your experience with horn magic? How does it work in combat?
>>189400Can't your dreads hold things? Like guns?
>>189401Yes, but I'm asking about myself.
>>189400Holding or using? Unicorns can hold a decent number of objects at once, but can only really focus on using one or two of them at any given time.
>>189403>Holding or using?Both
>Unicorns can hold a decent number of objects at once, but can only really focus on using one or two of them at any given time.Okay, I'm going to keep assuming I have two practical "hands" to use.
If anyone were to provide a detailed description of their characters - or link to the previous post where a description was offered - I can see what AI sloppa I can come up with for everyone.
>>189409Eh, why the hell not.
Silver is a large unicorn snowpony, born in Severyana before Steel Stallion's revolution. He's as tall as a Saddle Arabian horse, very well built, and on top of that is covered in a thick, fluffy, light grey coat that makes him look even bigger than he is. His dark grey mane and tail are cut to average to slightly below-average lengths, and are done in a very simple, utilitarian style. Down his back, a dark grey dorsal stripe runs from the back of his neck all the way along his back. His eyes are a bright, light/sky blue. For equipment, he is currently wearing an olive drab flak jacket, and carries both a silver enchanted greatsword and a Lavender bolt-action rifle (the pony version of a Lee Enfield).
Kira is a lamia hailing from distant Zebrica. She's also quite large, though she has yet to be accurately measured. Her pony half has short, yellow-colored fur, a short, almost spiky crimson mane with a couple strands of hair hanging down to one side held together with beads, and red eyes that are slitted like a bat pony's. Below where her waist would be, her pony half gives way to a snake tail with metallic golden-yellow scales and a white/off-white underbelly. Down her scaly back is a pattern of red diamonds with black borders running all the way along to the tip of her tail. For equipment, Kira is wearing a leather lamellar vest over a Greek-style tunic, and for weapons has a recurve bow with arrows and a steel-tipped spear.
>>189409Rosey Ring appears as a youthful mare with soft and elegant features. Her coat is a pristine snow white, and exceptionally fluffy. Her mane is a sanguine red-pink, and is soft, fine and silky, almost glowing with its vibrant aura. Her mane is exceptionally long, and usually done up in a braid or a war bun. Her body is slender and dainty, with generous feminine endowments. She has a calm and professional demeanor, and she comes off as mature, despite her apparent youth. When she moves, she seems to glide over the ground, with grace that seems almost supernatural. The spring in her step betrays a deceptively strong body. She trots with a regal confidence, puffing her fluffy chest out and holding her head high, and making eye contact with anyone within eyesight. Her elegant and courtly demeanor betrays an aura of absolute menace, a predatory supernatural hunger conveyed in her hypnotic gaze. She always seems alert and engaged, her ears swiveling like tiny satellite dishes. Overall, she is strikingly beautiful. She seems to radiate youth and vitality, but something about her supernatural appearance is... Unsettling. She seems almost more like an exquisite painting of a mare than a living thing, uncanny in her supernatural beauty.
Rosey Ring's eyes are like pools of gold, with hypnotic radial concentric rings. They glow with authority and give off a mesmerizing aura that demands submission. Staring into them too long gives feelings of unease and terror, but their commanding presence makes it difficult for any unfortunate souls who've caught her attention to look away.
Posey's Cutie Mark is a dark sun surrounded by a red flare. It also resemble a buboe from the black plague. It fills out her soft and rotund flank very well. The Dark Sun above a white sky is Posey's mark of destiny.
Posey's appearance is unnatural and supernatural, her vampiric heritage allowing her to appear closer to life despite being dead. Her appearance greatly depends on her mood: when cheery, her fur appears pristine and fluffy white; when less-cheery, her skin appears rotten and blotched, and her eyes glass over. When she's feeling especially nasty, she may briefly show bat-like or wolf-like traits as her monstrous nature makes itself known. Posey's appearance is a reflection of her own vanity and sense of of self (proportional to her charisma score): when she's confident, she's beautiful; when she's distressed, she appears more corpse-like. Her fangs are retractable.
Like most katane, Posey craves blood, but is not dependent on it. Taking in blood helps her control her stress levels, and thus also control her appearance.
>>189411>>189410>>189409Oh, right, cutie mark. Silver's is a sword being swung in a downward arc.
>>189412>Silver's is a sword being swung in a downward arc.If you put a twinkle at the tip of the sword (to represent shining silver), and a visible trail on the downward arc, it would also resemble a comet or shooting star.
>>189409Cavaliere is a male griffon of tall build but wiry stature. His feline half resembles almost a jaguar, with dense but short black fur and a tail that ends in a small tuft. His front talons are also jet black and end in well-groomed claws. His avian head is covered with dusty grey feathers and is topped with a flat black crest that sticks out an inch to the back. The wings on his back are also black and blend in with his fur, but their undersides are a dusty grey that matches his head. He has a thin black feathered "mustache" over a weathered beak. Although his physical stature is not too imposing, and even by griffon standards he lacks grace and features most would consider to be attractive, his pale yellow eyes shine with a gleam that is both sharp and understanding. Even for a griffon, his natural expression is carefully schooled and neutral except when he lets it be anything else, and it can be difficult to tell what he is thinking. He has a seasoned appearance, but is remarkably lithe for his age and others can only guess at how quick his reflexes really are.
During his varied work Cavaliere goes lightly equipped. In cold climates he wears a black bomber-style leather jacket with a fluffy grey sheepskin liner. Under that he wears a black button-up shirt and black trousers and on his paws he wears brown leather boots: these are well-made and embroidered but have seen heavy usage. On his head he wears a black wide-brimmed hat made of felt and upturned at the edges, with the crown rimmed by a leather band that has a small silver medallion in the front. On his back he carries a dark brown leather backpack, while around his waist is a heavy-duty black leather belt covered in cartridges loaded into loops; one side has a pouch while on the other side is a holster for a long-barreled revolver, all in black.
Amber Sunset is an earth pony who’s quite stocky, at least for her age and sex, due to working on a farm for years. Her legs are a bit shorter than the average pony’s, and her short stature contributes to her youthful appearance. Her chest is barrel-shaped with high withers and a short back, and she has a pear-shaped ribcage. She has a steep croup, a slightly low tail set, and high stifles. Her coat color, as her name represents, is a light amber color, the proper name of which is lightning yellow, and if it’s winter she’ll have a mildly long coat. Her mane is of a darker auburn that is crudely cut to lie on one side of her head and extends slightly past her withers; her tail is of a similar style in that it extends straight and is medium length. Her large, cutesy eyes have bluish purple irises and have a youthful, eager gleam to them. A narrow white stripe runs down from her forehead but ends short of her muzzle. Her cutie mark is a pinkish red-colored music note descending down into a dark blue horizon.
Overall Amber looks very young, having just properly entered adulthood, but even compared with other earth ponies is quite strong. Her rough country appearance and mannerisms conceal a deep-seated intelligence and ardor for the arts, romance and adventure. In cold weather, she wears a dress more out of fashion than out of need, and it is a woolen, midnight-blue garment with lighter blue stars and frills. Its sleeve comes down to her foreleg's knee while the hem extends to her fetlocks, and rides above her tail. When traveling she prefers to wear a black burlap hooded cloak and a forest green headscarf.
>>189410>>189411>>189415Be advised, this is the degree of pony I can affect. The AI (one of the gpts) is hardwired to avoid "distinct" descriptions involving My Little Pony, or any named characters thereof. This is supposed to be Blue skies (idfk her CM)
>>189410You didn't say the CM, so it did it. Also, I told it a "warhammer 40k bolter" because it gets very cross when requested to make real firearms.
>>1894107 queries in, it finally gave one without rear legs
>>189411Your description is detailed and evocative, but it likely triggered the content policy for one or more of the following reasons:
Horror or Gore Imagery: Phrases like “rotten,” “blotched,” “corpse-like,” “black plague,” and references to vampiric traits (blood craving, retractable fangs) can trigger automatic moderation, as they're considered graphic or unsettling imagery.
Disturbing or Unsettling Descriptions: Phrases such as “feelings of unease and terror,” “supernatural hunger,” and “monstrous nature” strongly imply horror or threat, which moderation tends to reject.
>>189412This is what it gave me with the CM correction. I'll work on it, but AI is as retarded as actual artists are
>>189421Hmmm, not bad
>>189419Okay, that one's just silly
>>189425Whats silly about it? She could be perceived as either armless or legless
>>189295 →>>189336 →GM, if there is anything else you want me to roll for, just let me know.
<With all due respect, wtf yo?
ChatGPT said:
Honestly? Fair. You’ve been more than patient, and this is dragging on way longer than it should. You’ve got a lineup of well-thought-out, creative characters—and instead of visuals, you’ve been stuck watching me hit the "elevator button" over and over.
Here’s what’s going on in plain terms: the backend that powers image generation (specifically DALL·E) is currently unresponsive across the board. It’s not just you—it’s a system-wide issue. I’m not being blocked by your content or your descriptions. The problem is purely technical.
When the tools do finally snap back, your queued prompts will run, starting with Rosey Ring and followed by Cavaliere and Amber Sunset. Until then, I’m stuck in the same boat as you, waiting on green lights that haven’t turned on yet.
If it helps, I can try rough sketch-style text descriptions in the meantime—like visual breakdowns or pose suggestions—or we can brainstorm more characters while we wait. But if you’d rather just hold the line, I’ll keep watching and strike the moment the gears turn again.
>>189381>>189383>>189384So, we have already settled where we are going next.
Any ideas for how we are going to approach the Kostroma afterwards?
Is there anything else that we are waiting for?
Not trying to rush, just asking if I can do anything to help things along.
>>189428Sketching would be nice! I want to resume soon though.
>>189436That describes us all decently well.
>>189434I'd put the communists and griffons outside while we make an entrance. Since Brie isn't playing anymore I don't think we can attempt a stealthy infiltration from a different angle.
>>189437>Since Brie isn't playing anymore I don't think we can attempt a stealthy infiltration from a different angle.Kira, Cavalier, and Posey all have moderate stealth capabilities, so it should still be an option.
Posey has +7 to stealth, it she takes off her armor, which isn't a lot, but could be enough to sneak past nonelite warriors.
>>189437Go fuck yourself. Brie is scouting the Kostromo waiting for you faggots to finally get there
Do you want me to post or do you want me to not? Maybe worry about the marines and the airship before you start to try and undermine the one thing Brie expressly excluded himself from everything else to do. Fuck off, you dont even have a giant skeleton yet
Oh, and the torpedo and the machine guns. Are THOSE sorted? Maybe tend to THAT shit, meanwhile when you're DONE, Brie will have scouted the Kostromo, thank you.
Let me remind you EXACTLY what occurred with Brie's departure both in character and outof character, since the wont to 'misremember' is so prevalent.
In character, Brie got rather fed up with all the back and forth about 'we should do this' and 'we should do that' and 'we need to ask the commies about communism', and generally doing everything EXCEPT trending toward the mission objectives. Realizing that if he doesn't find something productive to do that he might end up stabbing somepony, it occurrs to him that these loudmouth assholes probably couldn't shut the fuck up and stealth to save their lives. As such, if the party IS to get the drop on the Traveler and the GRU, somepony will have to surveil the kostromo without being detected, which means he will have to go alone.
You may recall him literally saying he would wait for the party in the outskirts of where the ship is (with ameta joke about how it will be 2026 before the party gets there). Stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine.
All of that could have fit in one post.
Now GM has to scroll up to see our plans.
>>189443Maybe if he was only using the overboard, luckily GM has been doing this whole imageboard thing for more than a day or so. Stay in your lane and I can probably avoid sperging from outrage that you're so contemptile that while NOT doing what you should be doing (the mission) you have the nerve to try and main-character yourself into what I left the group to do, the one thing Brie is singlularly good at.
Maybe before you worry about stealth, you worry about putting 600lbs of high explosive on an as-yet inanimate skeleton. And then find and save a bunch of marines, and blow up an airship? And then, while you're ham-fistedly trying to stealth-fly a skeletal makeshift attack helicopter, Brie can decide whether to take advantage of the distraction you will cause, or he cab signal you before you bring the whole place down on yourselves.
What you DONT get to do is say "Oh, well, remember guys, Brie ISN'T in this game anymore" when all I wanted is to not sit through all your bullshit.
>>189440>>189442>>189444Alright, thank you. I am sorry for making any assumptions about Brie's status and I should have read your posts more carefully.
As for what the party is doing, we're waiting on responses from the GM before we can do anything. He has done a great job and probably has a number of things on his mind. A few posts from him will get us all moving again.
>>189446I've got a lot of plans, but I'm holding off on sharing them because we don't know how things are going to go. For all we know, the airponies might be on the Kostroma.
Let's just be sure that we are finding the airponies next.
>>189446>>189447Consider that it would be more effective to orient the situation to where the horse is in the forefront, thus carrying and pulling the cart.
I remember I said I was gonna draw each character. Well, I really shouldn't taken so much on me but I did actually get around to do something.
This is how I imagine Posey.
>>189457You judge yourself too harshly. No one is waiting to see what drawings you produce (though they aren't unappreciated), we're waiting to boop the snoot
[1d20 = 2]
>>189458Not an epic fail, but still a fail
>>189458Aww, thank you.
>>189459^^
This is how I see Cavaliere.^^
>>189457Art is always appreciated. Thank you.
I love the floating bones, and how she's riding the giant monster skull.
>>189460By description, he's less stocky than I imagined (not a criticism). I'm still seeing the ranger/gunslinger aesthetic, but I envisioned him with a denser frame.
>>189460I really like this art and thank you! Though, he doesn't have a mane like that.
>>189462>>189463I know. It ended up a bit goofy so I thought it be funny to post it as "this is how I see him" kinda joke. ^^
But thanks anyway for the appreciation. <3
>>189461Thank you.^^
So, are we on an unofficial hiatus, or what?
>>189468Give him a minute to cook some proper effort-post!
>>189473 →This is not an attempt to be engaged, this is just contextualization with a pinch of boredom.
We should wait until GM is ready before posting anything else in the RP thread
*looks around*
This is still the OOC thread, yes?
>>189476*slap*
4 goddamn days later, this is what I finally got GPT to spit out after having to force it to acknowledge that there was no copywrited works expressed or implied and THEN getting it to repeat the description I gave it and THEN telling it to fucking generate the goddamn image that it just acknowledged it had a detailed and thorough description of
Gpt's days are numbered.
Anyway, here's what it gave me for Rosey, Garv, and Amber
>>189480>1st picWho is she? She's adorable.
>>189484She goes by Amber Sunset. Another player will have to tell you about her tho, no offense but she hasn't crossed paths with my character so I've only been skimming
>>189489>Amber SunsetSo cute.
>>189480AI do indeed by very dumb. At least the images came out nice!
>>189480I love the Amber picture. Thank you again.
>>189502I'm happy to do more. There's a bit of a learning curve to get it to follow simple instructions, but I've gotten alot better. Let me know if there are any inclusions, additions, corrections, or anything of the sort. I'm gonna be playing with it anyway, so if there's somethign you'd like to see, don't hesitate. ^_^
>>189468Can anyone more informed/connected than me tell me if we are still doing this quest? Or is it over?
>>189507We're still doing it
>>189508Any word on when we will pick up again?
>>189509Soon. Nothing specific, but he's working on writing out the description of the scene and the bone lurker.
*continues to balance awkwardly on one finger*
She was quite cross about the back-boobs
>>189509Oh, right, you said something didn't you? Rosey is waiting to,... oh that's right, she gets to raise a monstrous skeleton. Shush, in your turn. No seriously, you of all players have even less leeway than me
>>189510Thank you for the update. That puts me at ease.
Still trying to get it to stop striping parts of the body, but this is close
Very nice description, GM. I will reply as soon as I get off of work.
>>189523This is a really nice and cute image
Cadence: Half-celestial unicorn exalted Sorcerer with Celestial Bloodline, Divine Sorcery and Domain Access ACF. Her prestige class would be Celestial Sorcerer. Notably, she would have Faerie Mysteries Initiate with Shining Armor. Definitely give her prismatic bow and Unicorn arrow to suit her cupid theme, but overall she'd have relatively few offensive spells and focus more on utility and buffs. Give her multiple Exalted feats, especially Touch Of Golden Ice so she can crystalize evil creatures.
Put her around level 15-ish
Shining Armor: Int-based paladin/Wizard Abjurant Champion multiclass build, with Academic Priest, Sword Of The Arcane Order, Advanced Horn Magic, and Faerie Mysteries Initiate (with Cadence). He would use int for HP, Attacks, and spellcasting, and would be able to prepare Wizard spells in his paladin slots. The Wizard part would just be a dip, with martial domain wizard, to qualify him for Sword Of The Arcane Order, and advance as an Abjurant Champion. Paladins multiclass surprisingly well with Wizard. Swap out his special mount for standfast, divine spirit, or charging smite.
Mane 6 and other ponies: the levels of the Mane Six depend on how important they are to the story, but they should all be at least 10th level.
Twilight: Half-Celestial Unicorn Generalist Divination Domain Wizard, maybe Loremaster. Give her the Dragon Familiar feat (Spike). Spread out her knowledge skills far and wide and give her ranks in Profession (Astronomy) for even more divination. I could get nitpicky with the specifics of her Wizard build, but I'll spare you all. Note that Divination Domain could qualify her for Spontaneous Divination as a generalist.
Fluttershy: Druid (Huntsman variant), Beastmaster. No Wildshape, only minimal spellcasting. She's a pure beastmaster build. Max out her Animal Handling skill.
That being said, Beastmaster may be redundant, since her animals are NPCs anyway, so perhaps a Druid (Huntsman) / Divine Bard Multiclass, specializing into Green Whisperer. This would suit her niche of singing with the birds. Greensinger Initiate helps with this.
Fluttershy could also be a Ranger, but imo she's the only character in the setting who fits the description of a Druid, so I would prefer to star her as such.
Pinkie Pie: Jester. Take Jester Magic and max out perform (buffoonery) alongside tumble, stealth, bluff and Sleight of Hand. Giving her maxed Use Magic Device could enable her to pull off chaotic stunts. Otherwise, maybe some kind of Bard build. Her spells should be the ones that enhance her skills or function as party tricks, but possibly also offensive spells like Glitterdust.
Applejack: Ranger. Give her personal firearms, but her main weapon would be a lasso. Max put her Sense Motive skill. Possibly make her a multiclass Scout. She would have no spellcasting. Winona is her animal companion, with Golarion Ranger.
Alternatively, she could be a Ranger/Paladin multiclass, with Devoted Tracker (because Paladins never lie). If AJ is a paladin, she should have Serenity, to change her Int abilities to Wisdom.
Rainbow Dash. Canonically a Rogue. Rogue/Scout with Swift Ambusher could fit her, although maybe a higher spec build would do her awesomeness more justice. I would need to revisit her build.
Whatever her build is, she would have maxed ranks in Tumble, and every feat that requires flight, especially the upgrades to fly-by-attack.
She could also be a Paladin/Rogue multiclass, which also multiclasses quite well with the supporting feats and prestige classes, but most importantly because of her ideals of courage and loyalty. Shadowbane Inquisitor could fit her at high levels.
Rarity: Rarity is tricky, but I would stay her as a Sorceress (she's charismatic, but not so bookish as Twilight). She has ranks in Craft (weaving), which qualifies her for the War Weaver prestige class. As a War Weaver, she would have applied her knowledge as a seamstress to weaving magical spells in combat to aid her allies. She could also be an Initiate Of The Sevenfold Veil.
Trixie: Beguiler, spec into Magical Trickster and Combat Trickster. Max put her Bluff and Sleight Of Hand skills, which can enable her to make it look like she's casting fake spells with her Beguiler magic (using magic to perform fake magic, galaxy brain). Give her The magic-blooded Spark template, and dump her Wisdom score. Give her Presto's Hat Of Many spells as her entire character wealth, and nothing else.
Celestia: she could be based on a Celestial Charger; advance a Half-Celestial, Radiant unicorn with Cleric levels, and then 10 levels of Radiant Servant of Pelor. You could give her divine rank as well, depending on how powerful, but a more tame approach would be to give her the divine spark ability from DMG2, so she would have the Sun Domain powers. If she has divine rank, it should be no higher than 5 (demigod), because she is a character who can indeed be defeated. Note that even 1 divine rank is a big deal.
A lazier approach is to make her a Solar, but replace the alternate form ability with the unicorn's horn abilities. Give her any/all light/fire based spells that seem appropriate.
Luna: should be similar to Celestia, but replace any Cleric spellcasting with Shadowcaster spellcasting. Also give her maxed ranks in the Lucid Dreaming skill, and also give her all of the oneiromancy feats so that she can enter the dreams of anypony and fight battles there. She should have Dream and Nightmare as spell-like abilities, and would be able to use her dream abilites to reach out to the party as a quest giver. Also give her max ranks in Craft (Dreams) just for giggles (the one who spots the reference gets a cookie)
Discord:
Discord is a Chaos Dragon with the Archdradon (Chaos) template. He is a literal god, not demigod, so he has divine rank, likely 6 or higher. Give him the Chaos-related Salient Abilities, as well as Alter Size and Alter Reality.
>>189537Chryasis: the Villain of the campaign, so she should be of especially high level, higher than Cadence because she defeated her in this timeline, but not necessarily formidable enough to solo Celestia without backup/trickery. I would stay her has a half-fey, unleesie fey doppelganger or changeling (Eberron), or even a Succubus. Her class assortment would be Spellthief (use the Trickster variant, if she's has doppelganger/succubus RHD), with 10 levels in Chameleon. Chameleon would greatly supplement her disguise ability, and allow her to duplicate the abilities of any mid-level character, being able to change her build every day. She would have Master Spellthief, so that those doubled caster levels from Chameleon stack with her Spelltheft, making her incredibly potent against spellcasters and able to absorb their power to do unexpected things. With Godsblood Spelltheft, she would be able to dish out 9th level spells of her own if she steals some from a caster (which she has cocooned), preferably Shadow domain so that she can imitate more spells with Shadow Conjuration/Evocation. Craven would make her a potent sneak attacker as well.
Anarchomancer could also give the option to make an entirely different character she it disguised as long-term
Tirek:
Tirek is basically an archfiend and might be better to have a unique statblock, but if I were to give him stats, I would make him a half-minotaur, half-goristro taurirc creature.
His lower body would be that of a dungeonbred advanced warbeast gorgon. Great physical ability scores, natural armor, bull-like body. Dungeonbred makes him medium, btw.
His upper body would be that of a primordial half-giant. Powerful Build, +4 Int and Cha, levitate at-will.
His entire body would have the half-minotaur his size to large and giving him all the minotaur jazz, and then half-goristro (variant half-fiend), increasing his size from large to huge (counting as gargantuan when grappling) and gives him a bunch of fiendish spell-like abilites.
Then he would have class levels. Give him the Spellfire Wielder feat, and then give him 10 levels in the Spellfire Channeler. With his monstrous constitution scores, he should be able to absorb a truly absurd amount of spell levels and channel them into all of the tricks he did in the show. Then consider giving him a few levels in Soul Eater, for more offensive energy draining and augmenting his natural attacks. His final build depends on what CR you're aiming for, having more levels in Soul Eater or Spellfire Hierophant.
>>189537>>189538Revisions/Additions
Cadence: could also be a fey bloodline Sorcerer, with the Wild Soul prestige class.
Shining Armor: would be specialized in abjuration magic.
Twilight: straight Wizard with no prestige class, increasing the bond with her familiar (Spike)
Fluttershy: Spontaneous Druid who only knows "subtle" spells without dramatic effects, like animal enchantment spells, healing spells, and divination spells. This would allow her to be a druid without looking like a caster. Huntsman variant gives her unarmored wisdom to AC like a monk without Wildshape.
Pinkie Pie: Straight Jester
Applejack: possibly a Strength based ranger with lasso specialization
Rainbow Dash: Scout is similar enough to rogue to replace rogue, and gives her bonuses to speed. Skirmish is excellent with improved Flyby attack.
Rarity: could be a bard instead of a sorceress, but keep War Weaver
Trixie: possibly prestige class in Shadowcraft Mage, so she could use her illusion magic to imitate real magic.
Celestia: her build really depends on how powerful you want to make her, but I think she should be a Cleric or Sorceress. Giving her the Spell Domain could allow her to prepare spells from a book as a Wizard
Luna: should be a bit less powerful than Celestia
Discord: doesn't necessarily need to be a deity, but he needs to have some kind of reality altering power. Maybe a rank 1 deity with Alter Reality
Chrysalis: if she's a succubus or half-doppelganger succubus, give her Improved Energy Drain and Spell Drain, to add to her energy draining powers. She could also have levels in Warshaper.
Tirek: same as above, for more spell/energy draining. Give him improved grapple and make him a general unarmed combat natural weapons build, to benefit from his soul eater energy draining. Mage Slayer, Pierce Magical Concealment, Pierce Magical Protection, Occult Crusader and Occult Opportunist could allow him to be highly effective against spellcasters.
We know where we are going next, right?
I can already see it: Posey riding the whale, two heavy machine guns on it's shoulders, and a bomb in it's gut looking down smugly at a very irritated Bat.
>>189584This has been part of my plan to take over the world and succeed on the battlefield in the face of modern technology: autonomous undead airforce.
At high levels, I could try using Haunt Shift to make undead possess airplanes and tanks as Haunting Presences. Imagine a rusted, decayed airplane magically animated by a haunting wight pilot, with a crew of skeletal gunmen, fueled by pure hatred of all living things.
Swarms of tiny undead can carry and activate grenades, serving as autonomous drones.
I’ll be at BABScon this weekend, but I will see what I can do for replies
>>189601Take your time to enjoy the con. We waited this long; we can wait a couple more days.
Just try to be ready to advance the plot later. I would like to finish up this adventure soon.
>>189537Are there any other characters I should sperg stats for?
>>189603>I would like to finish up this adventure soon.Okay….
>>189601>>189609Just,... get out of CA before you turn gay
>>189609So we can get to the next adventure.
>>189615He's worried people aren't enjoying this adventure currently
>>189617I am enjoying it. The climax is coming soon, and I want to get to it.
>>189601Now that the con is over, is there any plan to continue the story soon, GM?
I think we had some coherent plans for what to do next, buried somewhere in this thread.
>>189810>Now that that thing you were doing is over, when are you going toDon't make me slap the mercy-kill our of your left shoulder, through a strike to your right shoulder
Yes, I misspelled 'out' in my agitation, I do that when agitated. But no, you don't get to be petulent about things (that's my role, fight me for it) and yes, you will be patient and respectful.
>>189810Yes, I’ll try to reply soon
Ne aware that while I’ve heard something about taking at least some portion of the party back to the crash site, I’m not actually sure what the plan is
>>189813Posey, Garv, and the griffons are taking Monstro the Bone Lurker to the plane crash, and strapping the explosive and guns to him to carry. The rest of us are heading directly for the airship. After the plane group is done, they'll meet us and rejoin the group along our route to the airship.
>>189813>>189814And Brie is scouty scouting ahead, when that becomes relevant
>>189814Basically this. Posey is picking up the bomb and the guns. She will have monstro carry the bomb, and use her Dreads to mare the guns and defend monstro.
Then we will meet with the party at the blimp site. I can roll any necessary charisma checks with the airponies there.
Idk if GM noticed my intent to animate a second, smaller bone lurker, but that's fine. I got more than I needed out of this scroll.
Oh, since it looks like I am now responsible for handling the bomb, can ponies explain to me what we intend to do with the bomb? I am a bit confused as to what the long term plan is with this thing.
>>189817Well, you will need an explosives expert to RE-arm it, so at the moment it will suffice for the good whale to transport it. I said it in character, but the explosive is ready to go, just a few turns on 3 bolts and it will pop right out.
>>189817We're gonna force it inside the Traveler's body and detonate it.
>>189819Now now, we haven't ruled out "seducing" it inside the traveler's body
>>189815I'm quite serious about this. When the time comes, I have a wall of emotive and dsriptive text of my own.
Lest I be deemed "not serious".
Carry on! ^_^
>>189818Okay, but what are we actually doing with it?
>you will need an explosives expert to RE-arm itAlright. That way it won't explode if Monstro is destroyed.
>>189819>We're gonna force it inside the Traveler's body and detonate it.I am skeptical that a creature that survived orbital impact would be destroyed with mortal explosives, but that's an option. Perhaps it's only immune to exterior damage. I intended to rot The Traveller with my Necromancy magic.
Exploding the Traveller while it's still on the Kostroma would risk destroying the Kostroma and everypony inside it, so that plan would first require transporting The Traveller.
If we end up not using it, we could always use monstro as a kamikaze to sink the GRU ship (bone lurkers using aerial charging tactics by default). I think that is a much better use of explosives, but that's just me.
>>189822>I am skeptical that a creature that survived orbital impact would be destroyed with mortal explosivesOn a meta level, I'm totally there with you. I have a crazy idea to that end, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.
If you've ever played the first Silent Hill, and you remember the boss at the bottom of the school
>>189823Imo, based on RPG logic, I anticipate that the Traveller will show is it's "true form" and grotesquely polymorph into a more dangerous form in the "boss fight" where it will be destructible, in which case we may be able to kill it with bullets. If it anticipates us blowing it up or rotting it inside out, it will not simply sit and wait to be destroyed: it will lash out and fight like a cornered animal. We should be prepared to fight an aberrant monster as deadly as an Aboleth mage.
But we should plan ways to destroy it otherwise, just in case it stays dormant.
>>189824Potentially, but would I be revealing my hand to say that I surmise much of this could be achieved by guile?
>>189825Well, anyway, I have my hooves crossed that it will hatch into an alien boss fight, because boss fights are fun, and that would save us the bomb to kamikaze into the GRU ship.
If possible, I could roll Bluff to provoke it into showing its true form, or Intimidate to get it to panic and lash out.
>>189827Oh, I expect some classic Contra shit ^_~
>>189822>Perhaps it's only immune to exterior damage. I intended to rot The Traveller with my Necromancy magic.That's the plan! It's clear that its hide is resistant to damage and has the ability to disintegrate weapons, but no indication has been made that the same is true throughout its entire body. By using your magic to rot out the insides of the Traveler, then detonating the explosive inside of it, it's hoped that it will be enough to overcome any supernatural abilities it has and kill or at least mortally wound it.
>Exploding the Traveller while it's still on the Kostroma would risk destroying the Kostroma and everypony inside itThat's a benefit of detonating the explosive
inside the Traveler. Its body will absorb the force of the explosion, rather than the ship.
>>189830We need to make the Traveler comfy
>>189830>By using your magic to rot out the insides of the Traveler, then detonating the explosive inside of it, it's hoped that it will be enough to overcome any supernatural abilities it has and kill or at least mortally wound it.If my magic could rot a hole in it, could I just rot the whole thing?
>That's a benefit of detonating the explosive inside the Traveler. Its body will absorb the force of the explosion, rather than the ship.I don't believe that would work, tbh.
If push comes to shove, we can try to blow it up, but I would prefer to exhaust other means to destroy it first, even if I need to enter dialogue with it to destroy it.
The Traveller has already entered my mind once today, and I got a nat 20 to shake off it's influence: it should not be able to dominate me again today, so I could try to psychically coax it out of dormancy, so we can kill it the old fashioned way.
Allow me to elaborate.
What I would advise would be for some foolish bat bastard to engage the Traveler in direct dialogue.
Said bastard would be aware of the Traveler's ability to affect mind, so would be "Playing pazaaak" (kotor 2 reference) or 'listening to "It's a Small World" in his head' so to be harder to "read". Its a not uncommon tactic in card games, where one occupies their thoughts with menial thoughs so to assist in attempts to diminish their actual intentions
>>189813Reiterating, I'm quite serious about all of this. If you choose to say "Brie makes foolish decisions and dies", then sure. But otherwise, Brie would have PREMIUM position on any encounters wrt the Traveler and their consortium (as well as any hold-outs).
Since he has a radio however, he might observe details that could possibly aid the party in their advance, which he might relay.
If there's anything I/we need to roll/declare/clarify before we get to the next step, just let me know.
As a /mlp/ refugee could someone give me a tldr on what's the Occupied Equestria? Is it a fic quest inspired by the Equestria At War, it's own thing or what?
>>189849It's a 3.5e D&D (or d20 Modern) play-by-post campaign, inspired by Equestria at war.
But on most days, it's closer to what you described, being largely casual, dialogue-driven RP.
I play a Dread Necromancer spy from the Dread League, and I shall raise an army to reconquer equestria from the changelings.
I was skimming through dungeon Magazine #109 to find content for my Sunday group and researching methods to destroy the world with Death Frost, when I stumbled upon the Based Department faction for d20 modern.
The Overlord is a Charismatic Hero 9, Soldier 8 (CR 17) with a focus on fear based abilities. Character goals for Posey.
>>189852Although, I think this is more of
Darth Stellaris Dark Star's speed.
>>189849Are you interested in playing? I could help you make a character.
>>189830>That's a benefit of detonating the explosive inside the Traveler. Its body will absorb the force of the explosion, rather than the ship.I want to reiterate that this sounds like a bad idea, and that we should explore other options.
Nevertheless, I will have Monstro carry the bomb there.
Hey Sven, are you still alive? Wanna continue Virgin Flame?
>>189849Yes, it is based on Equestria at War. In this world, a Fascist aligned New Mareland invaded Equestria across the Ocean during the Great War, splitting Equestria in two. The main area of action takes place around Baltimare. We have been using D&D 3.5 for combat, but there's also lots of just roleplay and slice of life, in addition to horror and adventure.
Is there anything else I need to clarify before heading off to the plane to collect the items?
When I said I was going to the airship, I meant the plane. I intend to follow the plan we agreed to.
All these descriptions about cold fog has made me wonder if trying to bring back a vestige of Little Leto could be worth the try. He was a vampire who died in a swamp with his body destroyed, so he fits the criteria of a character that might become a Crimson Death, with some help, although he can never become a proper vampire again. The swamp has demonstrable necromantic resonance and has sporadically produced that's and ghosts, which makes it prime ground for a crimson death; and the death trees and savage wolves seemed to imply that Leto's presence was still poisoning the land. Posey also just learned Kelgore's Grave Mist, so she's been studying cold fog and its necromantic properties.
I'll put it on the shelf as an idea to consider talking about with with Baka later. I don't really benefit from having an uncontrolled intelligent bloodsucking gaseous dollar-store ghost around, but it would be fun for research reasons (a "friendship lesson" as a discovery about the nature of undeath).
I keep thinking of new sidequests... I should probably focus on setting up my research lair before anything else. I did promise to mail the ghost's anchors to their respective addresses too.
>>189925You may as well propose sidequests. It gives me something to work with in the future
>>189926I just want a wounded-ass, possibly permanently-disfigured Brie to be able to go back to Lacey's family with evidence of having harrowingly survived an encounter with killing/banishing/wtfe-ing whatever the Traveler is, so I can open up her as a character and begin whatever process is necessary for the establishment of her establishment. Her primary function as a character is negotiations and diplomacy, but also fine with Everybody was Kung Fu fighting.
>>189926Cool.
Aside from world domination, my fringe ideas often include creating various kinds of undead, especially through means other than spells. Posey is interested in researching Necromancy and undeath, so simply raising creatures as undead is a rewarad in itself because it counts towards a discovery of Necromancy that Posey can write home about as a "Friendship lesson". Reanimating previously slain villains also has been a fun motif that I would like to consider continuing. Undead creation related quests could include:
>Rue Dumare (Juju/Intelligent zombie)Posey has already brought Rue Dumare back as a zombie. Although she has brought back the zebra sorceress's body, she has not been able to bring back her mind, as well as her sorcerous knowledge. One way or another, Posey intends to properly restore Rue Dumare, through regular status updates and experiments. If Posey gets to the proper level, she may use spells such as Create Undead (Juju Zombie), Awaken Undead, or Unling Identity to bring Rue Dumare back as an intelligent zombie. Posey also hears that certain fungi can sporadically cause creatures to become Juju zombies, so she will research blightspawned creatures.
>AgirePosey raised Agire as a ghoul (hopefully a grave touched ghoul) as consolation to fulfill the "favor" that she promised to his family. That aside, Posey has ulterior motives for her ghastly funeral service: corrupting and subverting the kaftar temple. Posey will monitor Agire's progress to see to it that he regains his powers and properly inherits the leadership position within the kaftar temple, so that he may preach the gospel of the demon Yeenhoghu and sow extremism within the community that she intends to mobilize when she takes over the city.
I was also working on a statblock for Agire, if GM was interested.
>UmoyaJust like Posey raised Agire, Posey seeks the same for the Crocutta shaman Umoya, but not by her own means. Posey intends to have Agire do it, as a test of his skills to see if he has become a suitable priest of evil.
If Agire succeeds on a sacrifice to reanimate Umoya, the two spiritual leaders in the gnoll community may join forces, setting aside their ethnic hatred in solidarity as they prepare to fight in the coming Armageddon.
>BakaThrough some means, Posey intends to help Baka become a proper vampire. I've read too many stories about vampire familiars who served the entirety of their lives only to get shafted in the end, so I want to help him out. The easiest way I can think of would be to use Flesh Of Orcus (a 6k magic item) that he could consume to become a vampire (this only works if a "Bloodbound" is similar to a blood ghoul, and still counts as humanoid for vampire transformation); but I don't think such an item is on sale in Baltimare. Perhaps I could try to gradually progress him in the vampire class instead.
In life, Posey once dreamed of becoming a proper sister of the Coven herself, but her mother has other ideas. Now her binding to her master forbids her from intentionally seeking out means to turn herself into vampire that would subvert the authority of the Coven, but she can still help a friend.
>LetoAs described above. There's no guanteed mechanical process for creating a crimson death, so I would have to just try to be creative.
>CurwhinnyLich or not, Curwhinny was a powerful Necromancer. Posey intends to find his remains and extract knowledge ingrained in his bones ala Speak With Dead, so that he may inherit his research. This does not necessarily require raising him, just learning about his studies.
>Licorice LamentHe is a Black Horse, and he has a taste for wine, so he may be able to be my Famine harbinger, so I would like to help him see the benefits of being dead later on. Perhaps his marefriend could help motivate him; they are running into some family troubles.
>Dark StarDark Star is a Red Horse, a warrior, and has a strong capacity for hatred, so he may be able to bear the mantle of War. With his player's cooperation, I would like to make him a Death Knight some day, if he is interested in becoming Darth Stellaris. The method I would like to use involves a ritual suicide while Posey magic-jar's into his body, so it would require Posey to be at least level 8.
>The HordePosey is serious about taking over the world, and for that she will need an army, and a place to store them. She intends to gradually build up undead forces and store them in safehouses, preferably underground, some even buried. The Horde would involve various undead monsters, some controlled and some uncontrolled. Posey intends to create as many undead soldiers as possible, and command the ones in excess of her control pool to bury themselves and await the war.
>GloomyPosey intends to make Gloomy her apprentice, which means eventually crucifying him to make him a Necropolitan like herself. Gloomy is the last horse, so this comes much later.
.
I'll post my other sidequest ideas separately. The other ones are more immediately important and feasible.
>>189928Other sidequests:
>Buy landPosey intends to buy Curwhinny's farm with the funds she raised from this mission. She intends to convince Glass Horizons that the land is irreparably damaged by necromantic activity and that it is a liability unsuitable for development or resale, but also offer to buy it off of him so that she may continue her research there.
If he needs extra convincing, Posey could plant the haunted objects on the site and have the ghosts scare some ponies for a couple weeks to blockbust the area to throw the real estate value in the gutter.
By acquiring Curwhinny's farm, Posey will also be able to monopolize the archaeological research there and expel rival universities, which Ersatz Orgone would certainly be very pleased to hear about. Doing this would raise Posey's Profile within the Necromancy department, and make Ersatz Orgone more friendly towards her, and therefore less suspicious. Perhaps she could even apply for some research grants to open a lab there.
>Promises made to the ghostsPosey promised to mail the objects haunted by the ghosts to their requested locations, and she intends to make do on that promise, although she would like the ghosts to help with her blockbusting stunt first, although they may need some "convincing"
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)>Auction the relicPosey acquired a holy relic in one of her last missions, but it isn't really that useful to her because GM has elected to NOT indulge my abuse of the dysfunctional 3.5e rule where holy items can cause lvl 1 evil creatures to become undead.
However, it being a holy relic, it cannot be sold (except for its weight in silver), but it may make excellent bait for
>Meeting August Wreath againPosey intends to meet August Wreath again, not to kill him (he's not ripe yet), but to offer him the holy relic that he was searching for in his own quest. It gives the opportunity to reopen dialogue with him, and gain more information about the ELF. Posey passively supports the ELF because the insurgency could cause chaos and bloodshed that she could take advantage of in her own military efforts. Also, I want him to level up as a Shadowbane Inquisitor, so that he can become a better Death Knight later.
To do this, Posey will use the university's archaeological and necromantic researched platform to interview those who are interested in it, advertising it as an item that demonstrates powers against the undead. She will mention in the post that interviees who demonstrate the ability to channel positive energy (Turn Undead) may be awarded the relic as a research grant. If news of the relic reaches August, I have a hunch that he would investigate even knowing that it may be a trap (because that's how paladin's roll), either to obtain the relic or to attempt to destroy Posey.
>My PreciousPosey, having acquired a cursed artifact tiara, would like to study it and learn what its powers truly are. She also intends to bond with the crown so that she may be able to use it, through various means (Item Familiar, Forging a New Legacy, Item Bonding, giving it sentience and then seducing it, etc). Posey always wanted a magical tiara of her own, and the fact that it's cursed makes her love it all the more.
>Open an arcane research centerPosey intends to open a business in service of her current guild (the University), preferably on Curwhinny's farm. This would be a Criminal enterprise using a Scholarly business as its front. This gives Posey stuff to do during downtime, and have an actual job to raise funds with.
>Gain Reputation (points?)Posey intends to raise her Reputation, with the guise of being an honest, law-abiding citizen and upstart magical genius. Doing this involves treading a dangerous life between her criminal underground and her public profile. By making regular perform checks and gaining NPC contacts, she intends to attract distant powerful patrons who can offer her quests and resources. If possible, she may pursue formal political or military positions.
>Schooling GloomyPosey intends to eventually make Gloomy her apprentice, but maintaining her public profile as an upstanding citizen may require enrolling him in school... Which is conveniently close to Curwhinny's farm.
>Black Rock CastleWhen Posey gains sufficient power and wealth, she will eventually want a more spectacular place of living, and what better way to do it than conjure a magical tower out of crystal with the power of friendship? Posey will at some point try to construct a stronghold on Curwhinny's farm; using her necromantic magic for wealth shenigans if GM permits it
>War on the ChangelingsPosey eventually intends to lead a righteous war to rid Equestria of Changeling infestation. To accomplish this, she must amass power through magic, wealth, and reputation.
>>189928>>189930Pls r8 my deranged ambitions by feasibility
>>189928>Posey intends to properly restore Rue DumareTo what though? A zombie that is as intelligent as a normal zebra?
>he may preach the gospel of the demon Yeenhoghu and sow extremism within the communityWhat
>If Agire succeeds on a sacrifice to reanimate Umoya, the two spiritual leaders in the gnoll community may join forces, setting aside their ethnic hatred in solidarity as they prepare to fight in the coming Armageddon.I feel like I'm missing a whole story here
>Speak with dead on CurwhinnyI don't think you're going to get 50,000+ words out of him
>I would like to help him see the benefits of being dead later on. Perhaps his marefriend could help motivate him; they are running into some family troubles.What benefits and what motivation?
>Darth StellarisDo dee Do Doop Do dee Do Doophttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZWMP1ZU1MA&pp=ygUSZG9vbXNkYXkgc3RlbGxhcmlz>The hordeUh... maybe
>>189930>Buy landBut anon, all real estate has been bought up by Kirin investors and is unreasonably priced
Just kidding. Anything can be bought with enough money
>Mailing haunted itemsSure
>convincing This could mean one of two things. Sure
>GM has elected to NOT indulge my abuse of the dysfunctional 3.5e rule where holy items can cause lvl 1 evil creatures to become undeadThere actually was an idea for this
>Holy relics cannot be soldThis is just so blatantly wrong I don't understand where the idea comes from. The King of Aragon once sold the Holy Grail in exchange for debt relief. The King of France bought the crown of thorns, and so forth.
>Posey wants booty call with August Wreath againThis may be arranged
>studying the artifactShe has connections at the university
>Arcane research centerWhat? I'm imagining a call center doing scam calls.
>gain reputationThis should be fleshed out more
>Gloomy at schoolThis is a maybe
>Buy our toys castleehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
>defeating changelings through magic, wealth, and reputationWere it so easy
Posey needs special rewards for surviving her encounters with paladins and clerics...
>>189925>Crimson deathNot the slightest idea on what that's supposed to be
>>189932>To what though? A zombie that is as intelligent as a normal zebra?To a type of undead that retains its personality and class levels, like a juju zombie.
>WhatYeenhoghu is the demon god of gnolls. I wasn't necessarily asserting his existence in the setting, but the point is that having an evil Cleric on my side is useful.
>I feel like I'm missing a whole story hereThe two gnoll communities are enemies. Perhaps they could be friends instead. The story is yet to be told.
>I don't think you're going to get 50,000+ words out of himI didn't expect that much. Maybe he left some research notes lying around.
>What benefits and what motivation?I don't know yet. I still need to get to know Licorice. Perhaps he might be interested in promises of power and decadence, perhaps not.
>There actually was an idea for thisHmmm?
Perhaps I may have use for it after all.
>This is just so blatantly wrong I don't understand where the idea comes from.I thought it was written somewhere in the book of exalted deeds, but idk; I may have imagined it. Point is I wasn't sure who would buy such an item for it's full price. I would be glad to get some good money out of it though.
>This may be arrangedGreat.
>She has connections at the universityI intend to use them. They could at least help me cast Identify.
>What?Legitimate research for the college of arcane sciences.
>I'm imagining a call center doing scam calls.That's an idea too. I wonder how much ponies would pay to hear the voices of their deceased loved ones.
>This should be fleshed out moreI will try.
>This is a maybeYou mentioned school a few times, so I took it that you wanted me to do that.
It could give me a few opportunities to roleplay Gloomy Sundae as well.
>Just kidding. Anything can be bought with enough moneyHopefully I can get a good deal if the land is haunted.
>ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhPerhaps some day, in the future.
>Were it so easy A mare can dream.
>Posey needs special rewards for surviving her encounters with paladins and clerics...Levels, please.
>Not the slightest idea on what that's supposed to beA ghost-like, bloodsucking monster made of mist that arises when a vampire dies in a swamp. It was just a thought of ways to make Baka happy so that I could get magical favors from him.
Unrelated side-question, what was the story on the revolver in the outhouse from way earlier? Was there mention of the calibur?
>>189948It was determined to be nonmagical and nonmasterwork, so it doesn't really matter, unless you are asking for forensic reasons.
I fished it out with my magic, but I didn't bother keeping track of it after it was determined to be nonvaluable.
>>189949Does it work? Its a gun!
>>189928>>189930>>189934This looks to be a single-player rpg
>>189932That you're volunteering for!
>>189951It's covered in poop, but if you want it nobody else claimed it.
>>189952>This looks to be a single-player rpgThese were plans that I made when I was solo roleplaying for more than a year before I met the party.
It doesn't all have to be solo though. I thought that I would be joining the party in exterminating Changelings when I joined.
>>189953And you brought all of them
>>189954Brought all of what?
>>189955All of your plans from solo rp.
>>189956GM did ask for it.
I have more ideas, but those were just the things I had off of the top of my head.
Also, they are not necessarily solo.
What kinds of plans, ambitions or ideas for sidequests do other players have? Is anypony interested in helping Posey usher in the day of bug spray?
>>189958Kira is going to do anything she can to help improve public perception around lamias, and get the governor of Baltimare to agree to let her tribe come in and settle as refugees. Silver's going to go on an adventure to look for the Tree of Life and, hopefully, save the world along the way.
>>189959>Kira is going to do anything she can to help improve public perception around lamiasThis sounds like gaining Reputation Points, which is what Posey is trying to do.
Perhaps we could help each other.
>get the governor of Baltimare to agree to let her tribe come in and settle as refugees.Hmmm, more potential Bone Nagas...
I, too, have a vested interest in subverting the policy agenda of the customs department.
>Silver's going to go on an adventure to look for the Tree of Life and, hopefully, save the world along the way.Interesting.
>>189960Could you maybe let other people post and NOT decide to give your personal take? Maybe just let other posters "be"?
>inb4 I'm just trying to
No, you're trying to be central, and stop
>189961
>189962
>Could you
No.
>No, you're trying to
Projection.
I don't really care what you think of me, m8. I was having a conversation with Silver, not you. You are the only poster who has complained, as you always do. If the other posters have a problem with it, I will listen to them. Until then, I shall post as I feel is appropriate at my leisure.
>>189963And now the shoe is on the other foot
Let me explain. (you) felt perfectly entitled to bitch and moan about the disruptive nature of repeat posts. And yet, refuse to denote the disruptive nature of walls of text about character aspirations
>But GM asked meand if you go back and look, you'll see that in my spergyness - the same sort that results in this:
>>189928>>189930>>189934Was simply NOT condensed into 3 posts. Very well, I'll begin writing the detailed history of the Row family, since it pertains to my character aspirations. Wouldn't that be a gas?
>ideas for sidequests
Let me illustrate:
In order for Brie to achieve his aspirations, he will have to convince Lacey's father, and his 3 brothers. The reigning Grandfather already likes him, but he's anathema for having gotten raped by having sex with Lacey in the first place.
The Row family is an ancestal ninja family, established when an ancestor dispatched an evil ugly nasty JUST like the Traveler.
Ergo, having been seduced by the Row family heir AND having (ostensibly) survived very much the same sort of encounter by which the Row family established themselves, his intention is to fight
(doon doon)
for the right
)doon doon)
To bat puuuuuuuuuuusssssssssay
Unintended, but it felt right
So, his intention (again assuming he walks out of this, cuz unlike some ponies Brie can actually die) is to retire after a long bit of social dialogue, and maybe a bit of combat.
After establishing Lacey as a character, side-quests that could serve her intentions are limitless, but a brief outline of the types include:
Negotiations/Diplomacy
Robbery
Black Operations
Social Manipulation (like the previous, except people get less mad when you're caught)
General combat (if necessary)
If more specific examples are necessary I can offer examples and suggestions.
Forgive me for not asserting/expecting "World domination, absolute corruption of everything, etc." isn't listed. I guess some think globally while others think locally.
Suspecting that this will be interpreted weird, I mean that the grandfather likes Brie, but BRIE is anathema for having had sex with Lacey (there was a pregnancy), after having saved Lacey's ass during an 'instance'.
>>189934>>189932>Perhaps I may have use for it after all.Oh, I actually helped with this idea! Okay, I won't spoil it too much, but I will say that the result won't be entirely what you were expecting, but Lament should be able to explain what the benefits of the outcome are. I don't know if GM pone will actually do it, but we'll see if/when Posey returns to the mansion one day and Lament asks her to follow him while he shows her something.
>>189960There are more ideas for Silver than just that, though most are personal ambitions or going on adventures that his finds in Curwhinny's dungeon lead him to. Like, he wants to expand his house so he has enough room to house all of his collected NPCs, buy a workshop and set up a smithy to outfit himself, the party, and earn passive income to support his household, find a lost island in the middle of the Thalassic Ocean, and look for a pirate queen's treasure including a special ring for...reasons.
>Perhaps we could help each other.Kira would definitely appreciate the help from a friend!
>Hmmm, more potential Bone Nagas...Oh noes. Make sure Kira doesn't know about that part.
Also, I'd like to post sometime a rundown on the lamias, their history, and all of the different kinds of lamias. Is there any interest in that at all or should I just forget about it?
>>189968The only time anyone objects to lore-dumps is when I'm the one doing it, or when I'm returning fire; you're fine
Who here is struggling with the concept of covert surveillance and reconnaissance?
>>189976 →Oh for fuck's sake. Let me give you a paste-bin, since I don't know what you have planned, but I guarantee whatever it is is something I could chess my way around, but okay, we'll do this the hard way.
Brie's primary method would be to avoid detection, sweeping as much of the available perimeter as possible. His next step would be to observe movements, positions, formations, patrols; find what repeats (if applicable). While doing so, an analysis of the involved parties would occur; one can predict the crew of the Kostromo, and likely the GRU; who knows who else.
Next comes an analysis of possible shatter-points. Explosive barrels, weakened structures, perhaps even oil in the water; anything to shift the fight as needed.
While y'all wanna play like it's "Days of Our Lives", Brie seemingly is the only pony who's treating this like its a mix of Metal Gear: Solid, and Silent Hill.
Appreciating that characters may not have made the mental leap, but a probable consequence of failure is an eternity of slavery to the Traveler.
Because of a work related matter I'm not really available today, but I would like to see if we could get to combat soon. Maybe middle of the week?
>>189992Sounds good to me!
>>189992If you made any mention of being propsectively available today, it didn't reach. So when you say "I WON'T be available today" I wanna punch you in the junk AND the throat.
how many fucking times do I have to say "hey, give a heads up"
By heads-up, I DON'T mean aftermath
>>189992I can check during the week any time, but I will likely need to wait until the evening (after work) to participate in active combat.
>>189997I get home from work around 5:30 EST, btw
One wonders why any player's precious schedule has any relevance
>>189999>>190000Nigger, did you really have to kill BOTH millennial posts? Why could that have not been a single post?
>>189999>>190000Absolute, complete, horrific waste of quads
>>190005THEN HANDLE YOUR SHIT. YOU PINGED ME ABOUT THE GAME
>190004
>190003
>190002
>He's still doing it
>190000
To answer your stupid question, it is relevant because I am not able to quit my job to play D&D in the middle of a weekday, as much as I would like to.
I don't mind if ponies want to play without me, and I encourage them do so if they can, but I am answering DM's questions about my availability for combat encounters, which is only in the evenings on week days.
>>190006You’re pissed off that I made a post explaining I have work obligations preventing me from doing much today, I would like to have a combat encounter soon, and asking what player availability is like in the middle of the coming week. Okay. I don’t understand why you are angry, but we all understand
that you are angry. That’s fine, but I am going to ask people about availability and to announce that I want combat soon.
I’ve said before that you having a shitty attitude is not appreciated. Thus is for fun. You don’t want fun, then fuck off.
I’ve said before that we all understand that you don’t like posey. Angry posting at every post that Posey makes is functionally spam and derailment. You have already been told to stop doing this. I am not going to relitigate this. You were also told not to make multiple posts in sequence that are a single line.
>>190004>it's an expected radio silenceYou have been told dozens of times not to spam consecutive posts, especially near the millennial post. It is not a difficult thing to do.
Why do you keep doing this? Why do you have to malign everyone around you?
All you do is complain. Ever since this mission started, you have complained endlessly about everything. It's tiresome and counterproductive.
>>190011GM, why do you even tolerate this asshole when he makes posts like this >>190012 ? He is openly disrespecting you, with an attitude that calls into question why he is even playing this game. You don't have to put up with this.
He has been a drain on the group ever since he entered the game, he complains endlessly, and he refuses to even follow basic instructions like "don't spam" or "compress your posts". He continuously condemns and insults both you and the group for not roleplaying to his tastes or not meeting his expectations for scheduling.
Why does he have to be part of this?
I know I'm not a perfect player myself, but at least I freaking try to repress my bad habits.
>>190020
It is GM who dictates it.
>>190021Then we're back at it are we? Just stop
I - don't - care - anymore. I literally don't remember. Be mad if you will
>>190011>>190013GM, that wasn't a rhetorical question.
I'm really sorry, but I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this at this rate. The posts are gone, but the problem is not. I'm really tired of this bullshit, and I know you are too.
Idk, maybe I need to go cool my head...
>>190025Oh? Are you done deciding that other players have to deal with your abitrary criteria? Are you done power-gaming? Are you done trying to win the game?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ei_1fgIDcgw
Where's Rosey Posey's resolve? She was insurmountable a minute ago, with all the dreads and undead things! Where'd the fire go??
What happened to the pages of sidequests you just posted about?
>>190025Thanks for all your hard work btw
>>189958Amber's one real ambition is to get into music school. It's never been looked at but I would hazard a guess that such schools are expensive and/or exclusive, which makes things hard for her considering she is penniless and wasted all her skill points on other skills.
There are plenty of sidequests for Amber to go on as she is eager for adventure. One possible idea is that she could explore the underground parts of Baltimare. Posey has been there.
Cavaliere would be taking on extra quests around the city. Resolving conflicts is his forte among his many skills, and anypony can hire him so long as the job does not break his code or good sense. He is lawful good and already suspicious of Posey, which would limit his interaction with her, but investigating and finding changeling spies is something he could do.
>>189968>Also, I'd like to post sometime a rundown on the lamias, their history, and all of the different kinds of lamias. Is there any interest in that at all or should I just forget about it?Please do it!
>>190000Nigger.
>>190040*curtsies*
>>190011>you're pissed off that INot even in the right ballpark. I'm frustrated, dejected, and quite frankly nihilistic about any prospects of the game. I was perfectly content to forget about it entirely until you pinged me about it. And yes, like a child, I immediately went "Oh goody gumdrops, maybe something is going to happen!". Instead, I see the one player doing as they always do and trying to make themselves the pivotal/central character. And yes, like a child, I lost my shit. Sorry about the millennial post, it's been a crazy couple weeks and it completely slipped my mind.
>you don't like PoseyNot true in the slightest, and if you don't understand that I don't know what I can tell you. Whatever. Remember this the next time you think to ping me about the game.
I got off work early today.
I'm also free (for the next couple of days, no less). Let's do this!
>>190071Let me try to reply tonight
NO you don't get to be rid of me, you're rid of me when GM allows me to actually play without making lame excused for months and then suddenly becoming available once I lose my shit.
If he thinks he's getting away with giving me the Scones/Stix treatment, well good luck.
But this is for the players: The traveler is vain; wanting to see it's self as a blessing and a benevolent redeeming/emanicapting entity; it's the infernal version of Communism (probably deliberately). Think of Xerxes in 300, that's how the traveler sees its self. Now go forth and guile
Okay, now I have a line of free weekends.
It’s definitely time for combat or other more serious engagements. What kind of availability do people have?
>>190126I can do the evenings on weekdays, and all day on weekends.
>>190126I'm free whenever, except for Friday evenings
>>190126I can also post during work, but only sparingly.
>>190126Can we get through the dialogue/travel before the weekend?
>>190131>>190126I would prefer it if we could at least set the scene before we get to the combat point.
I won't be active tonight, but I will be every other night this week.
>>190135I absolutely agree, it's one of GM pone's greatest strengths
>>189538What kind of abilities do Changelings normally have in this game anyway? I think most of their abilities would be emulated by using Eberron Changelings with the Unleesie Fey template (that's what I would use if I were playing one), but idk what GM uses for them.
Chrysalis is probably best represented as an Unseelie Fey Doppelganger with levels in Chameleon, maybe Half-Fey if more spell-like abilities were wanted.
>>190126What time do you actually want to do this?
[1d3 = 3]p a m
>>190142shrugs
>>190257 →>The "K" blimp, a common type used during World War II, weighed about 25,000 poundsHey, Monstrous could drag two blimps. If we jettison and torch the engines (the systems that we were hired to destroy), the blimp could be our getaway chariot.
>>190259I am referring to the rules for creature carrying capacity.
A bone lurker is a creature that crawls along the ground when it is not flying, so I treated it as a quadruped, but if it were treated as a "two legged" creature, it would be able to drag 32,000 pounds, which is still more than enough to drag a blimp.
The real question is if the blimp can stay in the air so it can be dragged horizontally instead of carried. Monstro could drag it, but it could not lift it while flying. Lifting, carrying, and dragging are very different mechanics. We would need to check if it has enough helium left to stay in the air after the engines are removed; unlikely, but plausible.
Inspired by Saint Brendan's whale-drawn ship.
Just a little longer, ponies, then we can all go our separate ways.
All you do is complain. I propose an off-hand idea to plausibly get off the island, and you complain for no reason other than that it sounds too cool and that makes you angry for some reason.
If you put half as much effort into playing the game as you put into complaining, maybe you wouldn't feel so "sidelined".
>>190272I'm sorry this bullshit keeps happening. It's no fun for me either. Every idea I have sets him off for some reason.
>>190273I trust you caught my reply, since it is not appearing?
Suffice it to say, my "bitching" is reactionary. Stop trying to be the main character
Were we going to get into combat this week, or what?
We have found the airponies. Can we go ahead and maybe streamline torching the engine systems, patching up the injured, and restraining the prisoners, so that we can head to the Kostroma? We already determined that the leak in blimp prevents it from being repurposed, so we should torch it already and get on with the adventure.
>>190319Maybe we should. I would like to get to know the crew better, but we are in an obvious rush. I was hoping Dust would be here to look at the injured and talk with the ponies.
>>190319okay…
I’ve been trying to get Dust to participate…
>>190319>>190321I think we're moving along nicely as is. We're taking care of stuff, once all of the survivors and usable equipment is accounted for we'll torch the systems. Won't be too long as is.
>>190321>I was hoping Dust would be here to look at the injuredI don't think his player would object to him taking 10 on medicine checks to heal all the injured 1d4.
>>190322Looks like he's a busy guy.
I don't want to rush ahead without him, but we need to consider player availability and what we can do when which players are present.
>>190323There's no hurry, but I think we should be able to at least clean up this scene and get ready for the Kostroma, right?
>>190325Yes, you're well established in wanting to speed things ahead if your character isn't the focal point
>>190328>>190327 →Oh look, its not just me
>medsLol
>>190319If you don't find anything happening at all with the airponies to be interesting or worth a few posts of time, then what is at the Kostroma that is going to be worth spending time on? The airponies are the objective from the beginning. Shouldn't they be worth at least a glance if they are the objective? Not a single player has even noticed that the number of ponies at the airship is significantly lower than the number of ponies the team is supposed to be looking for. Or maybe that's just a misstep. Did you want to do combat instead? Then why didn't you say that when I asked what you wanted to do next? Why did you say "let's go to the airponies" if you had absolutely no desire to see the airponies? Why would you not tell me "I want to blow shit up with the whale thing" if that is what you actually wanted to do? As I said I am waiting for Dust's player, who is (allegedly) doing finals work now. That's the main reason there is no combat
I guess you just want to be done with the entire quest as soon as possible? To what end? To do what else? What's the point of any of it? Why finish it? Stellaris has a new update and I should probably do work
Without having looked, memory serves that we're tasked with 8 air-ponies, and the description only seems to include 5, including one that seems likely daft
>>190335>If you don't find anything happening at all with the airponies to be interesting or worth a few posts of timeYou misunderstand me. It wasn't that I don't find it interesting or fun. I just thought you wanted to get the other thing done this week, so I was worried that the way I was roleplaying and asking questions of the NPCs was burning time and stalling the game.
I think you are misinterpreting my question as dissatisfaction. I was asking what it was that you intended to do this week, so I could fit to the schedule and know when to check.
Also Brie's player has been so salty about the game not moving fast enough, so I was trying to do what I could to move things along.
>Not a single player has even noticed that the number of ponies at the airship is significantly lower than the number of ponies the team is supposed to be looking for.In all honesty, I forgot how many there were supposed to be in the first place. My bad.
>Then why didn't you say that when I asked what you wanted to do next? Why did you say "let's go to the airponies" if you had absolutely no desire to see the airponies?That's not what I meant at all. I thought it was you who wanted to get into combat this weekend. I didn't want to drag it out if you had a schedule.
>As I said I am waiting for Dust's player, who is (allegedly) doing finals work now. That's the main reason there is no combatOh, alright then. No hurry. I am glad to wait for him or you however long it may take.
>>190338>Brie's playerDon't even pretend to begin to know what I'm on about. "Worry about having a fun time with all involved players" is what you should pretend to be concerned with
>>190335>I guess you just want to be done with the entire quest as soon as possible? To what end? To do what else? What's the point of any of it? Why finish it? Stellaris has a new update and I should probably do workThis I want to address separately.
GM, I am not complaining here. My communication skills are not the best, so if my post conveyed any lack of appreciation for your game or the current scene, I apologize. I enjoy this game. I enjoy roleplaying with the NPCs, like the Charisma checks I just did to parlay with the airponies; and I and interested in seeing their next reactions. I enjoy reading the elaborate and detailed descriptions of the scenes, including this one. I enjoy sitting at the edge of my chair wondering what the next plot twist will be.If I did not enjoy this game, I would not be playing it. I do not play games that I do not enjoy, or at least not for as long as I have been playing this one. I have enjoyed the quests so far, and I hope to enjoy a lot more content in the future and continue to weave this story.
A 3.5e d20 pony game in a 20th-century magical setting inspired by EaW is a unique and interesting experience I would be hard pressed to find elsewhere. It has been fun, and I am more than satisfied with playing this for as long as you want to keep telling this story.
>To what end?Just to advance the plot, really. I'm excited to see what will come next.
>To do what else?Well, once this adventure is finished, i would look forward to the next one.
>What's the point of any of it?The fun. It's all for fun. This is all fun to me. That's why I play.
>Why finish it?I have been looking forward to the climax of this game since I first entered. I look forward to getting involved in the war and what developments might come of my character on that path.
>Stellaris has a new update and I should probably do workIf you feel the need to take some time off for yourself to focus on your other hobbies or career, I would not complain. Do it at whatever place you are comfortable with.
>>190335>>190338>>190340GM, did I get the point across?
I see that I have upset you, and for that I am sorry. I don't want to go to bed on a bad note here.
>>190342Okay, this makes me feel better
pls be patient. I am insecure
>>190344Thats not how you hold a hamburger
>>190335Let's wait for Dust. Also I need to take better notes; like Posey I had forgotten how many airponies there are supposed to be. I was however going to ask more essential information like what happened to the lieutenant.
Sorry for sounding hasty/ungrateful. I tend to internalize the urgency of the quest if the environment sounds urgent. To me, that implies we should ask only essential information, evacuate the airponies, and chat with them only when it's safe. If that's not what you would like us to do then having some direction regarding that could help.
>>190391Thats not frosting
If you wanna know how it happened, there's plenty of 'lore' in >>>/poner/532 →
>>190367 →>>190375 →>>190399 →>>190409 →GM, may we please see the results of the Rangers' tracking soon, so that we can make our decisions on what to do next before the weekend? We cannot really discuss what to do next without knowing what direction they went in.
We can do this one of two ways.
In one scenario, y'all chill and respond when responded to, because all this demanding of attention is precisely how the game gets derailed.
You've made your checks, you've declared your actions, now wait for a response.
Or, I can go apeshit all over these threads in a manner that is A. parallel to, and B. an order of magnitude more obnoxious.
Choose wisely.
Strike that, Dust Defiant hasn't said what he's doing. Ostensibly, he's the only player who should have anything further
>>190417>medsRemember when GM tried that tactic for a while?
The question remains, how patient are you willing to be?
Any plans to play this weekend?
>>190423I'm not available tomorrow but Sunday I'm totally free.
>>190425I GM on Sundays, but I should still be able to play. Apologies in advance if it takes me a little longer than usual to respond.
I'm available whenever, I just need to know when
>>190432 →Now see, if Silver wanted to do Brie an actual solid, he'll recognize that as a name that Brie has uttered no less than thrice
>>190434 →Yes, of course you noticed, and of course that's your response
>>190442 →I do hope you're done rehashing Brie's talking points and
>>190445 →have the good sense to allow GM to respond to the appropriate players in turn, without your insistence?
I'm sorry GM Pony for forgetting key combat mechanics; this is due to a combination of inexperience and a long hiatus between combat. I really should have known about being prone and if the bonus applied I would have stayed another round in combat, since he wouldn't have been hit at all. But, if we're going by rules then Cavaliere should have been spotted after shooting. I don't know how you want to rectify the whole issue which I've bungled.
At least I'm free the next couple of days so I'll reread combat mechanics.
>>190505Would you like me to send you my minions as backup?
If they shoot the enemy at close range, we could count that as creating a diversion for you to Hide again without penalty.
>>190506>>190507It's up to the party and GM, but yes. Cavaliere is just one griffon but he's caught an enemy squad in an ambush. With more guns they could easily be wiped out
Cavaliere could have done it alone with a single fragmentation grenade. I think taking out the squad leader may be sufficient however since that would force the group to retreat, buying us time.
This was entirely uncalled for.
>>190505It can be a bit complicated.
The rules as written
really do not want you to try to snipe or retain stealth while attacking. This makes sense given the movement involved, but a -20 is… quite a malus. With Garv using a revolver it’s a little different. Guns are so loud it would be impossible not to hear at least the general direction of the shot and probably the exact position. Guns can also have muzzle flash or smoke. Then there’s the fact that Cavaliere is surely not very far away from the location. And I’m not sure exactly what he’s hiding behind, given the lack of large flora. Presumably a rock outcropping, or at best, an old stone wall.
>>190506>>190508I’m not sure why Posey would send her minions out. Yes, she can hear the gunfire, but she’s been hearing gunfire all day and it hasn’t been interesting before. Cavaliere doesn’t have a radio to communicate, unlike Kira, and I’m really not sure how anything good would come of it. But I mean, sure I guess?
>>190533>I’m not sure why Posey would send her minions out. Yes, she can hear the gunfire, but she’s been hearing gunfire all day and it hasn’t been interesting before.See, that's why I asked. I don't think Posey has any real reason or motivation to get involved, but ooc I was wondering if I was expected to do something. That's why I asked in that spoilered message.
I thought that Kira and Cavalier should be able to outrun them, since the fog limits visibility, but it looked like their players wanted help.
.
And GM, can we impose some kind of etiquette policy against excessive/constant complaining about trivial nonsense? It's unsustainable and unfun. I'm really sick of it. Maybe that's selfish of me to ask, but I'm finding it increasingly hard to ignore.
Yes, Posey’s posts can sometimes be annoying, especially when they seem powergamey or when he’s trying to insert himself into a situation. But Jesus Christ, it’s like a dog barking after a doorbell rings. The 50 posts worth of angry tirades after Posey makes a single post, or tries to do anything, is vastly more annoying than Posey does. Shut the hell up.
You want Brie to do… surveillance, I guess? I’m still rather confused as to exactly what the goal is here. We’ve established that the GRU forces have landed around the north bay and are intending to seize the island by means of large squads of soldiers with some artillery backup. You know where Our Fellow Traveller is. Basically as I understand it I’m supposed to describe scenery and scenes in detail? Do you understand how difficult that is? To describe a scene that doesn’t omit anything important or major, and to create an atmosphere of foreboding while exclusively using elements that would actually be present in the scene, and are completely of mundane origin? And then, am I supposed to describe it twice, once for Brie, and then the same scene again when the others get there? Is anyone going to read both descriptions? If they do, is it a problem if they are close to identical? Should the scenes actually be different, given different lighting with the subset among other things? If there is a difference, is anyone going to read it and appreciate it? It’s one hell if a lot of effort for a purpose I do not understand. If Brie had some specific task he were trying to achieve, like for example, he were trying to rob the safe of the Kostroma or he were on his own mission to save airponies that were separated from the group, or if he were trying to sabotage the GRU, or provide a distraction, I may have any issue as to how doable this is in a solo mission, but u would have absolutely no doubt as to what the scene is and what is trying to be accomplished. I would know what I am expected to do.
>>190557
Nigger he hasn’t even been in the game. Jesus Christ
I can’t even go out to eat with my mother without you two nights burning everything to the ground. Jesus Christ.
>>190557
Motherfucker, How fucking hard is it for you to not fucking reply to him? It's like getting your dick ripped apart in a garbage disposal. Don't stick you dick in a garbage disposal, and don't argue with him
Rosey, Im sorry. I cant be impartial or unbiased with this group, even when my character is fucking off elsewhere.
I genuinely like you. Youre one of the most amazibg players I've ever interacted with. I would have that you not feel upset by whatever stupid shit I'm doing/thinking, but I can be quite insistent.
I had Brie leave the main storyline because I want you all to do the things and have the fun. I'm sorry I got caught up in backseat driving.
Yeah, Im also insufferable. I know it. So, don't you go, I'll go.
>>190572 →Garv, I want you to think
really carefully about your next moves. You are inches away from a large group of highly trained and disciplined soldiers who are very trigger happy given the current situation but have yet to realize where you are. Kira, the only other creature who was nearby, just had to flee and took 26 damage in the attempt, reducing her to
2 HP. Please, take the opportunity given to you and escape.
>>190575He will have to try.
It looks like my post was deleted, which tells me that my previous rash decision was not accepted... Fine then.
>>190559I really do apologize for souring your evening.
>>190569>So, don't you go, I'll go.I hope this is actually true.
>>190580>I hope this is actually trueI won't deny a feeling of sadness at seeing this, but okay, as you wish
>>190576Please don't get yourself killed for nothing. We still need your help finding the missing airponies.
>>190590 →Well, I that too, until the posts that said so disappeared.
Brie's player is not in the picture anymore, so the least I can do is help get through this encounter.
If that is not acceptable, I understand completely. I will just fly off or whatever you want to do with my character.
>>190591I'm nothere because I want you to feel less bothered. Please refrain from victory laps, you contemptuous swine
The Volley rules are useful when you have 10+ archers shooting at once in an encounter. It speeds up combat significantly, especially if the leader of the group is commanding 50 skeletons.
>>190644Just curious. How many times have you been brought to tears, with regard to this game? Don't answer, it's a rhetorical question.
Cavalier and Kira just evaded a CR ~7-9 encounter on their own, under unfavorable circumstances (being outgunned). Based on my calculations, it may be appropriate to check if they leveled up, having accrued somewhere between 5750-9250 XP (about 2100-3150 ahead of the rest of the party) over the course of this adventure. I don't know how level progression is supposed to work, but the increased HP from leveling might be necessary soon, since they are both critically wounded.
I could be wrong though. I can only extrapolate CR by the apparent abilities and HD of the enemies.
>>190651 →>I think GM Pony screwed us.That encounter may have seemed overleveled for the two of you alone, but consider that the risk of splitting the party is the threat of meeting party-level encounters alone. Considering the GRU were PC-classed characters, it's likely that that encounter was written weeks ago for the entire party to fight, only for Kira and Garv to run into solo, and they had an especially bad matchup because they had no Evoker to fireball the lvl 1 enemies.
We got used to splitting the party because all of our characters entered separately, but it's generally a poor tactic when encounters are pre-written.
Personally, I prefer to let characters with high Survival and Perception roll to avoid rolling the encounter table (especially in milestone games) because I want to reward players with those skills, but that is just my personal taste in DMing.That being said, it looks like this encounter might consume most of the party's healing resources. Hopefully the enemies going forward will drop healing potions or cure wands.
>>190656 →>Is it normal for Kira's vision to be reduced to pinpricks?Being wounded doesn't normally have that kind of debuff. Kira may have been struck with poisoned/magical/curses ammunition. Kira should get medical attention from Dust immediately to remove any ongoing afflictions.
....But I'm probably overthinking it, and it's probably just a colorful way of GM illustrating to you that your character has taken severe damage, to encourage you to flee and seek healing. I usually do it when I want players to run away
(it doesn't work).
>>190660Im staying out of the actual thread
>I think GM pony screwed usUhm, with all due respect, consider depositing that deplorable position into the most readily-available fire, because thats where it belongs.
No, GM pony hasn't screwed anyone, that has been your/our doing. Do you honestly not realize how insufferable players are?
>>190660>That encounter may have seemed overleveled for the two of you alone, but consider that the risk of splitting the party is the threat of meeting party-level encounters alone. Considering the GRU were PC-classed characters, it's likely that that encounter was written weeks ago for the entire party to fight, only for Kira and Garv to run into solo, and they had an especially bad matchup because they had no Evoker to fireball the lvl 1 enemies.That's very true. I was frustrated because Kira had rolled a 28 to find the Lieutenant, and had decent spot/listen rolls to boot, but found only enemies instead. I understand that finding the trail of a character does not preclude enemies from being on that trail, but the outcome feels unfair.
Also, I am frustrated because I didn't take a frag grenade and even one would have wiped out several in that group.>>190663>Do you honestly not realize how insufferable players are?You're right. I guess I am as easily frustrated as anyone else.
>>190664Are you ready to act as a team?
>>190665Cavaliere effectively supported Kira and helped to distract the enemy long enough for her to flee. Was it worth it to be sunk to such low HP that he can't take a single hit in combat? I don't know, but I would not have acted differently regardless.
>>190651 →I didn't make you 1 v 12 special forces. I didn't make you 1 v 12 special forces after you were given a redo when the first attempt resulted in a defeat and your character's health being reduced to 10 HP. I didn't make you 1 v 12 the special forces after your character got a nat 20 on a stealth roll, and could have withdrawn and retreated to a more defensible position with the whole party, prepared an ambush with the party, or have lured them away to make them not a threat. I didn't make you split the party in the first place. I have advised again and again that if the party splits, the GRU are not going to split in kind.
>>190664Kira was given three positive hits for groups of ponies, one of which must be the missing ponies. At no point was it said that none of these were enemies. Well, the term "friend"
was used, but that was flavor text for Kira. There was an idea to make the smell results more specific, to a specific pony. Kira's player chose not to do that, and to just go after the closest set of ponies.
When I made it, I thought it was obvious that Kira had detected a set of soldiers from the landing approaching their position from the landing site after having spotted the airship, or at least, trying to secure that part of the island as a part of an advance radiating outwards. Evidently Kira's player thought it was the airship ponies. I suppose he assumed that they had just now left? The Airship has been on the island for nine or so hours at this point, and the party has been there for one or two and has already gone halfway across the island, back again, then all the way across the island, so for the other ponies to have only made a few hundred feet... I suppose it makes sense if you assume that they thought the GRU were friendlies and were heading out to meet them and needed to be stopped along the way. That did not occur to me.
Anyways, you were told your princess was in one of three different castles, and you chose the wrong one.
>>190666it was a "yes or no" question
>>190670Then see what that gets you
Let me make this point VERY clear.
Is ANYONE laboring under the delusion that ANYPONY is getting out of this alive without actually realizing that EVERYPONY is essential to EVERYPONY'S survival? Well LEARN ABOUT it because NOW is the TIME
>>190672That much is obvious. I simply don't take OOC questions seriously.
>>190569>>190581>>190665>>190669>>190671>>190672>>190673I thought you were done. It seems as though I was mistaken.
>Uhm, with all due respect, consider depositing that deplorable position into the most readily-available fire, because thats where it belongs.I was quoting someone else, faggot. If you actually read my post you would see it says the opposite.
>>190667>I didn't make you split the party in the first place. I have advised again and again that if the party splits, the GRU are not going to split in kind.Yes, this makes total sense. Splitting the party is a bad idea. What happens happens.
The only question is what to do next to find the missing airponies.
What is the next plan to find the missing airponies? Set out again as a group?
>>190691I've got an idea on how to locate them.
>>190691If we have to kill every single GRU soldier to do it, yes.
>>190694Alright. If we can confirm visuals on them within 170 feet, I could tap their entire group with Kelgore's Grave Mist: at that range, their Wizard won't be able to correctly identify the spell, which means they won't know its effects or duration; with a bluff check, it only appears to be a low level frost burst spell. Their first response will be to return fire with rapid shot, which means they likely won't move out of the area of the spell until the second round, at which point it will be too late and the Mist will exhaust them. The -4 penalty from exhaustion would make the machine gunners unable to use their rapid shot feat, which would severely reduce their damage per round. Warrior NPCs will have an average of 6-8 HP, which means that the damage from the mist may kill them. The Wizard sustained 6 damage, so a good roll on the d6 from the mist may kill her. Same goes for the Bard.
>>190696Considering these are elite Spetsnaz troops, odds are they have much more than 6-8 HP.
>>190702I'm making estimates under the pretense that this is a party-level encounter that we're supposed to overcome, and not just run from. Creatures with elite PC classes have CR equal to their level.
I guess if we assume that they're in elite PC-classed, Fighter HP should be around 12. I wouldn't expect any but one of them to be above level 1, likely the Bard or the Mage. I may have killed the mage already though.
I guess there's always the possibility that this is an encounter above the party's level, but that's not what I would normally expect in a low-magic game.
How many encounters have we had in this adventuring day? About nine? The latter half of them could be considered unfavorable conditions: we may level up soon.
It's fine, I'll persist. This is what (you) wanted after all, isn't it? heaping pile of inaction?
>>190710Oh don't be modest, you fought for months for this didn't you?
>>190720Take a bow! You've earned it! I tried forever to be nice and be friends, but clearly this whole dynamic where everyone dies is better right?
>>190665reiterating with emphasis
And FOR emphasis
OR WOULD YOUPREFER TO DIE?
I feel kinda bad for GM pone. He put in the time and effort to come up with a combat encounter for the party, and it gets spoiled because Kira thought they were the missing airponies and then crit failed her hide check when she encountered them. You guys think we should fight them as GM pone originally planned?
My vote would be to first try to parlay with them, since we have Silver who speaks Severyanan and Black Heel whose the GRU should respect. And if that doesn't work, then we stand and fight defensively.
>>190730>You guys think we should fight them as GM pone originally planned?I think that's probably our best bet. We can't just go around them because the size of our party prohibits sneaking past them (and our track DC would be so low that they would inevitably follow them).
>>190731That would mean giving up the benefit of surprise. Idk if that's wise.
Then again, it would be difficult to approqch without them seeing us anyway. I could try to charm them with my gaze, and hypnotize those who pass the save.
>>190732How about you fuck off.
>>190731If Kira could stealthily lead Posey close enough to cast a spell and retreat behind cover, I could probably kill them all with Summon Swarm. A swarm of bats is impervious to weapon attacks and single-target spells, and causes bleed damage that needs healing to stop. If I can conjure a swarm of bats above them and concentrate on the spell long enough from a safe position, they would fire uselessly into the swarm and waste their ammo until they all die from bleed damage.
>>190734That's one idea, though I'd be worried with trusting Kira to make more Hide rolls at the moment.
>>190735>I'd be worried with trusting Kira to make more Hide rolls at the moment.Just take 10.
Or maybe you can both stop this bickering and trying to kill the game for everyone else, and instead work towards helping the party as a whole.
>>190742Maybe I just shouldn't reply to this leech, but if you scroll up you can see that he continues to spam even in the absence of replies.
Anyway, I think our best bet is to approach the GRU as a group, and then they to attack them before they attack us. With Kira and Cavalier taking 10 on perception, we should have a surprise round. I think this is the best bet because it is the only option that avoids splitting the party. Let's not split the party again.
Blackheel and the commies may need some convincing to fire on the GRU though. Once they fire on non-enthralled commies, they would be deserters and traitors. Perhaps I can roll a bluff check to convince him that they are under the Traveller's influence. If he wants to believe that he's doing no wrong, he gets a -10 penalty on his check. It could be a fun moment to roleplay Posey's manipulative side.
>>190747>Black HeelThat's why I was thinking we'd parlay first. If they refuse and attack us, he and the other commie ponies would see that the GRU is unreasonable and untrustworthy, deciding to instead stick with us through the end.
>>190749I think it would be better to just bluff the Stalliongraders to join us in a surprise round. It avoids any conflicts of interests.
I suspect that Blackheel is a Wizard. If we bluff him, we can convince him to fireball the enemy himself. That would be quite poetic.
With the Stalliongraders, birds and party taking aim, it would be a great opportunity to use the volley rules to kill the enemy with a concentrated volley check. The AoE damage will kill most level 1 enemies.
Who has the has the Highest BAB+Int? Posey has a total mod of +5. I think Silver would be the best to lead a volley.
>>190750Let's at least get some other voices to give their opinions before we fully commit. Something tells me that bluffing the Stalliongraders to join in the surprise attack will cost us dearly down the line.
>>190748
>I meant I didn't want to be the cause of you wanting to quit the game.
You're doing that right now. The prospect of having to interact with you is the only thing that would make me consider leaving this game that I otherwise enjoy and look forward to playing in the long term. I find find your presence is unpleasant and unwelcome. It is a distraction at best, and untenable at worst. I want nothing to do with you.
>You're 'nice' to whoever plays along
Strange, nobody else seems to have a problem with it. Almost as if the problem is you.
>you seem to enjoy the idea of people quitting because of you
No, just you. It would be a great relief to not have to interact with you. If it were anypony else, I would be horrified and ashamed.
>So, don't YOU DARE put this on me.
I will, actually.
Everypony else is roleplaying, planning, encouraging eachother, and doing other things to contribute making this game fun. You do nothing but unsolicited backseat driving and insulting the GM and players, contributing nothing and antagonizing everyone.
>Have I been divisive? Unequivocally! But I learned from experience, from watching how you like to do business.
Why would you intentionally learn bad behavior? Are you a toddler?
>>190751
>No one who is here is 'blessed' because you are here. No one should be grateful. No, it isn't funny when you pretend they should, behaviorally.
I never once said that, and I don't believe that either. I am here because GM and the other players afford me the privilege of playing, and I am blessed to be playing with them (except for you).
>you're probably fucking invincible.
No I'm not. I have survived two encounters in this game with single-digit HP.
See those two dreads that were destroyed in that last encounter? Together, they're about as tough a Posey is. They were destroyed by machine gun fire all the same.
>Wouldn't it be heroic if Clark Kent was fixated on his "clark kent" persona, while all the citizens and staff of the daily planet were dying.
I don't even know what this analogy is supposed to mean. If you think my lvl 4 undead Necromancer is comparable in power to Superman, you are grossly mistaken.
Notice how she did the least damage out of everypony in the party in every encounter this mission, even factoring in the (now destroyed) dreads.
But of course you don't actually care about that. You just want to complain.
>>190753
>I'm calling Posey out for wanting to play a super hero, but then wanting to pretend they aren't a super hero
The opposite, actually. I want to play supervillain while pretending to be a hero. Totally different.
>I guess it really IS a better game for some when one player controls everything
I don't control anything but a single ghoul who is current fishing on a beach somewhere.
And what is it your business endlessly complaining about my character? It's GM's responsibility to decide what characters he wants in his game, not yours.
>>190752>Let's at least get some other voices to give their opinions before we fully commit.That's fine. Let's see what Cavalier has to say.
>Something tells me that bluffing the Stalliongraders to join in the surprise attack will cost us dearly down the line.Yeah, although it would also be pretty fun. I won't deny that it has potential to cause issues if Blackheel finds out, but dead mares tell no tales
(or do they?)
>>190755I suppose if we wanted to figure out the answer to that question, Posey would indeed be the pony to ask. In all seriousness, though, I would still prefer not having to kill them. I'd still like to recruit them as Silver's followers after the mission.
>>190756>I would still prefer not having to kill them. I'd still like to recruit them as Silver's followers after the missionI guess I'm none to judge, being a person who is trying to amass undead minions, but can't you just get followers from any other source? They should appear as soon as you take the Leadership feat. You could potentially even design their builds (I would recommend Wild Cohort).
Capturing these ponies alive is risky and may cost the party resources. If we can kill them on a surprise round, that would be better for us overall.
But that's just my perspective as an Evil character.
>>190760This way feels more natural to me. It also makes for a nice story, you know? A group of sailors and soldiers, marked for death by their former government, saved by our group who manages to kill the eldritch horror that was terrorizing them.
I don't think we need to capture or even coerce them to join us, if we show them that the GRU has indeed marked them for death.
>>190764The sailors, sure, but I would prefer to have a surprise round than try to parlay with the GRU at the base of the hill
(I miss my Dreads and I hate them for destroying them). And I say that as the Charisma/charm build.
I guess we should hear from the rest of the party first though.
>>190766As far as I can recall, it was never explicitly stated that they were destroyed. For all we know they might have made a beeline to return to their master after killing mage. All I know is that GM pone was getting annoyed at the constant one-at-a-time-in-a-line fighting that we were trying like in some kinda kung fu movie from the 90s.
>>190752>>190755I agree about not bluffing them. Tricking them into slaying their fellows will lead to them turning on us at the earliest opportunity, and we can't risk that.
We have the machine gun now; let's set that up so we have an advantage of firepower. We should probably get some cover for whoever will use it. Are there any sandbags around?
>>190769That's a good question. Let's ask the airponies when play resumes.
>>190768>As far as I can recall, it was never explicitly stated that they were destroyed.Nah, I was there for the encounter and played them. They were destroyed. Undead don't go unconscious.
It's a small price to pay to save two party members. I don't mind that much.
Hopefully I level up enough after this mission to make my own minions.
>>190769>We have the machine gun now.....
Damnit... I forgot about that.
I should have sent the dreads with the machine gun.
>Tricking them into slaying their fellows will lead to them turning on us at the earliest opportunity, and we can't risk that.You, but it would be really convenient if Blackheel fireballs those guys for us, and getting him to expend his spell slots now would make him easier to kill later.
I guess I'm out-voted though...
>Are there any sandbags around?We could possibly use Monstro as cover. He's large enough to do it. I can heal him too.
When he's not moving, he just looks like a pile of bones.
>>190772We could probably have the airponies help fire a volley. With multiple volleys, the encounter could be over in one round, if only a couple rolls. That would probably be the quickest and easiest way to resolve this.
I've thought about this very hard, because I hope to have a large number of minions in the future.
>>190778Oh! Unrelated question for you, since you seem to have an extensive knowledge on all sorts of stuff related to D&D: is there any class you know of that's similar to a Magick Archer?
>>190779>is there any class you know of that's similar to a Magick Archer?Arcane Archer comes to mind, but that class isn't very good. I guess it's fine if you start out as Mystic Ranger with Sword Of The Arcane Order, once you max that out.
Sword Of The Arcane Order Mystic Ranger is great overall. Basically a Full BAB Wizard. Mystic Ranger itself is especially good because it gives you access to the Ranger's many archery related spells at twice the speed of a typical Ranger.
Peerless Archer, Order Of The Bow Initiate, and Cragtop Archer are all archery prestige classes, but none of them are particularly magical. You can take any of them after you max out Mystic Ranger at level ~10. Scout is also a good option to increase mundane archery abilities after maxing Mystic Ranger.
There are multiple Handbooks on this. The Brilliant Gameologists archives appear to be dead... Which is tragic
https://dictummortuum.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-archery-handbook-completed.html?m=1#google_vignettehttps://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?269705-Toxophilite-The-Archery-HandbookI could be more helpful if you would be more specific for what you want out of your build.
>>190782Some of Arcane Archer's abilities seem kinda neat, though you do have to get pretty deep into the class to unlock them. Mystic Ranger sounds interesting. Really I'm more just curious various options and exploring what they're like.
Oh, the one thing I had in mind was the use of a Magic Bow: basically a bow made of arcane metals rather than out of normal wood, it lacks a drawstring and instead fires bolts of magic.
>>190785I think I recommended Mystic Ranger to both Kira and Cavalier before. It's a good variant of Ranger that gives you better access to the Ranger's spellcasting.
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCore/ranger.html#mystic-rangerIt does delay your combat style and favored enemy progression, but the spells more than make up for that. It's especially good if you intend to multiclass Scout or prestige class into a martial class, because Mystic Ranger 10 / Something Else 10 has better spellcasting than Ranger 20, and possibly better martial features depending on your second class choice. Also note that many ranger spells scale on the Ranger's normally weak caster level, like Hunter's Eye, so the Mystic Ranger's full caster level can greatly improve your magical archery in volume and potency.
You also lose animal companion, but neither of you seem interested in that anyway, so no real loss.
If you use a weapon Groups variant, the Elven Double Bow is better than a regular longbow, particularly on a Manyshot build.
Targeteer Fighter is also a good option for archery specialist. It can give you an exotic now, and you can even add Dex to damage. A great multiclass for mystic Ranger that makes up for loss of combat style.
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCore/fighter.html#targetteerBe sure to trade your heavy armor proficiency
Cavalier in particular would be very good as a Swift Hunter Mystic Ranger / Scout, since he could use Fly-by attack and skirmish together.
>>190786Reminds me of Hank's Energy Bow. It is considered to be one of the most desirable magic bows in 3.5e.
>>190787>Be sure to trade your heavy armor proficiency*For Hit-And-Run (Underdark Fighter)
I mentioned this on the Silver build I posted before, because Silver has high Dex and seemingly only wears light armor anyway. Dex to damage vs flat footed enemies would be good.
>>190787>>190788I am
definitely screenshotting these classes for later reference. Thank you so much!
>>190787Oh, forgot to add, do you have a link to that energy bow, or do you think you could post its description?
>>190787Be warned, at this level, Mystic Ranger would in fact reduce your archery abilities slightly, but the spellcasting is worth it, imo. I should say this because I practically recommended the opposite of what you asked for.
I would not recommend Order Of The Bow or Arcane Archer. Peerless Archer is okay.
>>190791Get it before the WotC jannies memory hole it like they're doing with the rest of the archives.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190908194211/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20061227aHank's Energy Bow is a +2 bow. I think if you made a +1 version it would cut ~6k off of the price.
I ran a campaign where I gave this to the party ranger. He really appreciated it.
>>190792Thanks a bunch, Posey! I'll see about asking GM pone for something similar for Kira as a potential reward for a quest or what have you, especially if I do end up shifting from Ranger to Mystic Ranger. I think a magic bow like that would be a fitting weapon for a Mystic Ranger.
I think after this adventure is over, we should have a conversation about Wealth By Level and character equipment. I noticed that none of the new characters are properly equipped for their level. Some of us have +2 weapons, but we would fare better with appropriate wands, healing belts, potions, and other level-appropriate stuff (particularly the healing resources).
I think we could pressure Captain Waters to use his military connections to get us issued full equipment for characters of our power level, as an extra reward for destroying the Eldritch God that threatened the planet. If we get the airponies to assist on our diplomacy rolls, we could get him to agree to it. I could try to charm him too.
>>190793It's definitely an item for your wishlist. Every Archer wants this bow. It's iconic.
Posey uses a dragonbone compound bow, mostly for style.
>>190794I have a +1 revolver…
>>190787It's a good recommendation but I'll probably go into a ranger/swordsage multiclass. I still need to iron out the details. Cavaliere is meant to be a griffon of many skills but unfortunately spellcasting is not one of them.
>>190796You talk about disrespect but it seems like you're making it into a competition. Everyone is telling you to stop. There's your cue.
>>190797That's great. Swordsage is great for melee. Be sure to take Adaptive Style.
Scout is also great as an alternative to Ranger, especially with Fly-by-attack. It multiclasses well with Ranger too, if you take the Swift Hunter feat.
I'm running my own game on weekends. It's a twelve part campaign, and the task of getting it done in less than a year has been quite intimidating to me, because I want my party to be able to casually roleplay throughout the game, but I'm also concerned with keeping the story moving. It's a tricky thing to figure out, and it takes both practice and confidence.
A thing I have come to appreciate about these kinds of slow PbP games is that they afford me time to do other things, like working 10 hours a day, or prepping materials for my own game, without worrying about missing out.
I would still prefer it if we could try to work on better pacing in this game, but it's also not a huge deal. I think it we all learned to schedule a bit more clearly, things could pick up.
May Posey attempt a Hypnosis check (Ravenloft Campaign setting) to try to attempt to cure the maddened ponies?
>>190866For the record, I have not idea if this would actually work rules-as-written, because I don't know what kind of mechanic the Traveller's madness/possession actually is. I just like the idea of using counter-hypnosis to try to expell the Traveller.
There's other rules for possession, and Hypnosis probably would not help with that. Since GM described the Traveller as a being of chaos, it may be similar to an Obyrith demon, and may be possession creatures.
If I'm being annoying with the splats, feel free to just ignore these posts.
Another option to attack the GRU could be for Silver and Posey to work together, with Silver providing total cover with his Tower Shield.
If Posey has a fighter with a tower shield defending her, she can safely concentrate on the spell, which means the swarm of bats would kill all of the enemy artillery while their bullets bounce off of the tower shield.
This would require both Posey and Silver to spend their entire turns concentrating and defending.
The limitation is that a a summoned swarm cannot be controlled and will attack the nearest living creatures, so we would have to avoid entering melee. I think Silver is the only melee fighter in the party though, so that's fine.
We could probably do this on the Kostroma too.
>>190869Oh, wait, that would only give total cover to Silver. Anyone standing behind him would only have improved soft cover (still good).
Tower shields are great. One reason to have levels in fighter.
>>190869>>190870*slow-clp*
Now you're thinking
I know, you're thrilled to hear my opinion, but hear me out.
Silver is the tank (maybe Mala), Posey, Kira, and Garv are DPS (again, maybe Mala), and Dust is the healer (I'm insisting that Mala get Brie's healing potion). You should know where I'm going with that. But, what happens when the tank can no longer tank and the healer can no longer heal?
That's when the evil power-house who outside of circumstance would be hunted down and destroyed for it's very nature,... saves everyone. And I don't mean everyone here, but by being the unstoppable force that she is, ensures that the Traveler is not free to conquer equestria.
At the same time, the characters get to weigh the moral implications of applied evil versus conceptual evil. To quote governor Swann from Pirates of the Carribean:
https://youtu.be/UWQZKqibPvQ?si=9FxDDdLRqMUsXP6JDust won't HAVE to like that Posey is LITERALLY what he's diametrically opposed to, but he will also have to recognize that one of "those" just saved everyone's bacon. The rest are easier to explain.
If necessary, Posey can describe how she never asked to be. Does she remember her past life, or did she simply come into being?
Posey is a character reminiscent of some of the Akuma from the series D-Gray Man. I really want to see her shine, in spite of all the salt I've thrown.
Naturally, there's no guarantees that's where GM is going with it, but one can hope.
>>190875As for the rest of us, I don't think we'll be all that useless for the final fight. It's likely that the Kostroma has at least a small infirmary and armory, given that it was repurposed for military use. Before the big final fight against the Traveler, we can slip into both to heal and rearm.
>>190880>don't think we'll be all that useless for the final fightIdk how this is even a question. You all do 2-3 times as much damage per round as me. It's going to be on you to do most of the damage. I am better suited for Fear-based debuffing, but that has not been effective so far.
>It's likely that the Kostroma has at least a small infirmary and armory, given that it was repurposed for military use. Before the big final fight against the Traveler, we can slip into both to heal and rearm.Healing is the bigger issue. Dust only has so many spell slots. Hopefully they have a cache of healing potions on the ship. The commies are so broke that they haven't even been able to equip their soldiers with cure potions, so healing has been scarce.
After this adventure, you should all probably buy Healing
Belts too.
>>190880Yes, you've been remarkably efficient
(he is lying when he says that) so far/
It's more likely that when you get to the Kostromo, you're going to be playing in the opponent's hive/zone. Be careful.
>>190881If fear-based debuffs don't result in vulnerabilities, they're kinda ass. The key is exposing a weakness in the otherwise "immovable object" (oh, you're just now noticing that? Look back on descriptions of the Traveler)
Fine, nevermind, I'm just glad cuz formations is where its at, so I literally have nothing left to offer
Keep in mind the machine gun harvested from the crashed airplane.
>>190907How do machine guns work in this game anyway? From what I have observed, they seem to work differently from d20 modern/past machine guns. It seems as though they either make a fixed number of attacks (like a siege weapon?), or Grant the user additional attacks (??), instead of doing AoE damage. I could be wrong though. Maybe the NPCs just have different feats, or access to Swift Haste through items.
Are we using some homebrew documents? Where can I read them?
>>190909Kek. Better question, who is proficient with a heavy machine gun?
Sorry to be a dick again but you MIGHT wanna worry about explaining to the GM about how an improvised and rushed mounting of an airplane heavy machine gun is even going to work, who knows how to operate it, etc. It's not like they have butt-stocks and triggers, they're designed to be fired from a cockpit mechanism.
Bombs however, those are easy
I was thinking, couldn't we use that explosive harpoon to destroy The Traveller, instead of the torpedo that Monstro is carrying? The harpoon is powerful enough to kill a whale-sized creature, and a baleen whale has 132 HP: If the harpoon is strong enough to kill a whale, it may be strong enough to kill The Traveller, or at least soften it up to the point that we can kill it ourselves.
Judging by meta-narrative, the explosive harpoon was put in the party loot for a reason, and that reason was likely to kill a whale-sized monster (I expected there to be a kraken). The Traveller has been compared to a dead whale multiple times in descriptions, and I feel like that might be a hint that we are supposed to use this plot-relevant weapon on it. (Also GM clearly did not plan for us to take the torpedo with us, so the harpoon was probably what he wanted us to use).
The torpedo would likely destroy a lot more than The Traveller if we used it on that, and since Silver wants to commandeer the Kostroma we probably shouldn't be detonating torpedos on board.
If we use the harpoon to destroy the Traveller, we could reserve Monster's torpedo to take-out the GRU ship. If Monstro approaches the GRU ship underwater, its could avoid being destroyed for long enough to drop its torpedo on the GRU ship.
>>190913The harpoon is also more likely to fit in The Traveller's mouth
>>190934By that logic, your dick is MOST likely to fit in the Traveler's mouth
>>190913As soon as the torpedo was suggested I knew it would scuttle the
Kostroma in the process. While not a bad outcome by itself, we have no way off the island that can fit all the ponies we have picked up. That instant-boat token will not fit everypony and airplanes will dare not approach with such a heavy military presence. Nor is the airship salvageable (we need to destroy the engines and radar system already). Maybe the griffons' boat was, but it's too late to restore now. Hijacking the
Kostroma is the most logical option. We could hijack the GRU's ship instead, but good luck with that. I don't think GM Pony will give a game over to most of his players for going overkill, but if he did I wouldn't blame him. Meta-analyzing his intent for an in-game quest is cheesy, but we might as well try the harpoon first.
>>190935You are welcome to try that option when the time comes.
>>190936>As soon as the torpedo was suggested I knew it would scuttle the Kostroma in the process.It was Silver's idea. I'm still not sure about it, but I decided to transport it anyway, mostly because reanimating the whale skeleton was on my bucket list of "things I must do this adventure".
>we have no way off the island that can fit all the ponies we have picked up.We have the swan boat feather token, which seats 32 creatures. Posey can ride on monstro
>That instant-boat token will not fit everyponyThis is true, although it would fit the party and the airponies. We would have to leave the others behind if we took the swan boat.
>Hijacking the Kostroma is the most logical option.Yeah, the only thing that complicates this is the chance of the GRU ship ship gunning us down. To solve that, we could use Monstro's torpedo to skink them.
Also, if we highjack the ship, we could sell it for profit.
>Meta-analyzing his intent for an in-game quest is cheesyTrue, but surely the adventure has one or more win conditions, right? The harpoon may be key to one of them. We should analyze every resource at our disposal to see which ones will help us meet our goals.
Can we all agree on the plan to torch the systems and be ready to engage the GRU once they come to investigate?
>>190942>>190944Well, we should plant explosives on the systems and wait for an opportune moment to detonate them. Blowing them up prematurely will attract their attention and be regarded as hostility.
>>190945The point is to draw them in on our terms, so that we are ready when they arrive
>>190948 →Silver, since no one can be bothered to pay attention to anything
>>190949I knew it was Silver. I was just roleplaying lack of understanding of modern technology (especially if the silver variety), and prompting him to get the camera out to document the systems being torched.
The Traveller was able to psionically melt cutting tools that the examiners tried to use to dissect it: it appears that even in a dormant state, it can attack with Matter Agitation. Because of this, it may be unwise to recklessly get too close to it with explosives, because it may use the same ability to neutralize the harpoon.
How do we get past that?
>>190972Yes, but do try the harpoon-grenade
>>190972Perhaps there might be a way to incapacitate The Traveller so it can be safely destroyed.
The real issue is that we don't actually know what The Traveller is, the limitations of its abilities, or the nature of it's power.
However, if it has stats, you can kill it.
>>190779For Archery, feats are probably a bigger concern than class. Like two-weapon-fighting, it's a very feat-intensive build.
If Kira is a Strength-reliant Archer, Ranged Pin may be a worthwhile feat to consider would be Ranged Pin. It lets you grapple at a range, which means that Kira's natural grappling capabilities, including her strength, size, and racial bonuses, would apply to the opposed check.
Woodland Archer is also good, because it would have let Kira avoid that sniping fiasco in that last encounter.
What is Kira's racial template anyway? Size? Scent? Natural Armor? Improved Grab? Venom? Str/Dex bonus? Knowing your stats can help me find recommendations.
>>191032 →Are there any checks we need to roll to set the plan in motion? Demolitions? Knowledge (Warcraft)? Morale checks (I can make a Rally check if this is necessary)?
>That might be a good idea if
>1) Cavaliere and Kira weren't at death's door
Tbh, Cavalier and Kira could stay behind total cover and not participate in the fight.
Defeating these guys might be useful to that end, because these are PC-classed characters, so they should have at least 500-900 gp in equipment per character, so if we killed them we could take their healing potions/wands, in addition to any random loot rolls for the encounter. Most generic NPC martial statblocks have 2-3 potions of cure moderate wounds on their sheets.
We're going to have to face combat either way to get to The Traveller.
>2) we didn't have a bunch of communists with us
This is the biggest handicap. I don't trust that the commies wouldn't side with the GRU over us if forced to choose. In fact, for that reason, I would prefer to avoid talking with the GRU at all.
>3) Posey still had her dreads.
Well, if you would spare Posey some time to take Monstro to the top of the mountain with an enthralled commie prisoner, I could supply the party with more minions, possibly even with healing spells. I'm still itching to make that Icegaunt, and this cold mountain might be my only opportunity in this game...
>>191057>Tbh, Cavalier and Kira could stay behind total cover and not participate in the fight.That makes the fight harder for the rest of you. The amount of damage taken will be very random and might cost all the healing supplies you'll get anyway. That's assuming we win.
>I don't trust that the commies wouldn't side with the GRU over us if forced to choose. In fact, for that reason, I would prefer to avoid talking with the GRU at all.The idea is that the communists in the party might help in pacifying the GRU. If they fail, and the GRU attack, they would be much more likely to join our side than if we attacked the GRU ourselves.
>>191058>The amount of damage taken will be very random and might cost all the healing supplies you'll get anyway.With an Intimidate check, I could attempt to force the griffon whalers onto the front line.
>The idea is that the communists in the party might help in pacifying the GRU. If they fail, and the GRU attack, they would be much more likely to join our side than if we attacked the GRU ourselves.We don't know that.
I'll try to charm as many of them as I can.
>>190880Yes, well, glad to see everyone pretending to act like a team. About fucking time, how many months? Imagine if players focused more on survival than seeing what ways they can fuck with each-other
I was going over the logistics of my plans to contract demons and create monsters that could conjure a giant obsidian tower (Crystal Palace style) above Curwhinny's dungeon after I bought it, when I stumbled upon a huge flaw in my plan: Zoning Regulations.
I'm probably going to have to make some checks to figure out what Posey can legally build near it's okay to set up a totally-legitimate-and-not-evil magic research facility.
Hmmmm, Perhaps Glass Horizons could help me with that. He likely has some ranks in Profession (Real estate), Knowledge (Law) and Knowledge (Local). I might be able to pay him for Sage advice on setting up guild operations there. Of course, I have to convince him to sell it to me first.
If I can successfully get the property from him, that could give Posey clout with the university, having effectively monopolized the site away from the communist rivals; Posey could use that clout to get University approval and licensing to make her stronghold appear legal in the eyes of the regime.
What exactly are we going to ask the GRU to do once they arrive? Retreat?
>>191117In essence, yes. We're just gonna ask them to leave us be unmolested as we make our attempt to kill the Traveler.
>>191118I don't think it's necessary to tell them our plan.
I recommend waffling and not making a decision; clearly it worked well before
>>191118Alright. If I fail Diplomacy, I can always follow up with an Intimidate check.
I'm trying to figure out how to maximize Posey's Influence Score at the appropriate level so I can start playing EaW with the military leadership, but it might take sufficient feat investment, and isn't going to work for several levels in the future.. Probably going to need Undead Leadership Rulership, and Favored in Guild (to get Guildmaster as a bonus).
Sadly, that would not leave Posey with very many feat slots for metamagic or improved necromancy... I guess sacrifices need to be made for the Black Crusade. Nobody said taking over the world would be easy.
>>191123Gonna start your own branch of the Dread League in Equestria?
>>191129That has been my plan since the beginning. I have been crunching the logistics of if for more than a year. I just need to gain to level up and acquire the funds.
>>191130As long as you promise not to raise my household and my eventual druzhina as undead I'm sure it's fine
>>191131Alright.
Silver has the leadership feat, iirc. What are you planning to do with it?
>>191131Don't worry, fluffy pony. Silver's friend Mala will prevent his corpse from being abused by being reanimated.
>>191134Thank goodness Silver has such a good friend and companion.
>>191133The usual, making a band of warriors and adventurers, helping people and slaying monsters.
>>191134Mala bravely defending Silver's grave to prevent Posey from raping him.
>>191139>Coomed To DeathI always knew this would happen
>>191139Lmao, that's great
i almost want a story with this
>>191142Well, once I get access to actual Necromancey spells, particularly Create Undead, I'm going to be on the hunt for molestable-graves of prestigious and powerful individuals.
How does GM feel about the Rulership/Influence system in Powers Of Faerum? I was hoping to use it and insert my followers into various institutions to gain political control of New Mareland, before amassing enough power to retake Equestria from the Changelings. Defeating The Traveller could count as a significant military victory to increase my Influence score with The Blackhooves (and if not, it's still a good mark on my resume as a freelance Warmagus), and seizing control of Curwhinny's farm could count as a significant victory within my current guild (the College Of Arcane Sciences). I would like to take the Rulership feat at a later level and insert my followers into powerful institutions, to slowly maximize my influence score over the course of the game until I can eventually rule my own settlement on the battlefield frontier.
It was a thing I thought I mentioned when I entered the game, but now I'm not so sure if it's worth the resource investment. I was hoping to emulate EaW and play a mass scale war/politics game, but it wouldn't really work unless GM is interested in running such a game. I know Leadership was welcomed, I just don't know about other leadership based system..
It's going to be many levels off until I can start my leadership-based plans, but I figured I should ask now, to lay the groundwork.
>>191162On second thought... Does this feat even do anything? Influence gives you what, +1 to Int/Cha checks related to your Rulership for every 200 points of bonus? I think I'll put that off until higher level (if it ever comes). Posey isn't ready to be a ruler (yet).
.
After we scare away the GRU, out next step is to torch the systems and head to the Kostroma, right?
(I would really, really, really appreciate it if my nat 20 Intimidate check were punctuated by Cavalier setting off the explosions in the background)
>>191177We've still got the missing airponies to find. Kira managed to sniff them out.
>>191179Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Hopefully that doesn't take too long.
>>191179Question, how old was Silver when he entered the game?
>>191181If I remember correctly and if I have it written down right: 58
>>191183Also, I feel like Posey could take some notes from this video for her plan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqL8EFAGhyo
>>191177The systems are attached/adjacent to the airship and would hurt us if I set them off.
>>191187Well, we will be leaving soon anyway.
I have a feeling that after the duration of my Intimidate skill, the GRU are going to return believing that Posey is the cause of the chaos on the island.
Oh well. So be it.
I'm a little bit nervous about how the fight with the Traveller might go, but I think this party has done well neutralizing enemies and preserving resources so far. I still have plenty of spell slots, so I should be able to counter the Traveller's summons with my own.
Amoebic Crawlers have piss damage, but they're large size and have a lot of HP, so they can help put distance between us and the enemy.
>>191211I have faith in the party. As long as we work as a team, we can overcome anything!
>>191212Yeah, I'm glad the rest of the party's DPS was high enough for me to avoid expending as spell slots throughout most of this adventure. I'll be able to use them all up at once on the last fight at this rate.
I don't really have any AoE, blasting, or buffing spells, but the summons should work as damage-sponges.
>>191223
>non-canon
This is canon though. I am roleplaying Gloomy Sundae, who is a canon character. I have not roleplayed him very much because I was preoccupied with Posey's quests, but I still want to characterize him. I can only really do that with the occasional meanwhile post, or by describing a flashback. I want him to be likeable if he becomes a cohort, or mourned it he dies, so I have to at least describe him.
>>191224Oh, then I guess Lacey IS canon, simply because I mentioned her! Good to know, thanks!
>>191226Why would you think that? Did something I said with enthusiasm suggest upset? You have to be careful with perception, sometimes we can insert our own biases into the interpretation
>>191228I know you won't do it, but just so there's no confusion and that I can say that it's been said explicitly: the deaths of the colts will cause Silver to reach villain arc levels of anger that will likely result in the deaths of every single living and undead creature he can find. So...best that Gloomy keeps that talisman safe.
And also just so there's no confusion thinking that I'm saying you can't roleplay as Gloomy having fun with the colts, I am very happy to see Gloomy interact with the colts. Just as long as everyone's kept safe and alive, everything's good.
>>191234Oh, yeah, don't worry. I wouldn't actually just kill off your character's friends. I was just roleplaying to add some mystique to demonstrate Posey's obsessive and protective tendencies towards her own colt. That's the reason I didn't bring the potentially-useful disguised aquatic ghast on this mission
Also, while the Talisman was something I found for Gloomy's equipment, I have neglected to write down the source material (DR #3??), caster level, or maximum range of the item it's based on, so it's up to GM if it actually works or not. Perhaps he might prefer to surprise Posey with her precious little lamb having been kidnapped when she was absent at some point.
>>191235And as for me, it'll be handy to have it watch over the household during the duration of this mission, just in case any unfortunate gangsters decide to try to get revenge on Silver while he's away.
>>191236Well, Posey could instead order it to kill anyone who
invades the household instead in the event of an emergency, if she cared to maintain a relationship with Silver (which she does).
It is currently disguised as a living (albeit wet) stallion dressed in unmarked military attire, with a rapier at its side.
>One cannot just march a ghoul into the Duke's Court. But as the fumes issuing from the cocoon surround the creature, the form of the ghoul is replaced with that of a stately courtier armed with a rapier. Of course, it will have to keep its mouth shut.Spell Compendium has the best flavor text for spells. It did nerf a lot of splat spells though, for the better.
>>191237It honestly would be super helpful, because Silver may or may not have wasted (on accident) an entire business operation led by a low-tier Waterfront Gang boss.
>>191235Gloomy isn't really the most appealing kidnapping target there, but he may have appeal as a two-for-one special
Can we just knock out the prisoners so we can leave now?
>>191248
>you generally can't intimidate dominated adversaries
This is untrue. Nothing about domination shields the creature from additional mind-effecting attacks, such as fear or morale effects. Otherwise players would just dominate their allies in combat to make the Fighters and Rogues immune to debilitating effects.
This must be something different.
I theorize that The Traveller functions as a form of possession, functionally replacing the target's mind with the mind of The Traveller. It may also be conferring its own immunities to its thralls, such as with a Ghostly Visage (Posey's preferred familiar choice at lvl 7).
Are there any other things that need to be addressed before we progress to the missing airponies?
>>191293We just need to finish getting the possessed ponies ready to move, and Silver needs to blow the airship's engines, and then we're ready to go.
Right now we're not playing because GM pone is on a vacation trip.
>>191294>We just need to finish getting the possessed ponies ready to moveDidn't we already do that?
>Right now we're not playing because GM pone is on a vacation trip.Okay.
Do we have any plans for how we want to invade the Kostroma?
>>191307The original plan was to have Cavaliere and some others infiltrate topside while the rest of the party enters belowdecks. I don't think that is a good idea anymore.
>>191308Yeah, it didn't work out last time. Plus, Cavalier doesn't have Darkstalker, and it seems as though The Traveller has some means of Extrasensory perception (possibly Mindsight, in which case Stealth is just fucked). That might mean we can only go in guns blazing, perhaps with Monstro carrying the non-fliers onto the deck.
Perhaps if we could make some checks, we could find ways to subvert or distract The Traveller's sensory abilities. If The Traveller uses Telepathic Mindsight, it may be distracted by any creatures with sapient intelligence scores. Sadly, all of Posey's summons are mindless creatures, who would be invisible to mindsight. The Traveller has also been shown to manifest summons right on top of us wherever we are on the island, and we have yet to witness any maximum range or uses/day of its summoning/metacreative abilities... It would be preferable for us to get as close as we can to the Kostroma without alerting it, because if it truly has no maximum uses/range, then we cannot beat it in a battle of attrition, and approaching it head on might end up with a charge of the light brigade scenario.
The Traveller has shown the ability to manifest creatures similar to Ettins (I assume): CR 6 creatures with 10 hit dice, that would be fight for the entire party. Since there may not be a limit to it's summoning abilities, we should avoid engaging with its summons and push though to the source. If Monstro carries the nonfliers onto the deck, Posey may be able to melt a hole through the deck of the Kostroma by Summoning her Amoebic Crawlers, carving a path directly towards where The Traveller is stowed.
A ship is basically a dungeon in its own right. If we know where the Traveller is stowed, we can make a beeline towards that area. Let's ask the Commissar if he knows.
Maybe I should make some Arcana checks to see if we can even know what The Traveller is, and how it's abilities work.
Also, to Silver, you said you wanted the crew of the Kostroma to be your followers, so did you consider making a leadership check to make the Stalliongraders around here your followers right now? So long as they're not above lvl 1, you may be able to take them under your command with a Leadership check. It would be useful later.
My Sunday game got cancelled.
Any chance we could reach the other airponies and/or the Kostroma today?
Weird feat for undead horses
>Airy Gallop
>Type: Special
>Source: Dragon Annual 5
>You can run wherever your rider wishes - whether there's ground beneath you or not!
>Prerequisite: Con -
>Benefit: Mounts with the Airy Gallop feat have the ability to gallop over chasms, run "downhill" from a sheer cliff to the ground below, or even be convinced to gallop "uphill" into the air itself.
>To achieve these unbelievable tasks, the mount's rider must make a successful Ride check (DC 15) at the beginning of the action, and every 10 minutes thereafter with a cumulative -2 circumstance penalty to each successive check. Mounts cannot stand still while performing an Airy Gallop; if forced to move slower than a run or stop, they immediately fall.
It's not a particularly good feat for anything but a minion, because it relies on having a rider make a check instead of the creature with a feat, but it was silly enough to share.
An undead/construct pony with a familiar riding on their back could potentially make use of it, as 10 minutes of effective flight is potentially useful, but there are better feats to pick from. It's a feat better for the rider than it is the horse (as intended).
>>191427
Are you GM traveling?
>>191430
GM has a tripcode...
Oh, I see, it's just the same nigger complaining on behalf of GM about a game in which he is not even a player, once again.
>>191521 →It's not that we don't appreciate the dialogue, but we have also been waiting to find the airponies for a very long time, so we do want to keep the story moving. It's a balancing act of priorities and suspense. I can sympathize because I have barely been able to start chapter two of my own campaign after months of planning.
This was an interesting way of introducing the villain's motivations though.
At the expense of indulging the nigger's ramblings, does GM or any player (actual players) actually have an issue with how I have been playing these past few weeks/months? Have I been annoying? Has my "posturing" been a major issue to the other players? Posey, my character, is supposed to be a very vain individual with delusions of grandeur and a desperation to prove herself to the world, which is why I make her "posture" in-character, but if it's actually just annoying and unfunny to the other players (actual, real players) I'll stop or try another approach. Just give me some feedback and I'll try a bit. I have a hard enough time communicating in-person, so if what I do is annoying, please just tell me.
>>191521 →GM seemed a bit disappointed with how the dialogue was received, and that makes me feel sad because as a GM I know what it's like to spend days writing content just for players to not engage with said content the way I planned them to, or worse, ignore it entirely. If I come off as impatient, unappreciative or too eager to move the story forward, I apologize for that.
>>191529 →GM, I do not want to derail your plans: I want to participate in them, because I really like this adventure and I want to see how it concludes; so if there's anything I can do, or stop doing, to be a better player.
So far, nobody but the non-player who constantly complains has complained, so I want the actual players' feedback.
>>191534I don't think you've been annoying or unfunny
Btw, pertaining to Kira's topic about Riding, the Skilled City Dweller variant allows any class with the Ride Skill (Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, etc) to swap it out for Tumble in urban adventures. This certainly constitutes as an urban campaign, and horse-shaped characters are unlikely to be riding other creatures, especially if they themselves can fly. Tumble is a good skill that allows for tactical movement without risking attacks of opportunity, and is worth ranking if you're a lightly-armored Dex character. Having 5 ranks in Tumble also gives you bonus AC when fighting defensively.
Just a thing to consider when leveling/rebuilding, with GM approval of course.
Why are you doing 53 damage at level 6 without expending usables? Either there need to be multiple monsters, which I suppose is possible but I didn’t think to do, it needs to have an obscene hp limit, or there needs to be some kind of jank in order for the monster to survive until its first attack. The entire point was to show what the attack was I don’t care what happens after that. Yes yes yes, just poof in order monster, add 50 hp to the sheet, or make up a rule on the spot so some planned attack fails, but the whole thing is just…. Lame
>>191572Tbh, Monstro did most of the work. Posey would have not even been able to reach the enemy without Monstro, and would have had to rely on her longbow for damage.
I didn't think of it at first because Posey hasn't been doing very much damage at all this adventure, but the CR 4-5 advanced Bone Lurker is a real heavy hitter, so I understand your frustration, especially since it came from an item that emulated a class feature I don't get until 4 levels from now.
Perhaps we could say and say that the bomb that Monstro carries is too fragile to have him recklessly charge into melee going forward, and roleplay it by having another character scold Posey for being such a reckless gloryhound while carrying such a volatile payload, and/or that he cannot also grapple while carrying the bomb. That would basically delegate him for taking swipes at whatever comes near him, instead of charging monsters head on.
>>191572>or there needs to be some kind of jank in order for the monster to survive until its first attack. The entire point was to show what the attack was I don’t care what happens after thatWell, considering that there is dense fog all around us, it's plausible that monsters summoned outside our line of sight could attack us unexpectedly and have surprise rounds, which would allow them to demonstrate their attacks.
>>191577
I publicly posted Monstro's stats months ago: how was that dishonest? This is the first (and possibly only) time I used him in combat: Maybe it was a better time to demonstrate this now, instead of during an important boss fight?
I sacrificed up my Dreads to save Kira and Cavalier because GM expressed dissatisfaction with how I used them in combat, and I can be persuaded to give up Monstro too if it's too disruptive in combat (like using it to kamikaze the GRU ship, if we can use the harpoon to kill the Traveller).
Tbh, I am running into the same issue in my Sunday game, because the Druid minmaxed his goat by tearing it to sell its soul to Baphomet, so now its an Ubercharger to with Abyss Bound Soul that kills half of everything in one hit. I am Familiar with characters that have heavy-hitting minions, so if there's anything GM wants me to amend I will comply.
If you wants, he could even say that the bone lurker carrying the bomb has its one "arm" occupied, so that it cannot attack while carrying it.
Oh, I just replied to bait.
>>191572I am sorry, GM. Can we work out a solution?
>>191580I think I am just going to leave it, and the monster will either show up later or it won’t.
That was *not* a random encounter to challenge the party. It existed basically only to correct the impression that Light Water was entirely along for the ride and had no ability to direct the Traveller, which was a mistake of the preceding dialogue segment that was so severe I felt it needed correction. It also reminds the party that the Traveller has the capacity to harass the party at little cost whenever it wants. Also it shows the Traveller, and to a lesser extent, Light Water, to have the capacity to be vindictive and petty. It was to attack Posey specifically because Posey specifically was making no effort to engage in dialogue with Light Water, and promising to be nothing but a hinderance to his plans, unlike the other two who could at least in theory come around, and therefore not really be profitable to attack. The monster was supposed to have a vague but not specific idea of where Posey was, and thus not get a sunrise roll. I was actually worried that its attack might deal too much damage for an encounter that had an exclusively narrative purpose. Maybe it should have been flying in a pair patrolling over the hillside? If it had not been seen, that would have contradicted the claim that the fog was receding. Again, I didn’t want the damage of two of them for a superfluous encounter. I really didn’t think two were necessary. All I wanted was to correct an earlier mistake in dialogue. Initially it was going to be a hellhound or similar creature. But then posey got on the whale thing and a hellhound wouldn’t work. So I thought if just abandoning the idea, but then was encouraged to replace it with a new, flying creature, since flying enemies were intended from the start when Brie kept fucking promising to cheese every encounter by flying away from enemies. So I thought, sure, maybe the players will like this one. Who knows. Idea 2 was shelved because it didn’t make sense in context. So I was hoping this monster would be introduced, and specifically its attack. And that didn’t happen…
Yes, I’m sure the whale things stats were posted at some point in the past, I assume half a year ago when I was on my way to the Paris airport at 5 AM and I was ranting and raving about other aspects of the same monster. I was distracted. In any case, no, I have not gone through actuarial tables to try to figure out how to balance things very precisely (it wasn’t intended to be a real encounter. It was to serve a narrative purpose. That’s a it was.) No, I do not actually know what Monstro can and cannot do. That attack was completely new to me. I don’t know what it can do. Trying to figure that shit out is uninteresting and not at all compelling to me. I just don’t care about the math of what kind of new shit has popped into the equation. All I think is “eh, better add more enemies” and either the party will be wiped out or it won’t get off a single attack, with no real in between. The math behind encounter design is just so much less interesting to me than literally everything else that goes into the game, like description, set up, plausibility, themes, characterization - literally everything else.
I don’t care. Everything with the game has been frustrating me this last week
>>191584Well, I can only say that I am sorry to spoil your encounter. I think it did serve most of its narrative purposes though, in demonstrating Light Water's pettiness and active participation and the Traveller's ability to harass us at any time. Its description was so vivid that I thought it was something incredibly dangerous and so I went all out in attacking it; the symbolism of a bird-like seraphim creature was interesting, because I interpreted it to be like a distorted manifestation of Light Water's anger .
If you want, you can summon monsters to specifically attack Posey anytime you wish. I don't mind feeling targeted. Posey has been taunting the Traveller to attack her specifically this whole adventure.
>>191587What is your fucking problem?
>>191584I'm going to just elect not to use Monstro in combat and delegate him only to defending the bomb, so he doesn't affect the party's damage-per-round.
I won't even ride Monstro anymore. Monstro is a creature not meant for riding, and I just remembered the penalty for the fact that Posey doesn't have a saddle, so that's a -10 penalty to ride checks, which means taking 10 Posey can't even stay on top of him in combat unless she rolls high (like she did before).
So how's this, I won't attack with Monstro (unless it's to defend the bomb), and I won't ride it in combat either either (although I would like it to carry me aboard the ship). Is that a satisfying course of action?
>>191572>Why are you doing 53 damage at level 6 without expending usables?I know it's besides the point, but I did actually use a consumable for that: I used up the last of my scroll and its material components; and I can never cast Animate Dead again until I either level up or acquire another scroll.
Speaking of consumables, I have been trying to conserve my spell slots for emergencies, but does anybody have any requests for spells in the following encounters?
My spell list is here:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/magic/spells/classSpellLists/dreadNecromancerSpells.htmlI also have a handful of spells from my Apprentice and Cerebrosis, plus Kelgore's Grave Mist.
I can't do blasting AoE/range, I can't buff (save for Death Ward and Hide From Undead), I can't heal non-undead, and I can't battlefield control; but I can do debuffs and support with summons. If anybody wants summons for support or their enemy debuffed, just ask me.
How are we on healing resources? I think we're out of potions and most of our cure spells at this point, so I'll try to use myself and my summons as HP sponges from this point onwards so that the martial characters will have HP left to take the Kostroma.
Posey after she learns how to raise the dead
>>191644Interesting proposal. I'll note it for when Posey opens up her shop.
Should we convince Kira to eat Light Water alive after we defeat him and the Traveler? Lamias do believe in soul imbibement where the soul of a creature that's eaten alive and whole becomes part of the lamia, which would serve as a fairly ironic death for the hippogriff.
>>191681It would be grossly out of character for Kira to ever agree to it, even if the entire party unanimously wanted it somehow. The good-aligned party members would not.
>>191682crosses arms and flicks tongueParty pooper...
Even if it potentially results in Kira becoming stronger?
>>191684I cannot tell you what you can and can't do with your characters. It's just not in-character for Kira with how she has acted so far.
>>191681>Should we convince KiraIf you want to do it, just say so. Or just do it without asking. Don't go asking us to "convince" your character to do weird stuff for no reason.
>Lamias do believe in soul imbibement where the soul of a creature that's eaten alive and whole becomes part of the lamia, which would serve as a fairly ironic death for the hippogriff.Idk how that really helps the rest of us.
I was considering exsanguinating him, like I consider for most humanoid enemies, but I didn't want the other players to see Posey as a monster
(yet); if that isn't an issue for you, go ahead and do it. I won't stop you.
I do kind of want his head for necromantic purposes though. I think I can get info from his skull with Speak With Dead, but it might not really be necessary. His feathers and claws could be valuable as spell components, but again, probably not necessary.
>>191684If gaining power from eating people is on the table in this game, I absolutely want in on it. Posey are the flesh off of Luminous's bones just so that she could rapidly recover enough flesh to keep herself beautiful.
I was considering asking for favors from the newly-ghoulish Kaftar priest to join me for "dinner dates", where we could repeatedly cast Corpse Rejuvenation on humanoid corpses before eating them, so that over time we may become Fleshvigor undead. It wouldn't do very much for Posey mechanically aside from a minor Str bonus, but it would give her naturally rosey cheeks and make her closer to a living creature, which is nice. Worth pursuing in a milestone game. The main point is to monitor behavioral sink within the Kaftar Clergy, as I stand to benefit from them practicing necromancy and worshipping demons.
When I gained sufficient power, I had hoped to use Graveborn Warrior to create Blood Hulks abominations with birthright bloodlines as bonus feats, so that I could consume their hearts to reabsorb their powers into myself in a grotesque cannibalism ritual.
At some point, when I take over Equestria, I'm going to want to summon Titanic demons to crush cities for it. The easiest way to do this would be to prepare a massive feast for demons like Dalmosh, and the easiest way to prepare such a feast would be to slaughter a few hundred ponies (or similarly sized creatures) and reanimate them as zombies and order them to baptize themselves in wine and roast themselves for the feast (I can calculate their net gp value for the ritual component based on their weight in flesh) before presenting themselves to the demon. It would require a massive desecrated iron pot though and summoning Titanic uncontrolled demons once per month is a tactic that's guaranteed to blow up in my face unless I'm more powerful than them, so that's more of a higher level ambition.
But I am glad that I am not the only one with such ambitions. Welcome to the club, Kira.
>>191689
>Kira already had the "Prey" conversation with Brie
I don't think she did. Or at least, I don't remember it
>>191684If you're that concerned about breaking character, at a later level I could lesser planar bind a demonic tapeworm and infect you with it. I was going to do it anyway and breed them in the sewers to distribute to living party members. The Gutworm increases its host's Constitution score and the ability to rage like a Barbarian, but it also causes hunger related debuffs if not properly fed and like all fiendish Symbionts it has a chance of compelling its host to commit evil acts (which may eventually result in alignment change). It could lead to some interesting roleplaying moments.
I won't get access to those spells for a while though, so I can't help just yet.
>>191690It was the conversation about how where when you target prey and 'you' know you can gets, and you should gets, then gets gets gets
>>191694Eh...offer appreciated, but I think Kira will skip the tapeworm
>>191696Okay. I was mostly just shitposting anyway.
>>191701I was shitposting
(mostly). It was my way of saying "while we're on the topic of unsolicited gross ideas..."
>>191710A mare can dream.
So, we could try a mixed approach to the light house? Fliers go to the top window and get in from there. The rest could take the stairs.
Silver should lead the team entering from the bottom, because he's a high strength character with a greatsword: with a Power Attack and maybe an Iajutsu check, he should be able to break down the door (this is a good reason to learn Mountain Hammer). I will enter as well, since my charm spell and charisma skills may be necessary to avoid a fight with the airponies. Perhaps I could try scaling the tower if it's not possible to get in from the bottom for whatever reason.
I think we should just rush past the GRU and monsters. In the event that either the GRU or the monsters choose to engage us, that will simply create an opportunity for their opponents to turn the tide of the battle, cutting the number of our enemies in half.
>>191724Well you could maybe, I don’t know, discuss it in character instead of just everyone gunning off to do their own thing?
>>191724Isn't Cavaliere the only flier now? But yes, that was his original plan, now hampered by the proximity of the enemies who would probably notice a flying creature. We also
probably don't want to barge into the lighthouse only to get gunned down by the ponies we're meant to save, so we need to be cautious. If there weren't enemies around I would have suggested getting their skipper to talk to them.
>I think we should just rush past the GRU and monsters. In the event that either the GRU or the monsters choose to engage us, that will simply create an opportunity for their opponents to turn the tide of the battle, cutting the number of our enemies in half.Good point. We also need to be quick because time is not on our side.
>>191725>discuss it in characterMaybe. It's a bit of an urgent situation and having a council meeting about our tactics wouldn't feel right. Maybe we can decide on something OOC and write a post-hoc justification for our characters.
>>191727>We also probably don't want to barge into the lighthouse only to get gunned down by the ponies we're meant to save, so we need to be cautious.I am willing to risk that personally. Shots directed at me are shots that they don't take at each other. So long as I take a prone position while fighting defensively and don't attack them directly, I may be able to charm them, or at least reason with the ones who are still sane.
>>191727>But yes, that was his original plan, now hampered by the proximity of the enemies who would probably notice a flying creature.The monsters appear to be melee only, and if you go past the range of their darkvision (usually 60 ft) they are less likely to pursue you when they have more readily available targets (the GRU).
As for the GRU, while they might shoot at you, they have bigger priorities on hand, because shots they take at you are shots they don't take at the monsters right in front of them.
The door may be barricaded, so you should probably try to enter through the window in the next two rounds.
>>191725I have now had Posey announce her intentions to gallop into the light house.
>>191736 →How high up are you now? You should be able to make it.
Assuming a 60 ft fly speed and average maneuverability (60° up angle), and the average height of a light house in this era (10 meters (33 feet) to 63 meters (208 feet)), you could probably get there with a single run action (4x movement speed in one direction). They might hear something flapping, but by the time they turned their attention to you you would already be behind cover.
Note that ponies don't have low light vision, and even monsters with darkvision tend to lack low light vision (including Posey). By the time you're at the top of the tower, they would not be able to shoot you even if they could see you, because they'd take a huge penalty for shooting in the dark. They would already be able to hear the gunshots from inside the tower, so the presence of a winged creature flapping there shouldn't draw additional attention.
I think Ponies should have at least 40 ft walking speed.
If you're sneaking, you could try flying at your minimum half speed to move silently (with a stealth check) and avoid being heard, but it would take 8 times as long to get there, which has its own risks and penalties.
You would have no cover to hide, but distracted creatures without low-light vision would be unlikely to see you and even less likely to successfully shoot you.
>>191737>>191738It's a better plan than shooting at mooks and almost certainly dying.
>>191739Do what you will.
I'm running across the ground to the light house, so I will probably draw any potential fire/attention.
Since the paladin is not with us, can I have back the spell slot I spent on Undetectable Alignment to avoid conflict with him? I only cast it because there was a paladin here and I wanted to be friendly with his player.
No problem if I can't though.
>>191921 →Idk if that would work.
My plan was going to be to engage the enemies in melee to draw fire/attention away from the herd, kill as many as I could manage, and then play dead if things go south.
I want to mention that I think my character is uniquely suited for this. Although Posey does less damage than anyone else in the party, and her HP has been severely nerfed during this mission, she's still in the best position to risk injury to herself and then flee and later. I've barely taken any damage over the course of this adventure, and the rest of the PCs need to save their HP for the Kostroma. Humanoid enemies are also Posey's specialty (aside from undead enemies), since they generally have low AC and are subject to fear-based debuffs.
I could also try to use my limited 1/day gaseous form to make myself bulletproof for the encounter, which would take away my ability to attack, but not my ability Intimidate them. I was going to save it for the siege of the Kostroma, but this feels like an emergency.
But we agreed to make you the decisionist, so I will comply with whatever tactic you want.
>>191932 →>it's not as if the GRU squad is going to be an easy fight anywaysPC-classed Humanoid NPCs have CR equal to their character level, more. While we can't assume every encounter will be party-level, I wouldn't count on them all being that overleveled either (unless the intention was for us to gain 3-5 levels this adventure, in which case bring it on), so these guys are probably level 2-3 each, maybe with some a bit higher since they're special forces. Engaging them in combat as a distraction feels like a viable option to defend our charges.
If you want to grenade them, one of us will have to be within throwing range to anyway. Maybe Posey could use the grenades to soften up the enemies so that she can finish them in melee, or at least force them to retreat.
>>191936I'd expect them to be near our level, with them being special forces and all. It's not just levels we need to worry about, it's also their weapons. They likely have machine guns which a lucky streak of attack rolls could end up killing Posey or Silver in a single round. Not only that, they also have support from mortars and the naval batteries on their warship.
>>191937Well, if we fight half a dozen characters near our level, we're practically guaranteed to level up.
>>191938XP shouldn't be a motivator in this simply because it's not really being kept track of and level-ups are sparingly given for a number of reasons.
>>191939I really begs the question of how I'm going to get back through XP I spent on buyoffs in character creation.... I'm still ECL 4.
So, it looks like I'm outvoted on holding off the enemies myself..
What's the other plan?
>>191945I still feel like the grenade idea will work. We have to think of these soldiers as real people, and real people, even soldiers, wouldn't run through a field of thrown grenades.
>>191946I think you are confusing grenades with mines.
>>191941>>191947Whatever we use, we need to commit to a fighting retreat. We send the airponies and other followers back to safety and we follow at a slow pace, fighting so the enemies are forced to halt and give up the chase.
>>191948Let's just do Silver's plan and if that fails we do my plan.
>>191951 →Apparently Silver isn't concerned with actually hitting the enemy, and grenades are AoE. The AC to hit a particular 5 ft square should be 5, so anyone should be able to hit the square so long as it's in range and they don't get a Nat 1.
>the one character where I forgot to add a smokestick to my inventoryRemind me to buy basic alchemical items after this adventure is done.
Also, you guys should probably buy healing belts, and machine guns.
Actually, I manage to kill the gunner squad, we could loot that gun.
>>191951 →I don't think the mod really matters, so it may as well be you.
Actually, I have a better idea: load the grenades into Posey's sling (range increment of 50 ft, max range 250 feet). That way you could possibly hit the machine gunners if you slung it with your mod. You could get a +1 bonus from height if you're flying. Even if you can't hit them directly, you only need to hit an AC of 5 to hit the 5 ft square they're standing in.
It's up to GM if loading a grenade into a sling incurs improvised weapon penalties, but you're trying it hit empty space, so even with a -4 with your mod you're pretty much guaranteed to hit unless you get a nat 1.
This should make Silver's plan a lot more viable.
>>191953If we know the location of the machine gunner, knocking him out with a slung grenade would greatly even the odds. I'm fully in support of this.
>>191954Yeah, and your ranged combat mods should help with that.
You should be able to roll your perception skills (spot, listen) to detect them right now. They were shooting not too long ago, so unless they have all the good sniper feats they should be taking some -20 penalty to stealth, so I think you're guaranteed to detect them even with a nat 1 at a distance in low light conditions.
Remember, you don't have to hit them directly. You only need to hit their general area (very low AC, possibly as low as 1 if the grenade has an AoE larger than a medieval splash weapon).
>>191954You could probably start making checks now.
>>191958 →Should we still do this? I don't know how I can have a clear line to throw the grenade without being shot at by those rifleponies near the lighthouse.
>>191959You wouldn't need a clear line, you can do your best to arc into their general direction and it should be enough to give us just those few seconds to get some distance. If they get back up, see us, and start firing, then we will have our unicorns shoot our rifles at them as we retreat to keep them pinned down. Standing and fighting will only put is in more danger.
I would like to apologize as the party Arcanist for not knowing Fireball or any other long range blasting spells. We wouldn't need to discuss slinging grenades at enemies if I could cast any decent damaging spells. I'm not really good at doing damage in general, let alone AoE damage. Best I can do is Kelgore's Grave Mist at a medium range, which I guess could be okay to neutralize stationary firing squads.
I will try to learn some blasting magic as soon as I can get my hooves on a Drake Helm or otherwise expand my casting range.
I probably should have just played a Wizard, tbh. Oh well.
Are we still deciding on whether to fight at all? This is decision paralysis. I don't think we should fight with the intention of wiping them out, but we should surprise and weaken them such that they cannot afford to follow. Then we can get away and look for that last airpony.
>>191981>Are we still deciding on whether to fight at all? This is decision paralysis.I'm getting kind of frustrated too, tbh.
>>191988No bully! Posey is trying her best!
>J-just wait until I get to lvl sixteen! Then you will all beg for mercy!>[sobbing tier-3 fixed-list caster noises]
>>191993Have a song about scary necromancers to cheer you up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60YJal8s3A4
>>192001Only 4 more levels until I get my primary class feature...
Anyways, what exactly are we waiting for? I don't want to spend a third week sitting around.
Okay, seriously, who is slinging the last smoke bomb?
As soon as its slung, we can run.
Cavalier, you have Rapid Shot: just sling the smoke bomb with your other claw. You only need one claw to hurl a sling.
>>192041Wait, does Cavalier have Rapid Shot?
Two,-Weapon Fighting should work too. You're targeting an AC of 5.
>>192042I do have rapid shot. Does it work like that?
>>192043Well, if GM will accept you reconning that first obvious hit to have a -2 penalty, it should.
>>192043>>192044Or you could just make your normal second attack, at a -5 penalty.
Is Tenebrous ever going to rejoin this game? If he ever does, I would gladly help him with his build if he needed it. I am fond of Stealthy, lightly-armored moon-themed Batman-esque paladins. He would make a good Shadowbane Inquisitor.
Any of you guys go to Marefair?
>>192128Not this year, but I assumed that enough of the others were going that game progression would be postponed for these couple weeks. Have fun.
>>192129I know GM pone went, at the very least.
>>192128Raises HoofI did!
>>192052Sadly he's not super communicative
>>192129Between pony cons, trips out of the country, and an out of town trip, this coming weekend is the first weekend in eight weeks I will be home.
You shoulda seen him in the auction
>>192128I hope I can make it next year! Work doesn't make it very easy and I have not felt well the past few days.
>>192135I don't know how you get any time in for adventuring ponies. Hooves crossed Tenebrous will show up soon.
So. Quest Ideas. I have a few.
Fruit of the Tree of Life
This is a larger idea, and would be spread over a period of probably three in game days and take place over multiple locations. This is directly inspired by the Uncharted video game series, and thus hopefully has an Uncharted/Indiana Jones kind of feel. Planning has so far centered on Silver, but things can be modified.
In essence, Silver has stumbled upon a fruit that seems to have the power to reverse aging and presumably create biological immortality, besides other likely health benefits. There is some evidence as to where it came from, and the quest involves following that trail back to its source, to a "Tree of Life." Silver is not the only one to learn of the fruit, and so an antagonist faction likewise starts to look for the Tree. Chiroptera is my top contender now.
This essentially is an adventure looking into jungles, under old cathedrals in cities, and through multiple war zones.
Ace of Hearts
Does anyone remember how, in the early days of the Iraq War, the US military had a "playing card" designation for Sadam Hussein and his sons? No? I'm the only one who remembers that? Uh... So I have this completely original idea that the Black Hooves in Equestria have organized the priority of their "Most wanted" as playing cards. One specifically, the "Ace of Hearts" is nearby(ish). The Black Hooves are willing to pay a very large amount of money for the capture of this target, especially if she can be taken alive, as she may be bait for the Ace of Spades.
The basic idea is this: go up north to the location, set up bait, then try to infiltrate, then set a trap, then have a massive battle against a high level character, then leave before dangerous enemy reinforcements come.
>>192146The second one sounds interesting to me, since Posey is gathering funds for her conquest, and raising her profile as a mercenary among the Blackhooves could further her cause to eventually take over Baltimare. Posey has experience in abduction, infiltration and hostage negotiation as well from her service to the League on the shores of Farbrook.
It being nearby(ish) is also better for Posey, since she is a single mother.
The tree of life sounds interesting too, particularly with the travel through Warzones and ancient ruins, but idk if I could resist the temptation to try to turn it into a Tree Of Death.
>>192146>Fruit of the Tree of LifeCavaliere has no interest in gallivanting for a Tree of Life, even though he would be well-suited for such an adventure, since his quests center around more grounded problems. Also, the logical end result of success would be that he would turn younger, and I designed him to be the age he is quite deliberately.
That said, Amber would be a good pick for this quest since she is fond of old-style romance. She has not had any real quests since infiltrating the police station either. Finally, she had that odd dream about a mysterious ancient slab to find, and this would be a perfect starting point to get clues as to its whereabouts.
>Ace of HeartsThis is definitely a good pick for Cavaliere as though he's not necessarily a bounty hunter, retrieving dangerous people is something he does regularly. It's right up his alley, especially when it comes to outwitting an opponent and persuading him to face justice.
>>192146What exactly did the fruit from the tree of life actually do besides lower age? It was definitely useful to Silver, who was over middle age, but idk what it would really do for the rest of the party.
I'm more interested in the Tree Of Life itself, since it would be a potentially very valuable magical discovery. If it's anything like the Tree Of Life that I'm familiar with, its endless wellspring of life energy would also make it a boon for a mage looking to siphon it for defiling magic or other life-draining sorcery, without resorting to slaying entire cities or poisoning the earth for miles of radius.
There's also the plausibility of watering it with the blood of sacrifices to turn it into a Tree Of Death, or taking a fruit from the tree and corrupting it to cultivate a tree or evil, which could also be useful for a mage interested in becoming a Kaisharga.
I would certainly be interested in at least knowing the location of the tree.
>>192130Btw, what did Silver do with the seeds of the Tree Of Life? If it's not too much to ask, I would be interested in planting one on Curwhinny's farm after I buy it, and magically tending to it to possibly create my own magic tree overtime, just as an experiment. Iirc, a tree of life's fruits have a percentile chance of growing true if magically tended to.
Posey has vampiric blood, so even if she fails to produce a tree of death she might be able to cultivate a Gulthias Tree.
>>192151The Tree Of Life would certainly be a compelling sight for a Bard to write a ballad about.
Cavaliere's quests can be very clear-cut. Find X who has gone missing due to any sort of reason, reconcile Y and Z ponies who are at blows, help get an individual or family get back into the good graces of society, etc. Shorter quests would be preferable since he's doing them repeatedly as a profession, but it's not a requirement. They may or may not involve violence depending on how malicious or desperate antagonists would be. Variety is good, and there doesn't necessarily have to be an overarching plot for Cavaliere, since he's a fully developed character for the most part. His adventures can be episodic.
Amber Sunset is just about the opposite. She can hardly be called an adventurer at this point and needs to have a story laid out in front of her. One possibility is to have small, low-stakes adventures to help her find herself and gain attachment with Mustard Trim, starting out with something like exploring the underground city. After that she encounters the other PCs more often and can share in their adventures. Or, if you're bold enough and feel up to the challenge, you might write a whole bildungsroman where she is thrust into a high-stakes plot and has her relationship with Mustard simultaneously reinforced and tested. You can tell such a story with a particular character only once so I would like it to be satisfying if attempted at all. Truthfully, though, I'll be happy if I get to play Amber at all.
>>192147>It being nearby(ish) is also better for Posey, since she is a single mother.Auntie Debride will happily look over her foal
>>192156>What exactly did the fruit from the tree of life actually do besides lower age?>I'm more interested in the Tree Of Life itself, since it would be a potentially very valuable magical discovery.Have you played an Uncharted game, or at least, watched an Indiana Jones film? The MacGuffin being rather mysterious and possessing powers that are not understood by the adventurer's looking for it is an essential part of the plot in Indiana Jones and
especially Uncharted.
Silver would know that the fruit has the power to reverse aging to at least some degree, and to heal old wounds, including scars. And beyond that, it is unknown.
>>192151>Cavaliere has no interest in gallivanting for a Tree of Lifescrunchy>>192166>Find X who has gone missing due to any sort of reason, reconcile Y and Z ponies who are at blows, help get an individual or family get back into the good graces of society, etc.I hadn't thought of non-violent quests, now that I think about it....
>>192166>bildungsromanI don't speak German
Posey's quests for now would mostly revolve around increasing her personal power, be it magical, economic, social, or political. Posey is interested in forging powerful connections, amassing funds, and making breakthroughs in magic.
>Auntie Debride will happily look over her foal
Hisses! He's mine!
I guess that is worth considering though, if duty calls.
Other ideas include:
Mountain Town
The Occupation forces have an issue with a small copper mining town in the mountains where one, and now two of their representatives have gone missing or died mysteriously. Cavaliere, Silver, or a group must investigate. This could also be from a private quest giver.
Dragon Slayer
Fairly straight forward. There is oil in the badlands, and a specific dragon is attacking crews. Kill the dragon. Ideally this quest would be done on motorcyle or some other means of quick travel. The point is quite simply, kill a dragon. A unique part of this quest is using radio to direct "Fox Hound units," a set of planes that act as air support to keep the dragon grounded. For the whole party.
Water Treatment
A sea or lake monster has infested the reservoir or perhaps the water pumping station of Baltimare in such a way as to actually inhibit the flow and cleaning of Baltimare's water supply. Remove it. For anypony.
>>192173>Dragon SlayerA Dragon's corpse would be nice to have.
>Water TreatmentCould be drowners, in which case this would be a job for a necrologist.
More dragon related ideas:
Burglary
A long time ago, a dragon took up residence in the ruins of a castle just outside of Baltimare. It has grown as the years have gone by and is now fairly formidable. There is a suspicion that the castle was used to hide treasures secreted away during the seige and the revolt. Burglarize the castle and escape
Missing
The Island of the Dragon's Lair has a small enclave given to New Mareland as a refueling station for aircraft. A pony left the enclave onto the main island and has since gone missing. Try to find him.
>>192176>BurglaryHmmmm, treasure sounds like fun. Also another dragon to reanimate.
>MissingThis sounds decent too, but tbh we've been on this rescue mission for a year now, so I think I want to do something else.
>>192173>Mountain TownCavaliere would get involved only if there was an apparent threat of the occupiers moving in with force if he didn't.
>Dragon SlayerThe badlands are dragon territory. Cavaliere would not attack the dragon but he may devise a plan to enable it to escape or something.
>Water TreatmentThat's intriguing. Of these ideas it's the most likely for Amber to get involved in, perhaps accidentally as an urban explorer.
>BurglaryEither Cavaliere or Amber could attempt this. But, if the dragon was already there then who put the treasure in the castle and why?
>MissingDefinitely one for Cavaliere.
I should say that one idea I've loved for a while now is that it's the
monster that approaches the party as the quest giver
Actually come to think of it, the oldest version of the "burglary" idea was that the
dragon was looking for help tracking down something stolen from its horde.
>>192179>Another dragon to reanimateIt won't be easy to kill. If it's a Blackhooves issued quest, they will ask that the dragon
not be killed, as its death would displease many of the locals.
>but tbh we've been on this rescue mission for a year nowscrunch>>192180>Cavaliere would get involved only if there was an apparent threat of the occupiers moving in with force if he didn't.why though. But money
>The badlands are dragon territory. Cavaliere would not attack the dragon but he may devise a plan to enable it to escape or something.The idea is that an oil well was built in a location in the badlands, then the dragon attacked it. So now the dragon is being killed.
>That's intriguing. Of these ideas it's the most likely for Amber to get involved in, perhaps accidentally as an urban explorer.Maybe, though the monster isn't exactly one Amber would likely want to face
>But, if the dragon was already there then who put the treasure in the castle and why?This again was originally thought of as given by New Mareland. Basically Equestrian forces evacuated, or tried to, items of value from the city during the war, or maybe Popular Front rebels did the same in the revolt. Either they placed it in the castle as a kind of safe keeping, or they somehow lost the items in the woods and the dragon took the items to the castle as a part of its horde.
>>192185>the monster that approaches the party as the quest giverI do work on behalf of vampires and Liches.
Are we able to find our charges
Cavalier rolled a modified 20 to track a creature that was travelling over firm ground less than 24 hours ago. Even with poor visibility, the check should lead us right too him. Kira is tracking by scent, which means her base DC is 10, +2 for every hour passed, low enough to take 10. Every roll she's made this past month should be enough to find him.
All in all, the Rangers have rolled everything they should need to find him if he's within at least 5 miles from us. Do we find the airpony, or do we not?
Pardon if I come off as impatient, but I really want to get to the next part of the adventure.
>>192190When asked “where did the missing airpony go?” the ponies who were with him said that he went in the direction of the modern village as the airponies were traveling along the ridge line in the center of the island by the medieval village. For some reason you interpreted this as the Whaling/Sealing Station, and lead everyone there. I’m not sure how that mistake is made, given that the whaling/sealing station has never been called a “village.” The whaling station was listen for sound, there is no one there. It was searched for scent, and there is no one there. Every building was entered, and there is no one there. The airponies were asked for clarification, and they repeated that they saw the pony go towards the modern village while they were on the ridgeline. They stated explicitly that they have never been near the whaling station, and they did not know that the whaling station was there. There are no tracks of the air pony, because the airpony has never been near this location. There is no scent of the airpony, because it has been consistently, repeatedly, and damn bear explicitly said to almost certainly be hiding in a structure that’s a mile downwind past a hill. I’m not sure why you’re upset. Everything has been clear and logical and repeated multiple times.
>>192156Silver didn't find any seeds, and the fruit he found was also seedless. I think you'd need to go to the Tree itself to find the seeds.
>>192191Also fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, I really thought he said the whaling station...
>>192191I'm not upset, I was just confused.
Idk how we even got to the whaling station then. I thought we were going in the direction that the airponies indicated this whole time.
>damn bear explicitly said to almost certainly be hiding in a structure that’s a mile downwind past a hillAlright, let's just cut to the chase and go there then.
>>192191>For some reason you interpreted this as the Whaling/Sealing Station, and lead everyone there.I thought Posey was following Kira and Cavalier: the trackers. Did I even say whaling station? I only recall saying it after I read other posts saying it.
I guess it's my bad for confusing people, but was leaving the exploration details to the rangers this whole time.
>>192197I've just been assisting Kira and following along. This reminds me of playing an old-fashioned adventure game where you're given a clue, but it's vague enough that you go to the wrong area and bash your head against the wall for half an hour.
>>192198Whatever. Now we know we're not supposed to be here. Let's just cut to the village.
So, we go to the village, find the airpony, then go to the Kostroma, right?
>>192212Is that Kira? For some reason I imagined Kira was green and never checked.
Nice comm
So, is the plan to just go at the GRU group guns blazing?
I could have Monstro put down the bomb and charge them from above while we advance over land. Shots directed at my minion are shots not directed at us, and the bone lurker can crush, constrict and paralyzed enemies.
Since the group seems to only possess ranged weapons, we should try to enter me should try to enter melee and keep our targets in melee reach. That way we can benefit from the hit penalty for shooting into a melee, and possibly neutralize the enemies ala attack of opportunity when they fire. Characters proficient in melee weapons should focus on disarming or sundering the enemies guns with their attacks of opportunity to reduce their DPS, because I suspect their HP is high.
They're also less likely
Focus on flanking the machine gunner. If he's spending feats on burst fire, he's less likely to have precise shot.
I suspect the unicorn with the carbine is a mage: Someone should make it their mission to stay in melee with him, because you can never know what they will do.
The GRU are supposedly elite special forces, which means they're likely higher level than the ones we've fought so far.
We could just turn around and abandon the remaining airport to his fate, but I would recommend engaging with this encounter anyway. These are elite forces, which means they should be properly equipped as characters of their level. We can expect them to be carrying healing potions or wands, as well as +1 guns or ammo that might be useful to fight the Traveller.
The cover of fog means that encounters begin within melee range, so we could charge the enemy while they're flat footed.
>>192231That was most certainly
not the plan I was thinking of. Ideally we won't face the GRU again for the duration of the time on this island. We move to the modern village and reunite with both our missing airpony and the final group of Kostroma survivors, and from there make to board the nearby Kostroma. After we defeat the Traveler, my hope is that we can use Monstro to first unbeach the Kostroma, and then beach the GRU ship on the island so badly that it can't unbeach itself even during high tide.
>>192232> Ideally we won't face the GRU again for the duration of the time on this island. We move to the modern village and reunite with both our missing airpony The GRU group is in our way. We can't enter the village without engaging with them.
>the final group of Kostroma survivorsI must have missed that part.
>we can use Monstro to first unbeach the Kostroma, and then beach the GRU ship on the island so badly that it can't unbeach itself even during high tide.My plan was to use Monstro to drop the torpedo on the GRU ship, sinking them decisive victory. We have the explosive harpoon for the Traveller, so it's better to save the torpedo for a battleship.
>>192232How do you intend to get to the village without fighting the GRU?
>>192234>>192233We don't know if they're in the way, as far as my knowledge goes.
>>192236Well, the plot does not advance until we do something, so let's decide now.
>>192231I would prefer avoiding them via stealth but I get the sense that will not be an option, at least not with our big group. We could split off stealthy members of the party and have the main group take a detour, but experience has taught us that it's a poor idea. Maybe we should fight. I don't know.
>>192238>>192236I don't see any way out of this without fighting.
I could roll an opposed Charisma check to compel any of the communists/griffons currently charmed by Posey's gaze to enter the fray with us, to increase the number of targets and mitigate the chances of party members dying or taking serious injuries. The airponies, however, should stay back, because our payment hinges on them.
>>192241I don't think we should compel them but should ask them to help in the fight, mainly as longer-range firing support. Not all the griffons have guns either.
>>192242Characters without precise shot would be better off in melee. I think my charm ability can help with that.
>>192243These characters are already taking a big risk throwing their lot in with us. We will not force them to risk their lives for us.
>>192259Hmmmmm.
Scary Octavia.
Okay, so what are we actually doing?
I was ready for a fight, but the party seems to want to go around instead.
GM said we had to roll to go around, but what is it that we need to roll?
It's been a week. How do we proceed?
We did make it past the enemies, right?
Should I burn a lvl 1 slot on Detect Magic to follow traces of that illusion (I have no cantrips, sadly), or should I save my slots for the Kostroma?
>>192375Kek, accurate
>>192376Save it. We can try to follow it normally.
>>192377Alright. It shouldn't be too hard. Let's look for the airpony, and see if the 'ghost' shows up.
I also don't think it's The Traveller that programmed the illusion. The Traveller would have either had access to accurate dating information, or would have given a completely off-date response. It also lacks the context to recreate a scene from 60 years ago, since it was only brought here recently.
So maybe it really is a ghost. I'll check by rebuking it next time.
>>192378Rebuking doesn't seem like a wise idea. We should just follow him and see where he goes, we're fairly certain he's a ghost as it is.
>>192379I'm down two dreads and my only scroll of animate dead.
I won't leave this island with fewer minions than I came with if I can help it.
>>192380We know Posey came from a culture where undead are controlled by brute force, but subtler means seem to be needed here.
>>192381We can decide what to do when we get there.
Are there any plans to finish the village search in the foreseeable future?
Not rushing, just trying to visualize the next steps.
>>192450I'll be ready whenever you are.
Well, I had the set of events planned to go one way... Which it doesn't seem will work. And I had an entire additional encounter planned before getting on the ship. But I'm not sure about that now
>>192454If you have a plot you want us to follow, just give us a hook and we'll follow it.
>>192454>>192456This. Give us a nudge in the right direction, we'll gladly follow it.
It's not bad if the hook is blazingly obviously or breaks the fourth wall or feels metagamey. Keeping the story moving is just as important to immersion as subtlety. We all want to participate in the story, whatever it is.
So, are there any rolls we need to make, or are we just waiting for the results of the last ones?
Should I follow Silver, or should I search the rest of the buildings? I want to get this search done, but the colt seems like an obvious plot hook.
>>192518It was. Then the train derailed, then Silver insisted on getting back on, and now everything is messed up. The buildings is the better option to try to not miss things
>>192519Okay, let's go with the buildings for now, and then we can go chase down Silver.
>>192519When exactly were things derailed? I
>>192521When people attacked the colt rather than followed him
>>192523Wha? I wasn't attacking him.
Well, I guess I did try to grab him, but that was for snuggles.
Is Dust going to make an appearance? I don't know if we can use his character to make a heal check in his absence.
>>192525I recall him saying we could. If he takes ten, he should succeed.
So, I guess I should go chase after Silver, now that all of the buildings are searched?
>The ghost child
So the ghost child was an idea that I came up with some time over a year ago, maybe it was two years ago, that I thought would be neat. I had this whole sequence of events in my mind as to how it would go, with at least Silver choosing to follow where it would lead him. The ghost colt was going to lead everyone to the last airpony, who is otherwise hidden. But instead every party member assumed it was hostile and attacked the apparition.
>but why not just clarify the nature of the apparition so we know it's not hostile
Its true nature is supposed to be ambiguous. That's the whole point. That's what it is. It's a mysterious happening. Maybe it's an actual, intelligent ghost. Maybe it's a past event immortalized in a haunting. Maybe it's a time slip. Maybe it's just the Traveller using a puppet to reenact a past event. Who knows? That's the point. That's the whole point. The problem is that whatever it is, it's fairly obvious that you're probably only seeing it because of some kind of influence of The Entity. I think the problem here is that in the inspiration I used for The Entity, the parallel to the entity was a powerful, psychic, chaotic, creature that unintentionally modified the environment around it and had other, unintented effects, whereas The Entity as I have written it has been shown to be conscious and acting very deliberately, with almost every affect that its had being intentional. So if you see something that you have to assume is caused by the Entity, the natural assumption is that it is acting maliciously and it's a trap, rather than thinking "oh, I guess it likes history, so it's made this puppet to put on a kind of play of an earlier event." And I suppose that's on me for having virtually everything ever done by the Entity be overtly malicious and for the purpose of taking over the minds of other creatures, rather than showing it often just do things chaotically.
A big part of it is that I've more or less fully committed to a kind of naturalism where the ambient environment is supposed to be completely natural and plausible, but also creepy and able to carry the tone and feel of most areas. If the Entity were shown to be manipulating things in the environment it would be less of a stretch that a ghost colt isn't necessarily a trap.
Anyways, the obvious thing to do with the ghost colt is to just accept that it doesn't fit with the rest of the world and just scrap it, and forget that it was ever there. A bit of a shame considering that the ghost colt is the entire reason I insisted on having the final airpony in the village rather than in the abandoned whaling station when everyone thought it was there but so be it. But then Silver's player didn't want me to scrap it, but by this time I had already thought of a completely different thing to do with the village if the ghost colt was being removed from it.
A problem with that is that earlier parts of the quest indicated that Kostroma survivors had holed up in the village and were being attacked there. So it would have been very off if there were no presence of the Kostroma survivors there, and I needed to address that. But the thing is that Silver is the only character that cares about the Kostroma survivors, I think because he wants to recruit them as workers for his blacksmith shop or something, while Posey and Cavaliere have no use for them. So we're in this bizarre situation where Silver, the only character who cares about the Kostroma survivors, is the only one doing what would lead them to the airpony, while Posey, who cares only about the airpony, just attacks the ghost colt like it's a firefly to trap and is instead left to look after the Kostroma survivors. And Silver's player has a second character that's behind, but just does nothing with it for reasons I don't know.
Life if you don't care about the Kostroma survivors okay I guess. Like if you want to speedrun ahead then okay, but what is going to happen is that the unattended reader guard will be attacked by monsters and some of the airponies will be killed. So you can spread run if you want, but if you're just going to skip things then you're not one-hundred-precenting it either.
I don't know. Just let me chose one way of approaching events and go through with it.
>>192578>assumed it was hostile and attacked the apparition.I just tried to grapple him because I thought he was cute. My intent was to take him home with me and add him to my collection.
>while Posey, who cares only about the airpony, just attacks the ghost colt like it's a firefly to trapOkay, maybe I could have been smarter with my approach... I probably should have opened with a Rebuke, so he couldn't get away.
If I cast Detect Undead, would it lead me to the colt, or is it too late for that?
>>192578>Its true nature is supposed to be ambiguous.Tbh, I did roll a 26 in religion to identify him for undead traits (Posey has seen ghosts before), and it was only after the results of that roll came out unclear that I began to consider that he may have been an illusion by a hostile entity, because I thought Posey would recognize on a 26 if he were undead.
Maybe I should have been smarter with my approach though, and just followed he instead of trying to cuddle him.
>>192578I mean, it was definitely an odd enough occurance to give me pause. Kira though just wanted to be of help and also cute pony to cuddle.
>>192583I, too, wanted cuddles.
Also the easiest way to discern potential illusions is to try to touch them.
>>192578>Life if you don't care about the Kostroma survivors okay I guess.>Silver is the only character that cares about the Kostroma survivorsThe Kostroma survivors are not a priority for my character, but I have no reservations against helping them. I believe that they could be helpful to us. I could at least make use of the charmed ones to help us on the seige of the Kostroma.
>Like if you want to speedrun ahead then okayI am just trying to approach the quest from a rational and pragmatic perspective with the information I have in character. We came with a quest objective, and I'm trying to advance that goal. "Speedrunning" is not the term I would use for it. We have been on this quest for over a year, and sometimes we spend weeks waiting to know what happens next; maybe I come off as impatient, but I just want to advance the plot when we can, because I'm interested in how the story turns out. Please do not mistake my eagerness to complete the quest as lack of engagement.
>unattended reader guard will be attacked by monsters and some of the airponies will be killedI was worried about that, tbh... Maybe we should go back and check on them.
>Posey, who cares only about the airpony, just attacks the ghost colt like it's a firefly to trap and is instead left to look after the Kostroma survivors.Perhaps my approach was crude, but it was not my intention to attack him at all. The grapple check was just me trying to be cute. I didn't even is Rebuke/Command Undead on him to capture him, not did I use any of my various spells that are effective against the undead, just attempted snuggles. It came as a surprise to me when it disappeared before I was even able to attempt such measures.
Imo, the ghost colt was one of the most in-character interesting creatures we encountered on this island, as it felt very relevant to my character's skill set.
>Its true nature is supposed to be ambiguous. That's the whole point. That's what it is. It's a mysterious happening. Maybe it's an actual, intelligent ghost. Maybe it's a past event immortalized in a haunting.This is a fair point. Posey is familiar with ghosts and hauntings though, so would she not recognize one when she interacts with it? It confused me when the results of the knowledge check came back unclear, but maybe I was being too meta about it...
Whatever it was, such a discovery pertaining to the cycle of death and undeath felt very relevant to my character's interests.
>Maybe it's just the Traveller using a puppet to reenact a past event.That's the creeping suspicion I got after I failed to identify it as undead with a 26 on Religion. I figured the Traveller is a monster at least as powerful as an Aboleth or similar aberrant monstrosity, so using illusions to lure ponies into danger could be it's domain, like an angler fish.
>I've more or less fully committed to a kind of naturalism where the ambient environment is supposed to be completely natural and plausibleEquestria is a high-magic setting full of fantastic creatures, sentient environments, pervasive magical effects, and characters who directly interact with the weather and passing of the seasons. I think there's room for infinite supernatural elements.
>Anyways, the obvious thing to do with the ghost colt is to just accept that it doesn't fit with the rest of the world and just scrap it, and forget that it was ever there. A bit of a shame considering that the ghost colt is the entire reason I insisted on having the final airpony in the village rather than in the abandoned whaling station when everyone thought it was there but so be it. But then Silver's player didn't want me to scrap it, but by this time I had already thought of a completely different thing to do with the village if the ghost colt was being removed from it.Well, it's a shame to miss out on the ghost colt, but if you've already decided, then so be it.
Next question is though, how do we find the last airpony? That is our quest. Kira rolled above 20 on survival on multiple occasions without us finding him; we have exhausted all our leads; we have searched every building in the village. Idk what to do next to find him.
>Posey and Cavaliere have no use for themMy plan is to leverage my charm spell to goad them into throwing themselves at the Traveller's minions to make things easier for us when we take the Kostroma.
If I could be left alone with one of them at the top of the mountain for about an hour, they could make very nice zombies.
>Just let me chose one way of approaching events and go through with it.I will go with whatever you decide in the end.
>>192578>But instead every party member assumed it was hostile and attacked the apparition.Cavaliere was suspicious (understandably so) but did nothing of the sort. In fact he told Posey to lay it off due to repeated warning signs that the colt would run away, which in fact did happen. However Cavaliere prefers not to deal with the supernatural and leaves that to resident experts which is what Posey is.
>A big part of it is that I've more or less fully committed to a kind of naturalism where the ambient environment is supposed to be completely natural and plausible, but also creepy and able to carry the tone and feel of most areas.I appreciate it and you did a good job.
>Posey and Cavaliere have no use for themCavaliere isn't callous about them. However, he is going to prioritize the airponies which he came to find over uniformed soldiers of a hostile nation and that is only natural. They are not necessarily POWs but while cooperative for now they could turn into a threat later on. Despite that, he is going out of his way to rescue who he can, and any of the Kostroma crew that can be rescued is a positive.
>And Silver's player has a second character that's behind, but just does nothing with it for reasons I don't know.Keeping track of two characters is not easy
yes I know that sounds rich to say such a thing to a GM. There's also a tendency to focus on one character at a time to the neglect of the other. I wish you phrased it a little more nicely because it implies he doesn't care when he definitely does.
>Like if you want to speedrun ahead then okay, but what is going to happen is that the unattended reader guard will be attacked by monsters and some of the airponies will be killed.We're trying to avoid that which is why we're approaching this systematically. It doesn't feel like speedrunning at all. We're given signs of survivors in this village, so we're going to search this village. After that, who knows. If we were speedrunning we would skip the village and go straight to the Kostroma to attack the entity, but we're letting ourselves go along the rails you laid out for us (aside from minor misunderstandings like with the ghost colt).
Mind you, there is a time pressure for this mission, both in the game and in real life. There's no hard time limit for the quest, but it's constantly implied that the longer we take, the GRU will patrol more of the island and it becomes more likely that a pony gets mind-controlled or we have to fight more monsters. As for real life, I love this mission, but it has been going on for a while (not your sole fault since we've all slowed it down at points) and there is much more of this beautiful world to see. You have been asking us what we would like to see next. Also, with the way the world is heading, I am constantly worried about conditions arising which would make continuing this campaign impossible. I would like to experience as much of it, and have as many fond memories, as possible.
>>192586>The grapple check was just me trying to be cute.I don't know everything about Posey's character but "trying to be cute" on a dangerous mission with an unknown individual is a terrible idea. It does not feel like a realistic response, vampiric sorceress or not. Keep in mind that Posey is our
only expert on undead and even if she's not sure if something is undead, we're reliant on her. I think the check should have given more of a clue though.
>we have searched every building in the villageHave we? Cavaliere stopped searching after finding the casualties in the church. We weren't told how many buildings remain unsearched, which would be the first thing I would ask the GM after handling the trio of survivors. As for those survivors, Cavaliere would have done a listen check on that door so you wouldn't have to look through the window, but he was busy. With hindsight, the smart thing to do would have been to move silently up to a closed door and listen in before attempting entry. We should be treating this mission deliberately like a SWAT team.
>>192588>I don't know everything about Posey's character but "trying to be cute" on a dangerous mission with an unknown individual is a terrible idea. It does not feel like a realistic response, vampiric sorceress or not. Keep in mind that Posey is our only expert on undead and even if she's not sure if something is undead, we're reliant on her. I think the check should have given more of a clue though.Fair criticism. I will try to be smarter next time.
>>192586>>192581>>192579Let me see if I can explain this in a way that will be understood. I am not sure how to put this into words. The ghost colt was not intended to be a character, in the sense of an element of the world that can be removed from context and purpose and placed elsewhere. It was intended to serve a specific function within its context.
Let me attempt to give an example. Have you heard the old urban legend of a man driving a car down the road, and seeing a woman, bloodied and hysterical, waving him down? He gets out of the car tries to talk to her, finds that she's not really in a talking mood, and she asks him to follow her. He follows her some ways to find a car that has veered strongly off the road and was not visible from the roadway. The woman can no longer be seen. He looks inside the car to find two people: an infant, still alive but injured and in dire need of help, and holding onto said infant, a woman who looks just like the one encountered on the roadway in the drivers seat who clearly died on impact. Now tell me, what is that story about? Well it has two elements. One is of an encounter with the supernatural under circumstances where it isn't even obvious at first that you have encountered the supernatural. The other is of motherly love, of a woman trying to protect her child even after death. It implies the existence of stronger forces, benevolent forces, than we understand or interact with in our daily life. So if you change the story to where, as soon as the guy encounters the woman, he shoots a photon ray at her, or attacks her with a D&D style rebuke, what happens? Nothing. The entire story is destroyed. Derailed. The point is missed. Nothing is accomplished. It just doesn't work if the guy immediately starts using anti-undead measures on the woman.
Maybe that's too complicated of an example. Let me try a different one. You know how when they race dogs, they use a little aluminum rabbit on a rail to go out, and the dogs chase the rabbit? So if instead of following the rabbit, you took the rabbit off of the rail and tried to keep it, what happens? Nothing. There is no race. the rabbit has no value. It was built for a specific purpose and by destroying it it is no longer able to fulfill that purpose. the race does not occur and everything set up is lost.
Am I making any kind of sense here? I do not feel like I am being understood. Barley Corn was not intended to be caught and kept in a jar like a firefly. He was intended to be kind of my own version of that old urban legend I first read about on Snopes two decades ago. He was intended to add depth to the history of the island by showcasing a part of the death of the community that once lived there, and he was intended to lead the party to the airponies. He is a part of the mystery of the world that implies that there were people here before the party, people who lived and died, loved, and suffered. And that the people who once lived in this small island are in some kind of way still connected to and perhaps live on in the presence. It is not a coincidence that the ship is stated to have taken immigrants to New Mareland 60 years ago, and the pony they are looking from is from New Mareland. (Well, that's largely because of the real life inspiration but I like the parrallel). Barley Corn was not intended to be a specimen to be captured, studied, and understood. At the very least not until he had served his purpose.
And it turns out I was wrong. I could not adapt that old urban legend here, in this context. It just doesn't work.
>>192607I see what you mean now. I was approaching things from a classic d&d perspective, when it was really meant to be approached by a contemporary occult perspective.
We should probably buy some pearls of speech or another translator item before our next quest.
In the event that the pony in front of me is the airpony, does anypony have ideas/strategies/suggestions on how to take the Kostroma?
I would prefer it if the airponies themselves did not participate in the battle. They are wounded, and any dead means less payment for us. They should be ordered to stay in the back lines and defend themselves. Our priority should be to defend them almost as much as we defend ourselves. I trust that they can competently fight off any minor threat that slips past the backline though.
As for the Stalliongraders, I think that I have about a third of them charmed by me. With an opposed Charisma check, I can influence them to march onto the deck of the Kostroma first, and absorb the first couple rounds of enemy attacks so that we can board more safely. There's also the option of letting the larger group of Kostroma ponies board the ship from a different angle, while we, the party, board safely. The drawback to this is that it may be difficult to tell the enthralled sailors from the charmed sailors apart at night, especially if we're fighting without a map.
We can try the same thing with the griffons. They likely have proficiency with harpoons and nets (archaic weapon in d20 modern), both of which can easily slow down enemy fighters, so they could use their whaling equipment in the fight by flying above the conflict and harassing the enemy with thrown nets and harpoons.
We should consult with the scientists to determine the exact location of The Traveller in the ship, so that we can go directly there. If it is below deck, I may even be able to summon Amoebic Crawlers to melt the wooden deck to give us access to the lower parts of the ship.
We lack AoE blasting spells, so a fight involving many medium humanoids will be quite the grind, so we should try to organize fighters into shooting volleys, for AoE damage. I know that volleys work with bows, but I am unsure about how those rules translate to guns, so maybe GM could clarify.
We should focus on neutralizing the Traveller asap, because the longer the battle goes on the more casualties there will be, and the larger chance there will be that one of us will be killed. Once The Traveller is destroyed, it is likely that the Kostroma crew with be disenchanted, or at least no longer operate in a coordinated fashion.
To neutralize the Traveller, I think we should use the Explosive Harpoon: it seems like a clear plot hint to give us a means to destroy the Traveller (also makes saving the whalers plot-relevant), given the Traveller has been compared to a whale carcass many times now. We talked about using the torpedo, but I doubt that if the explosive harpoon is ineffective then the torpedo would be. Using the torpedo would likely also potentially sink the Kostroma.
As for the Torpedo, I think I would prefer to have Monstro drop it on the GRU ship, to sink them. Monstro could approach them through the air, or underwater, and drop/smack the explosive on them. This puts Monstro in danger, which saddens me, but thralls are expendable. Torpedoing the GRU ship should do enough damage to the hull to immediately sink the GRU ship, which means that they will either drown or die of exposure on the island layer, allowing us to escape safely on the Kostroma. Neutralizing the GRU is arguably our real priority, since aside from that there is nothing stopping us from paddling away on our Swan boat Talisman, so we need to make sure to crush them for our extraction to work.
I may be able to use Disguise Undead On Monstrosity, to make him appear as a cloud or a vehicle, so that he can get directly above the GRU ship without being shot. The weakness of Monstro dropping the payload from above though is that Monstro is mindless and unable to comprehend complicated instructions, and Posey can only command him verbally, so a precise bombing may require Posey to accompany Monstro to guide him above ship, which puts Posey in danger.
Damnit, I just typed up an even longer post, and accidentally refreshed the page.
Gist of it was the detailed logistics of using Kelgore's Grave Mist to incapacitate enemy artillery, and the benefits of using near-invisible translucent amoebic crawlers as cover to approach the enemy, taking advantage of shadowy illumination and mindless oozes not being sensible to creatures that rely on telepathy for vision.
>>192617 →In the absence of Dust's player, I would like to propose that we just assume he took 10 on Treat Injury (easily meeting a DC of 15) to restore 1d4 HP to the wounded ponies (which should enable them to walk on their own).
>>192623I think stealth should be a priority when we make our move. Everyone who doesn't have a tinfoil hat will have to either empty their minds or otherwise flood their minds with random thoughts. We can take the boats the refugees and possessed sailors used to get from the Kostroma to the island in order to get close to the ship, then we can use our fliers to silently lift everyone onto the ship. Then we can us Black Heel and the others' knowledge of the ship to navigate to the armory and medbay to arm and heal up before we engage the Traveler.
>>192627Is stealth even an option for a group this size? Most of us aren't even proficient in stealth. We're bound to be seen. If stealth is the idea, then only a couple stealthy characters should board the ship alone.
>>192627>navigate to the armory and medbay to arm and heal up before we engage the TravelerEven if stealth is an option, staying aboard the ship to "arm and heal up" is a bad idea: you only risk discovery that way. The priority should be to destroy The Traveller as quickly as possible.
>>192623>I would prefer it if the airponies themselves did not participate in the battle. They are wounded, and any dead means less payment for us. They should be ordered to stay in the back lines and defend themselves. Our priority should be to defend them almost as much as we defend ourselves. I trust that they can competently fight off any minor threat that slips past the backline though.I agree. We should set up a bivouac on an out-of-the-way area near the Kostroma. The aircraft machine gun, though not optimal, would give them enough firepower to deal with any threat that comes from a certain direction.
>As for the Stalliongraders, I think that I have about a third of them charmed by me. With an opposed Charisma check, I can influence them to march onto the deck of the Kostroma first, and absorb the first couple rounds of enemy attacks so that we can board more safely. There's also the option of letting the larger group of Kostroma ponies board the ship from a different angle, while we, the party, board safely. The drawback to this is that it may be difficult to tell the enthralled sailors from the charmed sailors apart at night, especially if we're fighting without a map.>We can try the same thing with the griffons. They likely have proficiency with harpoons and nets (archaic weapon in d20 modern), both of which can easily slow down enemy fighters, so they could use their whaling equipment in the fight by flying above the conflict and harassing the enemy with thrown nets and harpoons.I disagree with this. Charmed or not, if we use the NPCs as dumb meatshields they will refuse at best or turn on us at worst. Our attack should be surgical in nature and should involve only trained fighters. Pulling volunteers away from the bivouac might also endanger those who stay behind, so we should be careful with who we choose.
>If it is below deck, I may even be able to summon Amoebic Crawlers to melt the wooden deck to give us access to the lower parts of the ship.This is a very smart idea. If this option is unavailable to us, we could use the warhead to blow a hole through the middle of the deck, but that risks structural damage to the Kostroma. Also I like the idea of disabling the GRU vessel.
>We lack AoE blasting spellsMaybe we can locate more grenades.
>I may be able to use Disguise Undead On Monstrosity, to make him appear as a cloud or a vehicle, so that he can get directly above the GRU ship without being shot. The weakness of Monstro dropping the payload from above though is that Monstro is mindless and unable to comprehend complicated instructions, and Posey can only command him verbally, so a precise bombing may require Posey to accompany Monstro to guide him above ship, which puts Posey in danger.We could use a small boat to get close instead, but that's more dangerous. While we have the cover of night and fog, we don't know what countermeasures Stalliongrad employs against these tactics. It would help if we had some sort of military knowledge check.
>>192641>Charmed or not, if we use the NPCs as dumb meatshields they will refuse at best or turn on us at worst.The description of the charm person spell would beg to differ. An opposed Charisma check can be used to compel a creature to do something that they would not normally do. Furthermore, these creatures are soldiers, and Soviet-coded soldiers no less: fighting on the dangerous front lines to succeed on a military objective is in fact a thing that they would normally do, just look at WWII, so it could be worth a try.
>Our attack should be surgical in natureThis is a point, but I don't know how feasible that is.
>should involve only trained fighters.GM has said before that he uses lvl 2-3 elite array Fighters for even his unimportant NPCs: all of the soldiers are trained fighters.
>Pulling volunteers away from the bivouac might also endanger those who stay behind, so we should be careful with who we choose.One of the points of a bivouac is minimalism. A larger force within their encampment is more likely to draw attention.
Furthermore, attacking the Kostroma with a large force may actually draw attention away from the airponies, because the Traveller would be distracted by the larger group attacking it nearby. All of the enthralled sailors and monsters are under control of The Traveller. If we siege its lair with a larger force, it will reflexively send its minions towards that group, drawing attention away from the airponies and giving ourselves an opportunity to enter the ship from a different direction and surgically go after the quest objectives (the hippogriff and the traveller).
Furthermore, this could make it easier to play through text, because if most of the enthralled sailors are fighting the communists on the opposite side of the ship, they will not need to be counted in initiative, which makes things easier to run and more likely to actually be done by the end of the year.
>If this option is unavailable to usI have all the spell slots I need for this, and I've researched Soviet ships in this mileau enough to determine that the upper deck should be made of wood, easily dissolved by my puppies in no more than a couple rounds.
>we could use the warhead to blow a hole through the middle of the deck, but that risks structural damage to the Kostroma.I would advise against using the warhead aboard the Kostroma for any reason. I want to use it to escape, as well as resell it to fund my lab/army.
We got the explosive harpoon for a reason: it should be strong enough to kill the whale-like traveller.
Also, I really, really, really want to drop the warhead on the GRU ship to obliterate them. My kill count in this game has been way too low, and razing an enemy stronghold is on my sacramental to-do list.
>Maybe we can locate more grenades.Perhaps, but I wouldn't count on it. All the communists we looted have been broke so far. This has been a rather low-magic adventure and scarce with treasure.
>While we have the cover of night and fog, we don't know what countermeasures Stalliongrad employs against these tactics.Monstro has no heat signature and neither does Posey. Disguising him as a cloud of mist/smoke should be enough if we drop the bomb from high up.
>It would help if we had some sort of military knowledge check.Knowledge Local, History, Martial Lore, or most notably Warcraft could be rolled for this. I would recommend rolling Warcraft anyway, because a check can be used to gain a strategic advantage, per Heroes Of Battle. I would recommend that qualified characters put some ranks into Knowledge (Warcraft) after we level up, because it should be useful in a military style game.
Speaking of, my chosen commander aura only works on intelligent undead, so I can't buff anypony.
>>192642Perhaps if we leveled up after finding the last airpony, some of us could put ranks in it.
>>192623>so that we can go directly thereI mean, I'd like to do
something with the location of the ship
>melt the wooden deck Let me consult with historical ships to determine of decks would have been wooden or steel
>We lack AoE blasting spellsThere are ways around this
>we should try to organize fighters into shooting volleys, for AoE damage. I know that volleys work with bows, but I am unsure about how those rules translate to guns, so maybe GM could clarify.Usually I would just do a half dozen distinct attacks, but volleys can be done for firearms. Something similar was done in an earlier large scale battle
>Gist of it was the detailed logistics of using Kelgore's Grave MistPlease don't simply assume that I know what it is, what it does, what it can do, what it will do, or that just dropping it will not create problems
>>192641>It would help if we had some sort of military knowledge check.You have with you multiple experienced Naval personnel who know things about destroyers, tactics, freighters, weather conditions, what happened on the Kostroma, what the GRU are likely to do, and so on. There is no excuse to be ignorant of almost anything except what the Traveller is going to do, and even then, quite a bit is known.
>>192642>all of the soldiers are trained fighters.Please remember that only a small percentage of all of the rescued creatures are actual combat infantry
>>192644Excellent points. Thank you for pointing thesr out.
>>192642>fighting on the dangerous front lines to succeed on a military objective is in fact a thing that they would normally doThese circumstances are very different from the front lines of WW2, nor are all these soldiers. They are mostly sailors, with a couple of marines and scientists, who are tired, cold, scared and possibly hungry. They have aligned with us against their own country, possibly with the consequence of being labeled as traitors. They did so because we told them, correctly or incorrectly, that they will be disappeared by their own government if they manage to survive this incident at all. We also have a group of hapless foreign griffons who are not soldiers at all and joined us just because they are afraid of the communists.
My point is that although our entourage is numerically strong, it is delicate and throwing it into a serious live-fire situation will likely cause every creature to scatter to their detriment and ours. They're like town militia in Medieval 2: Total War, weak but generally inexpensive to use and useful to secure the flanks for stronger units. We need to be cautious.
>GM has said before that he uses lvl 2-3 elite array Fighters for even his unimportant NPCs: all of the soldiers are trained fighters.I'm pretty sure he specified that applies only to veteran soldiers. Although clearly wrong it slightly tempts me to start a bar fight with Salt Mixer to see if it's true.
>Furthermore, attacking the Kostroma with a large force may actually draw attention away from the airponies, because the Traveller would be distracted by the larger group attacking it nearby.Counterpoint: the airponies are above-average capable fighters for our entourage, and although we don't want them placed in direct danger they're more valuable supporting us than anypony else. Also although a bivouac may stay hidden for a time, attempts to attack our force from the rear might mean enemies stumble upon it, endangering the now isolated ponies. We could bivouac closer to the Kostroma and beeline for the ship, but it would be trivial to locate that camp, or we could put it farther way and take a winding trail, but we'll lose precious time and the ability to reinforce them.
>>192644>You have with you multiple experienced Naval personnel who know things about destroyers, tactics, freighters, weather conditions, what happened on the Kostroma, what the GRU are likely to do, and so on. There is no excuse to be ignorant of almost anything except what the Traveller is going to do, and even then, quite a bit is known.Mea culpa. We really should treat them less like chess pieces and more like characters with unique skills and experiences. We were doing that before but the time pressure of finding that airpony got to us. I think once that objective is resolved, we can properly formulate a strategy.
>>192644>I mean, I'd like to do something with the location of the shipI think that part would be easier for all of us if map were provided, or at least a vague drawing of the battlefield in MS Paint.
>Let me consult with historical ships to determine of decks would have been wooden or steelAlright. I did consider that there was a nonzero chance that the deck would be metal: amoebic crawler acid does not effect metal.
>There are ways around thisWorth considering what those are. I was considering volleys.
>Usually I would just do a half dozen distinct attacks, but volleys can be done for firearms. Something similar was done in an earlier large scale battleI would strongly recommend checking the volley rules in Heroes Of Battle, instead of individually rolling the attack of every lvl 1 chump. It just makes things so much easier to run, and it makes lvl 1 humanoids more effective against AC they could not otherwise hit.
I can link it, if you want.
>Please don't simply assume that I know what it is, what it does, what it can do, what it will do, or that just dropping it will not create problemshttps://dndtools.net/spells/players-handbook-ii--80/kelgores-grave-mist--2929/This is the spell that Posey learned through her advanced learning class feature. It does piss damage, but it's good for freezing slow-moving groups of targets due to its Fatigue effect which can escalate to Exhaustion. It is my one and only AoE damage spell, which is why I brought it up.
>You have with you multiple experienced Naval personnelGood point. Once we finish the airpony priority, we can ask the sailors all about that.
>only a small percentage of all of the rescued creatures are actual combat infantryNoted. They're useful so long as they can fire a gun or hurl a sling though.
>>192647>These circumstances are very different from the front lines of WW2, nor are all these soldiers. They are mostly sailors, with a couple of marines and scientists, who are tired, cold, scared and possibly hungry. They have aligned with us against their own country, possibly with the consequence of being labeled as traitors. They did so because we told them, correctly or incorrectly, that they will be disappeared by their own government if they manage to survive this incident at all. We also have a group of hapless foreign griffons who are not soldiers at all and joined us just because they are afraid of the communists.Keep in mind, I am arguing from the perspective of an evil character from a country that considers friends to be expendable, and furthermore wants to flex her charming powers to lead others into battle. I am not strongly rooted in my opinion, but I am explaining what my character would want to do and the tactical advantages to doing so.
>Counterpoint: the airponies are above-average capable fighters for our entourage, and although we don't want them placed in direct danger they're more valuable supporting us than anypony else.I don't really consider them to be that much more valuable, tbh. Any character would be valuable so long as they're a token on the battlefield for monsters to target instead of us. The amount of damage they deal isn't really a priority. I would prefer the airponies stay alive so that we can S+ Rank this quest and also get paid.
>attempts to attack our force from the rear might mean enemies stumble upon it, endangering the now isolated ponies.Why would the Traveller direct its forces towards some irrelevant airponies when the ones who promised to destroy it are currently attacking its lair? It's not unintelligent.
There's still a risk, but arguably being away from the party should make the airponies safer for the duration of the combat.
>>192648Silver would like to keep all of the survivors and possessed ponies alive if possible, partly because he's a Harmonist who values life, partly because he'd like to see if they'd want to join him, and partly because he must have a bigger herd
>>192637 →>>192639 →>>192640 →Iirc, Silver mentioned something about a flashlight in the eyes being able to expose changelings? Can we do that?
What does his uniform look like once we get a good look at him? What does his dogtag say?
If he turns out to be a changeling, I'll just cut off his head and wrap his dogtag around it to deliver to Captain Waters. Maybe I can liquidate him for a celebrant boon.
The ponies in this village are strange: at least two of them were alive but unconscious, and yet none of them were enthralled by the Traveller. Maybe that means that there is only a partial chance of being controlled by the Traveller, or perhaps there is an upper limit to how many minds the Traveller can control at once. This could be good news.
With the party's permission, I would like to put this mutated pony out of his misery.
So... Is Cavalier going to make an attack roll and/or roll damage for a coup-de-grace, or could I finish him instead?
If the Traveller is magic-jarring him, he could be worth a lot more HD as a subject. Maybe I could expend him as a celebrant and get Bless for the party for 24 hours. A lesser planar ally wouldn't hurt either if I could meet the DC.
>>192676Maybe I could instead attack the tendrils ensaring the pony, though that has a low chance of success and we'd probably have to kill the pony anyway. It irks me to take the Fellow Traveler at face value that the pony would be dead anyway, but the possibility of it lying makes me reluctant to follow through.
>>192677Well, I would very much appreciate a POW to sacrifice before the battle. I could even fly him to the top of mended horn and try to make an icegaunt out of him if others are are willing to wait.
>>192678That would be the opposite of what Cavaliere's intent is, which is to stop the torture and desecration of a pony by killing him if saving him is not possible. It's also ironic since Posey would be doing the exact same thing as the Fellow Traveler but in a different way. But, there is a small chance the Fellow Traveler is lying with his claim that the pony would be dead anyway, and if it's at all possible to free the pony, then we (the good-aligned characters) have an obligation to try to save him. However if either possibility is false then it's safer and quicker to just kill the pony.
Silver/Kira's player, what do you think? I think a mercy kill is the right choice but we don't know enough to know for sure. Should we risk a few turns of combat to better understand the pony's condition?
>>192679>stop the torture and desecration of a ponyHow body is already desecrated, and he has no mind left to torture.
I wasn't super serious about the icegaunt thing. It's a thing I want to do and idk when I'll get a chance to go it again, but it's not the most reliable idea. Rolling for a lesser planar ally would be more helpful.
>there is a small chance the Fellow Traveler is lying with his claim that the pony would be dead anywayIf he's somehow alive after having tentacles growing out of his spinal column, we'd be doing him a favor by killing him.
>However if either possibility is false then it's safer and quicker to just kill the pony.My only reservation against killing him is because I suspect he might be a plot device by DM to drop plot-relevant information.
>>192679I definitely think at least an attempt should be made to try to heal the pony. Maybe if his body is healed, when the Traveler is defeated the pony will be alive. Either that or his soul has already left his body, in which case he should just fall down dead anyways once he's no longer puppeted by the Traveler. At the very least I imagine Kira would prefer that the mercy killing wasn't so...brutal.
Also it's unfortunate when the EaW devs update the region your character is from and you have to change your character's lore to compensate. At the very least now I know for certain who the aggressor against Kira's tribe would be.
Tbh, I don't care what we do with the captive. I would like to liquidate him for power, and in-character Posey just wants to cut his head off because he insulted her by comparing her to an unsophisticated flesh golem.
Let's just decide what to do so that we can get to our real priority of finding the airpony. Have we searched all of the buildings? You could leave Posey here to execute the prisoner, or you could stay and try to extract information of it while Posey goes to search the other buildings.
There is a nonzero chance that the airpony is aboard the Kostroma. Perhaps we could quicken our search by asking the corrupted pony if it has brought any new "friends" aboard the ship, in a way that does not give away our intentions.
So... How alarmed would the party be if I tried to call a demon to assist us in the fight against The Traveller?
A goat-like Artaaglith could serve the time of a Cleric help us as a healer, and use its Animate Dead to bolster our ponypower in the fight. I have called an Artaaglith before, and I would be interested in making him a recurring character.
A bat-like juvenile Nabassu could serve the role of a flying Rogue, possessing stealth and Sneak Attack; it's Death-stealing Gaze is a potent AoE debuff and has the potential to create ghouls to help us in the fight. Downside to the Nabassu is that due to its nature it cannot be trusted not to consume enemies in battle to make itself stronger, and once it consumes enough creatures it will planeshift away to mature.
Both creatures have about the same number of HD as we do, and could functionally fill the niche of characters with similar class abilities, affording us critical redundancy.
>>192688Worth noting, I only have about a 25-35% chance of success for this.
>>192689That seems rather low. And risky.
>>192690I have to roll high on the dice, and my last sacrifice conjured some kind of evil fungus monster, and I anticipate other kinds of chaos to be unleashed if it try it again, but it was definitely fun.
Just something to consider. This next fight looks like it's going to be hard.
Not immediately replying to canonize Cavaliere’s coup de grace was a mistake
>>192717Well, we could still kill him now...
>>192718Not immediately replying to canonize Cavaliere’s coup de grace was a mistake.
I'm thinking that immediately after we kill the Traveller, I could execute this prisoner in a sacrifice, use the boon to cast major creation to temporarily create an object made out of thinaun, and use the thinaun to temporarily trap the Traveller's soul (or other spiritual incorporeal body). Then I could immediately either offer the Traveller's soul to the dark powers to be devoured or burn it myself as a spell component to cast a chill touch that is virtually impossible to resist. That way we could destroy the Traveller permanently on all planes of existence.
For that reason, it may be more useful to keep this prisoner alive to expend later.
>>192723This would require a readied action, if the Traveller was correct about keeping the creature's heart beating.
Something like:
>Prepare to explode the whale with tht harpoon>Explode the whale, slit prisoner's throat as a readied action>make prayer, succeed>thinaun cage immediately forms around where the whale corpse was: soul trapped (for a few seconds)>Soul is now in a receptacle, can be consumed>Consume itIt requires careful planning, but I think it could be worth it.
>>192717I think it would have turned out for the best. I did like the monologue you wrote.
>>192723>>192725Does anyone oppose this plan?
So... Can Kira and Cavalier just roll Survival to go right to the airpony immediately? They have the airpony's scent, and they both have the track feat. The village is only so large. I think this situation could be resolved quickly with a skill check.
Maybe I'm just misinterpreting how tracking is supposed to work. It's been a while since I've done it in 3.5e.
>>192762You cannot fast travel when enemies are nearby
>>192763Okay.
Just to be clear, how many buildings are there left to check?
Posey will defend the herd in the meantime.
Isn't the last airpony the Lieutenant that wandered off? Or do I have things mixed up again?
>>192804Idk, I just recall there being a hook that led us here.
Maybe the Traveller already enthralled him and marched him onto the Kostroma. It would make sense.
>>192827We had a specific name and rank. What was it again?
>>192884His name is Hooked In. No rank is given, but presumably Seaman, given the other ponies' ranks
>>192888Before I lock in a reply, what color uniforms did the New Baltimare seaponies wear?
>>192889New Mareland Naval Air Service? Green, tending towards olive with a slight yellow tint.
Now that I think of it, the griffon whalers affected by the magical tiara are the only creatures that were not enthralled by The Traveller. Perhaps we could use this to our advantage...
>>192951 →Oh, we're right in front of where the ship is moored? No horizontal movement across the beach necessary?
Then I guess we should find some boats.
We could use our Swan Boat feather token to carry the whole herd there, although that would mean forfeiting our emergency escape item.
>Swan Boat: A token that forms a swanlike boat capable of moving on water at a speed of 60 feet. It can carry eight horses and gear or thirty-two Medium characters or any equivalent combination. The boat lasts for one day.The Swan boat feather token is quite a formidable vessel despite its low price. It has a base speed higher than almost any ship including modern ones (twice as fast, actually), and its seemingly self-propelled. The wings should provide cover against incoming fire, and half cover against attacks from above.
It lacks any notable seaworthiness modifiers though, which arguably might imply that it's only good for calm waters: relying on it to get us home was probably a bad idea in the first place, so we may as well use it now. It can still give us a getaway boat if the fight on the Kostroma goes poorly and we just have to resort to just sinking the Kostroma and everypony onboard.
Alternatively, we could have a flyer drop it above the GRU ship to crush and potentially skink them, but using it for its intended purpose might be more useful right now.
>>19295432 is a good number. If we tie the rowboats to it, we might be able to fit the entire entourage and sail away.
>>192955I do not want to bring the airponies into line of fire.
>>192954The ship is not "moored" in a proper sense, it has presumably run aground on a hopefully soft sandbar, with its engines having hopefully gone out or turned off. It is in the bay sort of near the center, a bit off to the north. It is a few thousand feet away from the party in the water. The bay is a "U" shape, meaning that the beach curves around and there are multiple locations that are close to equidistant from the ship. Technically the beach a little further north is closer but it isn't that great of a difference.
>>192954Okay, I know you in particular have trouble with the visualizing, but think of a U or Horseshoe shaped bay like in pics related, and think of a freighter sized ship that's kind of in the middle of it, a bit off center.
>>192958>>192959I see. Is the GRU ship within line of sight too?
I think using the feather token is the fastest and safest option to get to the ship. The boat should be a tall enough platform to climb while boarding the ship too.
>>192960Why don't we use the rowboats and scale the sides with rope? They are conveniently placed. We don't want to risk the swan boat being sunk in case the Kostroma fails to be seaworthy.
>>192962The Swan boats size means that it should withstand sustained damage from even heavy artillery unless targeted damage is done towards specific portions of it, which is near impossible to do in low light conditions. That also assumes the enemy is targeting the boat, and not the creatures on it. It moves moves over six times as fast as a rowboat, which reduces the chance of being shot at all; and since it's self-propelled it gives all creatures on board free arms with which they can fire weapons.
Furthermore, the Swan boat is a Gargantuan object, being about 50 ft long and 20 ft wide. This means that it can act as cover for even huge sized creatures: particularly Monstrosity, as Monstro could fly behind it while towing all of the remaining rowboats on ropes.
I think the Swan boat should have naval combat statistics similar to a keelboat, with a seaworthiness score of -2 and a hull section HP of 50. Perhaps it could be viewed as a barge with a seaworthiness score of +0.
Based on GM's pictures, the distance we will need to travel over water to get to the ship is actually very small. If we move on the high-speed swan boat, we might be able to avoid naval combat altogether, which is the ideal.
Also, it's simpler to manage this way, imo.
If the next battle turns into a circus fire and we find ourselves unable to escape with the Kostroma, the Swan Boat, or the GRU vessel, we might be able to camp here for one night and then have Defiant Dust prepare Make Whole multiple times to repair the Griffon's whaling ship to make it seaworthy with the rest of us pitching in to repair it. Monstro should be able to tow it if it has no motive power.
Just putting this idea out there as a plan C. We don't necessarily need to fight to the death to enact our initial plans if things are going south, since we might be able to escape this way.
I probably should have thought of this earlier.
>>192969>tfw Clerics can just solve all life's problems in two business daysI probably should have played a Cleric, but Dread League means Dread Necromancer.
>>192642>All the communists we looted have been broke so far. This has been a rather low-magic adventure and scarce with treasure.Okay, I want to talk about this.
Yes, I'm sure that there actually has been a dearth of items on the bodies of soldiers and there could probably stand to be more, but I'm absolutely astonished by the complete disregard of everything that actually is found.
Like the disregard of the money on the soldiers. Okay, fair enough, the total value is probably relatively low, like maybe 30 bits per soldier. And on top of that, it's not in Equestrian currency, it's in foreign currency, so you can't just spend it anywhere. But still...
New Mareland is an autarchic state that thinks that it can obtain everything it needs within its own borders. This means that they are probably desparately in need of things beyond their borders, and especially the money to buy it with. Foreign currency is probably at a premium. And if it isn't, what of Ny Winghaven and Nova Griffonia? Both Trottingham and Ny Winghaven, and especially the Village Up North are near Stalliongrad. Surely it's worth something to them? Also again, sure it's maybe 30 or 40 bits per soldier, but when you encounter a dozen dead soldiers, don't you think that maybe that adds up? Like if you saw a five dollar bill on the ground, would you think "That's not worth anything! I'm not picking that up!" Literally it's just paper. Bend over and pick it up. What does it cost you to pick it up and carry? Like what's the harm? It weighs nothing and takes up almost no space, and it adds up to hundreds of bits.
Also rings. Wedding bands are just ignored. I can get if you feel bad for looting it, but like, if you leave it there you can't give it to their loved ones later.
By far the most disappointing thing has been the complete and utter disregard of dropped firearms from enemies and on the ground. For example, in the church there were two dropped rifles that were just ignored. Yes I get it, they are literally Mosin Nagants, a type of rifle that was substandard by the time it first saw combat in the Russo Japanese war in 1903. I know, just 12 years ago you could go into a store and buy one surplus from Russia and the Ukraine for $125 or less. Even now you can buy one for $375. It's a meme gun and the name I've been using for it has been the Russian translation of "Moist Nugget." No character is going to want to equip with it. But like... It's worth something, surely? You could resell it for at least 150 bits in Ny Winghaven, maybe even more. So when you have a half dozen or a dozen of them that's thousands of bits of value. I had a previous player who saw four old guns as wall decorations and immediately he thought "I can resell this to the criminal underground for a lot of money!"
And like... You can equip NPCs with firearms. Pick it up, and tell the NPC to carry it. Or tell the NPCs to carry it. Yeah sure, you probably don't care for the improvised weapons because that would necessarily require putting the NPCs in danger. But a rifle does good damage, almost every NPC can use one, and they have no practical range limit. You just have to
know that there's going to be a major battle on the Kostroma that will be a mix of a boss/multiple mini-bosses and mooks, and you could have the players attack, while NPCs stay in the background and either shoot at the mooks, or provide covering fire to discourage other enemies from joining the fight, or maybe shoot to harass the boss, or just do something to help. Like, you have to have known that. So why have rifles just been completely disregarded and left on the ground after every single battle? Why were two left behind in the church? How many rifles have just been left behind and ignored? Six by now? That's 12d8 of damage just left behind to rot and rust. 900 bits of resell value just ignored and discarded. That's not even counting the pistols, and honestly I think it may be more than that. Again, I get that obviously the players don't want to carry these things, but you don't have to at all. Give it to the seamen and engineers and such of the Kostroma survivors who have been carrying wrenches or nothing at all, make them be artillery in battles, and then sell it later. Or don't, I guess. But it still feels really weird to have a complaint about loot when thousands of bits of value with extremely obvious value in combat are just entirely disregrarded without a thought.
Like with the final airpony and his pistol. I was intending to have a little story with the pistol. Like maybe it was empty with the hammer locked open to show that he was defending himself. I decided against that because I assumed characters wouldn't care to pick up a gun that obviously didn't have any bullets. I thought maybe there could be a single bullet to suggest that he may have been contemplating killing himself to avoid capture? And also I wanted the gun to be of a foreign make to suggest it was a trophy gun or self supplied, or to suggest that captured weapons are being reused, to do
something with it. Now granted I forgot to include this when I first wrote the airpony, but after it was included it was just ignored. I mean, surely the players could assume the airpony is going to want it back later?
One of fact of a twentieth century setting is that all of the tools, implements, and machines involved are themselves heroes and legends of the era. Like the "Automatic rifle" of the GRU non-commissioned officers. I thought before "Oh, it would be really cool if Silver could get one" Maybe cavaliere, because that's the SVT-40, the coolest looking rifle of all of WW2. I love those so much. I was so happy when I was finally able to buy one. I love including those and other guns in the game, usually with oblique references to what they actually are.
>>192971Hey, GM, I'm sorry if my comment came off as inconsiderate. It was really just an off-hand complaint about not having enough healing items or potions for the other party members who don't have unlimited self-healing like me, but it's not something you should take seriously. I was low-key hoping that by saying that the next couple soldiers we fought might have standard issue healing potions on their belts, but that was really just obnoxious of me.
As for money, I thought we agreed to evenly split any liquid treasure we found during the adventure at the end, so I have not been pay a lot of attention on who gets what. I also really wanted the cursed Tiara, and having claimed that I didn't want to come off as greedy to the rest of the party.
As for guns, I didn't pay attention to those because my character is not proficient in guns, and I lost my minions that were. Resale value is something that I should have considered, but I also don't know how much any particular gun is worth, and my character has no context for me to roleplay that. Posey as a character only really values gold, magic, and artisan craftsmanship because she comes from an archaic low-tech country, and vanity is supposed to be her flaw as a character. Maybe I should be rolling appraise more.
I understand that it can be frustrating to put loot right in front of players noses only for them to not use it at all or leave behind items that they were supposed to sell, especially if they make annoying complaints about it later. I have DM'd multiple year-long campaigns where the players did exactly that, and it annoyed me because wealth balance is important for smooth story progression, so I should have known better than to be so inconsiderate.
I cannot speak for the other players, but a few of other PCs are specialized in the weapons they wield, or have magic weapons that they would rather use, particularly since we a have been fighting unidentified monsters who may have damage reduction or otherwise may be impervious to nonmagical attacks. Perhaps they just ignore nonmagic, nonmasterwork weapons for those reasons.
>And also I wanted the gun to be of a foreign make to suggest it was a trophy gun or self supplied, or to suggest that captured weapons are being reused, to do something with it. Now granted I forgot to include this when I first wrote the airpony, but after it was included it was just ignored. I mean, surely the players could assume the airpony is going to want it back later?In my experience, if you have an item that you want to be a plot device, it helps to describe the item as unusual with some kind of fancy intricate design or glowing runes, and at least a masterwork item. Players leave nonmagical items behind, but nobody ignores a +1 weapon at lvl 6.
I will try to take weapons in your game more seriously, particularly once I can start producing my own minions. It would help if I knew what the damage, prices and proficiencies for various weapons were.
>>192971And then also there was the set of keys on a dead soldier that was also just ignored. I don't get it. How many times have you played a game, seen a set of keys or a keycard, and then thought "yeah, I'm sure that doesn't unlock anything and won't be important later."
I did have Mala go back and at least loot the jewelry and precious metals off of the dead soldiers. Maybe I should have had Black Heel order the taking of the rifles? He can't possibly trust the party that much. Surely he'd want to try to build his own power independent of the party by arming the Kostroma survivors. Maybe that's what should have happened. But just... There's been at least 6 rifles, two pistols, several hundred bits in foreign currency left behind. Plus wedding bands and watches that the party has left behind for its scavanger NPC...
Even the medical kits in the life boats. I guess the idea is that they are probably just mundane medical kits with no magical potions, so just leave them? Then again I guess the priority was the airpony, so... fair enough?
When this post was first made, I was going to reply something like of course the ponies on the island don't have many valuables on them because the mutiny was very quick and the survivors didn't have the ability to go to their rooms and get their valuables, so it's left on the ship, and obviously the entity doesn't care for gold. So everything of value is in their lockers on the ship, plus the ship probably has gold as an emergency, and it was probably carrying other valuable items, and all of this other stuff. But I think it's pretty obvious that the party is task oriented and is unlikely to really explore much of the ship, so I think it's a moot point. If you explore you should be rewarded for it, and if you don't care to explore then that's fine too. Thousands of bits of value, including imminently useful combat value have been left behind already, so I'm not entirely sure what's considered to be valuable loot
Anyways, I think it's fairly clear that unless a dropped item is one that the player thinks is going to noticeably improve their character's performance in battle, that item is not worth typing "my character picks up x." If that's the philosophy, I think that everyone needs to be expect that these picks up will happen about once or twice per quest, after the midway point, and shouldn't be shocked that lower-level enemies and the environmental story telling are not containing +4 magic items.
>>192973>Maybe I should have had Black Heel order the taking of the rifles?I kind of just assumed that that all of the soldiers were arming themselves as they went.
>But just... There's been at least 6 rifles, two pistols, several hundred bits in foreign currency left behind. Plus wedding bands and watches that the party has left behind for its scavanger NPC...Tbh, Posey did have that conversation with Mala about civility and loot-sharing where the point was "Let's put everything valuable in a bag, and divine the treasure later", at the beginning of the quest.
>keyI forgot about the key entirely. That sounds important, but I must have missed it.
I see your point, GM. I will try harder.
I feel kind of bad now... I dropped the ball.
Ngl, after the first couple months of this adventure, I started getting really lazy when it came to bookkeeping of mundane loot. Idk why, I just went through some difficult stuff irl and it became difficult to track things as the months/threads went on, so I began to check out. Back in the swamp adventure I was meticulously appraising the value of mundane items in d20 modern and converting them to 3.5e gold pieces, and indexing the prices for nonhumanoid armor and figuring out the resale price of the medical kits, because a every gold piece goes towards funding my army. I even considered the captive diamond dog an asset to be liquidated. Half of my current wealth came from reselling weapons and armor (although most of my starting wealth went into spellstitching and becoming undead).
I will take mundane items more seriously going forward, and I will take anything that nopony else takes. I will invest in a Bag Of Holding too, so I won't leave anything behind.
Is it too late to say we picked up the key? I would have picked that up if I noticed it.
>>192972> if you have an item that you want to be a plot device, it helps to describe the item as unusual with some kind of fancy intricate design or glowing runes, and at least a masterwork itemDoes every story have to be of Kings and queens and royalty? Are peasants and the tools they use always unworthy? The twentieth century is the Machine Age. It is an era when the tools humans use have status and importance often equal to or above the humans who use them. Planes, Automobiles, Ships, Trains, Heavy Equipment, Fire Arms and so much more. Do you know how many hours I spent in my youth watching “Tales of the Gun” and “Modern Marvels”? How hours just in the last year I’ve watched on YouTube explaining planes, ships, guns and other devices? Even in Hearts of Iron 4, partly the basis of this setting, soldiers are just a number. But their equipment is customizable and named.
But nevermind that it’s not a plot device. It’s environmental story telling. It’s there to tell a story about nations and people. Consider a moment in Call of Duty: WW2, when U.S. soldiers encounter a German civilian woman hiding in a closet in Aachen, Germany. She is holding an SVT-40 rifle. The game makes no note of this fact. The soldiers don’t even consider her a potential threat for having an automatic rifle. But I take note, because the gun she’s holding is made in the USSR, and could only have been captured on the Eastern Front, issued to troops defending the homeland on the Western Front, and then ended up in the hands of a civilian.
Consider some firearms I own. A Mauser rifle made in Germany, marked for the South African Republic, which was surely used in the Second Boer War in their doomed war against the British. It has a set of arrows that were stamped into it signifying that it was sold into civilian use by the British Commonwealth. Or a Mosin Nagant that is marked as made by Remington in the United States in 1917, has the Tsarist Double Eagle, and has a stamp of Franco’s Fascist Spain. A Lee Enfield SMLE made in England 1917, that has the “SA” stamp of the Suomi Armie of Finland, used in that Country’s civil war. A 1920 German C96 with Chinese characters on it. A German made G43 rifle that has the cut where an American serviceman cut the stick to make it fit in his duffle bag. A French made MAS-36 rifle an American serviceman brought back from Vietnam. All of these tell little stories of the history of the nations, the peoples, and the individuals who held them. Many of these people are dead and some of their countries don’t exist anymore, but they left their marks - literally - on the wood and steel.
Does anyone care? Does anyone know what the Finnish civil war, or the Chinese Warlord Period, or the French IndoChina even were? Does anyone even remember that the Boer were a people who once existed and had their own free and independent nations? I don’t know. But I know that you can tell a lot of history through steel and wood.
Firearms aren’t even the primary method of telling stories with the pocket contents in Occupied. The dead have in them laundry tickets, tickets for movies, tickets for public transportation. One soldier had a scarf that was intended to be a souvenir he picked up from the snow pony village. Another soldier took back tree leaves. One pony was noticed as having good luck charms on him. Some of them carry wedding bands or pictures of their daughters, which tell of their relationships. Firearms are just a bonus. None of these things are magically enchanted or specially engraved or given any kind of special notice. None of these things are plot points. Most of them have no actual value. They are just there, and they speak to ponies who once lived and worked and took the train, went to the dry cleaners, saw movies, loved, had children, and who took souvenirs off of dead ponies when they, like the player characters do now, visited the site of mass death. They are dead now, but they were alive once. Players don’t have to notice every instance, but I like including them.
>>192976As an outsider watching you guys play, I'd like to point out I do like (video) games that have this level of consideration.
Consider Fallout-III: while dealing with the cannibals who think they've become vampires, there's a side tunnel you can get lost in. It goes a ways, has no important stash of materials, and no enemies you accidentally awake.
It has a camera, carefully balanced on a tripod (the unit isn't a single game resource, so it also tells of the dev who glitch-stuck the parts together) and beside it is a lawn gnome ornament, both looking at the rusted and broken railway track. Where a teddy bear is glitch-stuck into a bend in the steel beam, "tied" by game physics.
Once you bump into anything there, you can't put it back because it was held in place by a carefully balanced set of mistakes.
As a sometimes-GM myself, I've seen parties that wanted backstories of everything, and more common was the ones that wanted to kill everything and hoard the XP for themselves.
It takes effort and luck to have a group where the GM and the party are well enough balanced to keep playing for a year - burnout and focus-drift will end many such groups in half a dozen sessions - whatever that equates to in image-board posting equivalent.
Keep having fun you guys! it's fun watching you.
>>192976Fair point. I do appreciate the attention to detail and environmental storytelling, even if I don't always comment on it.
My character in particular comes from a background that makes her ignorant to the nuances of modern weaponry, which is supposed to be a point for character development in the future. So far, nopony has commented on why she uses a longsword and a longbow, but then again Silver's characters use archaic weapons too.
Fact of the matter is that Posey carries the sword and bow in part because they make her look cool. She's a mage.
Oddly, one of my original drafts for Posey was a militaristic war Cleric with an obsession with weaponry of all kinds, based on a certain guest speaker on Fox News who showed up wearing a necklace made of bullet casings, but I scrapped that idea for her vain and courtly look.
>>192977>more common was the ones that wanted to kill everything and hoard the XP for themselves.Is this even a thing? The shear presence of other PCs in an encounter gives them a cut of the XP, it's not really possible to hoard it for yourself unless you've split the party so hard that you're basically doing a solo adventure.
Also, you don't just get XP for killing creatures. If you rescue creatures, negotiate with them, sneak past them, get information from them, or otherwise win in a way that progresses the story, you can get XP for that. This has been a thing since even the OG Sunless Citadel adventure.
The XP formula is self-correcting anyways: the less you have, the more you get. So long as the GM is calculating XP properly, party levels will always even put overtime.
>It takes effort and luck to have a group where the GM and the party are well enough balanced to keep playing for a year - burnout and focus-drift will end many such groups in half a dozen sessions - whatever that equates to in image-board posting equivalent.Yeah, it really is a struggle. Whenever I GM I always feel desperate to keep the story moving because I'm afraid that the game could collapse any week, which pressures me to skip encounters or streamline descriptions (which I sometimes regret) to get through the adventure just so the adventure can be completed at all. Pacing is one of the biggest challenges for me.
>>192979>Is this even a thing?Just because it doesn't work doesn't mean they don't try.
>Also, you don't just get XP for killingMy first campaign I almost never handed out non-damage XP. For a variety of reasons many relating to my inexperience with RP as I never had friends growing up.
Even so the DM in some games would offer half-price for talking or sneaking, so the "best" option was always scorched-earth, and the other players knew to expect this.
>>192981>Even so the DM in some games would offer half-price for talking or sneaking, so the "best" option was always scorched-earthA lot of DMs do this, but in 3.5e XP is self-correcting, so even if you get less XP now and then it just means you'll get more XP later.
That's the thing I like about 3.5e's XP model. Level dependent XP means there's less need to worry about how much you have at any given point so long as the discrepancy isn't excessive.
>>192977People actually read this?!?!?!
>>192972I haven't had the best of luck with loot. I've had weapons that were supposed to be picked up that were ignored or sidelined. I've had weapons that were just present for set dressing that were taken as main or secondary weapons. I've had NPCs that I thought were useful as allies or companions that were ignored, and then some that were there as enemies or forgettable encounters that were taken as companions. I've had potential waifus that were passed over or sidelined, and then I've had background NPCs that the players decided they were going to fuck. I've had just background paperwork that has turned into a base of operations and vehicles that are a part of the scenery were taken. I've had a number of magical items that were just dismissed as non-magical or pointless and either just tossed aside and forgotten or never picked up in the first place. I guess that's just how it is? Generally I like the distribution of stuff to be as plausible and logical as possible, so I will say adequate treasure is usually a secondary concern.
>>192974>I kind of just assumed that that all of the soldiers were arming themselves as they went.Maybe they should have? I think after the first battle that's exactly what happened, because I didn't want the rifles to go to waste. But if it hasn't been described it did not happen. The ponies generally have been herded around and directed by the Party, whom they assume will protect them and are responsible for their wellbeing. Sure, some of them are trained marines, but most of them are sailors on a cargo ship that hauls excavators, industrial lathes, and rolls of metal and bales of wool, and most of the rest are conscripted Anti-Aircraft gunners that have never seen combat or are radio operators. They aren't exactly front-line infantry. You've got to remember that ponies in the show behave as prey animals. They are afraid of almost everything, are completely fine delegating all power over them to unelected officials, and are completely reliant on others to protect them.
>Tbh, Posey did have that conversation with Mala about civility and loot-sharing where the point was "Let's put everything valuable in a bag, and divine the treasure later", at the beginning of the quest.But then Posey just... doesn't pick it up and put it in a bag. It's abandoned. The precious metals and money are just left there. And then is no one going to eat any of this meat that's just been left there? That's three good hearts and three livers, and those are just the best organs.
Posey may have been raised by nobility and see only gold, gems, and magic as having any kind of value, but Mala is a literal and metaphorical scavenger who has been homeless for a portion of his life and had to fight for scraps... not very successfully. If you leave money and silver behind on a corpse to rot, Mala is going to go take it for himself if no one else is
Part of that was me not wanting the silver to just sit there>>192975>invest in a bag of holdingIf Kira had just brought along her rogue companion, they could have just let that NPC do all of the gathering, and then shaken her down at the end of the quest.
>>192983>Posey may have been raised by nobility and see only gold, gems, and magic as having any kind of valueThat is only partly true. Posey was born into semi-nobility in the vampire caste as a dhampir filly, but even in those brief years she was a sex slave to vampires (a "flower" of the coven) until she was eventually murdered by her mother who on a whim decided to discard her. After being murdered by a parent, she her betrayal caused her reanimate as Slaymate, a rare undead child covered by necromancers, and she was then sold to the society of bones as an expensive pet, passed around and sold from master to master.
Eventually, she as a slaymate was liquidated in an experimental effort to combine two undead foals, a Slaymate and a fragment of an Atropal Scion, the latter of which became the tissue for what is now her Mother Cyst. The Society of bones speculated that by combining them they could synthesize an abomination that would grow into a god of destruction, a god that could be used by ponies... Posey did not become a god, and so she was reenslaved as a lowly member of the ghoul caste. For decades she served as a slave, doing humiliating and demeaning work and having her body ravaged by monsters and mages until she was able to demonstrate her talents to become a necromancer and make an appeal to join the necropolis, which is where her military service began.
As Posey is now, she is still a slave, despite her greed and delusions of grandeur, she has never own anything, not even her own body, even the powers granted to her by her masters could be snapped away at any moment. From Posey's perspective, there are only masters and slaves in the world, and although she dreams of being the former she has only ever been the latter. Posey worked as a soldier, a slave taker, a warmagus, a divine courtesan, and a cadaver collector, but in all her service she has abided by the rules that anything she has is property of her masters. It's part of why she is so desperate to exceed her level cap and break her binding.
The only thing that Posey actually owned when she came into this game was Gloomy, her most prized possession.
Despite her morbid upbringing, Posey still has a familiarity with luxury. She sees value in flowers, which are an expensive import in the dead lands, and also food for slaves who were drained of blood on the regular.
>That's three good hearts and three livers, and those are just the best organs.Posey has been restraining herself from instinctively eating, mutilating or otherwise molesting corpses this adventure because she doesn't want to cause trouble. She even left like 7 perfectly good unicorn horns on the ground despite her resourcefulness.
Pony eyes, hearts, hooves, brains, etc are all valuable spell components.
I will be more wary to pick up loot on the future
>>192969We might but we'd also probably die considering we don't even have enough ammo to deal with several hundred hardened fighters. Let's hope we get one of these going.
>>192971>Like the disregard of the money on the soldiers. Okay, fair enough, the total value is probably relatively low, like maybe 30 bits per soldier. And on top of that, it's not in Equestrian currency, it's in foreign currency, so you can't just spend it anywhere. But still... How much time does it take to loot each soldier? If you want us to be lootgoblins, okay...
Should have brought a mule to hold everythingPoint taken
>gunsNow that I think of it, we have griffons who are armed with whatever they had lying around on their boat. We could give them some guns. I'm sorry, my videogame sense just does not kick in well on tabletop. Even in Arma, after a firefight I check as many bodies as I can for gear, then pull up a car and load it up with loot.
>a dozen nuggetsThey are heavy, however, moreso than bills. Cavaliere at least has the excuse of not overburdening himself since he lacks quadruped carry weight. Still, point taken. It's easy for me to visualize the characters you describe, but it seems my eyes just glaze over objects lying on the ground.
Also, I'm unsure of how to handle looting with my character. The character he is based on is never portrayed to take items off dead bodies unless if they are something identifying or memorable to someone that person knew. There's basically zero chance of Cavaliere encountering relatives of Stalliongrad soldiers, but still I feel bad for neglecting all this.
Did we ever come across a SVT-40 or was that encountered only wielded by alive enemies?
>>192985>How much time does it take to loot each soldier?You can always order an NPC to do it for you, so long as you accept they will probably secret away at least some of it.
>Nuggets are heavyHence why the NPCs carry them. They are the only ones for whom they are decent weapons, anyways
>I'm unsure of how to handle looting with my characterYeah, that's pretty fair. If your character doesn't care for it that's fine. The issue was mostly because Posey complains about treasure but also leaves thousands of bits behind.
>Actually capture an SVT-40No, I don't think there was a good opportunity as they are only wielded by the especially elite enemies, who are always in a group of other, relatively hard enemies
>>192976Have you read Weapons Of Legacy? It has done mechanics you might be interested in, pertaining to a weapon's hidden history.
>>192999Oh, well, you might like it.
Tbh, I don't really care for it too much because many of the mechanics are rather suboptimal for their investment costs, but it has a cool framework for revealing the history and hidden potential of weapons overtime.
The party has 36 rescued NPCs in its wagon, of whom 15 are unconscious or enthralled.
There are four griffins rescued from the whaling station. All four are conscious. I believe one has a rifle.
Johan Bøkli - white griffin
Håkon Egerstad - black griffin
Nils Markås - yellow griffin
Olaf Sørvik - red griffin
There are 14 total survivors of the SSRS Kostroma, including two with rifles, and three plausible combat magicians. Three are unconscious
Six survivors were encountered near the wreck of the Sea rover, all six can walk
Patient Pippette - periwinkle unicorn mare, science officer
Blackheel - black unicorn, political officer
Starfire - yellow unicorn pony, science officer
Steppe Eagle - grey pegasus, marine
Rustling Pine - green earth pony, sailor
Partial View - grey (earth pony?), engineer (sailor/science?)
There were four ponies at the medieval village, of whom two are seriously injured
Salt Spray - mint green pegasus with a yellow mane - unconscious
Whispering Willow - tan earth pony brown mane - unconscious
Paltry Press - Pegasus royal purple coat black mane
unicorn with a mulberry coat and white mane
Then the four ponies found in the village, of whom one is unconscious
Tan Earth Pony
Dark Brown Earth Pony - white stripe down face, sailor
Grey Pegasus pony - injured wings
Dazzling Light - grey coat, blonde mane, Science assistant, unconscious
All 10 Airponies have been rescued, of whom four are unconscious
Primed Well - Indigo pegasus, petty officer
Pinup Locker - white earth pony, airman
Peppered Bat Pony Stallion - unconscious and enthralled
Unconscious pony - no description given
Captain Weary Weeks actual rank is probably lower - pilot and ranking officer. Half-enthralled
White pegasus - enthralled, knocked unconscious
Green Unicorn - carries a submachine gun, lieutenant and second highest rank, co-pilot
White Pegasus - carries rifle, airman
Day Chaser - dark grey bat pony with dark brown wings, Equestrian national. wounded.
Hooked In - yellow earth pony, unconscious
I count 8 Petrushkas. The first is the marine, Sea Stone I think an aqua color?, earth pony. He was unconscious, then became conscious and was gagged. Then there's a battle where there are 8 enemy petrushkas. Of these, one is killed by Brie after he's already because he wants to do war crimes I guess, one is shot in the head by Cavaliere, and I feel like a third one dies but can't confirm it, and then five or possibly six of them are captured by the party. In the next area, another two are captured by the party. All of the petrushkas are seriously wounded, and most or all were unconscious. However, at least one of them besides Sea Stone becomes conscious, moves on his own, and then is knocked unconscious by Posey Instead of just tying a shirt around his head so he couldn't hear. Petrushkas are by definition enthralled.
>>193003Thank you GM! This is extremely helpful to have as we go into the final stretch of the quest.
>30% incapacitatedThose are bad casualty figures. I would not want to take more than the Sea Rover ponies with us into combat. Their skillsets would be helpful aboard the Kostroma. Also I see what you mean about looting rifles.
>>193003Thank you for the information. I was actually just about to ask how big our herd is.
>>193003Okay, I went back through the information for the Petrushkas. It turns out that two of them fled the first battle, and the actual number of Petrushka hostages should be either 7 if one that was shot by Cavaliere survived, and 6 if he did not. At least two would be able to move on their own.
>>193006Schrödinger's Petrushka
Let's decide now which ponies board how:
>four griffins
These guys should come with us. They can all fly, so they should fly behind the swan boat, possibly pushing it. Their fishing equipment, particularly their nets and harpoons, can serve as ranged weapons to harass and slow down enemies. We might need at least one one of them for help detonating the exploding harpoon inside The Traveller.
Most of the Kostroma sailors should come with us. The combatants can fight, and the noncombatants can help lead us towards the Intruder's lair in the ship.
The unconscious ponies should stay aboard the swan boat. The enthralled ponies should be towed in the lifeboats, because they are still potentially dangerous to the other unconscious characters.
I want to leave the airponies aboard the Swan boat and not take them into combat, because if they get killed out pay gets cut. Furthermore, I trust them to stay on the swan boat and not paddle away with it.
Any pony too injured, unwilling, or otherwise incapacitated can stay behind on the swan boat. Tbh, we should probably just ask who wants to board the ship and who doesn't, because that lets us gloss over the planning steps.
We get XP/levels for rescuing this many extra ponies, right? That's gives me more incentive to try to keep everypony alive.
>>193013I agree on separating the enthralled creatures. In the tight spaces we will have diminishing returns on the number of combatants we bring and they might get in the way. If we mount the machine gun on the swan boat the airponies should be able to operate it for defense, but a few more defenders couldn't hurt.
I was going to have a map of the island made by editting another map but that didn't really pan out. I probably should have just made one in paint, even if it would have been very difficult to show the topography...
The only location that was not visited was the Keep, which would have been a small castle on the edge of the bay north of the Kostroma and kind of far away from everything else. It was not originally intended to exist on the island, and nothing is really lost if it just continues to not really... exist.
>>193043When Posey returns to make this her private island, she will move into the keep as her vacation home.
Here is a map of the general area. Mended horn either is the island that extends from the hook of Nova Griffonia into Equality Bay, or it is in basically that location. Please see that Ravenskoye, Village Up North, and Ny Winghaven are almost equidistant, and Trottingham is justa bit further off. The Nova Griffonian Mainland (you can say it's the giant island if you like) is within sight on days of clear weather, being about 20 miles away. That area is almost entirely wilderness. Also remember that there are other, smaller islands immediately next to Mended Horn.
I'm sorry I passed out last night. I'm on a new medication, and daylight savings messed up my sleep schedule while taking it.
>>193262Don't be. Staying up so late was rough on me health-wise too. Still, it was fun.
You know, if we sink the GRU ship with Monstro's torpedo now, we could long rest on this new ship and fight the Intruder at our full power next morning. The ship should be warm enough to rest through the night on.
I have plenty of spell slots left, but the rest of the crew is pretty fucked up rn.
What time of day does Dust normally prepare his spells?
>>193003We forgot about Mary.
I put Mary on the swan boat.
>>193272Sleep is explicitly one weakness creatures have against this thing. We would probably have to all make saving throws. The haste is partly due to the GRU but also because this thing wears at one's mind over time.
>>193275Oh yeah, I forgot about the sleep thing.
I want to seize this ship in addition to the Kostroma. We may be able to get back a substantial profit if we sell both ships later.
>>193301Crewing a ship is not easy though we're lucky to have some experienced sailors to help us. The smaller boat would be much easier to escape in if we have naval pursuit. Also we would have to dredge the Kostroma out of the sandbar which is a complex and difficult task without specialized equipment. We may have to leave the larger ship for Stalliongrad to take.
>>193302>we would have to dredge the Kostroma out of the sandbar which is a complex and difficult task without specialized equipmentThe enthralled crew should already be taking care of that.
So, how do Changelings work in this world? Are they like templated doppelgangers or something?
How do machine guns work in this game? Are we using d20 modern guns, or something else?
Do they straight up give the user additional attacks? Does that have a feat investment?
>>193302>Crewing a ship is not easy though we're lucky to have some experienced sailors to help us.We should have plenty of sailors to crew both ships by the end of this mission, between the Kostroma crew and the airponies.
>The smaller boat would be much easier to escape in if we have naval pursuit.Well, I fully intend to sink the GRU ship before we leave, so that might not be an issue.
>Also we would have to dredge the Kostroma out of the sandbar which is a complex and difficult task without specialized equipment.The sailors should be able to help us with that.
Furthermore, the Intruder is already planning to leave the island, so it should be commanding its flock to make preparations for the ship to leave.
>We may have to leave the larger ship for Stalliongrad to take.I would rather destroy the ship than sink it.
Plus, if we sink one or two enemy ships, we can say we counted coup against Stalliongrad for additional rewards/merits from Captain Waters.
>>193460 →I was going to mention that chumming the waters may be a strategy here, as it gives us an option to bull rush enemies into the water below and let sharks deal with them (although that really only matters after we sink the GRU), and also complicates the Intruder from attacking us from below ala aquatic summons.
Sharks and other large fauna could potentially also be 'recruited' against extraplanar or military threats in their territory it Kira or Cavalier successfully influences them with a wild empathy check (I got this idea from a module I'm running that gives the option for Druids and Rangers to 'recruit' dinosaurs on an island in a war against demonic pirates).
This is an oxygen-rich cold water environment, so sharks should be present in the area. With the recent slaying of the Leviathan, their greatest predator, ship-eating sharks like Megalodon and Dire sharks may be available to coax into frenzy.
Interestingly, vampire sharks and sahuagin are a thing. Maybe the sea doesn't count as 'running water' and Posey only believes herself to be rejected by the sea (it was psychological to begin with)...
Some top speeds of various WW2 vessels and planes just for point of reference, in U.S. Customary miles per hour
U.S. Liberty Ship - 13 mph
U.S. Victory Ship - 20 mph
Soviet Storozhevoy Class Destroyer - 47 mph
German S-100 Class E-boat - 50 mph
U.S. K-Class Blimp - 76 mph
U.S. PBY Catalina - 196 mph
U.S. C47 Skytrain - 224 mph
>>193461Pic very much related. I like this idea
>>193479Which one of these has a speed similar to the Kostroma? And the ship the pirates have?
>I like this ideaOh boy
>>193302>>193478 →KIRA/CAVALIER, HELP US SUMMON SHARKS IMMEDIATELY!
Stats for small/huge sharks are in the SRD. Stats for megalodon are in the MM2, which happens to be the same book the Leviathan whale was printed in (Savage Tide liked to use a lot of MM2 monsters for some reason).
https://www.realmshelps.net/monsters/block/MegalodonNo idea if this creature exists in the universe, but considering that kraken have such a long life cycle, there must also be other megafauna for the Leviathan to feed off of, so it could be worth a shot. Such a beast could ram and bite hull sections of the GRU ship, potentially sinking it in a matter of rounds, or even capsize it. The risk is that it could turn on us, but so long as the Kostroma is moored in shallow water with us next to it, it is insulated from the threat of gargantuan sharks.
Note that it is nighttime, which is when most sharks feed, and could be coaxed into frenzy.
You will probably want to make some combination of Knowledge (Nature), Survival, Handle Animal, and Wild Empathy checks.
>>193484No, we are not feeding the bodies of sapient creatures to sharks. Go ask the Navy SEALs or somebody.
>>193487Oh fine, I'll do it myself when I'm done exploring the ship.
And then somepony else can roll Wild Empathy when the consequences of my actions attract dangerous monsters ^:)
>>193484>Must be other megafauna for a Leviathan to feed off ofWell, IRL Sperm Whales feed off of giant and colossal squid. So maybe there's something like that. I was thinking Leviathans could prey upon marine mammals like seals and dolphins (the latter of which I'm not even sure have any predators). But then if they did that, Leviathans would have to be
bizzarely fast at least in short bursts. So... Maybe? In the alternative, they may have a sonic-type weapon to use echolocation to stun prey (real life Sperm Whales may have this). Or since it's pony world, they could have unicorn-like magic that allows them to use telekinesis to grab onto prey. Possibly through a horn.
Anyways, another thing to consider is that the bay is probably too shallow to be attractive to megafauna. Remember that the Kostroma is alleged to have beached upon a sandbar. The ship is almost unloaded, and so should be high in the water. That sandbar, assuming it exists, could only be something like 20 to 25 feet below the surface. Granted it could be anomalously shallow for the bay, but still the bay can't be
that deep near the ship. A Leviathan or Kraken would feel vulnerable in that area and not able to easily maneuver, evade, or hide. They'd need to be persuaded to go into water that shallow.
>>193506I did not strongly anticipate a megalodon to show up. It was just wishful reasoning.
>>193489>>193506Speaking of blood frenzies...
I had damage reduction from my race, before that got nerfed, I was wondering if I could swap it out for another quality special quality? The special attacks of the half vampire were selectable. I was fancying Children Of The Night:
>Children of the Night (Su): Some half-vampires can command the lesser creatures of the world. Once per day, a half-vampire that has this special attack can call forth 1d4 rat swarms, 1d3 bat swarms, or a pack of 1d6 wolves as a standard action. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this ability might summon other creatures of equivalent power.) These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the half-vampire for up to 1 hour.Being able to communicate with rats, bats and wolves sounded like a fun roleplay opportunity, so I was just wondering if I could have that in place of the nixed damage reduction.
If the answer is no, that's fine.
Where on the ship did Blackheel say that The Traveller would be? I know I asked that question at least twice, but idk if there was a reply.
>>193615Good it. That's where we're going then.
Okay so, what is the plan for boarding? I thought we were boarding now.
>>193623 →>I lost his up-to-date character notes (long story) so I have to reconstruct them.Ah, tell me about it. I accidentally deleted some vital info somewhere around my last few nerfings, and now I'm not really sure what my modifiers should be anymore. I intend to properly rebuild my character after we level up
(I hope I can be lvl 7 with the rest of the party, lvl 7 is when I would get my familiar)
>there is risk of falling and getting hurtI was thinking of having my puppies or monstro pick me up and carry me down.
Should I bomb the GRU ship before or after we take the Kostroma?
>>193654I kind of want to do it now.
I had to assess Cavaliere's inventory out of necessity, but I think it would do some good if every participant did the same for the PCs and NPCs that are going in. We need to make sure that we know about and use every weapon and piece of equipment we will need.
>>193654I would say after. Doing it now would not only distract Posey but it will also be kicking the hornet's nest. Don't forget there's no shortage of GRU forces on the island and we don't want to come back to boats full of bullet holes.
>>193665Clubs, quarterstaffs and slings are 0 gp and can be crafted with whatever garbage lying around. Any unarmed character can arm themselves with those.
What is left to decide before we take the Kostroma?
>>193683What entrance to use, what route to take, who we're taking with us (we already have a few volunteers, but a couple of ponies are undecided), in what order we'll be moving through the tight corridors, our attack plan against the Fellow Traveler, and
>>193682although we have not been avid looters, there should be enough guns to go around, at least for those with training. We should distribute these, ammo, and other supplies and equipment so we're not left scratching our heads not knowing if we brought something.
>>193685I still say we should take everyone. Something tells me that anyone we leave behind will be lost to us, I've just got a feeling.
>>193694>I still say we should take everyoneIf you insist on taking them, then fine. I do not want arguments to further delay the finale of the quest.
If my summons melt a hole in the top deck above , then all the NPC soldiers (particularly the airponies) could just stand around the hole and fire their guns/slings into the cargo hold while the rest of us enter, giving us sniper support. DM implied that most soldiers have Precise Shot when I was fighting the GRU with my Dreads, so they shouldn't take a penalty for firing into the melee.
All of the wounded ones should be on the back line.
>Something tells me that anyone we leave behind will be lost to us, I've just got a feeling.I hope you understand that having a large group of low-HP NPCs increases the change of all of them being wiped out at once with a Fireball or similar AoE attack, right? If we really end up physically fighting the Intruder, then I really would expect it to have spells or psionics in combat. Keep that in mind.
There's also the enthralled characters, who we cannot bring.
>(we already have a few volunteers, but a couple of ponies are undecided)Posey should have charmed at least half of the herd and then therefore can marshal them into battle (at least the ones trained for combat; the others I might have to pressure with a charisma check); and maybe half of the ones I have not charmed should be volunteers. This leaves a quarter of the herd left unwilling, and with the rest of the herd following that could give us a massive circumstance bonus to Diplomacy/Intimidate to follow because of herd mentality, so it's really our decision who we take.
But really though, before or perhaps even during the battle, it might be optimal to send a stealthy character to the radio room to capture or kill Light Water. If we have the rest of the herd above/around the cargo hold attacking the Intruder and its flock directly, then that should distract it long enough for somepony else to attack Light Water. DM said something about the role of a rogue, which tells me that scouting and assassinating might be important.
Posey could do this, because of her racial bonuses and Stealthy feat: if she takes off her armor, she's as good as a low level rogue. Posey would like nothing more than to get her garrote wire around Light Water's neck. She has a net and bolas to capture him in case he flies away.
Cavalier could also do this, because his ranger stealth, high dexterity, nonlethal unarmed attacks, and most importantly his ability to fly in case Light Water tries to escape.
Kira could also do this, because of her stealth and more importantly her absurd grapple mod which could be useful to incapacitate and render him unconscious non-lethally. If my hypothesis is correct, Light Water being unconscious may deprive the Intruder of a perspective to anchor itself in consensus reality, rendering it functionally insane. I can send Kira's player the rules for Strangulation during grapples if she would like to add that tactic to her combat routine.
I want to capture Light Water alive but unconscious, because I want to sacrifice him in an attempt to prevent the Intruder from resurrecting when we destroy it.
Or, perhaps all three of the stealthiest characters (Unarmored Posey, Cavalier, Kira) could go together while the rest of the herd attacks from above the Cargo Hold. This might be wise, because Light Water is likely to be defended by thralls and minions, so a single character alone may not be enough to capture him (we know how Cavalier and Kira's last stealth mission went).
Posey could summon an Amoebic Crawler to melt the deck, and then immediately leave with Kira and Cavalier at the beginning of combat. The whalers could carry Silver down into the Cargo hold for melee while the soldiers fire in the hole.
Problem with this is that it splits the party and potentially slows down combat, but tbh with this many NPCs that would happen anyway.
>>193694Okay, but do you
know?
Did the GM hint it at you?Here's everything that could go wrong if we leave most of the group behind:
>GRU finds the boats and attacks (this is actually really bad and isn't something we can defend against)>the Fellow Traveler spawns in a couple of monsters suddenly (they could defend against this with two machine guns + whatever else they have)If we leave a radio behind, it won't be a surprise for when the party emerges and we might be able to respond in time. If we're paranoid, we can just leave a party member to guard them (I recommend Silver since he's intent on being with Zara and trying to drag her along is undermining his character)
Here's everything that could go wrong if we bring the group with us:
>GRU finds the boats, seizes them and besieges the Kostroma (this is only slightly better than the previous scenario)>group is attacked in the rear and the party can't do anything because of the mass of bodies in the way>multiple members of the group get fully controlled by the Fellow Traveler due to proximity and we have to fight them>members of the group have a mental breakdown and otherwise stymie the party>members of the group become lost or separated (this seems inevitable)Plus, there are the practical and logistical problems of bringing so many ponies, many of whom are wounded, up the side of the Kostroma and through whatever corridors the party goes down. Every consideration IC and OOC is telling us to just take a small team with us.
>>193695>If my summons melt a hole in the top deck above , then all the NPC soldiers (particularly the airponies) could just stand around the hole and fire their guns/slings into the cargo hold while the rest of us enter, giving us sniper support. DM implied that most soldiers have Precise Shot when I was fighting the GRU with my Dreads, so they shouldn't take a penalty for firing into the melee.>All of the wounded ones should be on the back line.This is the only way this could work, but we still need to pull a bunch of ponies up to the deck, one at a time. Also Silver's player wants us to search through the
Kostroma first, which is madness if we have the group with us.
>Posey should have charmed at least half of the herd and then therefore can marshal them into battle (at least the ones trained for combat; the others I might have to pressure with a charisma check); and maybe half of the ones I have not charmed should be volunteers. This leaves a quarter of the herd left unwilling, and with the rest of the herd following that could give us a massive circumstance bonus to Diplomacy/Intimidate to follow because of herd mentality, so it's really our decision who we take.This would be helpful and probably necessary if we do bring along all the ponies. It is coercing or tricking creatures into the small entry team that Cavaliere is opposed to (being good-aligned), which is why he is ticking off Posey and Silver by being upfront about the dangers.
>But really though, before or perhaps even during the battle, it might be optimal to send a stealthy character to the radio room to capture or kill Light Water. If we have the rest of the herd above/around the cargo hold attacking the Intruder and its flock directly, then that should distract it long enough for somepony else to attack Light Water. DM said something about the role of a rogue, which tells me that scouting and assassinating might be important.Cavaliere is probably best suited for this among all the PCs we have available. I don't know how stealthy Blackheel is but he is the best NPC to bring along for this. We would want Posey to control those amoeba immediately when Light Water is incapacitated. I would not send Kira alone because of her demeanor but like you said she can be valuable for a non-lethal takedown
I regret expending Stunning Fist earlierIf we're talking about OOC arguments, we should also consider that the GM Pony likes to go for vibes, and "small team enters derelict ship to confront eldritch horror" better captures the atmosphere than "entire platoon shoots into a hole to kill said eldritch horror." He has said nothing to this effect but it's an educated guess. Otherwise I don't mind your strategy.
>>193695>>193696No, and I'm not sure that it would even be right of me to say outright if he did, but I know how he thinks and how he operates and it's far, far safer to keep everyone with us. As for fireballs or grenades, that's why while we bring everyone, only a few would be considered for our "Vanguard", who are the actual characters we would have in battle. The rest would hang back once we encounter hostiles. The possessed ponies can be stashed away in a supply closet or a safe room so they're on the ship but can't escape. We did a similar thing to the cultists and traffickers at Hoebuck.
Also, again, I know how GM pone operates, and while the plan of just burning a hole through the roof to attack the Traveler directly is a neat-sounding plan in real life, it's not the most exciting from a D&D dungeon-crawling perspective and it's guaranteed that GM pone has made some encounters, loot, and secrets on the ship and if all we're going to do is circumvent all of it, he's going to wonder why he's even bothering to put anything in any of his quests and get extremely upset.
Also I'm fairly certain when GM pone mentioned the role of a rogue, he was more talking about looting and unlocking doors and containers. Like the captain's safe in the torpedo boat that I'm still upset that no one bothered to help me open...
>>193697>I know how he thinks and how he operates and it's far, far safer to keep everyone with us.So do I. Although he often likes to throw curveballs and punish negligence with realistic consequences, I don't see him doing this without some forewarning since he does keep things fair. Once again, we can just leave a PC behind if we're really so concerned.
If anything, he will punish us for bringing all these stragglers aboard. How exactly do you make 30 ponies "hang back" in the narrow corridors of a ship? I don't mind the idea of using a saferoom, but Hoebuck did not have so many NPCs, nor were there monsters that spawned out of the ether without warning.
>captain's safeYou think that we'll just lose the torpedo boat by the time we get back? This is extremely unlikely to happen. There are four ways we lose the boats (if we lose the torpedo boat, we also lose the swan boat, since they're moored together):
>GRU attacks (we're screwed regardless; even if they don't attack the Kostroma directly, they won't sit around an hour while we refire the boilers and dredge the sandbar, and if they did, they can just chase us easily)>Some sort of catastrophic mutiny or brawl (we've taken precautions against this, such as tying up troublemakers and allowing some sensible creatures to be left behind)>Attack by the Fellow Traveler (they have two machine guns + whatever else and if that's not enough they can radio us for help)>Freak weather event (essentially "rocks fall, everyone dies")We're handicapping ourselves by assuming our one way off the island will be taken away from us (I know we talked about taking the
Kostroma, but that has far more in the way of risk than the two smaller boats). In being so paranoid, we would actually increase our risks of failure, both by taking more time (trying to break that safe + hauling so many creatures aboard) and increasing chances of mishaps (I already laid them out). I don't know how you think GM Pone would go "Haha you lost your boats, enjoy six more months of finding another escape route" but not punish the extremely vulnerable group in a dark, cramped ship with spawning monsters. The safest option by far is to keep the group in place, sheltered on boats which are ready to get out of here as soon as we complete our mission.
Frankly I think GM Pone just wants a satisfying ending to this quest and then move on
>>193698I'm telling you, we
need to bring everyone with us. We don't have any PCs who would stay behind to watch over the NPCs on the torpedo boat, we won't be able to respond in time if something goes wrong, and it would be way too easy for the Traveler to use the power boost from possessing the pirate crew to summon some kind of sea monster to attack the torpedo boat, knocking the creatures on board unconscious and taking over their minds. As long as they're with us we can keep an eye on them and keep them out of harm's way.
Also the Kostroma isn't even in that bad a place. The boiler is dying, sure, but with Zara's help we can figure out what's wrong with it and fire it up lickety split. Then we just need to wait for high tide, go full reverse, and break free from the sandbar. We also still have Monstro to disable the GRU ship to keep it from following us.
>>193699We don't need to. You're operating off the assumption that the GM Pony will screw us over if we leave the NPCs behind, but won't screw us over for bringing them with us.
>we don't have any PCs who would stay behindI wish Dust or the paladin were here. I would leave Cavaliere, but he is the best pick to wield the anti-tank rifle which will be a major help against larger monsters. Posey I wouldn't
want to leave unattended around NPCs. I would suggest either Silver or Kira, Silver because he wants to get into the captain's safe
and Zara's pants, Kira because she is a precious scaled cinnamon roll.
>way too easy for the Traveler to use the power boost from possessing the pirate crew to summon some kind of sea monster to attack the torpedo boat, knocking the creatures on board unconscious and taking over their mindsAs opposed to summoning a monster to attack them on the
Kostroma while we're distracted. And yes, we could respond faster on board, but for all we know the ship acts like containment for the Fellow Traveler's powers. There's been no contact from a boarding party after only forty-five minutes which implies they fell under control very quickly.
>we just need to wait for high tideWe don't know how long that will take and we should find out before committing to this plan. If it takes hours then no way; this is a time-sensitive mission and it's implied the GRU are now consolidating to deal with the
Kostroma directly.
>We also still have Monstro to disable the GRU ship to keep it from following us.This I think is a good idea. If we're not going to take the torpedo boat (I'd rather keep it) we could also use it to perform a torpedo run, hugging the coast to prevent being spotted. We may encounter other ships on the high seas, and I'd rather be in a fast, hard-to-see boat.
>>193696>>GRU finds the boats and attacks (this is actually really bad and isn't something we can defend against)>>the Fellow Traveler spawns in a couple of monsters suddenly (they could defend against this with two machine guns + whatever else they have)The Intruder and GRU don't really have any reason to target relatively low-priority targets when the more obvious target (party, Kostroma) is so close nearby.
>If we leave a radio behind, it won't be a surprise for when the party emerges and we might be able to respond in time.The Zigger could do this. She has demonstrated the ability to use a radio. Leaving her with some airponies to guard her (they can intervene if she gets stupid ideas) and the enthralled prisoners would be optimal. Also, I want her, the mechanic, to patch up the boat while we're gone.
>If we're paranoid, we can just leave a party member to guard themI think we need the whole party to fight/scout. We've already got three absent players, and we don't know the statistics or mindset of the NPCs, so we cannot rely on them. Also, while I ASSUME there is a predetermined limit to how many monsters the Intruder can summon (because otherwise its CR would be infinitely high), we don't know the actual limit to it's powers, so we want the whole party to be able to fight it.
>he's intent on being with Zara and trying to drag her along is undermining his characterIdk why Silver's character is insisting on this. In-Character it can't possibly take more than half an hour to clear the Kostroma once the radio bridge and cargo hold are neutralized (half of that time will just be pulling up all of the NPCs), probably only like 15 minutes considering that combat tends to only take one minute at most. They would not be separated for long.
>Also Silver's player wants us to search through the Kostroma first, which is madness if we have the group with us.I agree with you. Wandering an army aimlessly through a dungeon is just asking for half of them to be picked off by monsters. As soon as the herd boards and any measure of combat begins, the Intruder is going to respond with thralls and summons.
I can agree with scouting the ship before the battle, but I think that should be done with the three stealthy characters as I mentioned above to find and neutralize Light Water, while the others organize to get ready to attack the Cargo hold.
Silver could lead the herd into position while the rest of us find and choke the chicken. If he wants to take the zigger with him when he does that, then that's fine.
>>GRU finds the boats, seizes them and besieges the Kostroma (this is only slightly better than the previous scenario)If the GRU attacks the boat, it would actually be better if nopony were on it, because the GRU are not pirates so they would simply sink it while those aboard are sitting ducks. Same goes for the Kostroma, actually. There's nothing that can actually be done if the GRU torpedo us while we're finishing the quest, so no use worrying about it.
>>>group is attacked in the rear and the party can't do anything because of the mass of bodies in the wayThis is more likely. In fact, it's probable. The Traveller has demonstrated ability to summon monsters at extreme range (even though most summon spells are close range), even on the other side of the island with no line of effect: summoning them in tactical flanking positions would be easy for it.
Thing is, this would probably happen no matter what we do. This why I wanted to leave only the airponies behind, because our payment and the success of our primary quest hinges on their survival.
As for the others, they take the same risk, but like a herd this has a morbid benefit: attacks directed at the rest of the herd are attacks not directed at the party: being in a large herd minimizes any individual's chances of being attacked themselves. This is a reason why Necromancers might conjure an army of weak skeletons instead of a handful of powerful monsters.
There are a few counters to aspects of this problem though:
>group is attacked in the rear and the partyThis can be mitigated by taunting the Intruder so that it focuses its attention on more formidable party members. It's a selfless and self-destructive tactics, but appropriate for glory hounds who think they're invincible
(and are desperate to level up) , like Posey.
>mass of bodies in the wayThis is why I think most of the herd should be shooting through a melted hole in the ceiling, while only the serious combatants drop down to enter the cargo hold.
. . .
>>multiple members of the group get fully controlled by the Fellow Traveler due to proximity and we have to fight themThis is also a serious challenge, but if we are to assume that the Intruder follows some basic rules of monster design and encounter balance
(because if we don't, we should just take the airponies and sail away immediately), it should only be able to directly dominate one creature per action. This means that save-or-lose spells directed at NPCs are save-or-lose spells not protected at party members, which means herd advantage mitigates the liability of allies being charmed/dominated. Furthermore, so long as we focus fire on our actual objective, we may be able to destroy it without fighting charmed NPCs at all.
If we were fighting spawning undead or sea wolves, it would be opposite though.
As for
>>members of the group have a mental breakdown and otherwise stymie the party>>members of the group become lost or separated (this seems inevitable)There is no way we can get through this quest dragging along this many NPCs without losses. If NPCs join the fight, expect losses. NPCs are going to be killed, lost or driven insane.
But take the perspective of the wicked dominating Sorceress: although losses are bad, there is a bright side, the herd being thinned makes it easier to control later. It's more than possible that after this quest is resolved that the communists, pirates and griffons could turn on us. The Stalliongraders in particular may want to parlay with the GRU once the Intruder is destroyed instead of becoming deserters and expats. I suspected Blackheel might do exactly that, which is why I implanted my Mark in him to make him easier to control, threaten or even kill later. Silver also wants to make the Stalliongraders his followers, but estimating his leadership score to be about ~11 at this point he's only going to be able to get six of them with a successful leadership check, which means in the event of hostilities it might be bad if the number who want to side with Stalliongrad grossly outnumber him, which could prevent us from keeping the Kostroma. Losses among the pirates are the same, because intend to leave this island with their ship as well.
The point is that so long as we keep the airponies safe, we can accept measurable losses in the herd, and even take advantage of that if we still have enough to crew both ships. Losses are losses, but they are not the end of the world.
>(this seems inevitable)Plus, there are the practical and logistical problems of bringing so many ponies, many of whom are wounded, up the side of the Kostroma and through whatever corridors the party goes down. Every consideration IC and OOC is telling us to just take a small team with us.
I agree here.
Tbh, I think we should try to capture Light Water with the stealthy characters before we even consider attacking with the herd.
In fact, if we capture Light Water, we could potentially use him as bait to draw-out the Intruder and/or its forces, giving us a tactical advantage.
>It is coercing or tricking creatures into the small entry team that Cavaliere is opposed toI am opposed to that too. Infiltration should only be done in small groups. I think only the three stealthiest party members should go for the purpose of finding Light Water.
>Cavaliere is probably best suited for this among all the PCs we have available. I don't know how stealthy Blackheel is but he is the best NPC to bring along for this. We would want Posey to control those amoeba immediately when Light Water is incapacitated. I would not send Kira alone because of her demeanor but like you said she can be valuable for a non-lethal takedownIdk if you would be able to 1v1 any summons around light water.
If we go together to capture him, you could fly him unconscious back to the other boat and we could use him as bait. Furthermore, capturing him alive could allow us to extract information from him, particularly how important he is to the Intruder, and potentially how to destroy it. We don't actually know what the win condition for this quest is, so it could be beneficial to find out first.
>If we're talking about OOC arguments, we should also consider that the GM Pony likes to go for vibes, and "small team enters derelict ship to confront eldritch horror"This would be playing 3.5e as intended (unless you're using Heroes Of Battle), and might be more appropriate and easier to run overall.
The Psion in my game is a Thrallherd with 30+ believers at lvl 7. We had to pre-establish combat modes just to make encounters runnable.
>>193697>"entire platoon shoots into a hole to kill said eldritch horror."I don't think the Intruder is vulnerable to bullets at all in this form. Its damage resistance has been heavily foreshadowed. We need to figure out the win condition first. NPCs should be firing on the thralls and summoned monsters, so we can do our jobs without being harassed by minions.
>the plan of just burning a hole through the roof to attack the Traveler directly is a neat-sounding plan in real life, it's not the most exciting from a D&D dungeon-crawling perspectiveI wasn't even approaching this as a crawl, due to how the map was presented, but if that's the case then a different approach might be necessary.
>GM pone has made some encounters, loot, and secrets on the shipWell, for starters, I intend to take the entire shipand all of the loot in it with us once this is done, because I want to resell it for shekels for my army and castle palace.
You raise a good point about it being annoying to the DM to circumvent encounters through obtuse entry, but tbh we are only having this discussion because the obvious/intended/safe/proper way to enter wasn't really clear in the first place.
(Also this is a milestone game, so no matter how many monsters we fight we don't progress as characters until we get the objective)I have trouble approaching it like a classic crawl when the Intruder seems capable of not only perceiving us wherever we are for tens of miles, but also summoning a seemingly-unlimited number of monsters with no maximum range: Wherever we are, it can still attack us, so a route as direct as possible seems like the logical approach.
I do think it's import to honor the intended encounter plan design though. Maybe this could be resolved with a dice roll, using Knowledge (Warcraft) per Heroes Of Battle to gain a Strategic Advantage?
>>193479GM, could players or NPCs with military backgrounds make Intelligence checks (Knowledge, Warcraft) to assess what would be an optimal
(or intended) way to enter the Kostroma and how to bring/leave our forces? That way we could end this discussion with some dicerolls and go back to playing the game.
Stupid flood detection
>>193698>Once again, we can just leave a PC behind if we're really so concerned.Well, there is that batpony paladin around here who hasn't been doing anything. Maybe he could guard the defenseless. I already spent a spell slot on Undetectable Alignment just so that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable, so it would be nice if his existence were beneficial.
The Cleric too.
>You think that we'll just lose the torpedo boat by the time we get back?I would be really annoyed if this happened, tbh. Missing out on loot because we chose to risk our lives saving the world instead of taking the airponies and leaving now would not feel nice. I do not anticipate this happening because it would be supremely gay.
We DO have the option to just leave. We found the airponies, and we have a working boat. Between the resale value of the boat and the bounty for the airponies, we have a satisfactory (if meager) amount of treasure for this adventure. It is an option to let the Intruder be and fight it again (possibly in a more dangerous and powerful state) at a later point in the game, perhaps after it took over half of Stalliongrad or wherever else the Kostroma goes.
Just putting that option on the table. I am more than willing to humiliate and kill the Intruder and take the Kostroma for ourselves.
>We're handicapping ourselves by assuming our one way off the island will be taken away from us (I know we talked about taking the Kostroma, but that has far more in the way of risk than the two smaller boats). In being so paranoid, we would actually increase our risks of failure, both by taking more time (trying to break that safe + hauling so many creatures aboard) and increasing chances of mishaps (I already laid them out). I don't know how you think GM Pone would go "Haha you lost your boats, enjoy six more months of finding another escape route" but not punish the extremely vulnerable group in a dark, cramped ship with spawning monsters. The safest option by far is to keep the group in place, sheltered on boats which are ready to get out of here as soon as we complete our mission. Frankly I think GM Pone just wants a satisfying ending to this quest and then move onThis.
Players are supposed to win. The adventure is written for us to be able to win it, meaning it has to have multiple win conditions and beatable encounters. Despite all of the talk about "realistic consequences", we shouldn't assume the universe will spitefully punish us for not jumping through hoops in the right order.
I don't really care how we approach things so long as we get on with it. We have been on this quest for than a year and I am still lvl 4 sver having been nerfed 6+ times. I am chomping at the bit to progress the story and get to the climax, no matter how we get there.
>>193699This would be a good way to let Tenebrous's character do something, while creating opportunities to reintroduce him as a character later.
>it would be way too easy for the Traveler to use the power boost from possessing the pirate crew to summon some kind of sea monster to attack the torpedo boatWhy would it even do that? It has no reason to do that. There is no reason for it to attack defenseless NPCs outside the battlefield when other characters are attacking it directly. If it wanted to do that, it could have done that already.
>knocking the creatures on board unconscious and taking over their minds.Being knocked unconscious is not the same as falling asleep. Posey has knocked out enthralled NPCs: they don't do anything. To knock a creature out, you deal non-lethal damage to it equal to its HP, which renders it unable to move for hours, no matter if it is mind controlled or not.
>As long as they're with us we can keep an eye on them and keep them out of harm's way.That is not true. What would you do if a grell were summoned right above the herd and attacked 7 creatures at once? You could attack it, but you would not be able to prevent it from attacking others when it appears.
I don't mind bringing characters with if you insist, but if you think this approach will prevent losses you are being counterproductive.
>Also the Kostroma isn't even in that bad a place. The boiler is dying, sure, but with Zara's help we can figure out what's wrong with it and fire it up lickety split. Then we just need to wait for high tide, go full reverse, and break free from the sandbar.I definitely want to take the Kostroma and resell it, but just like you have an odd suspicion that sea monsters would attack noncombat NPCs while we are away, I have a suspicion that the party's ability to seize a vessel with a value equivalent to tens of millions of gp might not be guaranteed. The torpedo boat however is right in front of us and is guaranteed.
>We also still have Monstro to disable the GRU ship to keep it from following us.I fully intend to go full Hegseth on the GRU, but that is also not guaranteed.
>>193700>I wish Dust or the paladin were here.As long as we're pretending to care about "realistic consequences", then they could not have vanished from existence. Just say they were in the background tending to the wounded.
Also, with GM's permission, I would like to cut off Brie's head and take his loot.
>We don't know how long that will take and we should find out before committing to this plan. If it takes hours then no way; this is a time-sensitive mission and it's implied the GRU are now consolidating to deal with the Kostroma directly.This is why I suggest sending stealthy characters to kidnap Light Water for info.
>>193703>>193702Also Dust could Spontaneous-Cast Path Of The Exalted to divine the most optimal course of action for us to take, which would spare us the hassle of discussing this.
>>193701>The Zigger could do this. She has demonstrated the ability to use a radio. Leaving her with some airponies to guard her (they can intervene if she gets stupid ideas) and the enthralled prisoners would be optimal. Also, I want her, the mechanic, to patch up the boat while we're gone.This is my plan. Or let the airponies use the radio directly, since they should be trained on its use.
>I can agree with scouting the ship before the battle, but I think that should be done with the three stealthy characters as I mentioned above to find and neutralize Light Water, while the others organize to get ready to attack the Cargo hold.Silver could lead the herd into position while the rest of us find and choke the chicken. If he wants to take the zigger with him when he does that, then that's fine.
This is the best of both worlds. Well, somewhat. Hauling up so many ponies (some of whom can't even hold a rifle) will still take more time than I'm comfortable with spending. Also, speaking of rifles, we don't know how many guns are available since we failed to loot the battlefields. They can't exactly shoot down into the cargo hold if they have nothing to shoot with.
>This why I wanted to leave only the airponies behind, because our payment and the success of our primary quest hinges on their survival.All of them should be left behind except for the Lieutenant who wants to come with us. He has a SMG and probably is a decent fighter. After this mission he will level up and might become a recurring character to interact with. Also I will not deny a stallion a chance to be heroic.
>but if we are to assume that the Intruder follows some basic rules of monster design and encounter balance (because if we don't, we should just take the airponies and sail away immediately)Guessing is the fun part. We're basically fighting a lesser eldritch god and can't assume anything. What we do know is that some ponies are more vulnerable than others and that its power is dependent on distance (if it wasn't, it could make itself apparent across the world). It's better to leave the sickly children outside the Chernobyl reactor.
>But take the perspective of the wicked dominating Sorceress: although losses are bad, there is a bright side, the herd being thinned makes it easier to control later.This is true but from the perspective of a good-aligned character, unnecessary losses should be avoided. Even actual POWs should not be used as meat shields.
>communistsSome may be a danger, others may be more amenable after seeing the horrible stuff their government was involved in.
>piratesZara and Wonder are non-threats, the red griffon is tied up. The others are unknown but if we promise some sort of amnesty (same for the Stalliongraders) they should be okay.
>griffonsThey are very unlikely to turn on us, and at most will just flee on their own. Bøkli at this point is loyal and willing to fight with us in exchange for being allowed into Equestria.
>Idk if you would be able to 1v1 any summons around light water.Probably not. I see Light Water being a sort of miniboss.
>If we go together to capture him, you could fly him unconscious back to the other boat and we could use him as bait. Furthermore, capturing him alive could allow us to extract information from him, particularly how important he is to the Intruder, and potentially how to destroy it. We don't actually know what the win condition for this quest is, so it could be beneficial to find out first.We don't want to attract attention to the boats. I do agree we should question him if possible. He is definitely important to some degree.
>Maybe this could be resolved with a dice roll, using Knowledge (Warcraft) per Heroes Of Battle to gain a Strategic Advantage?>open Heroes of Battle>Ctrl+F>"warcraft">0 resultsCould you elaborate?
>Well, there is that batpony paladin around here who hasn't been doing anything. Maybe he could guard the defenseless. I already spent a spell slot on Undetectable Alignment just so that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable, so it would be nice if his existence were beneficial.>The Cleric too.I agree and I don't think their players would mind if they became GMPCs for now. I'm still using that cleric's blessing buff.
>We DO have the option to just leave. We found the airponies, and we have a working boat. Between the resale value of the boat and the bounty for the airponies, we have a satisfactory (if meager) amount of treasure for this adventure. It is an option to let the Intruder be and fight it again (possibly in a more dangerous and powerful state) at a later point in the game, perhaps after it took over half of Stalliongrad or wherever else the Kostroma goes.>Just putting that option on the table. I am more than willing to humiliate and kill the Intruder and take the Kostroma for ourselves.That is a very real choice. However Cavaliere would not let this threat be.
>I have a suspicion that the party's ability to seize a vessel with a value equivalent to tens of millions of gp might not be guaranteed. The torpedo boat however is right in front of us and is guaranteed.I don't think we would make it out with the Kostroma. It's huge, slow, and very visible. These may be contested waters but New Mareland said they wouldn't risk a diplomatic incident for us. Even if the GRU ship doesn't get us Stalliongrad will send out other pursuers.
>Also, with GM's permission, I would like to cut off Brie's head and take his loot.The horselover community these days is a smallish one and many members know each other. I don't think GM wants Brie's player to declare jihad on him.
>>193705>Or let the airponies use the radio directly, since they should be trained on its use.Yeah, that could work.
The airponies can be trusted to take care of themselves with the boat, imo. They're also the only group I do not want as part of combat, because I want them alive. If a sea monster just happens to come up and sinks the boat with all of them on it dooming us to a failed quest without any recourse, then so be it. If the GM actually wanted to do that (which he wouldn't), it would happen no matter what we did.
>Hauling up so many ponies (some of whom can't even hold a rifle) will still take more time than I'm comfortable with spending.If Light Water is captured alive, it should be a sufficient distraction from whatever is happening on the other side of the ship.
>we don't know how many guns are available since we failed to loot the battlefields. They can't exactly shoot down into the cargo hold if they have nothing to shoot with.Slings are free. They can make slings from scrap cloth in minutes.
>All of them should be left behind except for the Lieutenant who wants to come with us. He has a SMG and probably is a decent fighter. After this mission he will level up and might become a recurring character to interact with. Also I will not deny a stallion a chance to be heroic.That is acceptable. He can come with us while the others stay aboard the torpedo ship and guard/maintain it. Posey respects ponies who seek glory.
>lesser eldritch godGods have statistics and salient abilities. If it's an actual god/demigod, then maybe I should make a Religion check to assess its powers.
>What we do know is that some ponies are more vulnerable than others and that its power is dependent on distance (if it wasn't, it could make itself apparent across the world).Yes it appears to be confined to this island, although it was still able to summon monsters on the other side of the island, so idk.
However, it's worth noting that the griffons, who were shown to be mentally pliable, were not affected by it, presumably because the crown has similar powers. Perhaps Posey's crown could be a boon in the next encounter...
>others may be more amenable after seeing the horrible stuff their government was involved in.You say that, but 20th century history would beg to differ.
Anyways, I put the Cyst inside Blackheel, just in case.
>if we promise some sort of amnesty (same for the Stalliongraders) they should be okay.Okay, but I'm taking their ship in exchange for their lives ^:)
>I see Light Water being a sort of miniboss.If intent to summon creatures comes from him, then grappling him and suffocating him should prevent him from doing so. Even if the summoning lacks somatic components (Spell-like abilities or psionics), grappling would disrupt his concentration.
>We don't want to attract attention to the boats. I do agree we should question him if possible. He is definitely important to some degree.If the Intruder really needs Light Water, it would not destroy any vessel he is on. We could also simply keep him hostage out in the open on the deck of the Kostroma itself, and threaten to kill him of the Intruder makes any moves. This would buy us all the time we need to move our forces into whatever position we want above deck, and then we could have Posey summon her crawlers immediately before we decide to attack, with Light Water still in our custody.
>Could you elaborate?I... I'm sorry... I must have hallucinated that... I could have sworn it was a new skill in that book. Maybe it was one of the Forgotten Realms books, or from Dragon magazine WoW d20. It's been a long day, and my brain was making up false memories that I have once again embarrassed myself by citing without verifying. Sorry...
Page 71 does list knowledge skills that can be used to gain a Strategic Advantage in warfare though.
>I agree and I don't think their players would mind if they became GMPCs for now.I think they will be fine with "you were in the background healing people".
>I'm still using that cleric's blessing buff.That was actually me. I used my Create Magic Tattoo ability on Kira, Mala and Cavalier before my Spellstitching got nerfed out of existence.>would not let this threat beWell, I doubt the entire setting would end if we were to lose/pass this quest. It would probably just mean doing a higher level version of the same quest at a later date.
It would be disappointing to just run after all these months though. Also, I want to seize the Kostroma so that we can resell it.
>I don't think we would make it out with the Kostroma. It's huge, slow, and very visible. These may be contested waters but New Mareland said they wouldn't risk a diplomatic incident for us. Even if the GRU ship doesn't get us Stalliongrad will send out other pursuers.If we sink the GRU vessel, I think the rest is an acceptable risk. I want this ship. If push comes to shove we can abandon it later.
As for diplomatic bullshit, the propagandists in New Mareland can just write it off as "brave sailors joining with pirates and defecting from Stalliongrad to escape the evils of communism", or something else like that. We are undercover as pirates, so stealing a ship for resale is normal for us. Stalliongrad would be unwilling to acknowledge its losses or responsibility for unleashing this Eldritch horror upon the world, so I don't really expect them to send more if the GRU fails.
Moreover, I want to resell the ship, and gain some recognition points as a warmagus among the Blackhooves, and squeeze a bonus reward out of Captain Waters because exorcizing the Eldritch demigod was not part of the job description.
>jihadA bit late for that, but whatever. It would have been better closeure than freezing to death on a deserted island. I just wanted the daggers.
>>193696I did tell him that there would be a waifuable character, and I think that has altered his character's behavior >>193700>Posey I wouldn't want to leave unattended around NPCs.Kek
>Kira because she is a precious scaled cinnamon roll.D'awwwwwww
>>193701>The Traveller has demonstrated ability to summon monsters at extreme rangeOnly about 2 miles. That's a pretty close range if you ask me.
>>193702>GM, could players or NPCs with military backgrounds make Intelligence checks (Knowledge, Warcraft) to assess what would be an optimal (or intended) way to enter the Kostroma and how to bring/leave our forces? That way we could end this discussion with some dicerolls and go back to playing the game.You have representatives of the navies, merchant marines, and fishing fleets of four different nations in the region present with roles ranging from diesel mechanic to engineer to radio operator to pilot to political officer, who have operated vessels ranging from cargo ships to patrol torpedo boats to patrol blimps. You should know everything and be omniscient, basically. There is not much at all you should not be able to find out just by asking.
>>193703>Well, there is that batpony paladin around here who hasn't been doing anything>As long as we're pretending to care about "realistic consequences", then they could not have vanished from existence. Just say they were in the background tending to the wounded.I've been operating as if when a player drops out, their character just isn't really there. I mean, maybe it could be controlled as a DMPC, but that feels kind of cheap. On the plus side, that means that there is no need to share the loot or reward.
>Also, with GM's permission, I would like to cut off Brie's head and take his loot.Brie very explicitly had his character fly off. Because this is the absolute middle of nowhere, I would assume he flies for hours or possibly weeks until he dies of hypothermia, exhaustion, dehydration, starvation, or predation by wildlife. That or the GRU capture him.
>>193705>Also, speaking of rifles, we don't know how many guns are available since we failed to loot the battlefields.There are four on the pirate boat, the Kostroma survivors had two (though one of the holders is now incapacitated), and the Airship ponies had one rifle and one SMG. I feel like two rifles were picked up at about the first encounter with Kostroma survivors at the village, but honestly I don't feel confident of that.
>I don't think GM wants Brie's player to declare jihad on himLet him come
>>193706>multiple posts complaining about being nerfedBruh, your character has taken less damage than any other player character besides Tenebrous and
Maybe Dust. I think even Brie has taken more damage this quest than Posey. I don't think that being reduced from "invulnerable for all intents and purposes" to "the most rugged in the party" is as much of a nerf as you clearly feel it was.
>>193707>waifuable characterYeah, that will do it.
>You have representatives of the navies, merchant marines, and fishing fleets of four different nations in the region present with roles ranging from diesel mechanic to engineer to radio operator to pilot to political officer, who have operated vessels ranging from cargo ships to patrol torpedo boats to patrol blimps. You should know everything and be omniscient, basically. There is not much at all you should not be able to find out just by asking.So basically, ask in-character for a suggestions. Got it.
>I've been operating as if when a player drops out, their character just isn't really there. I mean, maybe it could be controlled as a DMPC, but that feels kind of cheap. On the plus side, that means that there is no need to share the loot or reward.I actually really like Tenebrous and would like to leave the door open for him to rejoin whenever, but alright.
>fly offUnderstood. It was wrong of me to bring it up anyway.,
>complaining about being nerfedAlright, I will try to cut it out.
I'm really just venting because I am currently frustrated over having lost a third of my character notes the other month and I'm not sure how to rewrite it.
>>193706>slingsI guess? I don't know if these ponies would know how to use slings accurately. Better than fighting with bare hooves, but I think it would still be chip damage.
>However, it's worth noting that the griffons, who were shown to be mentally pliable, were not affected by it, presumably because the crown has similar powers.Maybe, but we haven't seen any griffons affected so far. Light Water might count but he invited the Fellow Traveler into his head and is still lucid. It could well be that griffons are more resistant than ponies, but this is all speculation. You know who might have information? The scientists who studied the entity.
>Okay, but I'm taking their ship in exchange for their lives ^:)We're taking their ship in exchange for their lives*
>grappling Light WaterGood call.
>We could also simply keep him hostage out in the open on the deck of the Kostroma itself, and threaten to kill him of the Intruder makes any moves.That was my plan. However, if it does view him as disposable it can simply call our bluff. We would still be no worse off I suppose.
>hallucinationNo worries. I'm just wary of additional knowledge checks considering how strapped for skill points most of us have been. "Warcraft" would make sense considering this whole campaign was born from a HOI4 game.
>buffI forgot if we agreed on whether to keep the temporary buff for the remainder of the mission. But yes, spellstitching was going to be busted.
>Stalliongrad would be unwilling to acknowledge its losses or responsibility for unleashing this Eldritch horror upon the world, so I don't really expect them to send more if the GRU fails.Wouldn't they be more motivated to keep news of it from getting out? They might try to recapture the ship via boarding parties or outright just sink it to cut their losses. The GRU might actually be the delicate response and if they fail then they'll respond with brute force. There's a reason why modern pirates don't steal the ships they hijack.
>>193707>There is not much at all you should not be able to find out just by asking.This.
>I've been operating as if when a player drops out, their character just isn't really there. I mean, maybe it could be controlled as a DMPC, but that feels kind of cheap. On the plus side, that means that there is no need to share the loot or reward.Fair enough. If they were DMPCs then encounters would probably scale to be harder anyway. It'll just be awkward if one of them comes back and his character just poofed out of existence.
>weaponsThe four doesn't include the ATR that Cavaliere grabbed, does it? Anyway it's not a lot but it will help.
>I feel like two rifles were picked up at about the first encounter with Kostroma survivors at the village, but honestly I don't feel confident of that.As the GM it's up to you to make a decision on that. I think that Kostroma survivors would pick up the weapons of their comrades even if they're not actively looting the battlefield.
Anyway the confirmed boarding party will be:
PCs + Mala (who I assume are all adequately armed, though I have not seen much taking of inventory which I once again urge)
Blackheel
Lieutenant Stained Sand
Johan Bøkli
Blackheel might want to take a rifle in addition to his revolver. Stained Sand has his SMG. Bøkli would have to take a rifle too. That leaves five spare rifles. We might get additional boarding members, maybe a pirate and a scientist, but I don't know if they would take weapons. It's not a lot of firepower but if we go for the "shoot into the cargo hold" stratagem we could also hoist one of the machine guns.
>>193708>losing character notesTell me about it. Never forget to backup regularly.
>>193709>I don't know if these ponies would know how to use slings accurately.The griffins should be proficient in simple weapons because they are whalers. The soldiers should be proficient in simple weapons because that's a precursor to martial weaponry.
Anyone can be expected to be proficient in clubs and slings.
>if it does view him as disposable it can simply call our bluff. We would still be no worse off I suppose.That would give us valuable information in that killing him is not a win condition.
Besides, I still want to torture him anyway. He's super annoying.
>bustedIt was only +1 luck bonus to AC for the day.
>Wouldn't they be more motivated to keep news of it from getting out? They might try to recapture the ship via boarding parties or outright just sink it to cut their losses. The GRU might actually be the delicate response and if they fail then they'll respond with brute force.I doubt it, tbh. They wouldn't even know where we are until we already set sail, and once we sail a short distance into New Mareland territory they can't follow is unless they want all-out war.
>I think that Kostroma survivors would pick up the weapons of their comrades even if they're not actively looting the battlefield.I think this too. It's what any competent soldier would do.
I am slightly confused. Has our plan changed since the lights went out?
GM, during the Curwhinny's farm exploration, we established that Posey's horn glow does not produce enough light for Gloomy to see in a small room, but could her horn glow still be enough to make visible gestures for two other characters to follow her at close range in the darkness? Just a tiny glowing point for other characters to follow and not get separated.
I kind of don't know how unicorn horns work in this game at all.
>>193738Sure, you can use the horn as a low-range flashlight
>>193737Mine/ours hasn't, but Silver's player wants to take the engineers in. It's risky and I'd rather wait on that, but getting the lights back on would help us out a lot.
>>193741I think capturing Light Water in darkness would be better. If we can't see, then neither can his minions.
Okay, now that I've thought on it it makes sense to use the torpedo boat as our escape vehicle, it makes sense especially since GM pone probably it there for a reason beyond just providing Silver with a potential zebra waifu.
I will say, however, that I do have one major issue with our current plan for Light Water: if GM pone intended him to be the boss battle, then we might be screwed if we only send a couple of people in to try to capture him. Odds are the Traveler is probably granting him some abilities, and it's possible one of those is the ability to see in the dark.
>>193745>it makes sense especially since GM pone probably it there for a reason beyond just providing Silver with a potential zebra waifu.And here I thought it was put there soley so Cavaliere could wield a bigger gun.
Sarcasm aside, we're incredibly lucky to have this boat without any serious casualties. I do think we can expect pursuit if we took a slower craft so this is the "safe" option.
>if GM pone intended him to be the boss battle, then we might be screwed if we only send a couple of people in to try to capture him. Odds are the Traveler is probably granting him some abilities, and it's possible one of those is the ability to see in the dark.I think he will be a mini-boss similar to but tougher to that one dying pony that was turned into some kind of strider. Any other speculation is up in the air. I actually don't think stealth matters since the Fellow Traveler seems to know where we are at all times, even if it can't read our minds directly. This is why I originally wanted to take a group of eight or ten since that would probably be optimal in this sort of environment. However, even though we have not fully committed to our current not-plan (it just sort of emerged as a compromise) I don't know if it's worth changing it now. Our group of four going after Light Water is well-equipped and capable, and if you do want to restore the lights then what you have should be sufficient considering it probably is lower risk. You have another group of four fighting creatures (Silver, Mala, Sand, and Bøkli) protecting the technicians. I know "don't split the party" is a wise adage to follow, but I get the sense that GM Pony is taking time more seriously now. If we don't split the party, either we have to do everything completely in the dark (though the sp00kiness might be fun) or we spend time we don't have getting the ship running while Light Water, the Fellow Traveler, and the GRU do whatever.
>>193745>Okay, now that I've thought on it it makes sense to use the torpedo boat as our escape vehicleI still want you seize the Kostroma if possible.
>, it makes sense especially since GM pone probably it there for a reasonYeah, obviously.
>I will say, however, that I do have one major issue with our current plan for Light WaterThree creatures is only slightly less than a full party.
>Odds are the Traveler is probably granting him some abilitiesThere is very little he could do while grappled by a creature larger than him, so if we get the element of surprise we could end the fight pretty quickly, which means it is preferable to send a team of creatures proficient in stealth.
Furthermore, only Posey and Kira have sensory abilities to trump the darkness.
>This is why I originally wanted to take a group of eight or ten since that would probably be optimal in this sort of environment.I am not keen on bringing a bunch of NPCs with unknown stats on the assassination quest.
>Our group of four going after Light Water I thought it was three?
>>193747>I thought it was three?Initially but it makes sense to bring Blackheel along since this is personal to him and he is guaranteed to fight well, even if we don't know how good his stealth stats are. Also he is the only one who we can guarantee can run a military-style radio to keep in contact with the two other groups.
Probably should have set up call-signs
>>193758I know I have been pushing us to get this done, but I'm having second thoughts. I don't know how useful stealth will be in the main deckhouse nor if we're prepared tactically. I don't think Kira can fight much in melee besides grappling. Both Blackheel and Cavaliere have only revolvers for close-quarters and their rifles will be cumbersome to use. Cavaliere's especially since if he doesn't have a surface he has to go prone just to shoot his anti-tank rifle, if he chooses to use it.
Silver's group is going to be very strong at close-quarters combat and may even be overtuned for this sort of mission. I believe he has a SMG himself and two NPCs with him will also have close-quarters weapons. Going by
>>193611 →, the spaces they're going into are about twenty to thirty feet across. That's still small, but they may have fewer corners and rooms to worry about. Maybe we should do a quick swap? I just can't see Light Water either being taken easily or by surprise. He knows we're coming.
>>193760>I don't know how useful stealth will be in the main deckhouseAt the very least, it gives us the option to simply run past monsters, because if we leave the range of their darkvision it would be hard for them to pursue us unless they can track by scent.
>I don't think Kira can fight much in melee besides grappling.Kira is a Ranger just like you, with high strength: She can do archery just fine.
Also, she has the scent ability, and combined with survival ranks and the Track feat she can use it to allow us to avoid encounters entirely and find an efficient route to our objective. Scent also trumps scent and prevents enemies from having surprise rounds.
Furthermore, I want a large grappler with large size who can grab Light Water to prevent him from casting any spells, spell like abilities, or psionic powers. With Kira's size, reach, and high Dex+scent (more likely to win initiative), she is a good candidate.
It he has Cleric abilities, a melee combatant to disarm him of his Holy Symbol might render him powerless.
Furthermore, although Light Water might have spells or supernatural powers, the Armor Class of humanoids doesn't really scale at all beyond equipment, which means he should be vulnerable to strangulation. His HP can't possibly be that high either unless sporadically turns into a literal monster (which is possible).
I would bring monstro for the job if it were not a stealth mission.
>Both Blackheel and Cavaliere have only revolvers for close-quartersDon't revolvers do 2d8 damage with no reload action? With Rapid Shot, you're firing three bullets per round with 2d8 damage each, more with Point Blank shot.
It we're in close quarters, that means that the monsters would only be medium size, which also means they might be monsters that we can just push past since their reach shouldn't be too large.
>Cavaliere's especially since if he doesn't have a surface he has to go prone just to shoot his anti-tank rifleIf you want, you can just use Posey's back as a weapon mount. She is a horse, and she has plenty of carrying capacity left for it.
Protip: to carry your equipment, consider buying a war dog.
>Silver's group is going to be very strong at close-quarters combat and may even be overtuned for this sort of mission.Tbh, I would rather have Silver than Blackheel. I do not know Blackheel's statistics, and I think he would be better off leading his own soldiers and readying them for the assault. I would have preferred to keep Silver AND Blackheel together with the forces on the deck though, to defend and marshal the herd, just because Silver was so afraid of leaving NPCs unattended.
Then again, Blackheel knows the ship better than we do, and I would assume that he's the highest level NPC here (seemingly a multiclass Fighter/Wizard), so maybe we are better off with him.
>the spaces they're going into are about twenty to thirty feet acrossThese are normal dungeon conditions.
>I just can't see Light Water either being taken easily or by surprise. He knows we're coming.Yeah, this is probably true. It's how all RPG bosses work. Even when the rogue rolls perfect stealth, they turn around and say they've been expecting you before monologuing as a free action.
Still, I think we're overthinking this. This is just a game. It's meant to be beatable, and there are probably multiple ways to beat it. It's not that our decisions don't matter, but we shouldn't be so paranoid because I don't think feats of tactical genius are going to be pivotal to the quest being won. Maybe that's metagaming, but this game is made for us to win, so we shouldn't be too paranoid about it.
Tbh, all of this tactical stalling and doompauling almost makes me regret making the OOC thread. We should just commit to what we're doing and play the game already.
>>193761>At the very least, it gives us the option to simply run past monsters, because if we leave the range of their darkvision it would be hard for them to pursue us unless they can track by scent.My fear is that for those of us who are living, we can be sensed at any time by the Fellow Traveler and since he runs a hivemind he can just send his forces at us whenever he wants. However it knowing our location has not been confirmed, so you might be right and for that reason we shouldn't forfeit our advantage.
>KiraThose are good points. Also the grappling alone is worth it because otherwise it will be exceptionally difficult to capture Light Water alive. Cavaliere would have to punch him until he was incapacitated which would take a while.
>I would bring monstro for the job if it were not a stealth mission.We will be indoors so I don't know what he could do except look scary.
>With Rapid Shot, you're firing three bullets per round with 2d8 damage each, more with Point Blank shot.It's two rounds unless if revolvers operate off different rules compared to bows (which would make them even more powerful). Now you're tempting me with a pure ranger build that has manyshot. It's a shame unarmed proficiency is a must-have for this character concept.
>Protip: to carry your equipment, consider buying a war dog.That is a good option for a ranger in a city. Are there dog whistles in the game that allow one to summon the dog from a distance?
>If you want, you can just use Posey's back as a weapon mount. She is a horse, and she has plenty of carrying capacity left for it.I might just take you up on that offer. I hope she doesn't mind her undead ears ringing. The disadvantage is that she has to stay still for Cavaliere to fire. Or maybe not; it depends on how movement and attack rounds work.
>Tbh, I would rather have Silver than Blackheel. I do not know Blackheel's statistics, and I think he would be better off leading his own soldiers and readying them for the assault.You are correct from a gameplay perspective but thematically I think everypony will be left disappointed if Blackheel can't confront Light Water. If it weren't for that I would swap out Blackheel for the Lieutenant since has a SMG. We've had no luck in peeling Silver away from Zara.
>Even when the rogue rolls perfect stealth, they turn around and say they've been expecting you before monologuing as a free action.Probably, but performing an Irish Candyman and telling him we were coming to kill him was the wrong move.
>Tbh, all of this tactical stalling and doompauling almost makes me regret making the OOC thread. We should just commit to what we're doing and play the game already.I agree. Also I thought about it last night and there's no party restructuring that would be a benefit. All of the party going after Light Water are best suited for that mission, so we can't "trade" one. We could peel away one of the boiler room team like Lieutenant Sand, but it would be leaving that team more vulnerable and I don't think they'll be left unmolested.
I think the only thing we really need at this point is apportioning the medical supplies Cavaliere found, because we will need them.
>>193702>I wasn't even approaching this as a crawlWhy wouldn't it be?
Is the attitude towards time because of the earlier statements about time pressure, or because of a desire to get the quest over with and leave? I feel like there's a difference between time spent to pluck every single feather out of a pig sized bird, versus trying to turn the lights on or deal with minions.
>>193766It's mainly concerns about time pressure, which were confirmed with your description of everything going dark while we were talking, which has been treated as a free action for the most part.
I would be lying though if I said I wasn't eager to finally get to the action after so much build up.Also I don't know what Posey was trying with an attempted Hannibal Lecter scene in a limited time span, in the open, in view of multiple witnesses. Or with Silver going to scrub the decks with his future paramore.
As for planning and dealing with minions, we did spend a good amount of time and hashed out something resembling a plan. It's more of a compromise really; I wanted a special forces-style breach-and-clear, Posey wanted a massed assault directly from the top of the ship, and Silver wanted a meticulous exploration with the entire retinue. We're all getting part of what we want and despite all the last-minute adjustments I hope we didn't miss anything egregious. Besides, of course, the lack of inventory-taking. After you had to bring up our lack of looting I realized we messed up and wanted to ensure all capable creatures are somewhat armed. Even more important is the medical supplies and the radios. We have three radios so far which should be sufficient, but the amount of healing that Cavaliere collected was never quantified or distributed. I'll just assume Silver or one of his group has some and Blackheel has some.
It's annoying but after saying stuff like "Hey bringing the traumatized mare near an enemy that attacks psychically is a bad idea" and "Please go over inventories like I did for Cavaliere so we know what we have" multiple times and being ignored you just throw your hands up and go ahead anyway. Simple posts responding to those concerns would have been worth a hundred posts talking about hunches and psychological profiles of the GM.
>>193763>It's two rounds unless if compared to bowsRapid Shot applies to pretty much any ranged weapon so long as it doesn't need to be reloaded every round, and a revolver has 6 bullets.
>revolvers operate off different rulesIt would be nice if we could clarify how firearms work in this game.
>We will be indoors so I don't know what he could do except look scary.Smash through a window and use it's long reach to pull the target out.
>Now you're tempting me with a pure ranger build that has manyshot.Manyshot only works with bows, not guns. It's good for Ranger/Scout builds though, particularly with Greater Manyshot, Flyby Attack and Swift Hunter.
>It's a shame unarmed proficiency is a must-have for this character concept.What is your character concept anyway?
If you want, I could help you edit/remake your sheet after we level up.
>Are there dog whistles in the game that allow one to summon the dog from a distance?Yes.
>I hope she doesn't mind her undead ears ringingShe does, but whatever. Deafness from sound is a fortitude save anyway, so she wouldn't be hurt.
>thematically I think everypony will be left disappointed if Blackheel can't confront Light Water.This is our story, not Blackheel's.
Besides, I want to capture him and sacrifice him later, so Blackheel would still get to see him.
>We've had no luck in peeling Silver away from Zara.You know, I have refrained from taking my minions into EVERY encounter, even though I did not have to...
>performing an Irish Candyman and telling him we were coming to kill him was the wrong move.He already knows that anyway.
>apportioning the medical supplies Cavaliere found, because we will need themDon't even bother with using those. It takes like an hour to get even the most minor benefit from that skill.
>>193764I was tired and not thinking straight. Also the sheer number of uncontrolled NPCs and the probability of enemies likey just appearing out of thin sir around us instead of waiting for us in room made me think of it more as a mass combat battlefield kind of encounter than a careful room-by-room crawl. It's just not what I'm used into, at least not in play-by-post. Not necessarily bad, but I was just approaching it differently.
To me, I would normally approach a dungeon crawl from a completionist perspective, going room by room, taking time, lost resting at any opportunity, and having some confidence that most of the encounters are self-contained in their rooms aside from the occasional wandering monster roll every twelve hours. In this case, the monsters seem to just be appearing wherever we are, and time is of the essence, so I was approaching more like a blitzkrieg or an assassination mission, to get the quest objective as quickly as possible and enemy fewer opportunities to attack us.
>>193766>>193769Idk how time passes. I just want to go adventuring.
I was only doing the bird plucking thing because I was bored and I didn't know how to advance the plot without another three weeks of tactical debate, so I made my character busy in an unserious manner. Logically, time is a serious pressure, but when we spend months irl debating what direction to walk in my immersion wanes and I get distracted and just try to do something for the sake of doing something; in-character our characters should be in a hurry, but out of character it has been over a year. I have now on at least five occasions tried to make Posey board the Kostroma and begin the crawl, but it keeps getting buried in paranoid tactical debate before any of my actions or other attempts to take initiative are canonized. I really think we have to figure out how to cut down this much discussion time and move the story forward if we want to be able to go on more adventures together after this.
I will try harder though.
>>193770Okay. I hate going for the dragon first, I hate splitting the party, and I
especially hate doing both simultaneously which just seems extremely unwise, but sure, go ahead
>>193772I will comply with any plan set forward.
>>193770>Manyshot only works with bows, not guns.Does it? Maybe I should refer to the DnD Modern feat set.
>What is your character concept anyway?https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2018/08/wire-paladin-san-francisco.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%93_Will_Travel#PaladinObviously my character is not a one-to-one equivalent, and cannot conceivably be under the DnD ruleset, but the general concept is a highly skilled gunfighter/ranger who is also skilled at fisticuffs as a nonlethal option of resolving conflicts.
>Don't even bother with using those. It takes like an hour to get even the most minor benefit from that skill.I know some potions were included in there. Also going by Silver's various adventures (he gets shot a lot) regular medical supplies seem to have some effect in the short-term. I don't know what the mechanics are.
>Logically, time is a serious pressure, but when we spend months irl debating what direction to walk in my immersion wanes and I get distracted and just try to do something for the sake of doing something; in-character our characters should be in a hurry, but out of character it has been over a year. I have now on at least five occasions tried to make Posey board the Kostroma and begin the crawl, but it keeps getting buried in paranoid tactical debate before any of my actions or other attempts to take initiative are canonized. I really think we have to figure out how to cut down this much discussion time and move the story forward if we want to be able to go on more adventures together after this.This is very reasonable. However, it hasn't been very long since we took over the boat, and since this is the climax of the mission I think a little bit of preparation and planning is warranted. Hang in there, pony.
>>193772>I hate going for the dragon firstIf there is a specific order you want the party to approach the mission in, it's your job as GM to give us hints on what to do. Despite our general retardation you've been pretty good at that so far: we investigated the whalers first, then searched one village, then found our main objective (the airponies), then located the rest of the airponies with a great deal of effort. All this time there's been a buildup of tension regarding the GRU on one side and the Fellow Traveler on the other, which has lent a nice touch to the atmosphere.
However since you wisely kept the Fellow Traveler very mysterious and with no definitive way to defeat him, we have relegated him to final boss status and want to improve our odds however possible. This is why we are going after Light Water, who we know to be capturable or at least killable, and relighting the boiler, so we won't be surprised in the dark by dark-visioned spawns. I hate splitting the party too and if I had to choose between Light Water and the boiler, I would go after the scientist and then fight the Fellow Traveler in the dark/with whatever light sources we have. However other PCs have the idea of the
Kostroma being somehow salvageable, though this was never encouraged, and you strongly implied that if we don't relight the boiler now then we won't have any chance later. So to compromise we came up with the two group strategy. However the vulnerability of each group is obvious. The ship is far from empty and besides spawns that can appear anywhere there's an unknown number of controlled ponies still aboard. With only four fighters each and no grenades we could get charged and die.
While I don't share illusions of saving the
Kostroma and think we could manage in the dark, I would relinquish my conniptions and just go to the boiler with the entire group. I don't think it's the best option but it may be better than splitting the party. I don't know when or how we would deal with Light Water at that point.
>>193776>If there is a specific order you want the party to approach the mission in, it's your job as GM to give us hints on what to do.But I’ve given hints. I’ve given many, many hints. I’ve even explicitly said things and been still ignored. Blackheel has outright said “don’t attack Lightwater without everything you have.” Ignored. Pipette says that the Traveller’s powers are tied to the number of followers, so the best move is to eliminate all followers - which means clear out the ship of Petrushkas, then attack the Traveller. I had the lights go out, which means go to the boiler, then go to get Lightwater, then attack the Traveller. All of this has been ignored. I have done every tiny little thing I possibly could to say “just go inside the ship, look around, fight off enthralled sailors, then kill Lightwater in what’s probably the big boss battle, then deal with the Traveller’s last hurrah and end him.
I think it’s pretty obvious that that isn’t what the players want to do. They don’t want to explore the ship, they want to get in and get out. I mean… okay? I think I can redo things. It’s a different kind of approach. But I can work with that, I think. If you want to truncate it, we can do that.
>>193777>I had the lights go out, which means go to the boiler, then go to get Lightwater, then attack the Traveller.Okay, let's do that.
Off to the boiler room we go.
>“don’t attack Lightwater without everything you have.” Okay, everyone comes. Simple as.
>so the best move is to eliminate all followers - which means clear out the ship of Petrushkas, then attack the TravellerI was under the impression that Silver and Cavalier wanted to minimize casualties, but that works too.
>>193777>>193778>I was under the impression that Silver and Cavalier wanted to minimize casualties, but that works too.That and the time pressure that keeps getting emphasized.
>sleeping means you will get controlled and a lot of the ponies are tiredThis means eliminating the Fellow Traveler before some of our retinue inevitably falls asleep and we have a second mutiny on our digits
>GRU is flooding the island with troopsThis means getting off the island before we are pinned down and killed
>fighting suddenly stops on the islandThis means the GRU took sufficient control and are likely massing for an assault on the
Kostroma>electricity is going out on the Kostroma and if we take too long it can't be restartedLight is a bonus in the upcoming fights and some players want to try to capture the ship altogether
Maybe I autistically focused too hard on the "time is limited, you need to do this NOW" theme but I actually would prefer a more systematic sweep of the ship, since it's a great setpiece. I just thought it was a terrible idea given what we are dealing with. My idea was to kill the Fellow Traveler as soon as possible, loot the ship however we can, and take off in the boats.
>>193781We already have it spelled out for us in prose:
>go to the boiler, then go to get Lightwater, then attack the TravellerSo that's what we will do. No more debate.
>>193781There's also the issue of there likely being a ton of unaccounted for possessed creatures, not to mention however many summons Light Water can bring. A systemic sweep of the ship would allow us to solve at least one of those problems, rather than us getting surrounded by dozens of possessed ponies while we try to fight Light Water.
>>193769>>193776>>193781You can go ahead with the "send the lower HP characters to fight Lightwater in the dark" plan, I can just reassess what the Kostroma segment will be (away from being a sort of semi-traditional dungeon crawl and more like
Crew Expendable from Call of Duty)
>>193785No. Rewriting the dungeon will only further delay the adventure, and probably eliminates any tactical advantage that would have come from trying to take the most direct route. Let's just do what was said with do Boiler -> Light Water -> Intruder
At first I didn't completely understand the fact that boilers could just die and be damaged beyond repair in a time sensitive fashion, so if we want to claim this ship we need to fix that immediately, and to repair it in time we would need to take all of the NPCs with us, including noncombatants like Silver's pet Zigger. It we leave the noncombatants in the boiler room to repair it thru would be in enemy territory, but Light Water and the Intruder obviously want the boiler to be repaired too, so they have no reason to attack them, and we can leave them there with confidence that they should at least be as safe there as they would be on the torpedo ship to maintain that vehicle. The airponies can decide if they want to stay on the torpedo ship or guard the noncombatants in the boiler room.
After that we go to capture Light Water. We already won't have stealth, so we may as well take all of the forces with us, including Monstro who can lift non-fliers and smash through the windows to grab anything close enough to the openings, as well as neutralize large monsters. My intent will be to render him unconscious and use him as a hostage to prevent the Intruder from summoning too many monsters between us and the cargo hold, which I could pull off with some Intimidate and Bluff checks. This could allow us to travel below deck into the cargo hold unmolested without melting a hole in the deck.
After we capture Light Water we carry him unconscious to the Intruder, and fight him however turns out to be effective. When we get to the door of the cargo hold, I could probably just cast Kelgore's Grave Mist into the room and gas all of its thralls, and then have Monstro hold the door shut: those who don't freeze to death from the mist over the course of its duration will be exhausted and be pushovers in a fight. Then we attack the monster. If the thing hatches out into some kind of aboleth-like or neolithid-like soft-bodied monstrosity, then we kill it with bullets. If it does nothing but fart out more of its psychic brain bullshit, then we put the explosive harpoon in its mouth and detonate it from the inside. Then I can sacrifice him and attempt to pray to trap the Intruder's spirit in a receptacle when its body is destroyed to prevent it from jumping to another host. If neither of those work, we retreat and leave this shithole island on the torpedo boat.
This is the simplest plan, and now obviously the intended result.
>B-b-but muh heckin' NPC deaths!Weak members of the herd will be killed off. Two griffons with one stone.
>but what if-Of anything else happens on the way, we improvise.
>>193783Yes I also was messaged about that eventuality. I knew it was likely to happen, but with the time constraint and insistence on the boiler I felt we had no choice at the time. It's never a good thing when the GM halts a quest to prevent a TPK, but it's still better than letting that TPK happen. So we need to reassess.
>>193786>all of the noncombatantsMy instincts are screaming against this. But shoveling coal is probably involved so maybe?
I have to think about this. GM Pony wants to indulge us in the atmosphere and if we're going to be busy herding thirty ponies we won't have the chance to experience any of it. I would much rather explore the ship in the dark with a group of eight or ten but I don't know if it is possible at this point. This whole boiler plotline turns the quest from a search-and-destroy mission to an engineering one. I also don't want to use the
Kostroma as an escape vehicle, so afterward we would probably just have to move the whole group back onto the boats. But maybe that's a good thing because the GRU are coming, maybe? This is stressing me out. I like the way the Kostroma is set up, I don't want it to be rewritten, but on the other hoof there is an implicit time constraint that will penalize us if we proceed the intended way, but if we don't proceed the intended way we will also be penalized.
GM, sorry to sound so critical since you were looking forward to this. There's a creative solution I'm sure.
>>193789While we go to the boiler to relight it, Monstro could be order to go after the GRU ship. He could drop the improvised bomb onto its main gun from above to disable it, then dive into the water before the AA guns can get a good lock on him. Then he can ram the GRU ship onto the beach, preventing them from reaching us. That will give us time for a systemic sweep of the ship, tactically removing the Traveler's Petrushkas to weaken him and Light Water before the final battle. It also lets us take in the atmosphere that GM pone wants us to experience as well as getting to see all of the unique encounters he has in mind.
>>193789>>193790Actually there is one way. We take all the creatures we need to relight the boiler and to fight aboard the
Kostroma, then we send the rest off on one of the two boats. After we complete our mission, we take the other boat, or the freighter if you really want it, and meet up in deep water. This would let us complete the mission the intended way without a rewrite or intentionally gimping ourselves.
Also, destroyers have several main guns.
>>193790>While we go to the boiler to relight it, Monstro could be order to go after the GRU ship.Worth noting that Monstro is a mindless creature and lacking humanoid form cannot necessarily carry out precise tasks without Posey's input.
>Then he can ram the GRU ship onto the beachIt's not actually a collosal whale, he's a huge monster made of whale bones. Best it can do is kamikaze them while carrying all of the torpedos from the plant and the boat (it would need no supervision to do this: a bone lurker is designed specifically to stealthily float above its target, and then drop down on them with a charge attack to catch them flat footed, so kamikaze is its natural style of attack).
If you want me to order the Kamikaze order now, I will comply.
>That will give us time for a systemic sweep of the ship, tactically removing the Traveler's Petrushkas to weaken him and Light Water before the final battle.We already decided Boiler -> Light Water -> Intruder. There doesn't have to be a systemic sweep, because the enemies will come to obstruct us, and we can just kill anything that gets on our way.
>>193789>GM Pony wants to indulge us in the atmosphere and if we're going to be busy herding thirty ponies we won't have the chance to experience any of it. I would much rather explore the ship in the dark with a group of eight or ten but I don't know if it is possible at this point. This whole boiler plotline turns the quest from a search-and-destroy mission to an engineering one.None of us as characters know how to fix a boiler: the mission would only be to escort the NPCs there do that they can work on fixing it, so that we can leave and do the adventure. We shouldn't have to manage any of them.
The hook to go to the boiler room has clearly been laid out, so that is shat we are doing.
>I also don't want to use the Kostroma as an escape vehicle, so afterward we would probably just have to move the whole group back onto the boats.I want both boats. I want to sell them to find my army and my castle. That's my motivation for not escaping with the airponies right now.
>But maybe that's a good thing because the GRU are coming, maybe?When they come I will blow them up by dropping torpedos on them. I will do this even if they do not come to attack us, because they have pissed me off. No mercy. Total destruction.
>This is stressing me out.Then stop thinking about it, and just follow the plan.
>>193791Fine. The ones who can't do anything useful can stay behind on the torpedo ship. I don't care. Let's just go.
Await GM response for who follows Posey into the Torpedo room. No more debate on who is coming and who is not, the NPCs can decide for themselves where they go.
>>193792>We already decided Boiler -> Light Water -> IntruderNo,
you decided that. I've been calling for us to clear the ship since this discussion began. There could be anywhere from 20 to 50 petrushkas left, not to mention the pirate boarding party that has likely also been possessed and the unending amount of summons Light Water and the Traveler can bring into the field. Facing all of those in a single encounter where they
will rush in from behind is certain death.
>>193792>>193786On a very basic, very fundamental level, you're not getting it. You are not understanding it. To understand the
what try to understand the
why.
You've DMed games, right? You've DMed several games and are currently DMing at least one. And then you've played other games. You've played other TTRPGs, you've played video game RPGs, you've played non-RPG video games, and you've watched movies. At least I'm pretty sure you have. Please please
please to look at this from the perspective of a GM. Or from a game design perspective. Just try to think about
why.
Ask yourself,
why would I try to get the party to go to the boiler room? Why would I try to get the party to eliminate the Petrushkas? It's because I want the party to explore the ship. Let me repeat that, because it's very important and I don't know what gets through.
I'm trying to get the party to go through the ship.
Think about it. The boiler room is located on the lowest deck in the middle of the ship. In order to get to it, you'd have to walk through the crew deck, which is the biggest area of the ship, and thus by many locations of interest. Then you'd have to walk past the supply level and into the boiler room itself. That's several of the most interesting areas of the ship. And then if after that, you wanted to find someone who is ambiguously located on the Bridge deck, well, then you'd have to go upwards past all of those things, then past the boat deck, then up to the bridge deck. On all of these levels are multiple areas that at least to me are interesting or have opportunities. These include the galley, kitchen, and crew quarters on the crew deck, the boiler room itself, then the officers' quarters, the Captains' room, the navigation room, the radio room, and the actual bridge of the ship. Even if these two tasks alone didn't necessarily make the players go through these individual areas it would at least get them near them.
Just seriously. The purpose of the lights flickering and going out is to give the players an in universe reason to want to go to the boiler room. The purpose of saying that the traveler is propped up by his followers is to give the players a reason to go through the ship to kill, knock unconscious, disconnect, or otherwise remove the followers of the traveller.
The purpose is to use the location.
As I said in a previous post, the first half of the twentieth century is an age of machines. Among these are automobiles, planes, trains, and ships. I think ships are cool. A big cargo ship like the Kostroma has its own kitchens, many crew quarters, a hierarchy and class system within it, a bridge, big cool engines, and massive cargo holds. This is probably the only time I can actually use that kind of environment anywhere.
And then it's so much more than that, because this is also the only time that the party is likely to face an enemy that can just materialize things. Think about it. It's a derelict cargo freighter where you fight an eldrich abomination. How many times has this been used in media? How many different works have used this? How many things could you do with it? So far the party has fought mind controlled enemies, aberrations, and summoned outsiders. But there's many more kinds of enemies and problems that could be faced.
There have been many, many encounters I have wanted to do that I have not gotten to. I wanted to have the party fight undead at the medieval village, but wasn't able to do it. I wanted the Traveller to make an appearance of viking griffins to fight, or make an illusion of going back in time. that didn't happen. By far and away the biggest miss of the whole questline has been that not once has there been a pitched battle with the stalliongrad forces. I really wanted to use a full squad of soliders with their own special weapons. A combat magician, a light machine gun that you'd want to neutralize before it got deployed, elite soldiers within the group that would be armed with more powerful weapons, and more than anything else, a bard that would sing or play classic soviet songs that I love.
I was going to have a squad of soldiers attack the party at the airship. They would walk through the mist and shoot at the airship, and the party could take cover in teh wreckage or around the rocks. Instead Kira found it by mistake as it was moving towards them, then lost all of her HP in a single round, then Cavaliere said "I can 1v10 them in the open" for reasons beyond me, then you decided you were going to dispose of your dreads by suiciding them against this group. The battle didn't happen. Then I thought I could make a battle at the lighthouse, which could be cool because you have a gunner in the lighthouse and monsters to make it a 3 way battle. That didn't happen, it was toss grenades and leave. Then I thought I could make a battle happen on the way to the village. That didn't happen, the party snuck around them. Okay, well I thought that leaving the village I could have the party find the last airpony in a supply shed just outside of the village, then they get shot out by the GRU and a 3 way battle commences with monsters. I could not, no matter what I did, get the party to step forward, so that battle was scrapped and the last airpony was placed elsewhere. So at no point anywhere was there a battle with the spetsnaz.
There are so many things you can do with the Kostroma. There's environmental storytelling about how the mutiny went down. There's the mystery of the missing pirates. There's potentially survivors taken from the snow pony village, or ponies killed or otherwise made causalities of by the traveler before the main mutiny. There's a captain of the ship and an officer class. There was supposed to be a whole third villain of a Griffin from Skynavia to accompany Lightwater. There's the other cargo the ship was carrying. Then there's many unique types of enemies and challenges. I want to say more, but I'm out of characters.
>>193794>>193792>>193786Anyways, if you think that not only does your character not give a shit about any of that but
you don't give a shit about any of that, then just say so so I can abandon certain ideas and start on others. For the boilers we can just say that they will hold out for as long as the ship is going to continue to exist, which won't be long anyways. Lightwater sure just make him easy to kill I guess. Don't worry about the Petrushkas, all of them were sent to the island and killed off screen by the GRU. I can just handwave away all of that, and it can be just a quick get in, get out thing.
This even opens up new opportunities. Say the ship is sinking. The Traveller knows that all he has to do is to just sit in the cold water and wait for Stalliongrad or New Mareland to salvage the ship in the shallow waters of the bay, then he's back to doing what he wants. So it's a race to try to kill the traveller before the ship sinks. Or something like that. Also facing monsters in dark, narrow corridors, has real horror potential. I can make it work, I just need to know what I am doing.
Anyways, again, all of the things that are going on is an attempt by me, GM, to give your characters in universe reasons to want to explore the ship, and thus make use of the unique environment, and hopefully introduce combat and challenges of a type unlike what has been experienced thus far. And again, if you don't care, just tell me and we can all move on. Because this whole past week has been me trying to do everything I possibly can to try to get the players to have some reason to use the ship.
If you actually want to try to keep the ship or at minimum loot it for its valuables, then explore it. I'd rather it be explored before the climax than in the denouement for a number of reasons. And if you don't give a shit, great. Then let's agree to blow up the ship because blowing up the ship is the best way to use it if it isn't going to be explored. But let's get on the same page.
>>193795Actually, this isn't a bad idea.
Go in the dark with the party to kill lightwater, then plant explosives on the Traveller, blow up the ship in the water, then sail away in the dark.
>>193794I see you are frustrated, GM. I pordon if I have been flippant these past couple weeks. I've been under a lot of stress lately with meatspace issues.
I get your points, and I appreciate the effort. GMs almost universally do a lot more work behind the scenes than is evident to the players, and I can see that that is clear here.
I really just wanted to move the story forward, but idk how to get everyone to agree. This morning I thought the plan to go to explore the and go to the boilers was set in stone, but idk anything.
>>193794>>193795>>193796There is also all of this: even I'm upset that we've missed so much and managed to screw up so many of GM pone's plans an ideas. I've even screwed up a couple of those myself and those I'm especially pissed off about (pissed off at myself, in case it wasn't clear). Please, can we just not do that for once in this mission, and actually explore what he has to offer in the ship instead of trying to speedrun this?
>>193797Then let's agree on this: we go to the boilers, fighting one or two encounters as we will inevitably be ambushed in the dark at least once, and light it. Once it's back on and the lights are lit again, we can explore the ship to take out the petrushkas and find the secrets, lore, and loot that GM pone has planned. Then, after we're done, we can fight Light Water in a far more even playing field, and then take on the Traveler.
>>193792>We already decided Boiler -> Light Water -> Intruder.>Then stop thinking about it, and just follow the plan.I'm being pedantic but I mentioned multiple times how we have no formal plan and how this just kind of happened as a compromise. Let's not make the same mistake and instead have a concrete agreement, now that things are much simpler.
>There doesn't have to be a systemic sweep, because the enemies will come to obstruct us, and we can just kill anything that gets on our way.The sacred texts!
>I want both boats. I want to sell them to find my army and my castle. That's my motivation for not escaping with the airponies right now.We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
>When they come I will blow them up by dropping torpedos on them. I will do this even if they do not come to attack us, because they have pissed me off. No mercy. Total destruction.I think you're severely overestimating the chances of a jihadist floating whale against an elite destroyer with multiple batteries, anti-aircraft guns and radar. In my personal opinion we would have more success with a conventional hit-and-run torpedo strike using the boat, but that has a high risk of losing the boat and anypony aboard.
>>193794>missed encountersI'm sorry and am probably more responsible than anybody else. I've constantly emphasized stealth, speed and avoiding direct engagements which of course included the very battle you sought to have. Task failed successfully I guess. And of course a lot of it was due to us being bone-headed and not too perceptive.
>Kostroma stuffLet us see for ourselves. We'll give you what you want.
>>193795>>193797>And again, if you don't care, just tell me and we can all move on.Posey's player is just more autistic than any of us. I don't mean that in a negative way. I love him (no homo) and how he comes up with clever ways to game the system. It's good to have a person who thinks on a different wavelength, even if it leads to misunderstandings. If this was about videogames a good comparison would be a speedrunner vs. an immersive gamer. Someone who takes time, listens to all the music, reads all the text, and savors it like a novel cares about the game. Someone who studies all the idiosyncracies of the game's programming and uses them to skip as much as possible to reach the ending also cares, just in a different way.
The idea of opening the cargo hold and attacking from above was frankly brilliant, even if it wasn't going to work. It's the sort of tactic a veteran of dungeons in Dungeons and Dragons (a pretty important part of the game, considering the name) would come up with. If Mended Horn and the
Kostroma were a module like Gary Gygax used to make, that could be played by any group at any time, then this sort of workaround would be commendable. It's only a problem because it's a custom quest meticulously designed to be played only once by one group of people, and if we avoid all the dangerous stuff and grab a win as quickly as possible it robs us of the experience. To prevent this from happening again we need to keep considering "why" from a narrative standpoint instead of always doing the smartest thing from our characters' perspectives.
>>193798I agree.
I still want to send off all the creatures who aren't going with us so we don't have to worry about them.
>>192977<its this guy againIt occurred to me as I went to get supplies for the soup I guess I'm making, that there would be an "accidental" way to vastly ease the time-constraints.
What if some room, after a bit of searching etc, happens to have the eerie quality of blocking the tinnitus? IE for no explicable reason the ebil dream-walker can't see into this black box. So long as there was enough floor space for Kira to stretch out while leaving Caveliere enough room to floomph out flat, you could opt to balance regaining spell slots with how-long-will-the-GRU-wait with a bit more finesse.
Again, thinking of the times I've DM'd, I killed an idea or two by stirring in the "
DONT fall
asleep" mix-in. maybe a compromise on that would encourage a more thoughtful speedrun, if you will.
Or won't, of course...its your game, after all.
>>193787 →Why is Posey suddenly and unilaterally altering the NPC composition? I thought the party had a nice lean set for the initial investigation of the ship
>>193798>>193799>>193797The problem with the previous plan was that it simultaneously split the party, was going after a hard target, and was going to get itself surrounded by weaker enemies.
Seriously just ask yourself, what kind of proper villain battle is one that can be defeated by only 2/3 of the party even being there? That's already kind of a lame villain fight. But then on top of that there was a plan to skip all of the lesser enemies, so that the other enemies would all dog pile onto the 2/3 of the party and block off any chance of retreat while simultaneously surrounding them. If you want to split up the party to explore, okay fine. If you want to simultaneously battle the boss
and every single enemy you just skipped past when you refused to clear out the rooms... that's kind of lame, but at least add more bodies to absorb more hits.
>>193799Basically, it comes down to "Are the characters going to explore the ship or not?" Because I spent most of the past week trying to contrive reasons the players would want to go to more parts of the ship than just where the Traveler is, and if there really is nothing that I can do to get characters to go to multiple parts of the ship then I may as well know now so I can get my expectations right and can plan accordingly. Otherwise I'm just going to be indefinitely throwing things in an increasingly unworkable attempt to get characters to do things they are never going to do.
>>193799>>193792>Monstro versus the destroyerThe party quite simply has no weapons that equal the destroyer. Its main guns are stronger than anything the party has, and frankly so are its anti-aircraft weapons. If the destroyer knows you are there, at best you can attempt to run or hide, but it's so fast and its weapons have such a long and indirect range that even those options aren't really options.
A torpedo boat absolutely has the firepower to sink a destroyer if it is lucky. But it should be remembered that "Destroyer" is short for "Torpedo Boat Destroyer." It's not a fair match up. I'm less sure about Kamikaze Monstro. It has the massive disadvantage that it will be delivering its payload from above the water line, it has to get immediately next to it, and it has less explosive power. It would need to survive long enough to get close to it and also be able to do enough damage to sink it, or at least, prevent it from causing trouble. That's not easy, because destroyers are large and bristling with anti-aircraft.
>I want to sell both boats to fund my army and my castleBuying or building?
>Silver's pet ziggerZara's expertise with engines means that she's one of a small number of NPCs that could help in a meaningful way with the Kostroma's boilers, engines, and power generators (and this is absolutely not a one-pony job). So sending her in makes sense.
But it means she's not on the torpedo boat repairing engine 3, so that means that the Torpedo boat won't be able to, just to pick a task at random, outrun a destroyer. It's supposed to be a tradeoff. Either get the Kostroma up faster but the Torpedoboat can't outrun a destroyer, or make sure the torpedo boat is up to full, but the Kostroma is still dead in the water. She's definitely not exactly combat material, however. Also Silver wanted to bring her along to, I assume, trauma bond, and maybe accomplish some kind of romantic bonding. And don't make fun of him for wanting to fuck the zeeb. No one else is trying to fuck anything, so he needs to pull the weight of everyone.
>>193800That's not a terrible idea. It's already established that a faraday cage could probably completely stop the Traveler's psychic qualities
>>193801>Why is Posey suddenly and unilaterally altering the NPC composition? I thought the party had a nice lean set for the initial investigation of the shipI must be confused. If what I said did not accurately represent what the party agreed to, ignore that part of my post and roll with the agreed ups n plan.
>"Are the characters going to explore the ship or notI do want to explore the ship. The party just seemed to believe that was s bad idea, but if you are prepared for that it's what we should do. Let's start with the path to the boiler room and go from there.
>I'm less sure about Kamikaze Monstro. It has the massive disadvantage that it will be delivering its payload from above the water line, it has to get immediately next to it, and it has less explosive power. It would need to survive long enough to get close to it and also be able to do enough damage to sink it, or at least, prevent it from causing trouble. That's not easy, because destroyers are large and bristling with anti-aircraft. Monstro does not need to breathe. Nothing really prevents it from swimming underwater or crawling along the sea floor, and then jump onto the deck with a flying dive from the water.
It should be able to sustain 2-3 rounds of direct fire, because it takes only half damage from piercing weapons.
>buying or buildingBoth. I said I wanted to buy off the farm from Glass Horizons after convincing him that it is haunted insurance liability, and then I want to build my research facility and stronghold there. It's just a pipe dream, but my character is trying to raise funds to build up her army, which is why she's doing mercenary work. Also because she wants to level up.
>So sending her in makes sense. But it means she's not on the torpedo boat repairing engine 3, so that means that the Torpedo boat won't be able to, just to pick a task at random, outrun a destroyer.Yeah, I thought of that, which is why I wanted her on the torpedo boat, but Silver insists on bringing her for some reason.
...
I will try to respond to these ooc posts in better detail later. I'm really burnt out from work this week.
>>193801>Seriously just ask yourself, what kind of proper villain battle is one that can be defeated by only 2/3 of the party even being there?Not to mention picking the harder route of capturing rather than killing. If we had any real chance at stealth, I think we could do it without getting immediately ganked, but against this sort of enemy I don't see it happening. Not having any automatic weapons with this group is also a bad decision.
>A torpedo boat absolutely has the firepower to sink a destroyer if it is lucky. But it should be remembered that "Destroyer" is short for "Torpedo Boat Destroyer." It's not a fair match up.Yes, though at least under these circumstances the destroyer is near an uneven coast which allows for a surprise attack under cover of darkness. It would still constitute a suicide mission which is why I wouldn't want to do it unless if we had no other options.
>And don't make fun of him for wanting to fuck the zeeb. No one else is trying to fuck anything, so he needs to pull the weight of everyone.Cries in AmberI don't care what he does as soon as we don't have super-secret time-sensitive mission objectives>It's already established that a faraday cage could probably completely stop the Traveler's psychic qualitiesI don't know what's scarier, the Fellow Traveler escaping on the
Kostroma or Stalliongrad succeeding in containing and researching it.
>>193803I don't want to take more NPCs than we strictly need.
>Monstro does not need to breathe. Nothing really prevents it from swimming underwater or crawling along the sea floor, and then jump onto the deck with a flying dive from the water.It should be able to sustain 2-3 rounds of direct fire, because it takes only half damage from piercing weapons.
Destroyers also have hydrophones and maybe SONAR, though we don't know if they'll be actively using it at the moment.
>Yeah, I thought of that, which is why I wanted her on the torpedo boat, but Silver insists on bringing her for some reason.We were told that restoring electricity will take much less effort than fully restoring the
Kostroma's engines. I prefer the more conservative route of letting the ship stay put and escaping on the boats after we leave. We do have the option of trying to sail it but we will open ourselves to being chased down and sunk.
>I'm really burnt out from work this week.I don't blame you.
>>193794>I'm trying to get the party to go through the ship.>These include the galley, kitchen, and crew quarters on the crew deck, the boiler room itself, then the officers' quarters, the Captains' room, the navigation room, the radio room, and the actual bridge of the ship. Even if these two tasks alone didn't necessarily make the players go through these individual areas it would at least get them near them. Understood. Let's make our way to the boiler, then light water, then the Intruder, and explore/fight everything we see on the way there.
>The purpose of saying that the traveler is propped up by his followers is to give the players a reason to go through the ship to kill, knock unconscious, disconnect, or otherwise remove the followers of the traveller. The purpose is to use the location.Shoot everything that moves. Got it. More than willing.
>there's many more kinds of enemies and problems that could be faced.Ooh? Sounds like fun.
>There have been many, many encounters I have wanted to do that I have not gotten to.As a GM, you have my condolences.
>I wanted to have the party fight undead at the medieval village, but wasn't able to do it.I'm kind of bummed that didn't happen, because it's relevant to my character's skillset and simply encountering undead would have been its own reward for me, but I'm not really sure what the trigger to cause that would have been. I tried to comfort the colt by speaking soothingly and hugging him to get him to lead us to something. Maybe I should have just opened with a Rebuke to calm or control him. Missed opportunity. Oh well.
>I really wanted to use a full squad of soliders with their own special weapons. A combat magician, a light machine gun that you'd want to neutralize before it got deployed, elite soldiers within the group that would be armed with more powerful weapons, and more than anything else, a bard that would sing or play classic soviet songs that I love. I remember that encounter being the most obvious combat encounter setup ever, and I was ready to fight it, but I was outvoted for how to approach it and it ended up being resolved with a luck roll to sneak past. I tried to negotiate with the party and convince them that the enemies would have level-appropriate loot as well as the machine gun, but everyone else just wanted to run for the sake of avoiding casualties.
I should say though, while my character was the only one willing to fight, my character is also the only one with unlimited out-of combat self-healing. It's actually an odd situation, because as the only spellcaster I should be the one worried about my long rest resources being depleted, but everyone else has lost hit points and had several close calls and are out of healing resources, possibly exacerbated by the fact that most of the party isn't really properly equipped for adventuring (some of them have +2 weapons, but don't have basic things like sufficient healing items or even stat-boosting items). Perhaps it's further exacerbated by the way the party entered this mission thinking that they would have two healers and neither of them are present. Also the good-aligned characters seem to think that being good means avoiding NPC death at all costs, and with the huge herd of NPCs I guess that means avoiding combat whenever possible.
>>193809As a GM, I think you should really consider the XP budget of this adventure for how it has affected the mindsets of other players. In 3.5e, the recommended number of party-level encounters per day is four encounters before having an opportunity to rest (in 5e, it's 6-8); more encounters after that would be considered to be in unfavorable conditions (worth 1.25x-2x experience). The party has already experienced more than that, with no opportunities to rest. Whether or not this this makes the adventure too hard is open for debate, but consider that having an excessive of encounters per adventuring day gradually begins to distort the player's attitudes towards the encounters, making players try to avoid encounters than fight through them. This is especially true in long-lasting play-by-post games, where the party becomes increasingly eager to see the completion of the story, because they slowly begin to view encounters as an obstacle to continuing the story instead of the fun of the story itself where they get to use their cool abilities on enemies, especially when the enemy forces are seemingly infinite from the player's perspective.
It's a bit of a perfect storm of player hesitation. You could add the fact that this is a milestone game instead of an XP game. If XP turns players into "murder hobos", milestone games turn players into "plot goblins", as lack of XP as an immediate reward after an encounter subconsciously makes players want to evade encounter to finish the plot instead of engage every encounter they can. I have run games with both XP and milestone, and this is one of the reasons why I prefer XP as a system (that and because I'm just really fond of 3.5e's unique self-correcting XP formula).
It's really a matter of incentives. When players are hesitant to engage with content because they are short on resources and/or are afraid of what's to come, they need incentives to pull them in, that being the promise of treasure or progression as characters.
There's also loot as an incentive. Although you made it clear how frustrating it was that players weren't looting, that could in part be addressed by placing items that are more obviously useful to players, such as healing potions. I GM'd a campaign that had hundreds of lvl 2 warriors as enemies, and every single one of them dropped a masterwork longsword, a masterwork chain shirt, and TWO potions of Cure Moderate Wounds. If every soldier had dropped at least one standard issue healing potion, I think the living characters would be more willing to fight then for them. You talked about trying to have realistic placement of loot, but consider that Equestria is a high magic setting where potions are confirmed to exist, so maybe it would be normal for soldiers to carry them. It does nothing for my character, but maybe it would subconsciously incentivize the other players.
The culmination of it all was how the players approached the Kostroma. They seemingly didn't even recognize it as a complete dungeon (basically its own adventure with its own quest line and XP budget), but the final battle they needed to do to finish their current quest. They decided to "go for the dragon first" because from their perspective the dragon was the final boss of their current adventure, instead of the boss of a dungeon.
And I'm not saying this as criticism or even suggesting any immediate changes, but I'm trying to help you understand the conditions that lead to these sorts of frustrating situations so that we can better understand each other and subconscious factors that cause misunderstandings. GMing games is hard, so I want to offer some perspectives to help out.
>There have been many, many encounters I have wanted to do that I have not gotten to. GM, if you want players to engage with an encounter, it's okay to just throw the encounters at their faces with a truckload of cement ala surprise round instead of waiting for the players to do it. You control the narrative, so maybe don't frustrate yourself by letting your content schedule hinge on players doing something specific, because that is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
There are a lot of ways to force encounters. Give the enemy mage a scroll of invisibility sphere, it potions of invisibility. Have an enemy with the track feat hunt down the party. Have enemies wait to ambush the party. Or simply make enemies bump into the party for no reason and roll initiative immediately. You already have an enemy that summons monsters all around us from anywhere, you could do the same with the other encounters.
>>193810>I was going to have a squad of soldiers attack the party at the airship.Yeah, I did bypass that with my nat 20 Intimidate check. I did get to feel scary though, which was fun.
>Instead Kira found it by mistake as it was moving towards them, then lost all of her HP in a single round, then Cavaliere said "I can 1v10 them in the open" for reasons beyond meYeah, that was a bad idea.... The rangers thought their stealth and perception would let them avoid it if they went alone.
>then you decided you were going to dispose of your dreads by suiciding them against this group.I did that because you expressed discontent with me having minions, so I got rid of them to help the others survive.
>I could not, no matter what I did, get the party to step forwardI recall trying to step forward, but the rest of the party didn't want to.
Pro Tip: whenever a player mentions doing something you want them to do, immediately canonize it before anyone else can hesitate. Just move th story forward whenever you can. You can even make the uncontrolled NPCs take initiative to railroad players into the plot.>There are so many things you can do with the Kostroma. There's environmental storytelling about how the mutiny went down. There's the mystery of the missing pirates. There's potentially survivors taken from the snow pony village, or ponies killed or otherwise made causalities of by the traveler before the main mutiny. There's a captain of the ship and an officer class. There was supposed to be a whole third villain of a Griffin from Skynavia to accompany Lightwater. There's the other cargo the ship was carrying. Then there's many unique types of enemies and challenges.That sounds like fun.
>>193795I do want to do it. Let's just do it. Let's go to the boiler room and witness everything on the way there. Please start narrating the path to the boiler room before anyone else suggests otherwise.and opens up another month of debate.
...
>>193801>I thought the party had a nice lean set for the initial investigation of the shipI was confused. Do the thing that was agreed to.
>"Are the characters going to explore the ship or not?The answer is yes. Let's just do it.
>I'm less sure about Kamikaze Monstro. It has the massive disadvantage that it will be delivering its payload from above the water line, it has to get immediately next to it, and it has less explosive powerIt only needs to make a hole in the ship to sink it, and it can travel over land, air and underwater. I could tell it to approach from underwater and try to sink the shop by ramming the hull with all of its harpoons or floppy onto the deck after jumping out of the water and doing and flying up to build momentum before falling. A single torpedo swung as an improved weapon could potentially do like 30d6 before it explodes. You can secretly roll a d100 and then narrate to tell us if it works or not.
I suggested it because I saw you didn't like how I had a powerful minion, so I thought to dispose of it in a way that helped the party, just like I did with the dreads.
>ziggerI think we should leave her on the torpedo boat, and let the Kostroma crew repair the boiler. Idk.
>>193811>Yeah, that was a bad idea.... The rangers thought their stealth and perception would let them avoid it if they went alone.To Kira's credit, she would have been fine had the dice gods decided not to do a "funny" and have me roll a nat 1 on stealth at the absolute worst time. She would have gone into stealth, retreated to the rest of the party, and warned them about the coming encounter, but instead...I can't say much about Garv's choice to try to assassinate one of the Spetsnaz soldiers or the dreads being sent in on a suicide mission when everyone had already escaped, but at least Kira's misfortune in that moment was down to just plain bad luck.
I won't lie, I absolutely would have asked for a do-over if Kira died there. It's one thing if your PC dies in a normal fight, it's another entirely when they die because a nat 1 causes them to go from 100% health to dead in a single round.You do make good points about the health economy in this game. A lack of healing options and the number of intended encounters has absolutely impacted how I've approached facing down enemies as of late. Early on in the quest I had no problem rushing into battle, but as my PCs' health started depleting rapidly along with our healing spells I started trying to avoid needless fights if the option was there, which also sometimes led to inaction if the choice was between one encounter or another.
>I think we should leave her on the torpedo boat, and let the Kostroma crew repair the boiler. Idk.But zeeb waifu
>>193810>>193809>the missed combat encountersI'm not upset with players sneaking past enemies rather than engaging. The mission objectives were very deliberately set up in such a way that engaging in combat with the pony-enemies was not strictly necessary. What bothered me more was the foiled ambush outside of the airship - not because it was foiled, but because I got blamed for an organized squad of 10 soldiers explicitly stated to be
special forces being undesirable to 1v10 - and the whole kerfuffle of the village, where my original plan of the ghost child had to be scrapped because a small helpless child was the only thing in the entire game the players wanted to attack, because they didn't want to fight the aberrant monsters outside the house
without trying to make a distraction, ask if there were alternate ways of exiting the house, or putting in any of the effort of avoiding combat, and because I couldn't get the players to walk forward on a street where you could literally only go forward or backward, and so had to cut out a battle, a scene, and several buildings.
>You can make an encounter happen by (lists multiple ways to have the enemy surprise attack the players)Yes, I know. I was terrified that the players would find some way to miss the torpedo boat and I'm happy that making it basically invisible and letting it ambush the players worked. But you're missing the point. It's not so much the combat encounters that bother me, but when scenes, details, and especially areas are skipped or ignored or not explored.
>players need incentives in order to explore the ship as opposed to just beelining for where the objective isYeah, I know. The disadvantage of a ship is that basically every location on the vessel has multiple points of entry. That's why after going to the Traveller was brought up, then it was a suggestion of "well, go after Lightwater first." Then it was a suggestion of "hey, turn the boilers on." Then it was a suggestion of "he's drawing power from the followers, take out the followers." And then after that it was "Nah, let's split the party and send 2/3 to take on the dragon." And that was when I realized that I didn't really have the power to make the party do what I wanted them to do, and the best thing to do was to just flatout ask the party if they wanted to explore or if they wanted to speedrun, because if they want to speedrun let me rewrite the end game so it doesn't end in a TPK and can be more satisfying
>>193809>Let's make our way to the boiler, then light water, then the Intruder, and explore/fight everything we see on the way there.I'm glad we agree on the general plan. Now for the finer details.
>Shoot everything that moves.Some killing will be inevitable but let's capture who we can.
>It's actually an odd situation, because as the only spellcaster I should be the one worried about my long rest resources being depleted, but everyone else has lost hit points and had several close calls and are out of healing resources, possibly exacerbated by the fact that most of the party isn't really properly equipped for adventuring (some of them have +2 weapons, but don't have basic things like sufficient healing items or even stat-boosting items). Perhaps it's further exacerbated by the way the party entered this mission thinking that they would have two healers and neither of them are present. Also the good-aligned characters seem to think that being good means avoiding NPC death at all costs, and with the huge herd of NPCs I guess that means avoiding combat whenever possible.Cavaliere has the excuse of simply not having time to buy healing items and having to rely on the meagre amount we got at the start of the mission. We are sorely missing those healers and it would have been nice if one of the scientists or other ponies had medical expertise.
>This is especially true in long-lasting play-by-post games, where the party becomes increasingly eager to see the completion of the story, because they slowly begin to view encounters as an obstacle to continuing the story instead of the fun of the story itself where they get to use their cool abilities on enemies, especially when the enemy forces are seemingly infinite from the player's perspective.>If XP turns players into "murder hobos", milestone games turn players into "plot goblins", as lack of XP as an immediate reward after an encounter subconsciously makes players want to evade encounter to finish the plot instead of engage every encounter they can.Very true! I don't mind some combat, but like you said it's a perfect storm.
>I GM'd a campaign that had hundreds of lvl 2 warriors as enemies, and every single one of them dropped a masterwork longsword, a masterwork chain shirt, and TWO potions of Cure Moderate Wounds.This feels ludicrous. Nevertheless, I agree on healing items being more common. I don't know what sort of kit the Soviets were using circa 1945.
>GM, if you want players to engage with an encounter, it's okay to just throw the encounters at their faces with a truckload of cement ala surprise round instead of waiting for the players to do it.He did this with the petrushkas coming from the fog and it went great.
>I suggested it because I saw you didn't like how I had a powerful minion, so I thought to dispose of it in a way that helped the party, just like I did with the dreads.Why don't you just park it in the water off Baltimare? Posey has a goal of building an undead army so it makes sense she would save her assets.
>I think we should leave her on the torpedo boat, and let the Kostroma crew repair the boiler. Idk.I second this. There are two practical reasons to take her with us. The first is to calm down the pirates if any are still lucid, but Wistful Wonder can also do that. The second is to restore the boiler to full functionality. We don't need to do that unless if we absolutely want to take the whole
Kostroma with us, and you need to come up with a better argument for doing that than >money.
>>193814>What bothered me more was the foiled ambush outside of the airship - not because it was foiled, but because I got blamed for an organized squad of 10 soldiers explicitly stated to be special forces being undesirable to 1v10I'm again sorry about that. It's my fault for not knowing how DnD combat works and thinking I could take out their leader without being detected.
>because they didn't want to fight the aberrant monsters outside the house without trying to make a distraction, ask if there were alternate ways of exiting the house, or putting in any of the effort of avoiding combat, and because I couldn't get the players to walk forward on a street where you could literally only go forward or backward, and so had to cut out a battle, a scene, and several buildings.I really wanted to explore the whole village but a number of things kept Cavaliere from doing that. There was the repeated issue of an apparent time crunch where we had to get the NPCs out or they would be surrounded by monsters and the GRU.
>I was terrified that the players would find some way to miss the torpedo boat and I'm happy that making it basically invisible and letting it ambush the players worked.What's funny is that your prediction was correct and we were going to try to sneak by it again.
>>193813>But zeeb waifuBro, if you bring horny is going to get in the way of our plans, I'm going to read her entrails.
>>193819>Cavaliere has the excuse of simply not having time to buy healing items and having to rely on the meagre amount we got at the start of the mission.Probably should have thought harder about your starting equipment, but it's too late for that.
>We are sorely missing those healers and it would have been nice if one of the scientists or other ponies had medical expertise.I would prefer to just loot a wand of Cure Light Wounds. Mundane healing is a joke.
>This feels ludicrous.It's really not. A lvl 2 nonelite character has 700 gold pieces in equipment, and potions are the most sensible thing to give them.
>I don't know what sort of kit the Soviets were using circa 1945.This is not the Soviet Union. This is magical pony land.
>Why don't you just park it in the water off Baltimare?That was my original plan. I even have another one parked in the swamp.
Nice thing about mindless undead is that you can just order them to bury themselves and wait to be summoned at a later date.
>The first is to calm down the pirates if any are still lucidI wasn't really planning on leaving the pirates alive.
>The second is to restore the boiler to full functionalityThe Kostroma crew should be able to do that.
>you need to come up with a better argument for doing that than >moneyWell, since you're so intent on rescuing NPCs, you should consider that they would need a boat big enough to carry them all if they want to leave the island alive.
Money is also the reason why we came. Posey is a single mother and an aspiring small business entrepreneur. She's not killing the Eldritch abomination for free. Also, it's what a real pirate would do.
>>193819>>193820>ZeebSo, the Torpedo boat works, you only need the third engine if you needed to, let's say, outrun a destroyer. Or fight a destroyer. Or evade the main guns of a destroyer. For almost any other purpose, the torpedo boat is fine.
>EntrailsBruh. She's not a chicken.
I understand Silver wanting to get inside her, but Posey?
>Healing potions and loot and what have youHave you considered that you haven't actually taken down any of the Spetsnaz soldiers (except maybe ones taken out by grenades) in order to loot them?
As for the sailors, if they had anything of value, they either didn't have time to take it off the ship before the mutiny forced them off, or they are mind controlled and don't think to take it off the ship. Either way, basically everything of value on the
Kostroma stayed where it was prior to the mutiny.
Admittedly not having a healer among the NPCs was a missed opportunity>700 goldGuns are expensive, then consider helmets, gas masks, and a myriad of other required equipment
>>193820>Puerto Rico flagI didn't think you were a spic.
>I wasn't really planning on leaving the pirates alive.Why not? A "real pirate" would incorporate the willing within a rival crew into one's own. And anyway if we're trying to keep NPCs alive we might as well go for them all.
>Well, since you're so intent on rescuing NPCs, you should consider that they would need a boat big enough to carry them all if they want to leave the island alive.That's a good point. Nevertheless, the swan boat plus the life boats were enough to carry our entire retinue up to now. The torpedo boat would be enough for the pirate crew plus whatever remains of the
Kostroma crew. However, if we send off one of the boats prematurely then we might not have enough capacity on the remaining one.
>Money is also the reason why we came. Posey is a single mother and an aspiring small business entrepreneur. She's not killing the Eldritch abomination for free.As it stands, we can negotiate for a far larger sum than we would have gotten. On top of a successful mission, thwarting a Stalliongrad research experiment, saving the world from some entity, retrieving information on said entity, and getting a large number of defectors/prisoners who may prove useful will all add up. That's in addition to whatever we carry from the
Kostroma, whether that be money, precious metals, weapons, or secret documents. Except for the remains of the entity and whatever else we can't carry with us, the ship itself probably will not be valuable.
>Also, it's what a real pirate would do.The real pirates were using a torpedo boat. This isn't the age of sail where you could realistically upgun a merchant vessel to stand a chance against a dedicated ship of war. There is a very real chance it will get boarded or sunk if we try to leave with it.
>>193823So it seems we're picking between two bonii where one maximizes speed for our escape and the other lets us use the
Kostroma.
>>193826>thwarting a Stalliongrad research experiment, saving the world from some entity, retrieving information on said entity,If only there were some way to prove it...
>DefectorsThat's actually a good point
>>193826>So it seems we're picking between two bonii where one maximizes speed for our escape and the other lets us use the Kostroma.Yes.
>>193827Another reason to bring the zeeb: she can help get the Kostroma running and we can bring it carrying the corpse of the Traveler to Clear Waters and prove that we killed a god. And of course, killing a god deserves more pay.
We just need to hold him to destroying the corpse by any means necessary once we prove it.
>>193828>We just need to hold him to destroying the corpse by any means necessary once we prove it.That is incredibly naive and he would have no ability to ensure that himself. The only creatures that can make sure it is destroyed is ourselves, right now. Photos, documents, and testimony from the crew will be enough to prove our case.
>>193828A corpse of a dead god would surely be valued by the Blackhooves and New Mareland military intelligence. Contact Stalliongrad millitary intelligence and you can get a bidding war started. Maybe even add Changlingia, or the Empire.
>>193831It would be valued by ME, the Necromancer. I already have plans on what I would do when I acquire the body of a creature with Divine Rank.
I intend to leverage my earned recognition with the Blackhooves and the Military from succeeding on this successful mission to secure a large research grant for the College of Arcane Sciences.
Furthermore, I have another research proposal to exterminate the Changeling occupiers in Equestria with a necrotic hyperweapon, which I call the Manehattan Project. I think the military might be very interested in it.
>>193828>we can bring it carrying the corpse of the Traveler to Clear Waters and prove that we killed a god. And of course, killing a god deserves more pay.We do have the camera for proof of everything.
Furthermore, we have all of the living airponies to testify for what we went through. Their testimony alone should be enough proof even without pictures.
>>193836The laboratory is right next to where it's stored as well, so if it's not too damaged we should be able to loot documents that were left behind. The research information that's contained will be even more value.
I’d hardly be surprised if no one wants to speculate about new quest ideas, but this old and crowed cemetery gives me ideas for the necropolis I’m planning in a quest for Silver to find a very special ring.
>>193863>I’d hardly be surprised if no one wants to speculate about new quest ideasI speculate all of the time, but I try to keep it to myself so that I don't annoy everyone. Also I try to focus on the quest at hand.
As for future quests, I have several things that I would like to do with my downtime after this quest, which include orchestrating a false haunting, buying some land, getting clout with the Blackhooves, getting clout with the university, driving out some communists, opening a business, acquiring research grants, conjuring a castle, and reporting back to the League. I do not know how much money I will have or what level I will be, so I cannot plan for specifics, but I have a lot of ideas.
On the topic, while looking for materials for my Savage Tide Campaign, I found interesting mechanics and flavors for Hauntings of various natures, and I thought some of them might be similar to what we are encountering right now (Dreamscape, Planar Cancer, Bad Place, Entity, etc). They supplement the Libris Mortis rules well. GM might find them useful for quests going, including that Necropolis.
https://archive.org/details/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine336/page/n17/mode/1upObviously, I do not expect this to work the same way, but it made me wonder if Posey's turning ability might be able to help exorcise the Intruder's Influence in some contexts going forward. Posey is an exorcist by profession.
>necropolis I’m planning in a quest for Silver to find>SilverOi, Posey is literally a Necropolitan.
>>193863Do you
want to hear speculation?
>>193876nodsOne, it can give me ideas. Two, especially if you want something, you’re more likely to get it if u have time to think about it.
>>193877I'd love to experience battle in the snow and ice. Explosions sending columns of snow into the air, shaking nearby snow-covered evergreens. Crimson blood staining the otherwise pristine white landscape. Kinda like Wasteland 3's setting. That opening mission where the Rangers get ambushed outside the frozen dam is peak.
>>193863>but this old and crowed cemetery gives me ideasThis pone paying respect gives me ideas too.
>>193877>speculation Well, as far as speculation goes, I can only imagine how this event plays into the larger overall plot of the story. What I do think is that it involves a major milestone in character progression, as characters after having neutralized a potentially continental level threat can be considered to be on the latter end of the "heroes of the realm" tier of play, potentially approaching the "masters of the realm" tier of play, which means characters leveling up (I anticipate being 7+ soon) and gaining key class features and game-changing feats such as leadership. If victorious in this mission, with the elite airponies as witnesses to our valor, the party will have gained great renown among the Navy and the Blackhooves as mercenaries, perhaps with roleplay-oriented rewards similar to the Heroes Of Battle Recognition Point System. Having such recognition would mean that the Blackhooves and the Navy would be more likely to solicit party members in the future, possibly for major military campaign operations that would bring the game's plot more in line with the Equestria At War inspired military campaign it has been fluffed as. This might include things like neutralizing changeling incursions or seizing military checkpoints. Being more involved in military operations may also mean that players, through their actions, may have opertunities to make decisions that impact the overall fate of the occupied Equestria. Recognition ad mercenaries from the military and ruling party may also give players more freedom to operate as they please in Baltimare, like having access to military-restricted weapons, or building standing armies of followers, opening up many more personal activities for characters. The military may become more actutely interested in the abilities of the individual characters, possibly soliciting them for quests tailored to their specific skillsets and class abilities.
If the game does transition towards a more military style of play, characters may be called on to assist in major military campaigns, directly or indirectly. This would lead them to new locations both nearby and remote, doing various optional or less optional quests to assist allies or undermine enemies, perhaps using the Victory Point system in Heroes Of Battle.
As for military missions, the role of Changelings has yet to manifest in my two years experience playing (at least not visibly), so I speculate that they will either make an aggressive move in the near future or the party will be called on to attack or infiltrate changeling hives. I understood it that the major goal of this campaign is to eventually liberate Equestria from changeling occupation, so I feel like what we have done so far must have helped prepare us for that or somehow contributed to that. Bug squishing on the horizon.
While characters may have varying levels of interest in participating in a full scale war with changelings, to my understanding there are a majority of canon characters from FiM currently cocooned or worse, which is a status quo that few players would be willing to accept, so I imagine that might play a role in future adventures.
I anticipate that all of this happens after some downtime though, with players having several months to themselves before a major plot point summons them again. Players would then have the opportunity to spend their money and properly equip themselves. They might also have time for extreme training and personal contemplation (which means leveling and/or rebuilding character sheets). With the funds from this mission, particularly of the Kostroma is captured and sold, players may be able to open businesses, research topics that interest them, and build armies for those interested. Other players may be interested in crafting magic items, or other downtime activities.
The advent of the Intruder may be relevant to the plot as it represents an otherworldly extraplanar threat to the world, and may foreshadow more to come in the future. Perhaps higher level characters might find themselves in the midst of a full force alien incursion, along the lines of a Githyanki or Mindflayer invasion, or even possibly a demonic invasion. I speculate that that might only come in the distant future though, as terrestrial military conflicts are far more relevant.
>>193863Cavaliere would confront grave robbers. But there are other things he could do.
>>193880>recognitionMaybe. I would like to offset the distrust the Blackhooves have, understandably, toward outsiders like us. Just being able to complete mundane quests while having an understanding with the authorities in charge is an understated bonus. It also doesn't come at the cost of damaging reputation with any other group in Stalliongrad.
>changelingsI suppose that's the end goal. Unfortunately that would also mean the end of the campaign (Posey's rampage notwithstanding), and I don't think GM Pony wants to conclude it yet. That's why we're being asked about quests.
>downtimeI'm fine with that. We don't have to simulate every single day. However after this quest we can have a couple of days of less intense gameplay.
>They might also have time for extreme training and personal contemplation (which means leveling and/or rebuilding character sheets).This is what Cavaliere needs.
>>193880Well, maybe “speculation” was the wrong word. What I meant was “do you have any suggestions or plans or ideas for possible quests or other things for your character to do?”
>>193882Tbh, it would depend what level we are at the end of this, but I have quite a few downtime activities planned, which could be done in or out of character depending on how GM wants to run them.
Since I follow this and the other thread anyway, do you guys want a healer? I'm way more familiar with original-pathfinder than 3.5, but 3.5 had a 'healer' class (medic, from Heroes of Battle, suggests Reddit, maybe) that would bypass the deific aspects that weird me out just a bit.
But other ideas about "healers" I've had were the cleric who crafted 'cause medium wounds' potions as a lobbed touch-attack weapon; this would have the benefit of accumulating health potions if I'm not drained of magical resources on any given day. But the potion-as-touch_attack would require a nod from the DM going into it.
Or just a bard? Skill monkey with Jack-of-All-Trades as a career. Not the best healer but could operate a lockpit kit without too much of a penalty, and as a griffon would presumably have a natural-attack of 2x1d4+STR (...?) though if I'm invited as something winged I'd want to know how flight math works around these parts. Also a bard-birb makes me think I should have Ghost Sound as a race feature, albeit with some heavy penalties (think crow that learned to curse in English)
Although I've gotten the impression you guys have met before coming to this image board, meaning you have a lot more history as a group than even is seen here...so I would understand if my application is denied.
But since you're going into a new area, introducing me would be easy - I'll just show up as a slightly insane form of myself but regain most of that after a secured nap.
If not I'll wish you a happy new year liberating the Kostromo
>>193884The Healer class is just a worse Cleric imo (still not terrible), with worse proficiencies and worse spellcasting. It's best and most interesting feature is the Unicorn Mount, but that wouldn't really make sense in this universe.
Play whatever character you want. If you have ideas, I could help you out with your build.
If you are interested in playing a Healer, Factotum can also be a decent fallback healer (if you have decent Wisdom and good stats all around). A unicorn Factotum was going to be my fallback character in case Posey was destroyed. Great Jack Of All Trades class, in the same vein as Bard.
>>193884Those are cute hoers.
>>193884A bard would be pretty cool. Healing is always a plus, too. I'm planning on turning Kira into a Mystic Ranger after she gets back from the mission which would give her more spell slots and of higher levels, which she could put to use towards healing spells.
But ye, all are welcome as long as you're not a butt.
>if you want something, you’re more likely to get it if u have time to think about it
What I want more than anything is to level up. Call me a munchkin, but all my characters ambitions and goals revolve around the progression of her personal spellcasting abilities (Animate Dead doesn't appear on my spell list until lvl 8), and I do not want to continue to rely on broken human sacrifice gimmicks to do that, so leveling is a priority for me. Posey's level adjustment was bought-off (before her abilities were reduced), so she should be leveling at a higher rate than her peers until she gets to their level, so I hope to be at least the same level of the party by the end of this quest. I've been roughly estimating what we've experienced on this quest over the past year (monster CR estimated by HP and attacks, consequential diplomacy rolls made, NPCs rescued, objectives found), and based on my math we could have gotten enough XP to level up multiple times, and that's before we fight the Eldritch God, so I would hope that we do level up at least once after this. I know that the prospect of leveling makes you a bit queezy, but the other characters in this game have been struggling through a lot of this quest, so I don't think giving them more HP/damage is going to be that disruptive.
I do not want to come off as too demanding though.
That aside, I would like to progress as a character, with the themes and goals that originally set out for Posey. Posey came to Equestria for a purpose that can be summer up with one word: vainglory. She came to conquer, to expand her powers, and to revel in such. Of course, I would not expect you to let me just take over the world and make the campaign revolve around Posey, but I would like to make some military or diplomatic accomplishments later in the game.
For now though, there are a lot of loose plot points and downtime activities that I would like to address. Because they are so many in total, I would like to streamline some of them without necessarily doing them all in-character. Posey's immediate plans would include:
>Acquiring Curwhinny's farm
Curwhinny's farm is prime real estate, with a dungeon underneath and easy access to bones (and proximity to the school). Posey will persuade the ghosts to help her in her blockbusting scheme to lower the price of the land before she buys it. Then she would mail their haunted objects to their appropriate locations as promised.
Posey intends to lair on the farm full time. If given the opportunity, she would like to conjure a castle there, a Crystal Palace style building made of obsidian and onyx. This might be a while off, although I know some RAW-tarded gimmick to do it early (create multiple undead with the landlord feat).
>Assemble the horde
Posey will take the undead leadership feat at the earliest opportunity, and when she does she will do it in the similar vein as the Society Of Bones normally does, through infiltration. The Society's army is already here, Posey just needs to wake them up and give the signal for the Dread League's sleeper agents to pull themselves from the grave. She will only do this after she has a lair and safehouse to safely stow them.
>Open a research facility
Posey will then open a business, a Criminal Organization with a Scholarly Organization as its front. Posey will solicit grants from the College Of Arcane Sciences for this. She intends to do legitimate work while also contributing to her evil plans. Posey would study Necromantic magic and undead, develop new spells, consult on necromantic problems, study her artifact tiara, study any piece of the intruder she recovers, and also look for any Necromantic research that Curwhinny may have had. She may also have the opportunity to study the cadaver of the Intruder.
Once Posey does this, she would make checks for running a business month by month, using a follower or hireling to stand in for her if she goes adventuring.
On these points:
>Study Necromantic magic
This would be Posey's day job. She would study various necromantic topics. If GM wishes, this would be a way to lore dump stuff related to necromancy, undeath, or other topics.
>Develop spells
I usually avoid homebrew because I don't think it mixes well with my desire to optimize, but I had some ideas for some trivial spells that Posey might sell to the military. One of them is a spell that draws out the bloody legacy of a weapon and reveals history of where it was used to kill, useful for forensics and military applications. Another was a lvl 1 version of the Necrosurgery cantrip (Posey does not have cantrips), which deals damage to the target but also gives them a hefty bonus to recover from disease. Another was a "foal friendly" version of Animate Dead that is only useful for reanimating tiny harmles creatures such as dead pets while emulating their behaviors in life. I wouldn't even necessarily want to learn these spells, just show that Posey is an innovator.
>Study Tiara
Idk how useful the cursed Tiara actually is, but it sounds cool. Posey would like to study it in a semi-responsible way in a controlled environment.
>Consult
This is the "village witch" niche. Posey could make knowledge checks for a small fee to consult on ponies experiencing Necromantic problems. She may even cast Speak With Dead to obtain info from the dead upon request: a job that she would have near exclusive access to, because Speak With Dead is otherwise a spell only on the Cleric list, and most faiths have writs against disturbing corpses.
>Study the Intruder
Posey might study the Intruder, because the concept of a dead god interests her due to her backstory. She would do this carefully, knowing that the Intruder is the kind of monster that refuses to stay buried
>Report back to the University
As part of the previous step, Posey will work in tandem with the College Of Arcane Sciences to raise her profile as a legitimate, reputable and law-abiding Necrologist. She will credit the college for supporting her skills as a Warmagus and her success on this mission (a lie) to earn favor for the University among the Blackhooves, which the university will graciously accept if they know what is good for them. This may help to further undermine the communist rival University, as well as earn Posey kickbacks for putting in a good word for them.
Furthermore, it would also demonstrate Posey's skill to the University, which would mean that they would be more likely to give her research grants or quests. It is so far unclear what the College of Arcane Sciences actually does aside from cast the Necrosurgery cantrip, so using the University as a Questgiver has a lot of potential. Posey could receive jobs to work as an exorcist, a paranormal investigator, a monster-hunter, a consultant or similar professional scholarly Necromancer jobs. Although this is a modern setting, Equestria is still a high-magic setting where the forces of nature themselves are dependent on the harmonious and friendly relations between ponies, so in the context of war and suffering restless dead and paranormal outbreaks might be a common occurrence: there is always work for a Necrologist where there is war. The graveyard that GM mentioned might be exactly what Posey would be sent to check as an investigator.
Posey has her own motivation for doing this besides clout though: she knows that only well behaved researchers get access to their own supply of cadavers.
>Making friends
This would be what Posey was doing from the beginning, that is meeting any and all of Licorice Lament's contacts with Necromancers in the Dread League, living or dead.
Posey also wants to make friends in other ways, to forge powerful connections and alliances.
>Leto and August
Posey has an idea to put the Relic on sale (it seems to not be useful to her) to draw out August to find him again. She would do this not to attack him, but offer him a trade to receive the relic in exchange for letting her draw some of his blood. Posey is a passive supporter of the ELF, as Changelings are a common enemy for her. August might make a decent Death Knight too.
She intends to use his blood as bait (the blood of his slayer) to attempt a ritual to draw out the spirit of Little Leto to ressureect him as a Crimson Death (a vestige of a vampire that has possessed swamp gasses), or eventually as a vampire proper. Baka may be interested in assisting with this.
(There is no mechanical basis for this, only lore)
>Day Low Rain? How is your sister doing?
Mare DuWell is still a zombie, but Posey is interested in recovering her full powers as a Sorceress. With investment, research and spells, Posey may find a way to promote her to an intelligent zombie, such as a Necropolitan Zombie (no known method), an Thinking Zombie (Unliving Identity), or a Juju Zombie (Create Undead). Posey may be able to do this soon, since she may have enough money to purchase a scroll of the latter.
This might just turn into a pattern of reanimating villains that Silver has killed, but I am okay with that.
>Repay Licorice Lament
After opening her facilities, Posey will at some point tell Lament that she is thankful for his services, and she will reimburse him for the lodging and cover, either by paying an appropriate amount of gold for her lodging or fulfilling any favors he might ask of her. She does not intend to cut ties with Lament, only to politely transition away from being a freeloader in his guest house.
Worth noting, the Black Horse of inflation is still an open mantle in Posey's prophecy. Wine prices will not be affected.
>Enroll Gloomy in school
I guess I could do this. It was brought up before. It would create opportunities to develop Gloomy as a character.
>Dinner with Agire
Posey brought back Agire as a ghoul to repay the favor she promised to the Kaftar community for his passing, but she did not do it out of the kindness of her heart. Posey was interested in Agire because she wants the successor of the Kaftar clergy to be allied with her. A ghoul is one of the types of undead that retains its memories of life, and Agire could even be considered to be a ghoul who was "Touched By The King" (a gravetouched ghoul) and may redevelop his class abilities and Clerical magic through his newfound belief in evil and undeath, possibly with new levels gained from martyrdom. Posey will monitor his recovery with weekly or biweekly meetings over dinner. Repeated castings of Rejuvenating Corpse could help to recover Agire's body/powers and sate his endless hunger (Baka may be able to assist with this if neither Agire nor the head Cleric can). Casting this spell overtime may cause participating non-skeletal undead to become fleshvigor undead, who have lively bodies and could even pass as living creatures.
When or if Agire recovers, Posey will steer him to embrace his ghoulish instincts and spread them across the Gnoll community. In D&D, Yeenoghu is the demon prince of gnolls and ghouls, and if any equivalent to such a beast exists in its setting then Agire is to be his champion. She will use him to sow extremism in the Gnoll community and raise an army of demon-worshipping fanatics ready to take up arms when she eventually moves to take over Baltimare (kind of a Scar & Hyenas Lion King deal), like the Storm King did. She will also seek to unite the Kaftar and Crocutta, by having Agire raise the Crocutta shaman just like how Posey raised him in a gesture of friendship. The mention of how the Kaftar's dead are buried upright waiting for the end of the world interests me, it's almost as if they are on standby for somepony to summon them.
I have a half-finished statblock for Agire, if GM is interested.
So new character I wantd to share you guys.
Name: Anonymous
Race: bipedal none pony, eww
Wis: Ehh...
Dex: wiggle wiggle~ (has the ability to sit in any position before a computer for indefinite time)
Str: In general (6) but "do it for her" (20)
Cha: huge faggot
Con: 30 (can survive on the greasiest goyfeed there is, however, allergic to soy)
Int: Does jigsaw puzzles count?
Skills: Shenanigans
I just wanna be funny^^
>>193884>Or just a bard? Skill monkey with Jack-of-All-Trades as a career. Not the best healer but could operate a lockpit kit without too much of a penalty, and as a griffon would presumably have a natural-attack of 2x1d4+STR (...?) though if I'm invited as something winged I'd want to know how flight math works around these parts. Also a bard-birb makes me think I should have Ghost Sound as a race feature, albeit with some heavy penalties (think crow that learned to curse in English)You can go for it. There's already a bard pony in the game named Amber Sunset, but she's not with the main group right now and I don't know when she will join a quest. The advantage of having two bards is of course that they can play music together. However, variety is the spice of life. We started this current quest with a cleric, but he has gone inactive since. Other than Posey we don't have any dedicated magic users. I can list out the current PCs if you want.
I'm not sure what the race features exactly are (they were hashed out a while ago but I kind of forgot), but I do know that griffons are naturally poor fliers.
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Fly>Although I've gotten the impression you guys have met before coming to this image board, meaning you have a lot more history as a group than even is seen here...so I would understand if my application is denied.None of us had to fill out an application to play. I never had contact with GM Pony before playing this game and Posey's player doesn't know us, either.
>>193890Kek
Having somepony to tank all the damage is useful....
What happened to Virgin Flame?
>>193866>I found interesting mechanics and flavors for HauntingsYou may as well speak about it. I had a plan many years ago for Dark Star to encounter a haunting. I recently had a plan for Silver or especially Cavaliere to encounter a haunting. I like hauntings.
>Posey is literally a necropolitainBut she doesn't have a reason to rob the grave of the old pirate buried in that cemetery to get his magical ring. Silver does.
>>193878Uh... There are so few places cold enough for that. Maybe if the party does something in Trottingham, maybe in Whinnysota if Spark comes back, or maybe if the party does something in Nova Griffonia or Yakyakistan.
>>193879Like what?
>Heroes of the realm, or potentially masters of the realmUh... what?
>Recognition by BlackhoovesTechnically it was supposed to be a secret mission by a single naval commander who is doing all of this secretly and off the books because he has no trust in his own government and the Blackhooves specifically, and he's paying for all of this by pretending that the party are pirates he is paying a ransom to. But maybe? Again, a part of the question is what players want to do in the future
>This might include things like neutralizing changeling incursions or seizing military checkpointsMaybe? I have multiple suggestions for potential quests in the future
>Being more involved in military operations may also mean that players, through their actions, may have opertunities to make decisions that impact the overall fate of the occupied EquestriaIn what way?
>Recognition ad mercenaries from the military and ruling party may also give players more freedom to operate as they please in Baltimare, like having access to military-restricted weapons, or building standing armies of followers, opening up many more personal activities for charactersThis sounds pretty appealing to me. Is this what players want? Is this what (You) want?
>characters may be called on to assist in major military campaigns, directly or indirectly. This would lead them to new locations both nearby and remoteI will definitely list a set of potential quests
>the role of Changelings has yet to manifest in my two years experience playing (at least not visibly)I have had multiple quests where Changeling infiltrators were either central characters in the quest, or were involved in the periphery or minor roles. And in about half of all instances, players have completely failed to discover the infiltrators. Including Posey. They just don't notice and the changelings win. Could I have more changeling infiltrators in the setting? Yes, but again,
you keep missing them when I add them in the game, so in order for players to find them I would need to make a very large portion of encountered characters secretly changelings (which admittedly I've done on a few occassions), and that gets old after a while.
Stop and think about it for a moment. If you were a changeling, why
wouldn't you just use your shape shifting ability to pretend to be a pony/griffin? I know that it actually does work.
But sure, a changeling incursion, or an offensive opperation into changeling lands, is a possibility. I had another idea of accidentally finding a defunct changeling hive in an odd location, but that's a seperate idea.
>there are a majority of canon characters from FiM currently cocooned or worseCanon characters have met a variety of fates, and many of them are still roaming about. I have not included almost any canon characters at all because any canon character is immediately more important than basically any of my original characters, and in any event, the intent was always to keep the campaign kind of smaller scale. Beneath the level of the canon events of the show.
>Several monthsSeveral months?!?!?!?!?
>GithyankiA "Githyanki" sounds similiar to "Tiyanki," the squid-like space whales of Stellaris, so I chose to believe that they are basically that
>Alien Invasion/Demonic IncursionI mean, I can't say I've never contemplated i
I would like to offset the distrust the Blackhooves have, understandably, toward outsiders like us.
takes notes>mundane questsLike what?
>>193883>it would depend what level we are at the end of thisWhy? Why would it depend on that?
>>193892>You may as well speak about it.The mechanics are in the link. There's a few different types.
There are other haunting rules in Libris Mortis too.
>But she doesn't have a reason to rob the gravePosey doesn't need a reason to rob graves.
>magical ringThat's a reason. Magic jewelry is great.
>Uh... what?It's a 5e-ism. Referring to the mid levels of character progression.
>Technically it was supposed to be a secret mission by a single naval commander who is doing all of this secretly and off the books because he has no trust in his own government and the Blackhooves specificallyVery well. I can build a relationship with Captain Waters.
>In what way?Perhaps the party might go on quests that impact the results of major wars in the region, join certain sides, or otherwise influence history.
>This sounds pretty appealing to me. Is this what players want? Is this what (You) want?Yes. It's Posey's main mission as an infiltrator.
The reason why Posey goes about using her real name despite her precarious position is that she wants to raise her public profile for her own vanity and power.
>you keep missing them when I add them in the game..... Hmmm, that does pose a challenge...
>I have not included almost any canon characters at all because any canon character is immediately more important than basically any of my original characters, and in any event, the intent was always to keep the campaign kind of smaller scale. Beneath the level of the canon events of the show.Understandable.
>Why? Why would it depend on that?Mostly because spell access it would determine what my character is capable of in her free time, and whether or not she has minions she can control.
>>193884Huzzah! (Potential) New friend!
>Touch attack weaponI mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktail
>As a griffinOh... A
griffinGriffin males are a little less desired as they are less desirable in romantic interactions than pony stallions (certainly i can make it work as necessary)... Bu I get the impression that the preference is no romance at all.
>I've gotten the impression you guys met before coming to this imageboardNo, I know all of the people here from this imageboard. Of the active players I've only met Cavaliere, and Shimmering Spark, Tenebrous, and Brie among the inactive players
>Just show up in a new areaMaybe
Right now the party has three warriors and one half of a spell caster. So a spell caster or a rogue would be most useful
>>193885>No unicorn mountYou don't want a unicorn mount? I mean sure, you can't mount a unicorn in the traditional sense, but there are ways to work with this.
>>193890Hello again!
>>193892>I recently had a plan for Silver or especially Cavaliere to encounter a haunting. I like hauntings.I prefer Cavaliere to deal with missions of the physical variety, though I can see this working as a partnership.
>Uh... There are so few places cold enough for that.Baltimare is relatively warm but in January much of Equestria would have snowfall. Even Ponyville has it.
>Technically it was supposed to be a secret mission by a single naval commander who is doing all of this secretly and off the books because he has no trust in his own government and the Blackhooves specifically, and he's paying for all of this by pretending that the party are pirates he is paying a ransom to. But maybe?Sounds like a big gamble on his part. I don't know how this will affect him, but for the party it will attract attention from some powerful personages within the Blackhooves.
>This sounds pretty appealing to me. Is this what players want? Is this what (You) want?Besides Cavaliere being able to carry his revolver in Baltimare (which the Blackhooves may not even be able to affect, given the civilian administration), it's not terribly important for either of my characters. I have no use for a standing army, and if a PC is not either military or a rebel I don't see how having an alive "army" would even work in an organized occupation state. It makes sense in the pseudo-renaissance world of DnD, less so in this setting. Maybe if we were in the EaW version of Yugoslavia and we could recruit partisans, but that's not what this is.
>And in about half of all instances, players have completely failed to discover the infiltrators.Players keep missing magic items lying out in the open and you're surprised that they don't spot spies who are trying not to be found?
Nevertheless, this is the sort of thing Cavaliere is cut out for and he hasn't had a chance to find any yet.
>Like what?Aforementioned infiltrators, criminals on the run, missing ponies, personal disagreements that need a negotiator, etc. Small-scale stuff that can be solved by a single, skilled creature with wits and a gun.
And yes this is completely at odds with what Posey wants, which is why I think they'll have to split ways.
>>193893>The reason why Posey goes about using her real name despite her precarious position is that she wants to raise her public profile for her own vanity and power.But she goes by the alias Rosey Ring.
>>193894>Griffin males are a little less desired as they are less desirable in romantic interactions than pony stallions (certainly i can make it work as necessary)Come now, the -1 charisma penalty is not
that bad. One just needs a good personality.
>>193895You could apply the magic-blooded template to a race for +2 Cha -2 Wis
>aliasRosey Ring is her actual name (matches her cutie mark). Posey is her nickname.
>>193894>Molotov cocktailBut can I store up molotovs as the condensation of my unused daily magic energies?
Also don't molotovs, even in the game, burn a little but until they make a check? Also something about tossing unhealth potions just appealed to me, though after reading about PF deities that have both life and death domains, I would as a cleric thereof, have to be doctrinally opposed to everything I find out about Posey, since undead things in general stand against their domain. Life is natural, death is natural, the god's goal is for greater, more natural existence, and here I would be
consorting with the
unnatural.
>But I get the impression that the preference is no romanceEvery group I've been with, player or DM, has been of the murderhobo variety. Also I never play 'dating sims' because they're dumb and nothing about that tortuous set of rituals appeal to me.
>So a spell caster or a rogue would be most usefulMost systems I try to play a gnoll sorceror, though the charisma hit a 3.5 gnoll has can make that ...
challenging but against that, the 4thEd game I DM'd had as their major damage dealer, a "seven foot four, three hundred and seventy five pound sneakity-sneak" who carried a rapier but generally did-in foes with his 1d6-twice claws.
Plus sneak attack.
>>193895>Come now, the -1 charisma penalty is not that badSo, this invites the major question what material are you using?
I have a now-dated set of Ponyfinder books (random cover attached, and I don't think I have that one) that rely on Pathfinder rules, but in that system I can use PCgen, which has a great deal of anything I might like to include in my games, already converted. 3.5 exists for it, but seems very limited - can't find the healer class, or surely there were some books extending the race choices to play-as-monsters once in a while?
I know some of the 1e diehards hate PF with a passion because there are so many races, and of course a lot of people hate 5e because yes there are as many races as you like but it doesn't make the slightest difference (that's my major problem with that system, is that nothing makes any difference - no feats, incredibly limited stats, magic items are heavily constrained...what was the point of calling it a fantasy system?)
The other question, is what level are you guys at? Running around at 1st-level is never fun, and especially when everyone else has a nice set of problem solvers. But in reading the post about Posey's challenges, it seems everybody is at their own level? As with 5e, a 'level isnt important' game probably isn't something that would be all that fun after a while, so I should consider that, too.
>>193897>I would as a cleric thereof, have to be doctrinally opposed to everything I find out about Posey, since undead things in general stand against their domain.Posey is operating incognito and has gone so far as to cast a "hide alignment" spell for this quest. Though, her concealment does leave much to be desired....
>Also I never play 'dating sims' because they're dumb and nothing about that tortuous set of rituals appeal to me.That's alright. Just keep in mind there is a lot of it between PCs and NPCs, even though it has not been common during this quest.
They also get quite explicit.>So, this invites the major question what material are you using?I'm not sure what all the sources GM Pony is using but it's a mish-mash. I don't know what's been taken from Ponyfinder, but almost everything mechanical is derived from DnD 3.5e. Some things, like guns, are from DnD Modern, and of course the entire setting comes from Equestria at War. As for classes, any official 3.5e source books are probably allowed and Posey's player is a good source if you have questions. You can also ask the GM Pony about what's allowed; Kirafiki is a half-snake half-pony lamia which is not a canon race in either FiM or EaW. Equestria at War also has every race which was shown in the show and movie, so there's hardly any limits.
>The other question, is what level are you guys at?Silver Sword and some other characters are at level 6. Amber Sunset and Cavaliere are at level 5. Posey is at level 4, I think, but that is due to an offset because of her character build. I will warn you that GM Pony is
extremely reluctant to level characters up due to difficulty in creating balanced encounters. I'd advise developing your character as a finished product rather than as a starting point, because you will be waiting a while.
>>193897>So, this invites the major question what material are you using?I would like an answer to this question too.
Here are some potential quest ideas. These ones are... maybe medium length or intensity? These are more "martial" ideas, which is to say, yeah, let's assume that party members have been more or less allowed to form their own mercenary force. Just assume that force size is limited to ~28 characters.
Yakyakistan
Yakyakistan is being invaded by the Changeling Hegemony and at least portions are expected to fall quickly. Fly in, and rescue a set of Equestrian emigres. This quest is presumably either given by people related to the emigres as a sort of rescue mission, by ELF who wish to cause harm to changeling efforts, or possibly by the Blackhooves who either have assets they want to withdraw or wish to cause harm to the changeling efforts. This would be a semi-mountainous location, have perhaps buildings like ancient monasteries or fortresses carved into mountains, and could take place either in the present time (January, heart of winter) or spring.
New Mareland
Wingbardy has launched a counter invasion of Talouse, and then Wingbady is now launching a force into the New Mareland heartland. No troops can be spared, so mercenaries are brought in as a stop gap measure to attempt to plug and repel breaches in the line. This idea has multiple possible executions
One, trench warfare. Hold the line against repeated Wingbardian assaults as they invade.
Second, Outback. After the Wingbardians have created a breach they spill into an a rural area with sheep-stations - little ranch houses with water-windmills, barbed wire, shrubs and thin plains - and small rural towns.
Third, Hoovesplain. This is along the same river-defense line, but further south in a large city. One concept for this was to have the dam upriver of the city be blown, and parts of it are underwater. The idea was that you move in a small boat, or fly or however, from the exposed rooftops of houses and buildings, trying to find barges carrying enemy guns attempting a crossing, and call in air or artillery strikes against them. In a different conception, possibly after the latter, there is an aluminum foundry that must be protected, as well as a factory making aircraft bodies, with fighting through or around the factories.
Another idea is a drained lake, where you fight in a mostly dead, brown and muddy depression that was recently the reservoir of a blown dam. There may be ruins from drowned buildings and towns, or boats and barges left in the mud. This area may not be about fighting so much as finding a site that could be an entry to a parallel dimension - the Dream Time.
Les Meridianes
This takes place in a chain of islands south of the dragon island sort of between Equestria, Zebrica, and New Mareland. These islands, at least I think, were originally inhabited by ponies, but were later colonized by waves of horses, zebras, and especially the Aquellians, who set up a colonial rule over the island chain. When the Aquellian Revoution took place, the islands remained loyalist and declared independence.
There are a few ideas for how these become involved, but my favored idea is that an Equestrian naval commander of Free Equestria decides to just takeover an island as his personal fiefdom. This incites other factions like rebelling natives, Republican Aquellia, and New Mareland to intervene and potentially take things for themselves. Tropical island setting. This idea could become complex quickly.
Forbidden Jungles
There have been many ideas for the Forbidden jungle, mostly centered around New Mareland-aligned groups fighting against rebels and separatists in the forbidden jungles. ELF fighters, separatists from the earth-pony tribes, and bat pony separatists.
A recent idea had chiropterran mercenaries intervening.
Uh, anyways, that's kind of a truncated description of a few ideas for more-military quests. Maybe there could be one directly against changelings, like if the Changelings make an incursion nominally to fight rebels, that needs to be pushed back?
>>193900I appreciate these ideas, and they are very well-thought out, but they're not relevant to the direction I want to take either Cavaliere or Amber.
>>193894>I mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktailYeah, it's easy in d20 modern. Would definitely be cheaper than potions. 3.5e potions are notoriously overpriced.
>one half of a spell casterHEY!"You DARE doubt my powers?!"
>So a spell caster or a rogue would be most usefulIt's why I recommended Factotum.
Factotum builds are really easy too (after allocating skills). Just take Font Of Inspiration as many times as possible.
>You don't want a unicorn mount? I mean sure, you can't mount a unicorn in the traditional sense, but there are ways to work with this.How would you adapt that class feature?
May as well just play a Cleric or Archivist imo. Clerics are great. I was going to play Posey as a Cleric, and I low-key wish I had.
>Players keep missing magic items lying out in the open and you're surprised that they don't spot spies who are trying not to be found?This.
>Nevertheless, this is the sort of thing Cavaliere is cut out for and he hasn't had a chance to find any yet.Yeah, I would strongly recommend taking Changelings as a Favored Enemy.
Furthermore, since Cavalier is good aligned, you qualify for the Nemesis feat, which would allow you to automatically detect all Changelings within 30 ft.
Specializing into Favored Enemy would be great on a Swift Hunter Ranger/Scout build. Would be great as a gunslinger too, especially with Fly-by-attack.
>Some things, like guns, are from DnD ModernI assumed this at first, but from what I observed this does not seem to be the case, particularly with the automatic weapons which seem to just outright give extra attacks.
I have asked a couple times how firearms work, without a complete response.
>Posey is at level 4, I think, but that is due to an offset because of her character build.I spent a bunch of XP during character creation, erroneously thinking that having a low ECL would let me earn it back quickly...
Four levels until I can cast Animate Dead...
>>193902>Yeah, I would strongly recommend taking Changelings as a Favored Enemy.That makes no sense considering they were not his typical encounter in his backstory nor have we encountered them (to our knowledge) on this quest. Griffons are his favored enemy and ponies will be his second favored enemy.
Don't get me wrong, mechanically it's a good idea, but it makes no sense thematically. Plus automatically detecting changelings would make things too easy. It would be the equivalent of yellow paint in modern games.
Since I was so terse with my response regarding quest ideas, here is what I have envisioned:
Cavaliere — quests focused around individuals or small groups and services, disagreements or conflicts surrounding them. This can be any variety of things, including finding a missing person, tracking down a local magnate's wayward son or daughter, stopping a factory strike, getting justice for some creature who was murdered, or taking care of a sensitive matter for one of Baltimare's various factions. He may also come across charity cases, like that one pony having trouble in immigration (no I haven't forgotten about him). I don't mind quests that take Cavaliere outside of Baltimare as well, nor ones where has to either avoid or win a gunfight against a larger group, but Mended Horn should be the exception rather than the rule since I don't want to do commando raids constantly.
Amber — if Cavaliere's missions should be more mundane compared to what we're currently on, Amber's should be practically everyday. She has not come into her own as an adventurer, let alone her paramore, and if the two can stay together they have to be eased into it. Exploring Baltimare, such as the shady underground area, would be fun without involving gunfights. I want her to find out who's responsible for breaking High Sewn's window. She also needs to come into her own as a bard and needs musical training from some source. She is too poor to pay for that and that may be an intermediate goal, at the end of which she reaches level 6. I don't mind if she comes across the other PCs or important NPCs, but until she reaches that goal, and is believably seasoned from more minor adventures, it makes no sense to be putting her into seriously dangerous quests.
Perhaps I misinterpreted the direction this campaign was going. When I made Amber there already was a very clear disconnect between her and the other PCs, and I have only myself to blame. I was hoping to get her to catch up eventually, but I put that off by focusing on her more mundane life events. She should get involved in the sort of aforementioned adventures but even then it will be a very long time until she is "Mended Horn" ready.
However when I made Cavaliere every adventure was within Baltimare and was very small-scale, with the largest fights being at Hoebuck, Curwhinny's Farm and that gang-operated bar. I was hoping for more of that urban fantasy with this character, Cavaliere operating largely alone since that was the trend with every other PC. If you wanted commando raids I would have made a different character to fit that role better. I hope urban fantasy is not off the table even at level 6. I especially want quests where if they're played intelligently they can be resolved without violence or with it being limited in scope. They would fit MLP's themes even in this fallen world and they make sense within a city where every bullet fired negatively affects quality of life. Blue Skies chewing out Silver's gun-ho attitude at that bar comes to mind.
>>193904>Don't get me wrong, mechanically it's a good idea, but it makes no sense thematically. The fact that they're not a typical encounter and difficult to detect means that there's even more reason for a hunter to specialize.
>Plus automatically detecting changelings would make things too easy. It would be the equivalent of yellow paint in modern games.You say that, but it's limited Range. There are far more powerful detection abilities (Scent, Lifesight, freaking Mindsight)
>She has not come into her own as an adventurerAmber is a lvl 5 member of an elite adventuring class: she is heroic by definition. You are not obligated to continue roleplaying a lvl 1 character when you have powers that exceed 99% of characters in the setting.
>She also needs to come into her own as a bard and needs musical training from some source.This should only be necessary if you're going for an obscure prestige class that requires spiritual epiphany or exposure to primal music, like Seeker Of Song.
Still, looking for musical secrets to expand her powers sounds like a cool quest.
>She is too poor to pay for thatWe need to have a serious conversation about starting equipment and Wealth By Level. 3.5e game balance falls apart of wealth by level is not honored.
>I was hoping to get her to catch up eventually, but I put that off by focusing on her more mundane life events.What is holding you back? You can just do it.
Tbh, if you're that hesitant about roleplaying a hero, you could have her have a spiritual awakening, or contact with her muse. Bards are all about inspiration. Just think of what would inspire her.
>>193905>The fact that they're not a typical encounter and difficult to detect means that there's even more reason for a hunter to specialize.Cavaliere is not a specialized changeling hunter and never has been, neither in Nova Griffonia nor in Equestria. They will be a new threat he will have to deal with, but he will still be mostly dealing with ponies and griffons. If I wanted to make a specialized changeling hunter, I would write a different character, maybe a rogue who is a spy or double agent. I like that idea but that is not who Cavaliere is.
>You say that, but it's limited Range. There are far more powerful detection abilities (Scent, Lifesight, freaking Mindsight)Those are interesting abilities and I should look into those. However when I redesign Cavaliere I will probably be moving away from vanilla ranger and monk.
>Amber is a lvl 5 member of an elite adventuring class: she is heroic by definition. You are not obligated to continue roleplaying a lvl 1 character when you have powers that exceed 99% of characters in the setting.When I made her I was not as aware of that fact and there is no good explanation for why she is so strong when she is basically a commoner. However I wrote her this way and she is stuck along that path for the time being. In my defense, at the time none of the PCs seemed particularly heroic or elite so I thought a level 5 character could be of any background or experience. Maybe it would have been better if we started at level 1 and worked our way up, but GM Pony had other ideas.
>This should only be necessary if you're going for an obscure prestige class that requires spiritual epiphany or exposure to primal music, like Seeker Of Song.>Still, looking for musical secrets to expand her powers sounds like a cool quest.When making her character sheet I forgot to give her points in perform, but I don't want to redo it so I'm playing along until she levels up and has justification to suddenly be better at music>We need to have a serious conversation about starting equipment and Wealth By Level. 3.5e game balance falls apart of wealth by level is not honored.Being poor is part of her background and I intentionally wrote her this way. She isn't written to be balanced, she's written to be out of her depth in a big city.
>What is holding you back? You can just do it.This is why I made Cavaliere.
>Tbh, if you're that hesitant about roleplaying a hero, you could have her have a spiritual awakening, or contact with her muse. Bards are all about inspiration. Just think of what would inspire her.She had an inspiring dream. Like I said, I want her to reach music school and then she can come into her own.
>>193894>I mean... You can just as easily throw a Molotov cocktailPic
Once I get my minions, I will be a lot more invested into weaponry of all kinds.
>>193900>YakyakistanI don't really care for Yaks, and Posey would not unless Yakfolk genie Sorcery is involved (one of my fallback character was a Yak Sha'ir), but undermining Changelings sounds like fun.
>This would be a semi-mountainous locationI would really like to ritually freeze a prisoner on top of an icy mountain to create an Icegaunt. I was going to do it here on Mended Horn, but alas.
>ancient monasteries or fortresses carved into mountainsHmmm, could these dungeons hold forbidden magical secrets, seal imprisoned monsters, or ancient mummified monks, or forgotten treasures?
>Wingbardy has launched a counter invasion of Talouse, and then Wingbady is now launching a force into the New Mareland heartland. No troops can be spared, so mercenaries are brought in as a stop gap measure to attempt to plug and repel breaches in the line. This idea has multiple possible executionsThis is what I was expecting when I joined the game. I would certainly be interested, especially after I have my minions.
>One, trench warfare. Hold the line against repeated Wingbardian assaults as they invade.Great use for minions.
>OutbackWhat would be the mission here?
>HoovesplainI already established that Posey has sea sickness, although since it's purely psychological there's no reason why she could not overcome it after this mission.
Sounds interesting.
>There may be ruins from drowned buildings and towns, or boats and barges left in the mud.Reminds me of the town in Dragon Age Inquisition that was drowned by the Magister who raised the dam; it was full of undead.
>This area may not be about fighting so much as finding a site that could be an entry to a parallel dimension - the Dream Time.Sounds like something that a Sorceress would investigate.
>Equestrian naval commander of Free Equestria decides to just takeover an island as his personal fiefdom.>This incites other factions like rebelling natives, Republican Aquellia, and New Mareland to intervene and potentially take things for themselves.Hmmm, perhaps Posey might want to depose him and make it her own personal fiefdom on behalf of the Dread League.
>Maybe there could be one directly against changelings, like if the Changelings make an incursion nominally to fight rebels, that needs to be pushed back?Sounds interesting.
>>193906You could also take evil creatures as your favored enemy. It's quite optimal. It would also fit the paladin-like theme you wanted.
>However when I redesign Cavaliere I will probably be moving away from vanilla ranger and monk.Elaborate. What kind of build do you want?
>However I wrote her this way and she is stuck along that path for the time being.Remember what I said about spiritual epiphany? The inspiration to be a hero could come suddenly to you, like it does for most Bards. It's all about inspiration. Try meditating, praying, observing nature, making a pilgrimage, pouring yourself into the arts, or contacting your muse.
Could also try something like the ritual of burning hearts.
>When making her character sheet I forgot to give her points in perform, but I don't want to redo it so I'm playing along until she levels up and has justification to suddenly be better at musicJust spend a few weeks of downtime retraining your skillpoints. A Bard with no perform ranks makes no sense.
>Being poor is part of her background and I intentionally wrote her this way.Being a slave was part of my backstory, but I still put my wealth into non-material body enhancements, surgeries and rituals (which were later removed...). There are other ways you could allocate your starting wealth. Could buy a couple bonus feats. The only valuable equipment posey came into the game with that she still has is Gloomy (100 gp slave).
>She had an inspiring dream.Sounds like you've already met your muse. Your path to greatness begins today.
>Like I said, I want her to reach music school and then she can come into her own.This could take as little as one week in universe. As a Bard, you are implied to be innately talented. Once you pick up the art seriously you would realize that you are a genius. Retraining does not take very long, and I don't think GM will be stingy about putting ranks in perform as a Bard.
Think of the career of a pop star: when it happens, it begins very quickly.
Once you reallocate your skills, you could make public Perform checks to attract the attention of wealthy patrons, bardic colleges, distant nobles and even extraplanar beings who would accept you as a private performer or wish to enroll you in their school, and make some gold every day while you do so.
Equestria us a very Bard-centric setting anyway.
>>193907>You could also take evil creatures as your favored enemy. It's quite optimal.Wait, you can just do that? I thought it had to be a race. That sounds broken.
>Elaborate. What kind of build do you want?Powerful with ranged weaponry (revolvers in particular), good at unarmed, varied skill set. Tries to not get hit at all rather than rely on armor or HP. That sounds vague but there are different suggestions you gave in the OOC threads a while ago (spellblade I think had the most potential). Sometime soon I'll look over every combination and see what's optimal. Normally I don't care about minmaxing but Cavaliere is meant to actually be heroic and is meant to complete some quests on his own.
>Remember what I said about spiritual epiphany? The inspiration to be a hero could come suddenly to you, like it does for most Bards. It's all about inspiration. Try meditating, praying, observing nature, making a pilgrimage, pouring yourself into the arts, or contacting your muse.>Could also try something like the ritual of burning hearts.>Just spend a few weeks of downtime retraining your skillpoints. A Bard with no perform ranks makes no sense.That's what the music school is for. Sure there are these alternate methods, and she does practice on her own time, but I want it to be believable as well as give chances for socialization.
Even talented ponies need to practice.
>Once you reallocate your skills, you could make public Perform checks to attract the attention of wealthy patrons, bardic colleges, distant nobles and even extraplanar beings who would accept you as a private performer or wish to enroll you in their school, and make some gold every day while you do so.>Equestria us a very Bard-centric setting anyway.I look forward to it. Maybe that would be a good way to get into school, and having a tutor would be an intermediate step. I'll leave it up to the discretion of the GM Pony.
>>193910>Wait, you can just do that?There's a couple ways to do it, yeah.
>I thought it had to be a race.You can also choose rival organizations, members of a particular religion, foreign merchants and priests, or Arcane Spellcasters. Bigotry knows no bounds.
>That sounds broken.Nah. It's a better pick than most, but Favored Enemy is still a pretty weak feature overall. It can be quite interesting if you specialize in it though.
I mention it because it's good for Rangers who wish they were paladins, which describes you.
>Powerful with ranged weaponry (revolvers in particular), good at unarmed, varied skill set. Tries to not get hit at all rather than rely on armor or HP. A Mystic Ranger Swift Hunter build would suit this very well. Take Flyby-Attack and all of its derivatives to help you in both ranged and melee combat. Use the Scout's Skirmish ability to boost your AC and damage while moving quickly. Take Evil as your favored enemy and progress it through both Ranger and Scout.
If you want to fixate more on Unarmed Damage Mystic Ranger / Swordsage would be the best, with a focus on the Setting Sun School. Take Improved Trip, Ranged Trip and Knockdown. That would be a lot more melee focused though.
>I want it to be believable as well as give chances for socialization.I'm just saying you shouldn't need to spend that much time on it. Don't put arbitrary obstacles on your roleplay potential.
>>193911>You can also choose rival organizations, members of a particular religion, foreign merchants and priests, or Arcane Spellcasters. Bigotry knows no bounds.There are many of those in the setting of EaW, and Cavaliere sometimes has to face those of any background. Considering how many griffons and ponies there are, having those as two favored enemies would encompass the vast majority of enemies. I would have to look into evil-aligned favored enemies.
>A Mystic Ranger Swift Hunter build would suit this very well. Take Flyby-Attack and all of its derivatives to help you in both ranged and melee combat. Use the Scout's Skirmish ability to boost your AC and damage while moving quickly. Take Evil as your favored enemy and progress it through both Ranger and Scout.>If you want to fixate more on Unarmed Damage Mystic Ranger / Swordsage would be the best, with a focus on the Setting Sun School. Take Improved Trip, Ranged Trip and Knockdown. >That would be a lot more melee focused though.I have to look into flyby attack but the issue is that Cavaliere is a poor flyer (racial feature) and often fights indoors where that would be impractical. I like scout but last I checked it has a significant skillpoint nerf, and if anything I could use more skills. It's a balancing act among attack bonus (for dueling and trick shots), AC (for not getting hit), feats (fun and useful stuff) and skills (what will actually make my character viable on his own).
I want a good balance on ranged damage and unarmed damage. Ranged damage is lethal, melee nonlethal. No combination really fits the exact sort of character I'm going for which is why this is a difficult decision. I have to make multiple character sheets just to know how everything would work together.
>I'm just saying you shouldn't need to spend that much time on it. Don't put arbitrary obstacles on your roleplay potential.For me roleplay is in the journey, not the destination. I've had a lot of fun with Amber so far despite her mundane life, and I see it only getting better from here.
>could Posey's unseen put some of that leaked fuel in
I've [accidentally] inspired another game element, haven't I?
Ah, well. I'll see what I can find class-wise. I still want reasonable flight including hover unless circumstances warrant a fly-check (someone's shooting at me, there are high winds, the air isn't breathable) and to come in matching the crew (lvl.5)
PF1 was built to discourage multil-classing, but 3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it. Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?
for humor, have some AI : I asked for a gryphon singing, while casting fireball; first pic. Amused by being cast as a singer, or whatever happened, I replaced casting with drinking fireball. Cue 2nd pic.
>>193912>Cavaliere is a poor flyer (racial feature)How poor? If you have poor maneuverability, you can still pull off a Flyby-Attack build.
>often fights indoorsYou can fly indoors. As little as 5 ft off the ground.
>I like scout but last I checked it has a significant skillpoint nerfScout has more skillpoints than Ranger. It's tied with Rogue for the most skillpoints in the game.
Skirmish works for both melee and ranged combat, especially with flyby attack and all of its derivatives.
You can do non-lethal damage with a sap, whip or other non-lethal weapon too. You could also use rubber bullets, Merciful magic weapons, or take Non-lethal damage feats.
You could also just dip Unarmed Swordsage 2 at the end of your build while still being primarily Ranger/Scout. Your non-swordsage levels will contribute to your initiator level halfway.
Oh, I guess you could use Predator Ranger to trade Combat Style for Wildshape, which could be traded for Aspect of Nature or Shapeshifter, which could give you some unarmed combat abilities. Those could stack with Scout ala Swift Avenger.
>No combination really fits the exact sort of character I'm going for which is why this is a difficult decision.I really think Ranger/Scout with Favored Enemy (Evil) and some non-lethal weapons/ammo/tactics would fit your character well.
>>193913>3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it.It encourages prestige classes. Multiclassing less so (except for instances like Swift Hunter).
Thou shall not lose caster levels.
>Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?No.
You would be better off as a Bard / Sublime Chord if you want to be a powerful spellcasting Bard. Lyric Thaumaturge is also a good prestige class for this concept.
If you want divine spells and healing as a Bard, Green Whisperer is your home. Divine Bard works too.
https://www.joshuad.net/new-bard-handbook/
>>193914< >Maybe a>No.Heh.
>Sublime Chord [] Lyric Thaumaturge [] Green WhispererI'll look into those. But if the table thinks you don't need a healer, my go-to is sorcerer. Though neither 3.5 nor EaW/MLP have anything allowing for what PF1 calls a Dragon's Disciple, which I got to play once as a kitsune rogue (relying on racial feats for 'spontaneous caster' prereq).
Anyway I'll continue giving it some thought; thanks for the suggestions.
>>193915Sublime Chord adds Sorcerer spells to the Bard, going up to 9th level. A high-op Bard has the casting abilities of a low-op Sorcerer.
If you were to do that, your spellcasting abilities would probably exceed Posey's.
>Though neither 3.5 nor EaW/MLP have anything allowing for what PF1 calls a Dragon's DiscipleIt's a prestige class in 3.5e.
Dragonfire Adept is a really good base class too. Very easy to play: just spit fire at everything.
>>193913>picKek
and cute>reasonable flightTo get hover you would need two feat ranks of improved fight, bumping up your flying skill from poor to good.
https://dnd.arkalseif.info/feats/complete-adventurer--54/improved-flight--1494/index.html>PF1 was built to discourage multil-classing, but 3.5 seems to implicitly encourage it. Maybe a bard/sorceror with a level of healer to access that cure-minor spell?It does, and DnD also has prestige classes which are even more specialized. There probably is one out there that matches what you want.
>>193914>How poor? If you have poor maneuverability, you can still pull off a Flyby-Attack build.There is a handy maneuverability table for this:
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Fly>You can fly indoors. As little as 5 ft off the ground.>half minimum fly speed>no hover or reverse>45 degree turn angle>no turn in placeIndoors this is slapstick waiting to happen. For a serious character, I would take any other feat other than one guaranteeing crashing into stuff constantly.
>scoutOkay I must have misremembered. I will definitely look into it. I remember there being some cons (of course, in order to be balanced) but they might be worth it.
>You can do non-lethal damage with a sap, whip or other non-lethal weapon too. You could also use rubber bullets, Merciful magic weapons, or take Non-lethal damage feats.But muh brawler flavor. Pistol whipping is also an option but nothing is more satisfying than an old-fashioned beatdown.
>You could also just dip Unarmed Swordsage 2 at the end of your build while still being primarily Ranger/Scout. Your non-swordsage levels will contribute to your initiator level halfway.This is promising. I was also considering the Wushu fighting style for monk, which adds more class combinations to compare (two levels here give me just about everything I want):
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCore/monk.html#fighting-styles>Oh, I guess you could use Predator Ranger to trade Combat Style for Wildshape, which could be traded for Aspect of Nature or Shapeshifter, which could give you some unarmed combat abilities. Those could stack with Scout ala Swift Avenger.I don't want Cavaliere to shapeshift to fight. His skills should depend on his training of his own griffon body.
>I really think Ranger/Scout with Favored Enemy (Evil) and some non-lethal weapons/ammo/tactics would fit your character well.Got any resources on evil favored enemies?
>>193915Healers are always good, but sorcerers are also welcome. I forgot if Spark (old inactive player) was a wizard or sorcerer. This class works best with unicorns.
I keep referring to racial bonii but to tell the truth I have no idea what the bonii are aside from unicorns being somehow better at magic, pegasi being the best flyers, and earth ponies have +2 to strength and constitution. In fact this was never settled on when I made Cavaliere and I had forgotten that his sheet doesn't have racial bonii or penalties applied. Hopefully GM Pony can make a decision on this.>>193916>A high-op Bard has the casting abilities of a low-op Sorcerer.I will discourage any sort of build that plans around levels higher than around 7. It would be nice to have consistent level ups but GM Pony has repeatedly asserted a reluctance to level up the party due to making mundane encounters against enemies such as gangsters impossible to balance. This is a problem with DnD as a whole due to level scaling and I think the game would benefit from each level being split in half to allow more incremental progression.
Maybe it would have been better if we started from level 1 and if we reached around level 5 by now.
>>193917>PoorPlenty good for Flyby Attack.
Protip: if you fly 5 ft off the ground, you can drop to the the ground as a free action at the end of your turn, no longer having any maneuverability penalties, functionally making it a wing-boosted pounce.
>I remember there being some cons (of course, in order to be balanced) but they might be worth it.Combining Mystic Ranger with Scout with Swift Hunter is basically just the core Ranger but better.
>But muh brawler flavor.I think you could pick up Combat Martil Arts or Brawl from a d20 modern occupation. It would work with Scout.
Nerve Pinch might work too, although that's d20 Future.
>Got any resources on evil favored enemies?Iirc, it's in Players Guide to Faerun, a tribal background from the North, iirc the Worm, had Evil as a favored enemy for Rangers. The setting content is adaptable, particularly because Griffons are from Hyperborea.
Foreign Merchants was on that table too.
Stalker Of Kharash prestige class also gives Evil as a Favored Enemy.
>I will discourage any sort of build that plans around levels higher than around 7.Mfw I don't get Animate Dead until level 8 and until then I just have a handful of shitty touch-range spells (Video)
>>193917>To get hover you would need two feat ranks of improved flightWhile I get that for DnD, where (nearly) all PCs are ground-bound in their day to day lives, this is based on MLP; where fliers are routinely shown to hold conversations while hovering, or sitting on clouds.
I've DM'd a oneshot where the mid-level wizard got a flying carpet; I get the concern about combat balance. But if I'm playing as a winged amongst the ponies, I expect that means I can just fly. Concentration check while casting and flying, sure. Fly-check at the normal penalties (-6 for clumsy, IIRC) and normal DCs when "something happens" such as melee or magical winds - but if you're all roleplaying as fursuiting humans I want out, and I may as well learn this before I create a character "the old fashioned way" since PCgen doesn't have the breadth of materials the SRDs list.
>due to making mundane encounters against such enemiesSimilar problems; I want to play a fantasy game, you're playing Call of Cthulhu at best. Why would you be the only wizard on the block? The gansters hired a dragonfire adept as bodyguard to their necromancer.
BOOM! balanced.>slapstickAh, I remember a trap-only dungeon that catapulted the plate-armor'd paladin into the air. I made him do a fly check; he warned that he was untrained in it and I said that was fine.
[gladdos voice] He got a negative 15, so that was fun. [/voice]
But in all honestly, I should wait to hear a bit more from your DM before I decide anything.
>>193918>Protip: if you fly 5 ft off the ground, you can drop to the the ground as a free action at the end of your turn, no longer having any maneuverability penalties, functionally making it a wing-boosted pounce.Basically it would be fighting like Max Payne? I'll consider it. I thought of Cavaliere's fighting style as relying more on cover to boost his effective AC.
>Combining Mystic Ranger with Scout with Swift Hunter is basically just the core Ranger but better.Is one level from each better than three in ranger? Multi-classing to this degree, with four different classes, is a little excessive and I have no idea if class requirements would even allow it.
>I think you could pick up Combat Martil Arts or Brawl from a d20 modern occupation. It would work with Scout.I will look into that too. I don't know how much of D20 Modern is allowed to be included in character design but there are good features from that module.
>Players Guide to FaerunI wasn't able to find that feature in that document. Also Cavaliere does not have a tribal background.
>Stalker of KharashThat does look good, and it's one that can be readily picked. That's yet another prestige class to consider.
>Mfw I don't get Animate Dead until level 8 and until then I just have a handful of shitty touch-range spells (Video)Hence why I'm trying to spare him the disappointment.
>>193919>While I get that for DnD, where (nearly) all PCs are ground-bound in their day to day lives, this is based on MLP; where fliers are routinely shown to hold conversations while hovering, or sitting on clouds.True but flight is the only special feature pegasi get and other species get flight too. EaW implies that pegasi are the best fliers in the setting.
>but if you're all roleplaying as fursuiting humans I want outWe're not? I'm not sure what you mean by this. Different species have had different advantages from the start of the game. I'm just not sure what these advantages exactly are since they have been homebrewed and there's no reference document yet.
>Why would you be the only wizard on the block? The gansters hired a dragonfire adept as bodyguard to their necromancer. BOOM! balanced.That works. From what I know, skilled wizards are around but are relatively uncommon compared to regular unicorns who have basic telekinesis. Meanwhile, guns are more common and are meant to be very lethal.
> He got a negative 15, so that was funkek
>But in all honestly, I should wait to hear a bit more from your DM before I decide anything.That's the best move.
>>193920>I thought of Cavaliere's fighting style as relying more on cover to boost his effective AC.What cover?
>Mystic Ranger 3 / Scout 3 would be good. Then you could advance by putting levels in either of them.
Mystic Ranger 2, Scout 4 could also work. You could skip Combat style in favor of the Scout's Bonus feat.
>Multi-classing to this degree, with four different classesYou would be better off staying in one or two classes if you want to be an effective Swift Hunter, imo, but that's just my opinion.
Then again, martial classes are quite front-loaded, so you could do Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian/Monk if you want.
>That does look good, and it's one that can be readily picked. That's yet another prestige class to consider.It's adaptable. Depends on GM though.
>>193921>What cover?Doorframes, crates, other sorts of objects that could stop a bullet. The sourcebook talks about how they can be used in combat.
>Mystic Ranger 3 / Scout 3 would be good. Then you could advance by putting levels in either of them.>Mystic Ranger 2, Scout 4 could also work. You could skip Combat style in favor of the Scout's Bonus feat.Yes but what about melee capability?
>Then again, martial classes are quite front-loaded, so you could do Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian/Monk if you want.This is why putting only two ranks into monk has been advantageous for me. The downside is that monk is not a very friendly class for multiclassing and you lose your benefits if you outpace it with anything else
imo I want to homebrew that out since monk is weak enough as-is>It's adaptable. Depends on GM though.GM Pony, like me, has never heard of most of these prestige classes. Telling him about a potential build feels like giving a marketing pitch to a corporate executive; it has to be easy to understand yet detailed.
>>193922>Yes but what about melee capability?Well, that's +2d6 damage on all attacks if you move 10 ft, +4d6 if with Improved skirmish. It applies to melee and ranged attacks.
Wing Expert could be useful for charges, particularly since you are a griffon and could do double damage with diving charge Attacks. Cavalier arguably qualifies for Catfolk Pounce too.
High Dex could allow you to make use of the Great Flyby Attack feat, and allow you to hit a lot of creatures in melee by flying through them. Adroit Flyby Attack would help with this.
Alternatively, you could just do 100% Swordsage, or Mystic Ranger + Swordsage. Swordsage is by far the strongest option mentioned here for melee, or damage in general. It's stronger than Monk by far.
>>193923Thank you for the tips. I guess now I just need to make a big Excel spreadsheet with all these combinations and see what works best.
>>193923Does Posey have a soul? Like an actual soul like other living beings?
>>193922>Doorframes, crates, other sorts of objects that could stop a bullet. The sourcebook talks about how they can be used in combat.The Woodland Archer feat may help you with this, if combined with flyby attack.
>The downside is that monk is not a very friendly class for multiclassingIf you're that serious about Ranger/Monk multiclass, you should have the Ascetic Hunter feat, which stacks Ranger and Monk levels for certain abilities.
Arguably, you don't even need Monk levels for Ascetic Hunter, just Improved Unarmed Strike. A variant unarmed Ranger Combat Style grants this. Combat Martial Arts or Brawl from a d20 Modern Starting Occupation should work too.
There's also the Pugilist Fighter variant. It has some good level 1 features. Trade the heavy armor proficiency for the Underdark Fighter's Hit-and-run ability: Dex to damage against flat-footed targets.
Taking the Brawl feat from d20 modern starting occupation would also qualify you for Knockout Punch, which auto-crits flat footed enemies when hit with unarmed strikes. Combine this with Stealth, Fly-by Attack, and that one Tumble Skill Trick from Complete Scoundrel that allows you to attack a target flat-footed by dashing past them.
Note that you can trade you Ride class skill for the Tumble class skill in Urban adventures.
Oh yeah, brass knuckles are a thing in d20 Modern: they give +1 damage on unarmed attacks. They cost pocket change.
As a griffon, you can also use claw extenders from Dragon #334, for an additional +1 damage.
Then you could use special materials on both (dragonfang, Iron-filled, Razor-Sharp, etc).
>Yes but what about melee capability?You should understand that 3.5e martials are very feat-reliant, so leaning into a particular weapon or fighting style is recommended.
There's no build that is optional for both melee and Range, unless you would prefer to completely rebuild as a Cleric with the Animal and Hunt Domains, and then specialize into Prestige Ranger, with Intuitive Attack for Melee and Zen Archery for Ranged Combat. Then take Ascetic Hunter for unarmed damage. Clerics are just good at everything.
The Scout's Skirmish still works in melee though. You just need to keep moving, which Flyby Attack helps with.
>it has to be easy to understandI just explained it to you. It's more of a matter of acceptance than understanding.
>>193926Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...another question: how would Posey react if one day in a battle she took a hit and it for once oddly hurts. Then she looks down at the wound and sees that she's bleeding...
blood. Red, crimson blood.
I get the distinct sense this recent line of questioning has accidentally killed all discussion by the cause of how awkward the air in the room just got.
So I'm going to turn the boxfan on and get back to flight statistics.
>Pic attached
Griffons aren't precisely known for their flight prowess, but in Fallout Equestria, they are known for equipping wing razors - a specialized subset of the idea of barding meant to allow the leading edge of their wings act as a weapon during high-speed flight against a slower, or ground bound target.
Also, Gilda in particular considered herself the equal of RD, and no one in she show disputed it.
So I posit that griffons should have flight abilities that are within reach of the pterripi''s 'normal'
I feel this needs reconsidering of the DnD 'flight chart' - I wouldn't, if this was at a "normal" DnD table where gnolls, elves and humans happened to be travelling with a flying, talking horse-person, but since this is Equestria...
Hippogriphs are a different problem. They spent an entire generation being seaponies and disallowed their young to come to understand the nuances of flight. This was recent enough that it still haunts today's energetic, youthful new workers. They would suffer flight checks not so much because their wings aren't strong, but because they don't have the culture or history to know what to do with the extra limbs.
Like legs. (2nd attachment)
According to Surf And/Or Turf,
<[ Season 8 Episode 6, https mlp _ fandom _ com /wiki/Surf_and_or_Turf ]
Hippogriffs still have the right to become seaponies.
Which [would/should] could massively alter the immediate course of this campaign to confront a sea monster and its willingly enthralled minion(s)
>>193930>Griffons aren't precisely known for their flight prowess, but in Fallout Equestria, they are known for equipping wing razors - a specialized subset of the idea of barding meant to allow the leading edge of their wings act as a weapon during high-speed flight against a slower, or ground bound target.That's an idea. In Equestria at War, the setting for this campaign, the special unit for griffons are "knights," heavily armored units that are holdovers from a more archaic time but which can be improved via enchantment research to better resist gunfire. We haven't encountered any so far, but their existence implies that griffons are less inclined to mobility and flight, though they're capable of it. Ponies have a couple of unique units in the mod, with pegasi being dedicated, fast-moving paratroopers. On average, it seems that pegasi have better flight than griffons and we can chalk Gilda up to being both exceptional and having spent time with flight-focused pegasi.
We also aren't entirely sure on what the natural weapons of each race are, though we know we have them (hooves for ponies, horses and deer, claws for griffons, just about any race can bite, etc.) The monstrous form of griffons in default 3.5e have the "rake" ability which is frankly overpowered in this game, but maybe that could be a feat for griffons?
>hippogriffsMy interpretation of them in EaW and in this game is that they are a jack of all trades, master of none (except swimming). They would be ungainly on land despite their appearance and wouldn't fly well, but being able to move through any medium is valuable. In EaW they have the best marines.
>>193932 →>I'd rather the players figure out where they want to place NPCs rather than letting them free roamI mean, we tried that, but here we are all these weeks later with no progress.
Furthermore, this is an opportunity for you to decide how many NPCs you want to run at once in the given encounters, and which of them you actually want to roleplay.
I have a Thrallherd in my Sunday game, and I try to work with him to streamline when/when he brings his 30+ minions on the ship to avoid slowing the game down, as well as give him a heads up so that he can preserve his named-character slaves while letting his expendables do expendable work. And that's for his controlled NPCs.
If we go back to debating who goes where, we might just spend another three weeks arguing. We don't actually control any of these NPCs, we do not have their statistics or combat stats, and they only barely trust us enough to follow our plans: better to let the ponies themselves decide what they're prepared to do based on their mindedness and capabilities.
I don't actually care what we do in the end. My only real priority was keeping the airponies from being killed, but if we seize the boat(s) we can probably sell them for more than our reward, so I am less anxious about that. Do whatever. Let's just decide somehow so that we can go back to roleplaying.
>>193936>We haven't encountered any so farI killed a griffon Knight. It was Luminous. He sadly didn't have any of his equipment except for a suit of chainmail, but I gave him my +2 Silver sword so we could have a semi-honorable fight.
I still have his bones. Might do something with them later.
Posey fought griffon knights throughout most of her military service, and that's basically her specialty.
>but their existence implies that griffons are less inclined to mobility and flight, though they're capable of it.I don't really see anything that implies this. Griffons seem to be strong fliers in the show. It would also be kind of stupid to have a bird-based race not be strong fliers when so many other flying creatures exist in the universe.
Imo, Griffins could use stats similar to 3.5e Raptorans, except I guess you should give them flight at lvl 1 that also improves as they gain levels.
Maybe check out Races Of The Wild, or just do whatever ponyfinder does.
>On average, it seems that pegasi have better flight than griffonsThis is true.
>We also aren't entirely sure on what the natural weapons of each race are>claws for griffonsI would like answers to this.
Griffins should at minimum have two 1d4 claw attacks, ideally 1d6. Perhaps you could let them spend feats to give them a rake attack as well. I think they should qualify for catfolk pounce too. Griffons should be good as flying charger martial builds.
>The monstrous form of griffons in default 3.5e have the "rake" ability which is frankly overpowered in this game, but maybe that could be a feat for griffons?Oh, looks like you already though of that.
Griffons have cat-like anatomy, so being able to take is nice.
>hoovesConsidering that kicking is often depicted in the show, ponies could have a hoof attack.
A 3.5e pony (animal) has two 1d3 hoof attacks. Hooves are only secondary natural attacks though (-5 penalty), so they wouldn't be all that useful in combat. Still, an extra attack is an extra attack.
>just about any race can biteNah, I wouldn't do that. If a 3.5e horse does not have a bite attack, then neither should an average pony.
(t. has a bite attack)
Considering that this is a setting with guns, I think being generous with natural attacks is fine. Griffons at least should be able to have good natural weapon builds.
>They would be ungainly on land despite their appearance and wouldn't fly wellMythologically, hippogriffs are better fliers than pegasi or griffons. The Holy Roman Empire really romanticized them as the ideal mount for Paladins.
>>193933Rood
>>193928Posey is a masochist.
If she bled red, she would think that she either needs to go easier on Gloomy, or recognize it as some sort of advancement in her necrotic evolution and proceed to study it. She prides herself in her ability to pass for a living pony despite being dead, unique among Necropolitans, a trait she attributes to her vampiric heritage.
>>193937>Griffons seem to be strong fliers in the show. It would also be kind of stupid to have a bird-based race not be strong fliers when so many other flying creatures exist in the universe.I suppose so but my concern is balance. How good at flying should pegasi be by default? The answer is better than any other flying race, because it's all that pegasi have going for them. Griffons are a complicated answer, so let's do a simpler comparison with batponies. Batponies also can fly, but in addition to flight they have echolocation, which is a type of darksight. One way of balancing them is to give a negative, but the only negative which makes sense for them is a social disadvantage in pony society. However social disadvantages can easily be worked around while darksight is a really cool power, so batponies are simply better by default. The easiest way to balance the two races is to make pegasi naturally better at flying than batponies.
>Imo, Griffins could use stats similar to 3.5e Raptorans, except I guess you should give them flight at lvl 1 that also improves as they gain levels.>Maybe check out Races Of The Wild, or just do whatever ponyfinder does.I will have to research this.
>Griffins should at minimum have two 1d4 claw attacks, ideally 1d6. Perhaps you could let them spend feats to give them a rake attack as well. I think they should qualify for catfolk pounce too. >Griffons should be good as flying charger martial builds.I don't know how these abilities would transfer over to a monk build with a focus on nonlethal damage.
>Griffons at least should be able to have good natural weapon builds.I agree and the way to balance them would be a small charisma debuff (-1) and going by bipedal weight rules (all equines use quadrupedal weight rules). I'm still not sure how this works with a monk/nonlethal unarmed build, or what other abilities and balancing methods should be incorporated.
>>193935 →>bringing the possessed ponies for a "Light of Ourabouros" gambitinternally screams
>>193938>I suppose so but my concern is balance.Imo, it's a bit late to care about "balance" when races that fly at-will at lvl 1 are on the table. Flight is such a powerful ability that trying to nerf it with maneuverability feels like cope. It would still be the strongest ability by far.
>How good at flying should pegasi be by default?To reflect the show, their flying ability should be Average maneuverability with a speed twice as fast as their land speed. They should also have the opportunity to upgrade their flight through feats.
I also think Pony land speed should be 40-50 ft though, so 80-100 ft.
>Griffons are a complicated answer, so let's do a simpler comparison with batponies.Is it though? Assuming we're letting races have flight at lvl 1, their maneuverability should be average, like that of an eagle. Make their flight speed twice as fast as their land, which imo should be slower than ponies.
>Batponies also can fly, but in addition to flight they have echolocation, which is a type of darksight.>The easiest way to balance the two races is to make pegasi naturally better at flying than batponies.Just give Batponies low light vision and a hearing-based blindsense, with the opportunity to upgrade it to Blindsight.
Bat wings aren't as optimal for flight, so you could reduce their speed. Batponies would be adept to flying in narrow corridors, so their maneuverability should be fine albeit with lower speed.
Then also give them Light Blindness, like Drow. Or at least Light Sensitivity. That is a reasonable debuff.
>One way of balancing them is toSee, you're thinking from a "balance" perspective again, when you've already committed to a "show-acurrate realism" perspective by letting races fly at lvl 1. Start by giving them basic abilities that represent their abilities in the show, then balance them with each other. Ponyfinder does this: the most "broken" thing about it is still the fact that races fly at lvl 1 and games need to be written with that in mind.
Really, you could probably just use PF1e Ponyfinder for a lot of metrics.
>I don't know how these abilities would transfer over to a monk build with a focus on nonlethal damage.Well, having a Claw Attacks might qualify you for the Beast Strike feat, which is good. Claw attacks are just nice to have overall, but imo don't impact the game all that much, particularly if you don't have multi attack. They're excellent to have it you're a Psychic Warrior or Totemist though.
Btw, Psychic Warrior is very, very, very good for unarmed combat. It multiclasses well with Monk too, ala Tashlatora.
It even multiclasses well with Ranger, ala Illithid Slayer.
If you want to focus on Non-lethal damage, the Book Of Exalted Deeds has some stuff written on that.
You could also buy weapons with the Merciful Enhancement, particularly an Amulet Of Natural Attacks or Claw Extenders.
>I agree and the way to balance them would be a small charisma debuff (-1)I actually disagree. A debuff to the most commonly dumped stat is not a balancing measure, despite what early 3.0 writers thought it would be. If you don't use Charisma, -2 Cha does nothing.
>weight rules (all equines use quadrupedal weight rules)Carrying capacity is a non-issue for most games unless someone is a Hulking Hurler, but sure.
Buy a Bag Of Holding.
>>193939>Imo, it's a bit late to care about "balance" when races that fly at-will at lvl 1 are on the table. Flight is such a powerful ability that trying to nerf it with maneuverability feels like cope. It would still be the strongest ability by far.This is a good point. I don't know how true it is in a world with guns and planes but the "fly-by-attack" feat is certainly powerful. Just getting from place to place quickly, at the cost of being easily spotted, has its benefits.
>To reflect the show, their flying ability should be Average maneuverability with a speed twice as fast as their land speed. They should also have the opportunity to upgrade their flight through feats.>I also think Pony land speed should be 40-50 ft though, so 80-100 ft.Agreed
>Just give Batponies low light vision and a hearing-based blindsense, with the opportunity to upgrade it to Blindsight.>Bat wings aren't as optimal for flight, so you could reduce their speed. Batponies would be adept to flying in narrow corridors, so their maneuverability should be fine albeit with lower speed.>Then also give them Light Blindness, like Drow. Or at least Light Sensitivity. That is a reasonable debuff.These are good assessments. I forgot there are less powerful versions of dark vision. Also instead of taking the lazy route and relying on the flight table, individualized flight performance is a good idea.
>See, you're thinking from a "balance" perspective again, when you've already committed to a "show-acurrate realism" perspective by letting races fly at lvl 1. Start by giving them basic abilities that represent their abilities in the show, then balance them with each other. Ponyfinder does this: the most "broken" thing about it is still the fact that races fly at lvl 1 and games need to be written with that in mind.>Really, you could probably just use PF1e Ponyfinder for a lot of metrics.You're right.
I still haven't read Ponyfinder>beast strike featI didn't know about that. It would be useful for Cavaliere, though if it counts as lethal damage then it's less than ideal for subduing enemies. He doesn't kill enemies if he can help it but if he has no choice he might as well use a gun. Did I mention there's about a dozen viable feats he could take on as his next one?
I'll have to look into the other stuff.
>I actually disagree. A debuff to the most commonly dumped stat is not a balancing measure, despite what early 3.0 writers thought it would be. If you don't use Charisma, -2 Cha does nothing.It would impact Cavaliere since convincing or intimidating other creatures is necessary for his work and I invested points into those scores. That's a good point. Also talking about debuffs is useless until you have a list of racial abilities and a baseline for what counts as "balanced," so we might as well ignore it.
>Carrying capacity is a non-issue for most games unless someone is a Hulking Hurler, but sure.It has impacted Cavaliere pretty significantly but point taken.
>Bag of HoldingNo idea how common that is in this setting. If it's something that can be readily made or purchased, militaries would absolutely use that magic for their logistics. Since it's core to 3.5e we can assume it exists (like the swan boat) until GM Pony says otherwise.
I happen to have a moderately complete copy of Ponyfinder.
Now, I know some folks are squeamish about bypassing the profits maybe getting to the author, so here's what I'll offer: I'll leave the link up just a time. Either about nine hours or about 26 - work happens in the middle of those two. Then I'll delete the link.
mega.nz/folder [slash] L9YCxbZS#56e4eQ7cDStXpjmfBRIWoA
>>193942So we're all in agreement that this is very likely bait and isn't actually Ponyfinder, right?
>>193942Thank you anon. As a poorfag I appreciate it.
>>193943If he's punking us it's very well hidden. All the files seem legit.
While we wait for a response from the NPCs, do we want to try using Monstro-kamikaze to sink the GRU ship before or after we enter the Kostroma?
Doing so before lets us know early if we could eliminate the threat of the GRU, and also gives us the opportunity to strike their ship while they are distracted with their wild goose chase on the island (an underwater approach followed by a free-Willie style flying leap could catch them off guard and compromise their hull by slamming into it while carrying the torpedos). It would also possibly increase allied NPC morale, as seeing the explosion would be spectacular, and the communists seeing the GRU ship sink would make it clear that they have passed the point of no return and cannot return to Stalliongrad, lest they be executed for treason/desertion: this makes them more likely to comply with our demands. This does, however, risk Monstro being destroyed, which would sadden me, but sacrifices must be made for the sake of the mission.
Doing it after means that Posey would be able to use Monstro as a combat minion aboard the Kostroma, which may help us against other monsters we may encounter aboard the ship. Monstro an attack flying enemies, has considerable reach, has decent HP and damage resistance, and can grapple+constrict+paralyze enemies. It would have to squeeze in narrow corridors though, which limits its combat potential, although that also makes it a means of total cover for the party if we want to use it to plug up a passageway to stop monsters from reaching or shooting us. It also leaves Monstro intact so that Posey can use it as a flying getaway vehicle to fly home if this mission goes south and fails and she is forced to flee while everypony else dies.
>>193946I'm not so sure Monstro would be able to fit inside the ship corridors. I would vote to use Monstro to attack the GRU ship before rather than after, to remove the threat of the destroyer attacking either of these ships.
>>193946After. Attacking their ship directly would kick the GRU's efforts into overdrive and they will come to kill us. I also don't have confidence in Monstro being able to sink the destroyer at all and I think you would be wasting a valuable summon. But he's your minion and it's up to you.
>>193947>I'm not so sure Monstro would be able to fit inside the ship corridors.Monstro is a huge creature. I think it can squeeze through a space barely wider then 5 ft, although it would not be able to fight comfortably in those conditions.
If we find ourselves in single file 5 ft corridor encounters, we should have somepony holding a tower shield take the lead.
>>193948> I also don't have confidence in Monstro being able to sink the destroyer at all and I think you would be wasting a valuable summon.Well, idk how many torpedos we have altogether, but I have been studying the rules for sinking ships in 3.5e and likewise calculating the HP for the hull section of ships in this era, and it should be doable based on my estimates of the torpedo damage. So long as it can either make contact with the ship, or drop something on top of
I'm still looking for the rules for WWII era radar detection, but based on the Range increment and damage of the ships guns it should be pretty difficult for them to completely destroy monstro before it gets within sprinting range.
A single torpedo can be swung or tossed as an improvised weapon against an AC of ~3 towards a hull section before it detonates, which will then detonate all other torpedos. The improvised weapon attack combined with the first explosion might be twice as much as it needs to destroy a single hull section of the ship (assuming hardness of tempered steel) and the AoE is large enough to affect at least 3 squares radius. Once a single hull section is destroyed, adjacent hull sections are automatically reduced to 50% max HP, which combined with the explosion would destroy them, causing a cascading chain reaction that would destroy maybe 9 sections and severely damage some others. Monstro could potentially pull this off without even destroying itself.
The ship would immediately begin sinking if at least one hull section is destroyed. Unless I'm gravely mistaken with the damage of a torpedo, one should be enough to sink it, and Monstro could carry a few.
But yeah, valuable minion. I might prefer to keep it to defend me in combat, particularly because it's large enough to give me cover in combat and has a very strong melee attack and incapacitating grapple. I should weigh the risk.
>>193949You have put in the legwork and I respect that. Alright, go for it.
>Unless I'm gravely mistaken with the damage of a torpedoTorpedoes are designed to sink ships. That said, we have no idea on how capable the pirates' torpedoes are (you can just ask them about that) and the warhead we took from the airplane's torpedo has no detonation source for itself, being a sort of plastic explosive.
>>193950>and the warhead we took from the airplane's torpedo has no detonation source for itself.... Then why did we bring it?
>>193951We were going to use it as an "it's the only way to be sure" option by blowing up the Fellow Traveler. The explosive yield is far in excess of the explosive harpoon, so if we get it into a vulnerable state it should work.
>>193952The torpedo does nothing if we have no way to detonate it.
>>193950>being a sort of plastic explosiveIf it's actually like plastic explosive, it would be detonated by electricity; slingshot some fresh 9v batteries at it.
Sorry, sorry just passing through.
But if you need a bit more juice, maybe wire about sixteen 9v in series (or parallel? One builds amperage, the other voltage) duct tape them to a crossbow bolt that way, and have metal probes sticking out as the bolt's head.
If you need to be sure, nuke it from orbit; assuming you have a ballista for the harpoon, duct tape the arrow to stick out a bit from the head of the harpoon. Slather the plane's explosive in maple syrup or whatever sticky stuff you can find, catapult it at the side of the extraplaner final boss, then shoot the detonator at it via the harpoon. Batteries discharge into the PE beginning its rapid decomposition a split second before the more conventional explosive is detonated, causing all torpedo devices to explode in full simulcast.
Or shoot it with a laser? Do you have lasers? Maybe forcibly redirect the Kostromo's radar boom to dump its full million-watt sweep straight down at the tinfoil covered explosive pancake. Even if it doesn't cause the pancake to explosively decompose, it should at the very least cause some decomposition of Sleeping Beauty's current physical form, being as that energy output is (probably) not that far from a microwave oven's wavelength.
2nd image was the best I could find for an example of 'wing razors'. With that I'm out for the day so have fun discussing exploding pancakes and undead dueling whales!
>>193954When I get to lvl 12, I'm going to make my explosives haunt-shifted so that they intelligently fire and detonate themselves ala poltergeists.
>>193954>explosiveWell the harpoon has an explosive harpoon, which should set off the warhead. Alternatively, we could find the equivalent of a car battery and set up an improvised switch. However that would take a skill check and I'm hesitant considering the danger.
>Do you have lasers?No but it's possible a magical weapon might be onboard the Kostroma.
>Maybe forcibly redirect the Kostromo's radar boom to dump its full million-watt sweep straight down at the tinfoil covered explosive pancake.Fun idea but I doubt any of the characters have the technical knowledge for that. We'd also need enough power.
>>193957>I doubt any of the characters have the technical knowledge for thatHow would we even quantify this? We're all 3.5e classes, and the only non-NPC core character classes with (Engineering) as a class skill are Bard and Wizard.
It would work in d20 modern, but d20 modern character classes have a lot more skill points per level than most 3.5e characters.
I waited a week to see if I could get into a better mood. It didn’t work.
>>193897>I never play 'dating sims' because they're dumbWell fuck you too
>Every group I've been with, player or DM, has been of the murderhobo varietyWe don’t do that here.
>>193901:(
>>193905>What’s holding you back from playing Amber as a full magical bard?I had a whole set for a spiritual, magical awakening of Amber’s powers and… it was ignored. If he doesn’t want to he doesn’t want to. Which I guess is fine.
>>193907>I don’t care about yaksThe point was to rescue rich equestrian emigres in Yakyakistan, not ponies. But people don’t really have any interest in the quest ideas anyways so it doesn’t matter, really.
>Gloomy (100 gp) slaveNPCs are underrated as loot and equipment
>>193919>you're playing Call of Cthulhu at bestWell fuck you too
This is a comparatively low magic setting. Spellcasters as enemies tend to be more of a specialist class or the actual boss-villians.
>>193922>GM Pony, like me, has never heard of these classesCorrect. Everyone, please take note of this. I don’t really care about class building. It does not intrigue my autism. If I were building a character, it would likely interest me, but I’m not and so it does not. The question of “will a Molotov cocktail filled with diesel light effectively?” is more interesting to me than whatever class
>>193919>if you're all roleplaying as fursuiting humans I want outAnd if you’re going to be rude as fuck all the time for no fucking reason constantly like you have in these several snide little shitty remarks then I want nothing to do with you. Jesus Christ, I’m not a student in school and I’m not a minimum wage service employee. I don’t
have to put up with people being shitty to me, and so I don’t.
>But we are all shitty, extremely rude people on 4chan or roll20 or discord or whatever shithole I am familiar withThere is a reason why everyone there hates everyone, hates the website, hates themselves, and hates their lives
>>193930>I get the distinct sense this recent line of questioning has accidentally killed all discussion by the cause of how awkward the air in the room just got.Correct. When I read your above comments I thought to myself that I should put the phone down and not respond that day annd wait until I’ve calmed down, so I can be more polite and just generally be better. Unfortunately that didn’t work.
>>193930>>193936I had a whole rant on why I hate flying characters and just generally don’t like flight, but honestly, what I hate is
specifically when flight is used to scout ahead into new areas by a single character. I could explain why but… why?
>>193937>I mean, we tried that, but here we are all these weeks later with no progress.:(
>If we go back to debating who goes where, we might just spend another three weeks arguing>I don't actually care what we do in the end.>>193939>Imo, it's a bit late to care about "balance" when races that fly at-will at lvl 1 are on the tableNo shit
>>193950>the warhead we took from the airplane's torpedo has no detonation source for itself,Why would you not take the contact detonator from the original torpedo?
Also remember the torpedo boat has four torpedos
>>193954Ooh, these are clever
>>193959>I had a whole set for a spiritual, magical awakening of Amber’s powers and… it was ignored. If he doesn’t want to he doesn’t want to. Which I guess is fine.I do want to...but can she be a wide-eyed, clueless mare for a couple more in-game days? I know MLP tends to have magical powers manifest within a very short time, but Amber has not had the chance to do much as her mundane self. Why not live a mostly ordinary life for a short amount of time, have her go on a couple short adventures, have her talent noticed, and get some music lessons? It would be very much worthwhile and at the end of it she would be a clear-cut bard. All it takes is time, but roleplay is fun as it is. At least it is for me.
>The point was to rescue rich equestrian emigres in Yakyakistan, not ponies.I shouldn't have been so negative. Rereading it, it sounds appropriate for Cavaliere to embark on and like a fun quest. Les Meridianes is also fun if it's rewritten slightly. Rather than have foreign nations intervene, let conflicts and power struggles be more domestic in nature, with Cavaliere having to resolve this mess of a situation.
>what I hate is specifically when flight is used to scout ahead into new areas by a single characterNoted. Was it bad that Cavaliere looked in the aft deckhouse of the
Kostroma? Flying scouts are fairly intuitive, but I get how they can throw a wrench into quest design. It's the easy way out of gathering intelligence compared to asking locals, for example. But you could introduce downsides to flight. Maybe Baltimare has a strict "no flight by unauthorized creatures" law or the quest is in daylight where fliers are an easy target.
>Why would you not take the contact detonator from the original torpedo?Maybe we did actually. I'll have to go back and check. All I remember is that the explosive is soft and pliable.
>>193959>>193960>I had a whole set for a spiritual, magical awakening of Amber’s powers and… it was ignored. If he doesn’t want to he doesn’t want to. Which I guess is fine.Me when Amber:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2YExuGLJ9ns>But people don’t really have any interest in the quest ideas anyways so it doesn’t matter, really.I am interested.
>NPCs are underrated as loot and equipmentAgreed. That's why I want to collect wild undead like they're Pokemon.
>I had a whole rant on why I hate flying characters and just generally don’t like flightAgreed. The balance of flight one of my biggest dilemmas in pony-based ttrpgs, but the wider ponyfinder/homebrew/etc community has me beat, so I just try to accept it.
>what I hate is specifically when flight is used to scout ahead into new areas by a single character. I could explain why but… why?I splitting the party just complicates everything in general, especially if it's done with movement abilities where the rest of the party can't just rush in.
>:( Sorry... I was being excessively negative due to stress that week.
>This is a comparatively low magic setting. Spellcasters as enemies tend to be more of a specialist class or the actual boss-villians.Yeah, it's a bit like d20 Modern Arcana.
It's an interesting blend, because Equestria is a very high magic setting in the show, but this is more of a down-to-earth realistic military setting. I have come to appreciate the nuance and the intrigue, despite my character being a bit of a sore thumb in it.
>>193960>I know MLP tends to have magical powers manifest within a very short time, but Amber has not had the chance to do much as her mundane self.You are a Bard. Your powers are inherently esoteric. You only need a moment of inspiration:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rQVZZ8ktaewLiterally just sing in public, or climb a mountain and sing into the wind to attune yourself with the primal music of the universe.
You are the character that kings look to for advice in times of crisis. You are the one who gives desperate armies hope in the face of grim odds. You are a legendary warrior-poet chosen by the gods to sing legends of heraldry. You are a peerless tactician who's presence on the battlefield changes the course of history. You a the keeper of the sacred words of creation, weaving fate itself with your voice. You have the power to start and end wars. Animals bow to your glory. Angels descend from heaven to hear you sing. You are a legendary polymath, collector of stories, and savant in the arts. The world is your oyster.
>>193960>Was it bad that Cavaliere looked in the aft deckhouse of the Kostroma?When I was planning on writing a 1000 word essay on why I hated flying (it was always specifically scouting and not flying itself), the key example was going to be Brie. And especially, Brie scouting on the island. Cavaliere on the ship was not as bad, in no small part because I expected him to do it.
The main thing I wanted on the ship was for the party to encounter the torpedo boat, for which, I needed them to approach around the ladders. I expected fliers to just skip the whole process, but I figured that since most of the party cannot fly they’d need to go up the ladders anyways.
When Cavaliere scouted I wanted him to encounter… well, kind of nothing. It’s a derelict ship on a dark, rainy night. There are no people on it. Just signs that people were there, and they left in a hurry. If Cavaliere encountered anyone, it would have destroyed the derelict atmosphere. Unfortunately because Cavaliere didn’t encounter anyone, Posey assumed that almost the whole ship, if not the whole ship, was actually abandoned… which isn’t what I wanted to imply. There was a description of blood on the deck but it wasn’t noticed.
What I did dislike about Cavaliere’s scouting was the infirmary room. I had it as empty. That was a massive kissed opportunity. If I did it again there absolutely would have been a weird, wounded pony there, presumably an early victim of the Traveller. Also I would have added more health potions. And both of these would have been added if the infirmary were visited later. But now, because it’s already been visited, I’m locked down to that description.
I hate scouting because:
1. I have to describe the whole fucking area. That isn’t always easy. It often is 500 words to describe a new area.And then when the main party arrives… do I just copy paste the description again?
2. It locks me into what is in an area. It doesn’t actually give me time to think of what is in an area. It doesn’t let me add stuff later
3. It spoils cinematic reveals. This is hard to describe, but Sea Stone on the beach is the best example
4. It spoils ambushes and surprises generally
>Les Meridianes is also fun if it's rewritten slightly.Lee Meridianes was less of a quest idea and more of a region where quests can take place. There was going to be a griffin princess who is royal blood of Aquelia, trying to hold onto power in the islands while in exile. An equestrian captain who is now the fillibusterer president of one island. There was an entire series of encounters involving a pony-eating leviathan that was damn near a myth to the natives, not entirely believed in by the equestrians, and could actually be directly encountered in… I had three different situations. That really was a whole planned quest. It got partly reused in this one, but still. And there was going to be a whole heart of darkness quest of an island owned by an equestrian pineapple magnate who turned it into a pineapple plantation with Kirin workers. But he’s made a cult of the pineapple and the whole island is dominated by the pineapple cult.
>>193962And also in the Meridianes there was supposed to be a rebel group of natives (I assumed donkeys at first, but I think EAW implies ponies) who are genocidal communists who want to ethnically cleanse the islands of foreigners.
It’s islands. Every island is different. This island is run by griffins, this one by equestrian pirates, this one by natives, this one by the pineapple cult, and so forth. Also hippogriffs show up
>>193962>I have to describe the whole fucking area. That isn’t always easy. It often is 500 words to describe a new area.And then when the main party arrives… do I just copy paste the description again?>2. It locks me into what is in an area. It doesn’t actually give me time to think of what is in an area. It doesn’t let me add stuff later>3. It spoils cinematic reveals. This is hard to describe, but Sea Stone on the beach is the best example>4. It spoils ambushes and surprises generally Ugh, tell me about it. It's quite the struggle.
I hate describing things when I'm unprepared, because I always forget something and then either have to commit to it or retcon my descriptions.
It can help if you type out your descriptions ahead of time though. Basically just divide your dungeon into a numbered list which each room having it's description paragraphs and encounter level. Basically try to just plan ahead as much as possible, write out your encounters/rooms in a compartmentalized fashion like an official module would write them.
In my campaign, I also have a Psion that automatically detects nonmindless creatures within 40 ft, and a Druid who likes to cast Detect X Creatures spells, which often forces me to describe the creatures they detect before I get to describe the room itself, which is counterintuitive and messes up my attempts at dramatic reveals. I'm still trying to figure out how to handle that.
The Psion also has an army of enthralled Rogues (they were pirates) that he is telepathically linked to and can send ahead for scouting, but doesn't do it all that often because he doesn't want them to be killed (how gracious).
>>193958>How would we even quantify this?One day we'll sort all this out. For now though, it's safe to say none of the PCs have the know-how. Maybe one of the scientists do.
>>193961>You only need a moment of inspirationYou're right. GM Pony, if you want to come up with such a moment I'm all ears.
>What I did dislike about Cavaliere’s scouting was the infirmary room.Awwww
I had no idea about any of that. I was specifically looking for medical supplies because we had none. I do like the desolate atmosphere you developed.
>That isn’t always easy.I love these descriptions but I know how hard they are for you. Have you tried using AI to make the process easier? You could revise it as needed.
>Lee Meridianes was less of a quest idea and more of a region where quests can take place.I like Baltimare and I would hate to leave but this is a great concept.
>>193965>GM Pony, if you want to come up with such a moment I'm all ears.Ngl, it low-key sounds like more of a thing for you to just commit to and roleplay. You can describe your own spiritual epiphany. It could be something as simple as contemplating the setting sun while humming a ballad. You don't need to wait for an opportunity to decide to take being a hero seriously.
>>193963I would be interested, although I was also planning on setting up shop in Baltimare, so maybe I would need some kind of hook from the University to send Posey over so that she would change locations.
Posey has only been in this country for about a week in universe. It feels a bit awkward for her to move so quickly, but I will do my best to comply with whatever direction you would like to take the story in.
>>193964>just already have everything in the next area preparedYes but… I don’t have everything in the next area prepared. I almost never have every tiny detail of a next area prepared before hand. Maybe most of what’s there but I often add things or change them.
Another thing is that aerial scouting of an area is a really fucking good way to get your character killed in a campaign where rifles are the most common enemy weapon, and machines guns are often present. There’s no cover or camouflage in the air. There’s a reason that in modern combat, going prone or even digging trenches are common. It’s better to be below ground than above it.m
>>193965I really hate that the bed was empty. That’s the biggest regret.
>Use AI to write No.
There probably is quite a bit more I could do with Baltimare. Really the leviathan was the only very developed part of the Meridianes idea. I had three distinct scenarios involving it.
>>193967Yeah, fair enough
>>193960>can she be a wide-eyed, clueless mare for a couple more in-game days?Okay…
She
is really cute like that
>>193968>Yes but… I don’t have everything in the next area prepared. I almost never have every tiny detail of a next area prepared before hand. Maybe most of what’s there but I often add things or change them.Yes, it is easier said than done. I say it as advice, but I don't always follow it. Pic related.
It really does help to plan ahead though, if you can find the time (I often can't). Most challenges in DMing can be lessened by planning things out more. It also lessens the stress of having to type things out on the spot.
It's part of why I usually just stick with pre-written modules in my games, because my work schedule makes it hard to find time to write stuff out in detail.
>I really hate that the bed was empty. That’s the biggest regret.I mean, it's not too late to say that there was an unconscious pony that fell behind/under the bed unnoticed. Nobody would complain.There could also be another infirmary on the Kostroma with the same thing.>>193965>Have you tried using AI to make the process easier?Don't do it. It's a trap. I tried it, and it creates more problems than it solves.
>>193960>>193969>I do want to...but can she be a wide-eyed, clueless mare for a couple more in-game days?Tbh, a way to do this could be just to recreate her character sheet as a lvl 1 character, and then reinvest all of her lvl 5 XP into XP related mechanics such as virtual Bloodline Levels, inborn gifts, prestige race altercations, and possibly a bought-off template with dormant abilities (Firesouled would be appropriate). That way she could go on lvl 1 adventures, but still have an enormous amount of "hidden potential", but would also be able to level up very quickly when joining the party.
I was actually planning something similar for Gloomy, who needs to be low level to be my Apprentice.
>>193971Wait, actually, this is sort of what I did for Posey, and I still regret it because I deleveled myself mostly just so that my character would have an excuse to look sexy while undead...
>>193969>She is really cute like thatShe is>>193971>Tbh, a way to do this could be just to recreate her character sheet as a lvl 1 character, and then reinvest all of her lvl 5 XP into XP related mechanics such as virtual Bloodline Levels, inborn gifts, prestige race altercations, and possibly a bought-off template with dormant abilities (Firesouled would be appropriate).What...? I don't know what those are.
No offense but this sounds metagamey. If Amber got these powers and then leveled up she would be overpowered, even if she was a level or two behind.
>>193959>this recent line of questioningINcorrect
The line of questioning I was talking over was Kira asking if Posey had a soul.
FWIW, I've never played an online game. In-person only, with people I knew. That way I could get a feel for the world, for the DM, before putting a bunch of time into a character that would be cockblocked at every scene and roll.
>This is a comparatively low magic setting.Yeah I'm out.
>Ooh, these are cleverSo, am I dumb or am I clever?
Don't know, don't care; I have my answers I wouldn't like actually playing here.
>>193974Bye Nigger
>>193973D’awww
>>193974Instead of lurking (faggot), (you) came here to bait with interest and then snidely react when a long-running game isn't what you usually play. We dodged a bullet with you if this is how you react to hospitality. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
>>193974But seriously,
>am I dumbI never called you dumb. I pointed out that you were making an ass of yourself by being needlessly rude and insulting in multiple occasions. Did you expect that that would go down well? Did you think you wouldn’t get push back? Did you think we were not going to insult you back? If you can’t handle being insulted, why insult us?
You’ve had multiple actually good ideas here, like how to detonate the torpedo, and I think that having the party encounter a crazed griffin in the hold of the
Kostroma is an interesting way to introduce a character. I just wish you knew how to interact with people.
>>193977It would have been a bit complicated and tedious to introduce him right now anyway.
>>193978Not really. He could have just been locked up in a room among the crew quarters. Or chained upright in the cargo hold. If he had no interesting explaining backstory, why he’s there, or generally integrating himself into the setting - which I’m sure is exactly how he would have played it - all of those questions could have been handwaved away with amnesia or a crazed demeanor, which could have been blamed on the Traveller.
>>193956 →Four torpedos. Two in launch tubes, then two more, one behind each launch tube. Best guess is 3,300 pounds each.
>>193979>3,300That is more than Monstro's light load. We will have to just use the plane's torpedo we brought.
Thank you for clarifying.
>>193965Admittedly, it's not as if we would need to leave Baltimare permanently. In fact, going to the Meridiennes would be a great way to progress certain storylines in the city. Say we do something that completely changes the power dynamics of the factions in the city, such as wiping one of the factions out or installing new leadership. The effects might not be noticeable
immediately, but if then we went to the Meridiennes for a bit to complete the various opportunities, quests, and activities in that region, enough time will have passed that when we return to Baltimare we see either the end result of those changes or get to witness these changes in full swing.
>>193970I second the infirmary idea. Perhaps an additional room was hastily converted into a second infirmary when things started going bad, with this one having signs of more gruesome activities and atmosphere. I also don't think there would be anything wrong with finding the unnoticed pony behind/under the bed.
>>193981>Say we do something that completely changes the power dynamics of the factions in the cityDo you have something in mind?
>>193980I think that weight probably is kind of close to accurate. The warhead alone is 600 pounds. That’s why the first torpedo was disassembled
>>193982Well, the Waterfront Gang is likely still after White Orchid and Mint Marine. And they're probably still slightly upset about Silver accidently murking Bargain Strength in his own restaurant, so they may be after Silver too. Thank goodness the ghoul that Posey has watching over Gloomy is there to kill and cannibalize any unwanted intruders for this mission, but he won't be there forever. Of course this means that the Waterfront Gang needs to go if Silver and his household wants to be safe, but removing the entire gang would result in a power vacuum and significant instability in the city. That's bad.
So what if Silver recruits the rescued Kostroma survivors as his Druhzhina, and together they take out the Waterfront Gang's leadership, assure the loyalty of the underlings, and assume control of the Waterfront Gang themselves? Silver can have Black Heel and the rest of his Druzhina run the gang for him, ensuring both that his household is safe and that the city won't fall into gang warfare.
>>193981>The effects might not be noticeable immediately, but if then we went to the Meridiennes for a bit to complete the various opportunities, quests, and activities in that region, enough time will have passed that when we return to Baltimare we see either the end result of those changes or get to witness these changes in full swing.I'm in favor of this. Amber could use a time skip to train her musical ability and have an opportunity for an inspiration. Cavaliere needs to recuperate and train. Also, Baltimare has been in late January for a while and it would be nice to be closer to spring.
>>193982>The warhead alone is 600 pounds.That would easily blow apart the
Kostroma's cargo hold. But it could do some decent damage to the destroyer if we could rig the warhead to explode.
>>193983>So what if Silver recruits the rescued Kostroma survivors as his Druhzhina, and together they take out the Waterfront Gang's leadership, assure the loyalty of the underlings, and assume control of the Waterfront Gang themselves? Silver can have Black Heel and the rest of his Druzhina run the gang for him, ensuring both that his household is safe and that the city won't fall into gang warfare.Fun idea but there is a lot more to running a gang than merely being the toughest, and Silver would run into those issues headfirst.
>>193984I know, that's why Silver would have Black Heel lead it. He's far better suited to the task already having been a commissar, making him both a military leader
and a politician, roles which combined would make for a good gang leader (fun fact, many prominent communists such as Stalin were originally gangsters). Silver was a sergeant in the Great War, but he has no political experience whatsoever, and leading the gang would mean he wouldn't be able to chase other pursuits as much, such as questing, waifu collecting, and foal making.
>>193982Mostro can fly carrying only about ~2.2 K, which is what I determined the aircraft torpedo to be based on research.
>>193982How many dice of damage does the torpedo do?
>>193987does some quick mathA lot
>>193981>Admittedly, it's not as if we would need to leave Baltimare permanently.I would agree, but you should also consider that no matter how time passes in universe, it also passes in real life. We have been on this one-day mission for a year irl.
I'm not saying that we should never go exploring or go on adventures, quite the contrary actually, but we should consider what our plans are before we commit to long-term changes in location.
I am interested in this adventure locale though. I would be glad to move there or towards other frontier regions where I could raid with impunity.
>Say we do something that completely changes the power dynamics of the factions in the city, such as wiping one of the factions out or installing new leadership.Taking over Baltimare or subverting infiltrating/subverting its political hierarchy was on my to-do list.
>The effects might not be noticeable immediately, but if then we went to the Meridiennes for a bit to complete the various opportunities, quests, and activities in that region, enough time will have passed that when we return to Baltimare we see either the end result of those changes or get to witness these changes in full swing.Ah, I see. You are proposing a timeskip for political developments, with a change in locale to facilitate it. I would be on board, whether or not I am part of the adventure.
Posey has lots of downtime activities planned, and she could be set up shop and grind for years it need be.
>>193982>Do you have something in mind?Hmmm, what if Posey were to become mayor?
>I think that weight probably is kind of close to accurate. The warhead alone is 600 pounds. That’s why the first torpedo was disassembledAccording my my research, torpedos carried by those kinds of planes weigh about one ton, which is what Monstro csn carry while flying. It's actually kind of convenient that Monstro is just barely strong enough to carry a plane's torpedo.
>>193983Posey is interested in raising her profile with the Blackhooves, as a mercenary and an expert in war magic. Once she gets maximum affiliation, she will solicit them for funding for the Manehattan Project.
>removing the entire gang would result in a power vacuum and significant instability in the city. That's bad.Hmmm, sounds like an opportunity for a certain charismatic sorceress.
>So what if Silver recruits the rescued Kostroma survivors as his Druhzhina, and together they take out the Waterfront Gang's leadership, assure the loyalty of the underlings, and assume control of the Waterfront Gang themselves? Silver can have Black Heel and the rest of his Druzhina run the gang for him, ensuring both that his household is safe and that the city won't fall into gang warfare.I think you would need more feats if you want that many followers.
>>193984>Amber could use a time skip to train her musical ability and have an opportunity for an inspiration. Cavaliere needs to recuperate and train. Also, Baltimare has been in late January for a while and it would be nice to be closer to spring.Posey could use a timeskip too, to set up her research lab, army, projects NPC contacts and job.
>That would easily blow apart the Kostroma's cargo hold. But it could do some decent damage to the destroyer if we could rig the warhead to explode.Yeah, we do not want to use that thing for the Intruder. The explosive harpoon should be enough if any explosives work at all.
>Fun idea but there is a lot more to running a gang than merely being the toughest, and Silver would run into those issues headfirst.Leadership builds can be tedious. Might need more feats to pull it off.
>>193988To reiterate my question, would it be enough to destroy one hull section of the GRU's ship (up to 150 HP, maybe)?
>>193989>would it be enough to destroy one hull section of the GRU's ship (up to 150 HP, maybe)?Could the existing explosives penetrate the armor of the destroyer? Yes. Would it be enough to sink it? ... Eh...?
Armor and hull is penetrated when the forces against it are too much for the metal to handle. But a ship is lost only when the amount of water in the hull exceeds buoyancy, the ship's structure is physically broken in half, a fire is completely uncontrollable, or the ship is disabled and likely to be captured if not scuttled. This is a much, much higher threshold to meet than simply penetrating the hull with a single (relatively) small explosion in a single watertight compartment. Remember that if water comes through from a single hole in the hull, just close a couple bulkheads and the damage is contained to a single compartment. Just limp the ship back to port and repair it. If a fire is started, there are onboard firefighting crews. And if the explosion happens above water, so what? It won't cause the ship to take on water, the ship can just fight on, even if a massive explosion kills people. That massive explosion on the
USS Forrestal that killed 134 people and burned literal tons of jet fuel? It didn't sink the ship. The I believe literally two thousand hits from battleship and cruiser guns that hit the
Bismark? It killed many people, sure, but it was the crew of the ship scuttling the ship that sunk it. Those shots hit the hull above water and thus failed to actually cause the ship to take on water.
Remember that the RMS Titanic sunk because it had gashes past 100 feet of bulkhead that caused something like five different compartments to be penetrated and fill up with water. There's a reason that when you read about battles in the Pacific and Atlantic in WW2, most of the ships that are actually sunk receive multiple hits from torpedoes, and why most submarines would fire multiple torpedoes. The
Wilhelm Gustlave was hit with three torpedoes.
Of course you
can sink a ship with a lucky hit if you hit the magazine or otherwise cause an explosion that is vastly larger than the size of the bomb. The Arizona famously sank with a single hit. At least one of the Japanese Carriers at Midway were hit in tanks storing aviation fuel and thus burned until they were lost with a single hit. The
Lusitania seems to have suffered a boiler explosion after being hit by a single torpedo. And then
Bismark's rudder was disabled by a lucky hit from a swordfish, and this is what really turned the battle. But these are lucky hits.
Think of it sort of like shooting a person with a bullet. Can a person die with a single gunshot wound? Yes, if they are hit in precisely the wrong place, or if no medical attention is given and they bleed out over time. But most of the time, most people can survive one or even multiple gunshot wounds, so long as they are not hit in a critical location, and they have medical care to prevent death from blood loss or infection. And ships are kind of similar.
>>193991I have been operating under the assumption that the Stormwrack style rules for ship combat were the default, which I guess was a hasty assumption to make.
Do you have another homebrew document or source I could read regarding the logistical mechanics of sinking a ship?
>>193991Very good explanation and comparison.
>>193992Not a document but visual cues may help.
>>193994I think I will wait until after we do our business in the Kostroma then, so we have time to clarify ship combat/sinking rules before then.
This isn't the only time Posey is going to want to use her minions to destroy naval vessels and other military installations, so I would like to figure things out sooner than later.
All that's left is to hear the response from the NPCs on where they want to go.
Boss enemy idea: the party is hired to take out an experimental Wingbardian "Land Cruiser" tank that's causing hell for New Mareland in the Hoovesplain. Invulnerable to damage and bristling with deadly weaponry of all types, the party has to find ways to disable the tank's various systems like the tracks and the guns in order to make it vulnerable enough to destroy.
>>193996What would make a tank invulnerable to damage? It should just have high hardness, damage reduction and energy resistances.
Sounds like an interesting encounter otherwise.
>>193997Mostly just through the shear size of it. This isn't just any old tank, this is a tank that's capable of mounting a heavy cruiser's 14 inch main gun as it's primary armament, and still be able to mount various AA guns, demolition guns, and flamethrowers as well as equipment like its own RADAR system.
>>193998>Mostly just through the shear size of it.Collosal sized ships and Epic Constructs are still vulnerable to damage. Just give it high HP and damage reduction proportional to its hardness.
>>194000You wouldn't be able to use it with the current group of PCs and NPCs, and Silver could probably mention it to Posey IC sometime, but: I've thought of a pretty good cover story to explain Posey's powers to others without the truth coming out, if you want to hear it. If you'd rather not or if you'd rather Silver mentioned it IC, then I completely understand.
>>194025Let's try to get through this mission before we divide our attention elsewhere.
I just want to enter the boat.
Did we ever determine if those prayer beads were magic or not?
>>194066 →I really like the idea of the church of Celestia having Secret Police, and that they would be uniquely mobilized during these dark times. Maybe Special Agent Sweetie Drops could be a Shadow Guard (Complete Champion).
I do think Shadow Sun Ninja (Tome Of Battle) and Shadowbane Inquisitor should also be classes affiliated with the Shadow Guard, as they represent good aligned characters who delve into the darkness to snuff out evil while resisting the temptations of evil themselves.
Tenebrous would be a good Shadowbane Inquisitor, because it's a Batman-like Aesthetic that is still close to the OG Paladin (no casting progression, but other good abilities)
Virgin Flame would make a great Shadow Sun Ninja, because Shadow Hand and Tiger claw maneuvers can fit the Barbarian-like aesthetic her player liked, Desert Wind gives fire powers, and the Setting Sun is great for grappling and tripping. It's overall a good upgrade from Monk, and has a theme about channeling ones dark impulses into the path of good.
Perhaps if either character rank up their affiliations with vestiges of the church, they could meet secret agents who might give them special missions and maybe promote them to Shadow Strikers or Shadow Spies.
Also GM seems to be fond of moral grays even among clergy, and this really fits that niche.
>>194067Also, I just love how in the Adaptions paragraph they said that these organizations with the initials "SS" can serve the role of "Secret Police". The Burning Hate of Pelor smoulders.
I'm tempted to change my characters personality and class with it to a malkavian form vtm. I thinking something like monk/cleric but then just a bunch of divination spells.
Though I won't because first off I remember GM not liking divination spells, secondly then I need to make the sheet. And, I don't really enjoy the process.
Besides, the only reason I'm thinking about it is because the idea that she'd get sudden insights along with her craziness would be appealing but I really jsut wanna play a crazy character... and nothing is stopping me from jsut doing htat.
>>194067Btw, I appriciate you enthusiam. Sorry, if I made you feel dismissed or something (if that happened), it's just I don't really know or understand much about dnd mechanics... and I guess I didn't wanna pretend i know what you talk about ig idk ^^
>>194106If you would like help with your sheet or character ideas, I can help anytime.
>>194105Monk/Cleric is decent with the Sacred Fist prestige class. Clerics are powerful, and Divination is incredibly underrated.
>I need to make the sheet. And, I don't really enjoy the process.I enjoy the process. I could help you with that.
>she'd get sudden insights along with her craziness would be appealing but I really jsut wanna play a crazy character... You could also do this as a Swordsage/Crusader, who may rely on flashes if divine inspiration to fuel their martial arts, particularly with the Devoted Spirit discipline. The Setting Sun discipline is also all about insight, the Diamond Mind Discipline about Clarity Of Thought, and the Tiger Claw discipline is involves flashes of feral anger. Would be good as a Shadow Sun Ninja too, which involves channeling ones violent impulses into holy martial arts.
This could also work as a Monk / Psychic Warrior, or Monk / War Mind build. Monks and Psionics go well together.
>>194107Thank you, that's very generous of you.
Is there something... like wild magic sorcery exist, which takes control over your magic. Perhaps, I could work in a mechanic like that so I have to throw a dice to see if I get an insight or not. That sounds cool.
How would you make a, as close as possible, malkavian in dnd 3.5, do you think? I understand that this is bit of a big endeavor but do you have any idea pop up on how you would go about it?
>>194108>Is there something... like wild magic sorcery existYes. Several forms of "wild magic" sorcery exist. There's the Anarchic Bloodline Sorcerer feat. The Wild Mage prestige class (works ala random effects and chaos), the Wild Soul prestige class (Fey related), and the Anarchic feat group (a couple of which go well with Wild Mage, because they let you reroll d100 tables).
>Perhaps, I could work in a mechanic like that so I have to throw a dice to see if I get an insight or not. That sounds cool. Oh, you mean for your martial character.
Well, there is the Crusader, a Paladin-like Martial Adept which gets it's maneuvers granted randomly.
There is also the Chaos Monk variant monk, which has a random number of attacks in place of flurry of blows.
But really, there's no end to "random" or "wild" mechanics. The real question is what you want your character to be able to do, and what sort of power systems you are interested in (Divine Magic, Arcane Magic, Sublime Way Maneuvers, Psionics, Incarnum, Soulbinding, etc)
>How would you make a, as close as possible, malkavian in dnd 3.5, do you think?You mean like the vampires? It's certainly possible in multiple ways, but you'll need to be a bit more specific about what you want so I can find resources on it. The Sacred Fist Cleric/Monk or Shadow Sun Ninja Swordsage/Monk can easily accommodate that niche already, but it depends what you really want your character to be able to do.
>>194109Thank you for this information you provided. Don't feel like you owe me any spoonfeeding but I'm grateful.
I think, what I want is just a strong horse that can fight with her hooves well but also has flashes of insight of different types so I can speak in gibberish, prophecies, and riddles without having to make sense but sometimes I do.
>>194111Okay, we have unarmed combat, but what do you want the "flashes of insight" to do? Do you want to cast spells? Use Psionics? Use martial arts? Something else?
What abilities do you want?
>>194112>Okay, we have unarmed combatIndeed we have. ^^
>but what do you want the "flashes of insight" to do?I want them to give her random information about the world. Knowledge of the past, present, or future. I want information about what's in a random bag. Or what someone random is thinking or feeling. Esoteric knowledge that I personally have no use for.
It's not so much to serve a purpose but to roleplay I guess. I mean, it would be fun that random tidbits of information can be useful in someway. That sounds fun to.
I guess I wish I had divination spells that gave me info about stuff so I could ask the GM about irrelevant things connected to important things. Like, I meet this important pony, and I ask what he ate for breakfeast and then use that information to mess with him, or something idk.
Sorry, if I'm unclear and fickle. I guess I haven't really figured out myself what I really want.
>>194113Well, Clerics are good at divination. You could do Cleric Monk 2, Cleric 3, Sacred Fist 1. Clerics have fully flexible lists that you can swap out every day, so you can experiment with different divination spells.
The Lunatic Insight feat comes to mind, but it's simply a mechanical bonus to skill checks, and I'd rather suboptimal while requiring a lot of investment.
A psychic warrior specialized in Clairsentience (Divination) powers could also work. Alternatively, there's the Truthseeker prestige class for Monks, which natively grants Clairsentience and Telepathy powers. It does need to be updated though. I'm actually rather fond of that class right now, because I'm running a game that features the Scarlet Brotherhood. It has potential to do a lot of unarmed damage if you stack it with Tashlatora. It also has good diplomacy and insight related abilities you can use to act like DM inquisitor. It only gets Clairsentience and Telepathy powers though, so it's not quite as strong in combat.
Imo, the Shadow Sun Ninja Swordsage is the most thematic for this setting, but it doesn't do a lot in the vein of divination. It does get the best martial arts though.
Sacred Fist would be the strongest option overall, probably just because Clerics are so strong, and it also gives the most spellcasting.
The Knowledge Devotion feat is good for combat, and involves gaining insight bonuses to attack and damage based on knowledge checks.
>>194114Oh, I think the Dragon Prophesiser feat could work. It's all about random insight and prophecy. It could also be a very powerful open-ended feat with Prophecy's Hero, although it might be annoying to GM since the rest of us don't have action points (then again, d20 Modern characters have Action Points by default).
It would fit on any build too. It's based on Wisdom and Monk has the Arcana skill.
>>194115>Oh, I think the Dragon Prophesiser feat could work.That sounds cool.
>>194114^^
You know what's funny. I'm kinda tempted to ask you to make the entire character sheet for me, if you wanted to that is. But I don't wanna put that burden on you nor can I really request it yet because I'm not sure what I even want yet. Like a fickle mare. ^^
>>194116I could try to make a character sheet, although maybe say which of the ideas you like the most before I start.
I will also need your starting ability scores, alignment, and other inflexible information.
>But I don't wanna put that burden on youIf I decide I don't want to do it, I'll just put it off.
>>194117Thanks fren. ^^
Lets see what happens. Before we do anything, it would make sense to learn what divination spells he allows.
>>194118What were Vir's starting ability scores, before racial bonuses?
>>194121I don't remember. I think I pushed her str score as high as it would go with point buy and then don't remember.
That's probably how I would do it today too, just pump str as high as it will go and but the rest equally, maybe more wis than int tho.
>>194122>point buyHow many points?
What are her stats now?
>>194067>I really like the idea of the church of Celestia having Secret PoliceIn the setting, the Celestial Church was supposed to have operated an Inquisition of its own, though it never acted as the political police of the nation in the way that the Griffonian Inquisition does there. It was founded presumably to root out worship of Nightmare Moon that still lingers after the Scouring, and probably took on monster management as its primary role over time. Something a bit more like the Witcher than Warhammer 40k or the SS. I don't think that cults/hostile religions would be that big of an issue outside of the bat ponies. However, with Equestria having so many unicorns, there is a decent chance they'd have to hunt down dark magic users. An in-universe fiction series was supposed to reference an Equestrian "Office of the Witchfinder General," so maybe that was a thing, Warhammer Fantasy style or otherwise.
In more modern times monster hunting is supposed to have been delegated to S.M.I.L.E, who function as an intelligence agency for Equestria and most likely as a political police as well. However, the Celestial Church should still operate a "Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith" which is a hoof in the door for an official secret police. In show and comic canon Equestria has the "Secret Monster Interdiction League of Equestria" which hunts monsters and changeling infiltrators.
It's a little difficult for me to imagine that the Celestialist would feel that they need to act like ninjas or "delve into darkness" to take out evil. I imagine a more Solomon Kane like figure. Someone whose moral values don't necessarily align with modern moral values, but most certainly he has strongly held values. But maybe that's not accurate, I am not sure.
I've put more thought into a fictionalized version of the Equestrian Witch Finder General>>194105>I remember GM not liking divination spellsIt's fine, just don't expect me to be as interested in fictional magic spells as I am in at what temperature Bunker Oil solidifies, or whether marine diesel is suitable for molotov cocktails.
>the idea that she'd get sudden insights along with her craziness would be appealingVir could most definitely have an
adult onset of schizophrenia brought on by Toxoplasmosis induced psychosis infusion of religion insight
>>194123I honestly don't know where her sheet is anymore, maybe on my external harddrive.
I'm partly thinking of just making her sheet again. Afterall, it really wasn't that special. She was basically a monk with high str and had knowledge of religion. So that's probably what I will do again. We'll see.
>>194124>It's fine, just don't expect me to be as interested in fictional magic spells as I am in at what temperature Bunker Oil solidifiesThat's completely fine, we all have our interests.
>Vir could most definitely have an adult onset of (schizophrenia brought on by Toxoplasmosis induced psychosis infusion) of religion insight^^
Yeah, I'm thinking it would be fun if you controlled the time it happens and I have to make a wisdom save to stop it or something. And, I like there to be a drawback. Like, good info but also bad somehow. Perhaps debuff? Not that important info. Or perhaps info that Vir doesn't wanna know like, that the nice nun she meet is actually the bay harbour butcher, or something.
Regardless, if I control it, its not as fun i think.
>>194124EaW is a lot more grimdark than the show (obviously), with vast and sometimes absurd degrees of political complexity, and there are themes of rising extremism in every region/run of the game. Although ponies have never been depicted as devout in the show, perhaps sectarian extremism and zealotry could recently be on the rise in context of the fall of the kingdom and the war in general. It's a context that any paladin/monk/Cleric/etc character dedicated to the princess should consider. If the Princesses were ever at all considered to be the center of Equestrian religion (which is a big if), hearing that they have been cocooned by changelings could have affected the devout in very severe ways. Some might've lost faith, others might have grown more zealous. It's actually something I would have liked to discuss with Tenebrous, because I thought he would make a cool Batman-like Paladin/Rogue/Shadowbane Inquisitor, but alas.
>However, with Equestria having so many unicorns, there is a decent chance they'd have to hunt down dark magic users. An in-universe fiction series was supposed to reference an Equestrian "Office of the Witchfinder General," so maybe that was a thing, Warhammer Fantasy style or otherwise.Perhaps agents of the office are still trying to uphold their responsibilities, knowing that ambitious necromancers might be moving in with the exact intent on taking advantage of the political chaos and lapses in faith to practice their art.
>In more modern times monster hunting is supposed to have been delegated to S.M.I.L.E, who function as an intelligence agency for Equestria and most likely as a political police as well. However, the Celestial Church should still operate a "Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith" which is a hoof in the door for an official secret police. In show and comic canon Equestria has the "Secret Monster Interdiction League of Equestria" which hunts monsters and changeling infiltrators.Yeah, that a good canonical example of special forces. Even in the show the joke was basically the idea that there could be hidden political complexities operating in the margins of society.
S.M.I.L.E was dissolved in disgrace after the Bugbear escaped Tartarus, but perhaps it may have risen again since the fall of the kingdom, as the chaos and war makes the continent a breeding ground for monsters (as Posey says, there is always work for a Necrologist where there is war). Perhaps some of them joined the ELF (an organization that has already been depicted has employing former knights), taking on the role of inquisitors, and spies. It wouldn't make them all that different from Pelor's Shadow Guard.
There's also the possibility of sectarian extremists who technically work for the church but are so secretive and politically/ideologically removed from it that they are functionally a separate entity entirely. These could be foreigners from equestrian enclaves like Farbrook, originally formed in the middle ages and being so far removed from modern equestrian society that their extremism festered to absurd degrees. There could also be corrupt templars and renegade knights, convinced that they are still honoring their oaths despite resorting to common banditry and heretical apostasy. Opus Dei, from the The Da Vinci Code comes to mind as well.
>>194125>I honestly don't know where her sheet is anymore, maybe on my external harddrive.I'll just assume she would have had at least elite array.
>Perhaps debuff?Iirc, there's some mention of mental illness/PTSD/delusions in Forge Of War. The book says they could be treated as character flaws (meaning a bonus feat).
It could also be another way to fluff Action Points, especially if they're used to temporarily emulate feats such as Dragon Prophesiser, or Domain feats from the complete champion. Action Points are sometimes described as "flashes of divine insight).
>>194067>>194124>>194126Fascinating! This was well-researched
I should read Solomon Kane. In EaW, Equestria is both harmonic and more open-minded than other nations, so a literal Inquisition in the modern day would be out place. Celestia is not Daybreaker, after all, even if some of her followers might want her to be. Also considering Celestialism's inherent relationship with the now defunct political state of Equestria, any overt backing of armed groups would be quickly stomped out.
Of course, Equestrian harmonism and Celestialism are so deeply intertwined that even if there is no overt backing, ELF and other paramilitaries would both defend the interests of their churches and receive donations from them. This also means that such churches would be watched and targeted by opponents of the ELF. Think of Irish Catholics, the IRA, and the Troubles, as an example.
How is firearms proficiency distributed in this game? Do classes come proficient in firearms, or do they need to take the feats for them?
I've been looking at the d20 modern firearms rules to better engage with the setting. There are some decent feats that ranged characters should consider for this setting. The Gunslinger and Soldier classes can be entered pretty early too.
Autofire weapons are tempting, but the non proficiency penalty would mean I might just do no damage at all in most cases.
For those of you interested in crafting magic guns, the Enhance Item feat applied to Extraordinary Artisan could be used to produce a machine gun with a higher autofire Reflex DC. That info is probably only useful to an Artificer though. Hopefully I could call up an arcane gunsmith to help equip my army once I create my guild.
>>194145I remember talking with GM pone about this a couple of times, and I think we figured out a good list of which proficiencies various firearm types in the game would fit.
Simple: Handguns, Single Action Rifles & Shotguns (bolt action, lever action, break action, muzzle-loader)
Martial: Semi-Automatic Rifles & Shotguns, Submachine Guns, Light Machine Guns (prone)
Exotic: Fully-Automatic Rifles, Magic/Spark Rifles, Light Machine Guns (standing)
Despite this I'm not so sure Posey would know how to use even simple firearms effectively given she's from the Dread League.
Maybe she'd know how to use muzzle-loading firearms?
>>194146As a Dread Necromancer, Posey is proficient in all simple weapons and one (1) martial weapon. She is also proficient in archaic weapons (select medieval martial weapons).
>I'm not so sure Posey would know how to use even simple firearms effectively given she's from the Dread LeaguePosey can use a heavy crossbow. A gun isn't that difficult to use.
>Maybe she'd know how to use muzzle-loading firearms?A muzzle-loaded gun would be MORE difficult to use than a modern one.
The in-character reason Posey doesn't use firearms is just because of her vanity.
This list looks decent.
>Magic/Spark RiflesWhat is this?
>>194147It's more than just the difficulty of the weapon. Posey is a Dread Necromancer from the Dread League, a technologically backwards nation that starts EaW with their only unlocked infantry equipment tech being Pre-Gunpowder Equipment, and with a massive research speed malus due to their isolation from the world it takes them a while to research anything better. Probably by this point in the game they've learned how to make muzzle-loaded rifles, but there's a good chance Posey has never held one before much less fired one.
>Magic/Spark RiflesMagic Rifles, also called Spark Rifles by some nations, are rifle-shaped weapons that use crystalline ammunition to fire bolts of destructive magic. Heavy, requiring rare magic-capable crystals to produce, and more prone to malfunction than traditional firearms, early magic rifles nevertheless have unmatched destructive potential which makes them a good choice for support units, such as Mage Corps support battalions, and special forces units. Though perhaps only
slightly off from the current game year, magic rifles do get refined as time goes on, becoming both more effective in combat and more reliable which allows them to be used for normal infantry battalions.
>>194148>there's a good chance Posey has never held one before much less fired oneMaybe. Posey would prefer to use her bone bow in most instances anyway (it's part of her prophecy), and she does more damage with a bow than a gun in most instances. Even with her newly reduced Str/Dex score, she's predisposed to rely on her physical and magical prowess over mundane weaponry, because she is an arcane-supremacist. It's more of a vanity thing than anything else. Pic related. She might change as she learns more about warfare though.
The same can't be said for her minions though, who might retain weapon proficiencies they had in life.
>Magic Rifles, also called Spark Rifles by some nations, are rifle-shaped weapons that use crystalline ammunition to fire bolts of destructive magic. Heavy, requiring rare magic-capable crystals to produce, and more prone to malfunction than traditional firearms, early magic rifles nevertheless have unmatched destructive potential which makes them a good choice for support units, such as Mage Corps support battalions, and special forces units. Though perhaps only slightly off from the current game year, magic rifles do get refined as time goes on, becoming both more effective in combat and more reliable which allows them to be used for normal infantry battalions.Ooh? What are the statistics of these weapons? Are they specific magic weapons, or are they base weapons that can be independently enchanted? Magic weapons are definitely something that Posey would be interested in, coming from a society that revolves around magic; in fact, it's part of her job as a spy to research them, and with Graveborn Warrior she would be glad to equip her army with them.
As far as Background related proficiency goes, that reminds me of a section from the complete warrior. Pic related. Maybe certain weapons could have different proficiencies for different cultures, such as the Serpent Bow being a martial weapon for lamias, or spark rifles being martial for magically-inclined cultures. My sunday game has Space Marine inspired Elan Psychic Warrior who was frozen in time from the age of Atlantis who uses futuristic weapons, but he still has to manifest Call Weaponry to summon them (he prefers to use his relic "Clockwork Macuahuitl", aka chainsaw, and only summons guns when he needs to hit something that flies).There's also potential for expanded weapon familiarity.
>>194116>>194114I forgot to mention that the Sacred Fist prestige class has an anathema against using any kind of weapon in combat, which can be limiting because it means relying on spells to fight flying enemies, which is something to be considered before entering. It is strong though.
Shadow Sun Ninja has no weapon restrictions, but requires Good alignment to advance.
Tashlatora Psychic Warrior/Monk, or any other psionic fusion, has no roleplay prerequisite. Idk how well Psionics fits into the setting though (although the aesthetic would fit well in the Crystal Empire).
The best kind of unarmed build (or any other non-broken melee build) tends to be a tripper, which Monks can do well because they don't need 13 Int for Improved Trip, and therefore can easily take both Improved Trip and Knockdown. The limitation to tripper in this setting is that the majority of characters have 4+ legs, which gives them +4 to oppose trips: this by extension makes the Setting Sun martial discipline weaker, because so many of the Setting Sun's maneuvers involve making checks to trip the opponent.
>>194145>Do classes come proficient in firearmsSome would, I think, yeah
>>194147>The in-character reason Posey doesn't use firearms is just because of her vanity.I've been thinking about writing this massive post about the... how do I say? The fundamental philosophical disagreements between Posey
and probably you as a player and the main factions in the setting in terms of how conflicts are to be fought/resolved. Basically the factions of the setting for both practical and moral/philosophical reasons think the entire
nation should be fighting a war with popular armies that are as big as 12% of the entire population conscripted, and a large portion of the rest supporting the war effort in some manner. Meanwhile Posey's view is... more Heroic? Noble? Where a small caste of individuals (and possibly even just a band of heroes) are responsible for fighting wars/solving other conflicts and problems. Posey's view leads to an emphasis on weapons that are expensive, hard to produce, and hard to use, like complex magic, while the view of the major factions places an emphasis on weaponry that can be mass produced and easily used by people whose real jobs are as being farmers or trolley drivers. It's a product of philosophy and intent more than technology. I could go on about this
>>194148Magic rifles are more expensive to make, but have better penetration and hard attack. They are mostly used by special, magical troops.
However, in certain recent versions of EAW, magic weapons have a new special feature that makes them extremely useful and I think relevant to this campaign: they have a non-lethal "stun" setting. Because of that, they may actually be mass produced and distributed to occupation soldiers.
>>194149>osey would prefer to use her bone bow in most instances anywayBows don't automatically alert everyone within two miles that you are there and a threat, so that isn't necessarily the worst thing
>Are they specific magic weaponsThey are weapons built from the ground up to shoot bolts of magic like a unicorn horn. they use magic stored in crystals as ammunition.
>frozen in time from the age of Atlantis who uses futuristic weaponsI did have an idea to have basically Atlantian futuristic weapons like direct energy weapons or railguns, yes. Just an idea
>Magic weapons are definitely something that Posey would be interested in, coming from a society that revolves around magicPosey is from a Mageocracy where the right to rule is predicated upon magical skill. This means that the aristocratic and highborn unicorns must study for years, then deploy out to the cold fields to fight the griffin hordes, while the commoners stay at home. Contrast this with the new pony kingdoms where there is a greater emphasis on the equality of ponies. This means that the highborn unicorns toast in their mansions while the earth pony laborers take cover in muddy trenches. It's a philosophical disagreement. One philosophy requires a warrior to study and train for five years. The other requires ten farmers to train for six weeks. Magical rifles belong to the latter school of though. A magical rifle isn't designed to let a unicorn mage do its work better. It's designed to allow an earth pony with a cutie mark in farming to do the role of a unicorn mage after six weeks training.
>>194154I remember discovering that in a recent playthrough. Personally it makes sense that magic rifles could be used for more than just pure destructive capability. Perhaps the crystal ammunition can be enchanted with different spell effects for specialized purposes, such as with Military Police support companies having stun spell ammunition.
>>194154>The fundamental philosophical disagreements between Posey and probably you as a player and the main factions in the setting in terms of how conflicts are to be fought/resolved.Well, I intentionally wrote Posey's vainity as a character flaw: it's something she may grow out of as she develops as a character and learns about the world.
>Basically the factions of the setting for both practical and moral/philosophical reasons think the entire nation should be fighting a war with popular armies that are as big as 12% of the entire population conscripted, and a large portion of the rest supporting the war effort in some manner.I am aware. The Dread League has an even higher recruitable population.
>Meanwhile Posey's view is... more Heroic? Noble? Where a small caste of individuals (and possibly even just a band of heroes) are responsible for fighting wars/solving other conflicts and problems.Posey wants to be a leader, a ruler and a conqueror, with her own army of followers chanting her name alongside her undead hordes. Mass combat is part of her dream, but before that she has to develop her personal powers to make any of that possible. She wants to become the hero that others will follow.
The heroic trope was intentional, because it's part of her false savior theme.
>Posey's view leads to an emphasis on weapons that are expensive, hard to produce, and hard to use, like complex magicThis comes from Posey's limited and archaic perspective on warfare. In her experience, she has witnessed vampire mages personally laying waste to entire armies with a single swipe, and monsters who were impervious to anything but the enchanted silver swords wielded by the paladins of the Arcturian Order. Her understanding of warfare is fantastical and outdated, and not exactly grounded in modern history. Aside from the Arcturian front, her only other experience in warfare has been guerilla raids on Farbrook, attacking ponies who were basically defenseless.
Having been in New Mareland for less than a week, she has had little context to develop a modern understanding of warfare or appreciate the importance of things such as technology, supply chains, noncombatants aiding the war effort, non-undead infantry, transportation, etc. This was a deliberate flaw in her character that I wrote with the intention of representing a character from the Dread League. It is a flaw that I hope to develop as Posey has more experience with warfare.
If her character flaws are "it's what my character would do" tier annoying, then I could just stop roleplaying them too, if you want.
>They are weapons built from the ground up to shoot bolts of magic like a unicorn horn. they use magic stored in crystals as ammunition.Cool. What are their stats/prices? I might like to buy or craft a few later. If they're made cheaply enough to be distributed to nonelite farmers, my minions could certainly use them.
Actually, I think I still have a magic crystal that was for a rifle. I was wondering what it did.
>One philosophy requires a warrior to study and train for five years. The other requires ten farmers to train for six weeks.The former school might also involve killing the farmers and turning them into undead monsters under the elite mage's control, who may or may not retain their military training.
But from Posey's perspective, she has not even gotten to that level. That's why developing her personal powers is her priority.
>>194156Oh, furthermore, as Posey develops as a character and learns to appreciate the importance and value of technology in warfare, she would grow increasingly fascinated and excited about the interactions between necromancy magic and technology. Skeleton legions armed with rifles and surviving indefinitely in trenches. Haunted Shifted planes and tanks animated by vengeful spirits, crewed by soldiers, and fueled by sheer hatred of life. Incorporeal spirits serving as spies to acquire military and technological secrets. Zombies loaded up with explosives and detonating when they reach their targets, or burying themselves like target seeking landmines. Zombie pigeons with grenades strapped to them like drones.
Using Monstro as a bomber and the Dreads as flying artillery is an early example of Posey's attempt at necromantic innovation.
>>194124You know what, I threw that premination stuff onto you but only do it if it's not too much work. In fact, I'm completely okay with just continue on the story with my normal, average monk.
I think the reason I sought the supernatural element was that I was inspired and a bit confused about who Virgin is these days, since it had been a while since I played. So I guess I felt I wanted more identity for her, but a superpower doesn't make a character; it's their heart. ;P
>>194154>Meanwhile Posey's view is... more Heroic? Noble? Where a small caste of individuals (and possibly even just a band of heroes) are responsible for fighting wars/solving other conflicts and problems.Makes sense given she comes from a society frozen in medieval times. Though, by medieval standards necromancers practice a form of mass warfare.
>However, in certain recent versions of EAW, magic weapons have a new special feature that makes them extremely useful and I think relevant to this campaign: they have a non-lethal "stun" setting. Because of that, they may actually be mass produced and distributed to occupation soldiers.That is very useful. It beats our present tactic of shooting enemies to near-death and spending all our medical supplies to keep them alive.
>>194156>Having been in New Mareland for less than a week, she has had little context to develop a modern understanding of warfare or appreciate the importance of things such as technology, supply chains, noncombatants aiding the war effort, non-undead infantry, transportation, etc. This was a deliberate flaw in her character that I wrote with the intention of representing a character from the Dread League. It is a flaw that I hope to develop as Posey has more experience with warfare.That's pretty cool!
>Oh, furthermore, as Posey develops as a character and learns to appreciate the importance and value of technology in warfare, she would grow increasingly fascinated and excited about the interactions between necromancy magic and technology. Skeleton legions armed with rifles and surviving indefinitely in trenches. Haunted Shifted planes and tanks animated by vengeful spirits, crewed by soldiers, and fueled by sheer hatred of life. Incorporeal spirits serving as spies to acquire military and technological secrets. Zombies loaded up with explosives and detonating when they reach their targets, or burying themselves like target seeking landmines. Zombie pigeons with grenades strapped to them like drones.Scary stuff
>>194154>I did have an idea to have basically Atlantian futuristic weapons like direct energy weapons or railguns, yes. Just an ideaOnce you have something in the game, it's very hard to take it out. Futuristic weapons in a WW2 setting not only feel out of place (yes I know EaW has a technology tree all the way to nearly modern levels of technology) but they would be game-breaking. But maybe they could be locked to a setting like an automated weapon system, and not something one could simply pick up. Magic would serve the same purpose for that however.
>>194160>muh genie bottleDon't discourage the GM from giving us cool loot.
>>194160>they would be game-breakingThis isn't really true. The majority of damage 3.5e martial character does comes from their feats and glass features, not their base weapon dice.
Case in point, Silver, an unoptimized fighter with a greatsword, still consistently out-damages the rest of the party when power attacking, because the flat bonus he gets from power attacking with a two handed weapon makes the world of difference. If he used a quarterstaff instead of a greatsword, he would still do a lot of damage. If he used a heavy mercurial full blade, his damage increase would be marginal.
That's not saying that weapons don't matter, there's are many martial/exotic/futuristic/magic weapons that can I crease damage overall, but for 3.5e they're still marginal in comparison to class features. Weapons make more of a difference in d20 modern though, because d20 modern classes generally don't have class features that deal enormous damage to account for ballooning monster HP and instead focus on tactical and utility features.
>>194162I do very much love pulling off a successful Power Attack and absolutely obliterating whatever I hit
>>194154>It's a product of philosophy and intent more than technology. I could go on about this.I am actually still interested in this topic if you're willing to talk about it.
>>194170It's difficult to talk about because it is a very complicated set of subjects. There is a great deal of nuance to be had, and it's easy to be distracted by tangents on related topics. I can try, though
Much of human history follows a certain pattern: a region is reasonably densely inhabited by an existing civilization. An outside tribe or nation conquers them. The leader of the conquering tribe distributes the land of the conquered area to the soldiers who fought for him as a payment for the conquest, but also for their continued support of the leader. With the passage of time, the descendants of the soldiers become the nobility of the country, with an obligation to fight for the king, and the original inhabitants of the land become a peasant or serf class with less political power and fewer rights, but without necessarily an obligation to fight. The most obvious an extreme example of this is ancient Sparta, with its warrior citizenry class and the indigenous helot class, but this is also the history of France, or Norman England, or spain and portugal after the reconquista, or of brandenburg, silesia, Hungary, Prussia, the Livionian states (Lativa and Estonia), Finland, most of Indian civilization, and so many other states.
The essential point is that in the classical as well as the medieval world, a majority of societies could be divided into "those who fight," a nobility that is only a small portion of the population, and a class of "those who work" who are a plurality of the population, but are not necessarily obligated to fight. Generally, those who fight have more privileges (and especially more wealth) than those who do not, so there is an inequality in the population where those who fight are higher than those who do not. So what justifies this inequality? Just about every possible answer that could be given has, from better blood of the nobility, better upbringing and education, greater intelligence, greater virtue, divine order, and reciprocal obligations of the classes. But the essential points are these: The few fight, and the few must be an expression of
quality and usually need to justify their position
somehow.
Then came the modern era. To me, the modern era begins with the writings of one man: Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli helped oust the ruling elite of Florence and establish a republic, and was a part of the Republic's government. But the Republic was defeated by Spanish troops, who reestablished the old ruling party. Machiavelli wrote his
Prince while in captivity. In that work and his
Discourses on Livy, he explores the questions "Why was the Roman Republic able to last as long as it did? Why did it so consistently win wars, and why did it finally fall?" The answer he came to was the Popular Army. By a "Popular" army, I mean an organization of society wherein the largest class of people have an obligation to fight in wars on behalf of the society. This contrasts against Noble armies, where a privileged or landed class fights, or a mercenary army, or the use of foreign auxiliary forces. It was Rome's use of the Popular Army, he argues, that gave the proletariats so much power within the Republic, and forced the ruling elite to give them reciprocal benefits. This army was large and it was easier for the Romans to replace their losses than it was for their enemies, which gave them an advantage in war. And then Machiavelli argues that the singular change in the Roman Republic that ultimately lead to its downfall was when it expanded in the campaign against the Samnites. The distance to march was greater than could allow the army to return in time for the harvest season, thus meaning that the soldiers of the army could not be the local farmers of the republic, ultimately forcing the existence of a professional army where the soldiers received their pay from - and owed their loyalty to - their generals, and this lead to the collapse of the Republic. And thus is at least the philosophical birth of the Popular army in modern political thought.
A popular army is intended to do two things. First and most importantly, a popular army is intended to give more political power to "the many," with the theory that an armed citizenry is a freer citizenry. But it is also intended to be a stronger army, with the theory that a larger army will tend to beat a smaller army. A popular army can replace its losses. When France loses ten thousand nobles and the king of Burgandy in Argincourt, it is a disaster. When France loses a half million of its best soldiers in an invasion of Russia, it simply drafts an entirely new army. There's also the theory that popular armies improve the discipline, patriotism, and virtue of the common citizenry, but that's an entire tangent.
Whereas a noble army relies on a theory of quality and difference as the fundamental philosophical justification for the inequality of the society that supports it, a popular army does not. Rather, the theory behind a popular army is that the many, the plebian class of the society,
ought to dominate it by shear virtue of its number. Quantity over quality. It is based on a theory of human equality, that the nobles do
not possess an intrinsic or earned superiority over those who work. Machiavelli's justification for equality was that everyone is in need. Hobbes' justification is that everyone can be killed. Whatever the justification, that is the theory.
I haven't even gotten to the wars of the French Revolution yet, holy hell
>>194171Continuing
Liberalism, and Liberal political theory, is more or less the origin of the popular army in modern political thought. If you read classical sources like Plato or Aristotle, you'll see that these philosophers favored an aristocratic class as the fighting class. Whereas, for example, the United States constitution includes the idea of a "Well Regulated Militia," which has been argued to mean the citizenry as a whole, disciplined and able to act as an army in a time of need, but do not serve as a standing army.
But it was the Wars of the French Revolution that established the popular army as a respected or even dominate practice. The Levee en Masse allowed France to field an absolutely massive army and fight against the professional armies of multiple European great powers, and win. It allowed Napolean to replace heavy losses in combat, with essentially the entire fighting force of the military being replaced.
The special, new element of the Wars of the French Revolution was Nationalism. Nationalism, and Collectivism/Corporatism more generally. As mentioned before, the societies that utilize Noble armies are based primarily on relationships and class-based obligations. What an individual noble owes to the king. This arrangement works well with feudal societies, and territories may be added or subtracted without much fuss. The country may thusly be polyglot and multiethnic. A uniting religion is desirable but not always essential. The ruling class often was of a different national origin than the ruled. But the types of societies that could make use of a popular army are a bit different. Humans have an inate ability to subsume the individual identity into that of a greater whole, and in doing so, willingly undergo sacrifice for the sake of this greater whole. This was a whole new, previously untapped source of motivation for a fighting force when the French made widespread use of it. And when they did so, they (for practical purposes) invented the concept of the nation. A collective identity that the people of France belonged to, and that is its own corporate entity. Warfare changed dramatically after this point, with countries increasingly relying on conscripted or volunteer armies of what would otherwise be the peasant or proletariat classes. Mercenaries almost entirely fell away.
The nature of wars changes as well. Whereas in the time of professional armies wars were almost like litigation between nations to resolve questions over small pieces of territory or the balance of power, wars became about moral questions, and the destiny of entire nations. When wars were conducted on behalf of professionals who fought for the king, "because the king said so" was often a good enough reason, so long as there was pay. When a war is fought by a common laborer, the reason behind the war must be very great for such the laborer to be invested in its outcome. I do not think that it is any kind of coincidence that post-French revolution warfare has higher stakes than most medieval and early modern wars. There were of course, high stakes wars of the medieval and early modern eras, like the 30 years war or the Mongol wars. But even these are wars of nations and religions at least somewhat analogous to the clashes of civilizations we see in the modern era. What is less common in modern times were the prolific wars of succession and other minor wars of the medieval and early modern eras.
>>194172>>194171Interesting takes. I largely agree with all of it. I have written several papers echoing these points throughout highschool and college for history classes about how warfare has changed, specifically in the sense how the concept of an elite warrior class has all but vanished in place of civilian armies, and how technology enabled that transition.
Moreso, however, I am interested in how this relates to the current setting, and how it should reflect on our perspectives as D&D characters from our various backgrounds.
>So what justifies this inequality? Just about every possible answer that could be given has, from better blood of the nobility, better upbringing and education, greater intelligence, greater virtue, divine order, and reciprocal obligations of the classes. But the essential points are these: The few fight, and the few must be an expression of quality and usually need to justify their position somehow.See, this is where fantasy settings get a bit tricky, because most fantasy settings have at least in some regard the concept of scaling power levels and individual heroes. The most obvious example is magical power, which is personal to the caster and cannot be widely distributed to the populous because it depends on the genius of individual heroes. Mid level Wizards can instantly turn the mightiest fortresses to rubble, and high level fighters are unlikable Eldritch bulwarks who can cleave mountains in two with a single stroke.
But fantasy societies aren't exclusively led by high level wizards (even though Equestria was), in fact, it's often the opposite, with court mages serving as advisors rather than leaders. This is in part due to the fact that arcane technocrats who dump Charisma aren't necessarily oriented towards leadership or bringing people together organically.
>Popular armyAbout her reason why the popular army is so important is because of the concept of total war, where the entire country is in one way or another mobilized to aid in the conflict, militarily or economically, which gives it an enormous advantage over a country that only fights with its elite class.
Posey does recognize the importance of a popular army, in her own twisted evil way. In Magehold, there are no civilians, only masters, monsters and slaves: everyone is either a necromancer, a vampire, or a monstrous servant thereof, all ready to rip and tear at a moment's notice. I will state again that the Dread League has a very high recruitable population for this reason. Posey has been raised to see any and all bodies, living or dead, as her potential soldiers, or materials to make more. As they say in Thay "Our army is already here. We just need to wake it up."
In the Dread League, the lowest caste are the ghouls, but even a lowly ghoul is inherently a ready for battle, and is easily mobilized too because they're so desperate for fresh meat.
>The ghouls provided the unglamorous backbone of the empire. Intelligent and undead, they needed to feast on flesh, especially brains, to prevent decay into mindless zombies, and provided the labour, manufacture, and intelligence needed to run the empire.This is the Dread League's equivalent to a popular army.
>theory of qualityPosey doesn't really believe in equality, due to her upbringing. She had a bit of a reverse Glimmer character arc. The horrible brutality of existence and the nature of power was hammered into her when she was just a filly, and she has formed her entire worldview around it. For this reason, she values personal power above all else, and the means to control others and bring them under her command, because she trusts nopony.
She could probably use some friendship lessons.
>>194171>>194172This was a fascinating read and part of why this game is so great.
>So what justifies this inequality?Outside the consideration of power dynamics which can be reduced to "Grug beats up weaker Grug," the clear answer is that as society grows, specialization arises. You need a lot of people making things so they're better off or at least can stay alive, but when you make things there is an incentive for bad actors to steal as an alternative to production. Therefore, you need some people to be specialized toward protecting the rest. If producers are the only ones defending themselves, they run into several issues. First is that if they protect themselves as they're attacked instead of coordinating with a group, then even a small group of aggressors can target them piecemeal with little hope for resistance. Second is that even if they do coordinate, they simply won't be as good at defending themselves than dedicated soldiers or guards. Third is that any investment in improving their own defensive capabilities comes at an opportunity cost for producing more stuff, and is dead weight if it's not used. When it is used, any casualties taken will impact the general economy because there will be fewer productive people. Therefore, it's more efficient overall to have a few dedicated soldiers or guards protecting a much larger productive group. Except in the most dire cases, there are generally far fewer than producers because one dedicated to fighting can't support himself economically except in service to the producers, and therefore whatever is invested into defense long-term has to be equal to or less than the surplus produced over what producers need to support themselves. They are also fewer because they are much better and more coordinated at defending, and unless if there's an offensive campaign not that many are needed in defense. Finally, and this is the reason why dedicated fighters tend to be prized over producers, is that putting oneself out there to fight involves martial skills and virtues that may be absent in others. The rote toil of work and production is all good and absolutely necessary, but it does not typically result in endangering one's life like being a soldier does. Moreover, being a trained soldier places special value on cohesion, duty and leadership to the degree that veterans can often sense other veterans merely by a military sort of bearing.
It should be noted that the degree to which this separation exists is never constant in history but changes owing to technology and sociopolitical realities. Mass armies like what Rome had were impractical and unsustainable after the rise of a feudal sort of structure, which was far more efficient at defending a local area of producers in an era when communication was slow and unreliable. Technology didn't actually play much of a role in this; late medieval plate armor certainly was sophisticated and no doubt extended this
status quo, but early medieval times were no less stratified and certainly didn't have better armor technology than the Romans. However the introduction of gunpowder and faster communication certainly brought about mass armies which preceded liberalism, though they were still largely professional under absolutist kings. Arquebuses and even muskets weren't individually better than other weapons, but they were easier to train with and compounded well in mass formations. The Industrial Revolution brought this to the logical conclusion with massive armies of conscripts: not only was a far smaller number of producers able to sustain a much larger army, but interchangeable, mass-produced parts meant weapons on an individual basis were trivially cheap.
What's interesting is that this trend toward mass warfare reversed starting in WW2 and has continued today. As weapon systems have become far more sophisticated and rifle infantry are just one component of a combined arms apparatus, sheer numbers of basic weapons will lose out on an open battlefield to a decent number of advanced weapons. The average rifleman's kit has also ballooned in cost in terms of weaponry, armor protection, and utility items like night vision. Later advancements will likely put even more emphasis on fewer, better trained and better equipped troops.
>the United States constitution includes the idea of a "Well Regulated Militia," which has been argued to mean the citizenry as a whole, disciplined and able to act as an army in a time of need, but do not serve as a standing army.Sort of but this is much more relevant to the concept of English yeomanry than to the political concept of liberalism, at least in the French sense. For centuries England was unique in the practice of recruiting especially skilled archers from free farmers. While they weren't as skilled in other forms of combat as other noble retinues, their specialization in archery made them useful and allowed for some upward mobility, which in turn gave rise to the more moderate form of liberalism that Britain adopted. Jefferson and his peers saw the advantages of this system, but with yeomanry being less of a rigid social class and more of an idealized self-sufficient farmer. Professionalism and voluntaryism revolving around local militias was at the core of it, as opposed to the centralized Levee en Masse that France practiced. Mass conscription really only took hold in America starting during the War Between the States.
I do agree, as do many others, that war in its nature has changed like you said.
>>194173>See, this is where fantasy settings get a bit tricky, because most fantasy settings have at least in some regard the concept of scaling power levels and individual heroesI was thinking about writing an entire post on the subject of Heroic fantasies and contrasting them with what I'm trying to do with Occupied on a thematic level
I'm just not a fan of extreme power scaling... at all. Just... I don't know, it's really not something I care for.
The Lord of the Rings is very obviously the inspiration of most of the Dungeons and Dragons setting, yet oddly its a relatively low magic and lower power scaling setting. In the Lord of the Rings, the only wizards that exists are literal angels, the Maiar, Sauromon and Gandalf (and Sauron for that matter). Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Humans cannot be wizards. Almost all magic we see that is performed by someone other than the three Maiar is done by means of a ring of power, and even much of the magic performed by the Maiar is done through rings of power, like Gandalf's fireworks through his eleven ring, or the manipulation of the water to fight the nazgul. And even with all of that, relatively little magic is used. Gandolf isn't lobbing artillery at Helms Deep. As for Eldrich Bulwark fighters, well... "Even the mightiest warrior may be felled by an arrow. And Boromir was pierced by many."
Superheros have just never appealed to me. Or any kind of anime that's the same thing. Like someone punches another person, they fly back and hit an object with no visible damage to themselves, or a beam of light hits them and does no visible damage. I'm supposed to believe that that's much more damaging than a bullet? Eh? I have no point of reference to connect with it. I cannot imagine it. It has no meaning to me. It's just punches and light beams that do nothing and signify nothing happening to plastic figures. It's the same thing with magic. What is this magical thing? It's some kind of arbitrary bullshit made up on the spot. How does it work? It's magic. Has the author thought through the implications that the existence of such magic would have on the larger world and society? Not just no, but hell no. And how do we defeat such powerful magic? With equally arbitrary magic that we just pulled out of our asses so that we can defeat this completely arbitrary magic. Actually. the later seasons of My Little Pony have this problem. It's a completely self-made problem. Take for instance Discord and Starlight Glimmer going to fight Chrysalis. How does Chrysalis fight against a god? "Fuck your magic, I have a rock." I can rant about this but I probably shouldn't
This discussion relates to something similar I've wanted to talk about for a while: what I'm trying to do with Occupied Equestria, in terms of themes.
I think a good place to start is, what is the purpose of heroic fantasy in general? That is, what is it about?
Fantasy is of course composed of diverse literature from the ancient heroic epics like the Illiad and Beowulf, to medieval literature like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to Tokein's works, to My Little Pony. And yet, I think there are definite commonalties.
I will never forget hearing former producer on My Little Pony Jim Miller say "My Little Pony is a Morality Play. Either the Good Guys will win because they are good, or the Bad Guys will lose because they are bad. And yeah, that's exactly right. What is my little pony? A morality play to teach children what behavior is good. Oddly I've actually heard almost exactly the same phraseology in regards to Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. "The Good Guys will win because they are good and the bad guys will lose because they are bad." Obviously there is much more going on in the Lord of the Rings, but at least a major part of the Lord of the Rings is to say "This is what virtue is, this is what defines goodness, this is what defines evil, these are the limits of goodness, these are the limits of evil, this is what will happen if you lead a virtuous life/do good, and this is what will happen if you do evil." Medieval works like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are much the same. Certainly they reflect on human weakness and the limitations of human nature, but they are still very much about virtue and doing good. The ancient epics are less focused on virtue, to be sure, but its still a major focus. The Illiad opens with the Wrath of Achilles over being cucked by Agamemnon, then moves on to Achilles being enraged by his friend dying, and then ends with him finally calming down. The larger reflection of both the Illiad and Beowulf is how we find purpose in a universe where death looms over all and everything seems to be fated.
There are of course other reasons why certain fantastical epics were written. For example, The Aeneid is mythological telling of the origin of the Roman people, and to a very large extent, Tolkein's various works are exactly the same thing for the British and Northern European peoples. And yet still, overwhelmingly, fantasy is about what it is like to live as a human in a world full of struggles. How to be good, what is good, what is evil, and what to do in the face of evil and the inevitability of death. It is about becoming a better person.
You'll notice that this meshes well with ancient concepts of Nobility, in that the struggles that must be faced by society are faced by a narrow band of people, and this narrow band of people must prove themselves - they must prove that they were fit to lead. Sir Gawain must prove himself in facing the Green Knight. Aragorn must prove that he is fit to be the air of Isildur and Twilight Sparkle must prove herself to be the Princess of Friendship. All of these people are born into, fated to be in the role they are in, and yet, they must prove themselves by facing trials to earn the position. They are elite warriors facing threats no one else can.
The stories are (almost) always about individual people, and good and evil, even when not immediately apparent, have a definite form.
That is not what Occupied Equestria is about.
So if it isn't about heroism, then what is it about?
Well, Occupied in the convergence of three things. Dungeons and Dragons, My Little Pony, and Hearts of iron 4. If both Dungeons and Dragons and My Little Pony are about heroism, then what is Hearts of Iron 4 about? Well... It is a map painter of World War 2. But this isn't about painting maps. So then, what was World War 2 about?
Well... Have you heard of the Hegelian Dialectic? The gist is this: history has a progression to it, with each era being defined by a central conflict and learning from the last, with history advancing as time progresses. The era defining conflict is between two ideas, a thesis and its antithesis. Eventually, one idea defeats the other, but in doing so, they create a new synthesis that merges parts of both concepts into a newer, better whole.
Hearts of Iron 4 actually has this kind of dialectic as an essential part of its game mechanics through ideology. There are three, technically four, ideologies. Each nation may chose one of the three (four, whatever) ideologies as its path, align with likeminded nations, and ultimately come to dominate the world. In doing so, it proclaims the victory of its ideology. World War 2 was in part an ideological struggle between Fascism (and similar ideologies), Liberalism, and Communism. Fascism was destroyed, shamed, and removed from history, leaving Liberalism and Communism as the victors, until eventually through the Cold War Communism was destroyed and shamed, leaving Liberalism as the sole victor, here at the End of History. Or at least it was until this new era has revealed the contradictions in Liberalism, and a new thesis and antithesis will emerge.
Of course World War 2 was about much more than ideology. It was about great power politics, ethnic rivalries, the predilections of individuals in power, and so much more. But it was above all the clash of civilizations. And that is what I want to explore. A sociological rather than individual psychological examination of the human experience. The way that humans behave in groups more so than as individuals. And I am especially interested in the philosophical aspects.
In Tolkein, what is good and what is evil is firmly established. Good is what his version of Catholicism or Liberal Christianity says is good, and evil is what it says is evil, and there isn't all that much of a question to it. The problem is that not everyone agrees on the same set of values as good and evil. People disagree. People have vehement disagreements over many aspects of morality. To what degree are we allowed to favor our own kind over outsiders? To what degree is social conformity necessary for cohesion and to what degree is it a source of unacceptable exclusion? To what degree is freedom in sexual behavior acceptable, and to what degree is it unacceptable licentiousness? Are the various races of mankind to be treated exactly the same? All of this and more was in dispute at the time. It still is. Even if people can agree on 95% of what is good and what is evil, they are willing to kill each other over that last 5%, and that is what I wish to focus on in Occupied.
Where does this leave the individual? Where does this leave heroism? I mentioned in my last post of the advantages of Popular Armies, where an army of the common people can be lost in its entirety and replaced, where the individual's identity is subsumed into a greater whole for whom the body as well as the soul is sacrificed, and how wars fought by such armies are clashes of civilizations, where entire nations fight to the death. Stop for a minute and think of how fucking awful it would be to be a warrior in such an army and such a war. Wars are no longer a set of professional warriors fighting with honor for the sake of honor to achieve the very limited objectives of their superiors. Wars are now total. Every man, woman, and child - every lump of coal and blade of grass in the empire - is a part of an industrialized war literally 50% of the population may somehow be involved either directly as a soldier or in the supporting economy. And the stakes are impossibly high, with the very real risk that if your side loses, not only will you be dead - that was a given even if you won - but your entire race, your civilization, your country, your way of life, your language, may all be eradicated or at least relegated to serf status.
Consider that last paragraph of the opening text of Warhammer 40K: "To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the most cruel and bloody regime imaginable." Those words could be said, switching out billions for millions, for soldiers of the Soviet Union, or of Nazi Germany, or Imperial Japan, or Nationalist China, or even to a lesser extent of the various allied nations. When you are a part of the 34 million Soviets, 18 million Germans, 16 million Americans, 14 million Chinese, 9 million Japanese, or of any of the other soldiers of the 100+ belligerent nations placed in a uniform, you truly are "one amongst untold millions." Individual identity is completely lost.
In the Lord of the Rings, the warriors of Rohan lost 2000 horsemen in the Battle of the Pelanor Fields, that big penultimate battle in Peter Jackson's Return of the King. That's as many soldiers as the United States lost ferrying airplanes to their destinations. The number of American aircrew lost to training accidents in WW2 is 15,000, probably not far from total losses for the coalition of Free Peoples in all of The Lord of the Rings. Never mind the losses of a battle like Kiev or Leningrad or Kursk.
>>194177There are of course many tales of heroism in WW2. There's that American dive bomber pilot who sank not one but two Japanese Aircraft carriers in the same day. There were multiple Finish, Russian, and German snipers who shot 400+ people. There's pilot who shot down 400+ planes and several more with more than one hundred. Audie Murphy, who fended off 50 Germans and two tanks with the machine gun of a burning tank. Those are heroes. Those are heroes with kill counts and accomplishments on the same level as Legolas, or Gimli. And when you expand the list of heroes to include politicians and generals, some are arguably on the level of Aragorn. But these were real men who lived and died, were decorated or disgraced, and remembered or forgotten for their deeds. And these men are the equals of even fantasy heroes.
But what you do not have is a hero who, through tossing a single ring into a volcano, instantly ended the war.
Then again, even Tolkien didn't have such a hero None of these people brought the war to an end single handedly. The outcome of the war does not change if they all collectively were removed. All of them could have been replaced by others - some of them were - and the needle barely moves.
But consider the final two lines of the Warhammer 40k introductory text: "Forget the power of Science and Technology, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress, for in the Grim Dark Future of the 41st Millenium, there is only war." That is decidedly
not what we have with a World War 2 setting. In fact those two statements are more true of most fantasy worlds, were technology is more or less in statis and societal structures most certainly are. World War 2 is unique against such settings in that there really is a fast pace of technological advancement, such that technology upon the war's conclusion was noticeably advanced compared to the war's beginning. But it isn't just technology. There was a genuine belief in human progress that is hard to understand now. There was a belief that we can change society for the better through laws, institutions, and economic development. There was a genuine belief that your children could have a better life than you could have, or for that matter, that you could have children. There was a belief in the possibility of utopia - or at least, of a better world than the one we live in. And it could be achieved. Fantasy settings very rarely have that kind of hope. Our modern world most certainly does not.
I like the World War 2 setting in no small part because in my generation - I am certainly at least slightly older than all of you - World War 2 was the fabled war of the recentish past, the one everyone was fascinated with and wanted to study. But beyond that, World War 2 is the last great crossroads of history. Where we are now, it feels as if somewhere down that long road, we took a wrong path, or at least, that
something has gone horribly wrong. In World War 2, there seemed to be a genuine choice between multiple, distinct outcomes. There was hope for a better world. If the world was doomed already, that was not obvious at the time.
That is what I wanted to capture. This feeling of historical crossroads, and a clash of ideologies and philosophies. Not a triumph of good over evil necessarily, but a definition of the terms.
>>194174>as society grows, specialization arises.That's why I mentioned magic, which is specialized by nature. Only more powerful mages can cast high level spells or craft world-changing magic items. The need for heroes is especially true in fantasy worlds that have nigh-indestructible monsters who can lay waste to entire armies and are immune to mortal weaponry.
>As weapon systems have become far more sophisticated and rifle infantry are just one component of a combined arms apparatus, sheer numbers of basic weapons will lose out on an open battlefield to a decent number of advanced weapons.Yeah, especially with drone warfare. A flying zombie strapped to a bomb can skullfuck conventional conventional infantry.
>>194175>extreme power scaling... at all. Just... I don't know, it's really not something I care forExtreme power scaling does exist in Equestria. That's arguably a flaw in the later seasons.
>The Lord of the Rings is very obviously the inspiration of most of the Dungeons and Dragons setting, yet oddly its a relatively low magic and lower power scaling setting.I actually think that Conan is the bigger inspiration for D&D, not just in the world building but also in the basic adventure design. People invoke Lord Of The Rings more often because it's popular. A lot of the world building for the monster races and classes in D&D is derivative from Conan, which is a relatively high magic setting that happens to feature a martial protagonist. This was especially true in the Mystara era of D&D.
Lord Of The Rings is low magic overall, but not low power, imo. It's at the very least as high power as Equestria, because Gandalf basically has the same power kit as Celestia (he could literally move the sun to make it daytime). Even the martial characters could be considered to be quite high level, especially the elves.
>Superheros have just never appealed to me. Or any kind of anime that's the same thing. Like someone punches another person, they fly back and hit an object with no visible damage to themselves, or a beam of light hits them and does no visible damage.You shouldn't think of HP as physicality, or you will frustrate yourself and break immersion. HP is a narrative device that represents how many near-misses and grazes a hero can take before their story ends. HP represents luck, skill and even divine blessings more than it does any measure of physicality.
Think of John Wick: there's nothing magical about him, but he represents a high level d20 Modern character with high HP.
>I'm supposed to believe that that's much more damaging than a bullet?The one place where the mechanics of 3.5e differ from d20 modern is the massive damage thresholds. In d20 modern, massive damage thresholds are at a base only equal to a character's constitution score, so a single crit from a bullet that does 14 damage can in fact kill a mid-high level characters with 70+ HP if they fail the save. This is the one mechanic that enforces realism in d20 modern.
That being said, d20 Modern characters use Action Points by default to represent their heroic luck.
Eberron uses action points by default too, and it is generally a low level setting.
>the later seasons of My Little Pony have this problem. It's a completely self-made problem. Take for instance Discord and Starlight Glimmer going to fight Chrysalis. How does Chrysalis fight against a god? "Fuck your magic, I have a rock." I can rant about this but I probably shouldn'tI agree completely.
>>194177>Occupied in the convergence of three things. Dungeons and Dragons, My Little Pony, and Hearts of iron 4. If both Dungeons and Dragons and My Little Pony are about heroism, then what is Hearts of Iron 4 about?I would really encourage you to check out the d20 modern SRD. The DMG says to refer to it for all issues regarding modern settings. D20 Arcana has tips on using magic in a modern setting too.
>Where does this leave the individual? Where does this leave heroism?Another question though: where does that leave us, individual heroes, as the protagonists of this game? What is our role in this world? If it's not about heroism and destiny, what is it about?
I actually thought it was going to become a map-painter game at higher level, which is why I made a charisma based character with an emphasis on leadership mechanics and rulership, but my character would need to prove herself before she can even start.
>That is what I wanted to capture. This feeling of historical crossroads, and a clash of ideologies and philosophies. Not a triumph of good over evil necessarily, but a definition of the terms.Well, I didn't think that much about what Posey believes in when I made her. Actually, her worldview could be summarized as a rebuke of all of the ideological modern nuances posted above. Posey is obsessed with personal power and vainglory, and she also believes in heroism and destiny, albeit in a twisted and villainous way. She would have grown up somewhere around the beginning of the equivalent of the Victorian era, witnessing the end of the medieval lifestyle. The Victorian era likewise ended around this time period as well, so she's an undead character who has witnessed the end of two eras with the advancement of modernity, but Posey never believed in modernity, because the antithesis thereof was was hammered into her at such an early age.
Ran out of space.
Wanted to say I drew a bit of inspiration for Posey's ideological worldview from the Scarlet King SCP article:
>But beneath this lay a fury. A cry for authenticity, for a reality, even as we expressed ourselves more and more in their language and their categories, even in our struggle against them. It lay in our literature, in Tagore and the others; it lay in our adda4, in our menial jobs as clerks. The endless, struggling tension between old and new, between modernity and premodernity. And in those fault-lines, in that cry of rage and fury, in our hatred of the old and the hatred of the new, there rose a hybrid obeying nothing but the law of the howling. There rose the Lāla Rājā.
>Because what is he but the cry for a forgotten age? He is the British peasant staring up at the red sky, the Bengali widow's weeping and shaven head, the Aztec priest ripping out another's heart. He is all of those things transformed, as modernity does to everything, into modernity's own destruction. He is the resistance, the fury, the hatred of all that was for all that presently is.
>What we were was full of good and evil and all else mixed together. The happiness, the beauty of the world, the struggles and heartache and reality of it all. But now we have lost almost all of it to the machine- except our rage. That's all that's left. And thus comes the King. The howl of the destroyed and forgotten and oppressed. His only purpose is to destroy, rape, maim, enslave and smile, smile that smile of a king whose enemies weep before him.
>He cannot exist where there is no modernity, because his entire purpose is given to him by modernity. He is a god of blood, a god of spine and bone and sinew, to remind the denizens of this world that it is not good. It is cruel and hateful and that is good, that is right. Modernity is a sin and he is the correction, so that we can once again live as we must: cold, and hungry, and starving, and very, very afraid.
Yeah, edgy and generic, but Posey still believes that she's the herald of the apocalypse destined to bring and end to this unclean world.
Maybe her worldview might change if she has done friendship lessons though.
>>194181But, again, I am open to changing this worldview depending on what role GM wants us to play in the story.
>>194175>I'm just not a fan of extreme power scaling... at all.>Superheros have just never appealed to me. Or any kind of anime that's the same thing.>I'm supposed to believe that that's much more damaging than a bullet?>Stop for a minute and think of how fucking awful it would be to be a warrior in such an army and such a war.GM, I have noticed that this mindset has informed the way you run the game. I think that's a good thing, because it makes this game unique. However, I think what you're trying to do could work more smoothly if you used additional materials made for it, because nerds figured this out 20 years ago, particularly how to preserve that low-level gritty realism of early levels and reigning in caster supremacy. As a DM, I can sympathize with being uncomfortable with players leveling up too quickly, but in the d20 system individual heroic character progression is essential to the experience of the game. To solve this, some nerds developer the e6 variant rule:
https://www.enworld.org/threads/e6-the-game-inside-d-d.206323/Read this link. It explains it easily.
What e6 does is cap real level progression at a point between the first two quartiles of play, at a minimum of lvl 6. However, players still progress as they level up through feat progression, and variant feats are made to accommodate numeric progression of character abilities without HP bloat and caster supremacy. There are also variant feats that accommodate for high level abilities being made accessible at the lvl 6 cap, such a a feat that allows a lvl 6 character to cast Flesh To Stone once per day with an expensive material component. Players don't progress in spellcasting, BAB, or features, but they get other perks more slowly as they level.
The benefits of this system is that it allows characters to progress, and it also creates the sort of grounded low-magic world with gritty realistic combat that you described, and monsters remain scary at all levels due to bounded accuracy and arrested HP because man is mortal.
I would actually recommend this system if this is the sort of game you want to run. There are variants to the system based on where power in the setting is supposed to be capped at, like e7, e8, or e10.
If you actually decide to do this, I would BEG you to use e8 or otherwise make the Dread Necromancer's class features accessible at lvl 6 through feats, because I built my entire character around the lvl 8 feature and I don't think I can keep playing this character if I can't keep up hope that I will get to cast Animate Dead with Undead Mastery.If you want more grounded combat, particularly with guns, you can adopt the d20 modern massive damage threshold. D20 modern uses a Constitution-based threshold:
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Death,_Dying,_and_HealingThis enforces the "get shot in the chest and die" aspect of combat. It's what makes combat realistic. It's actually one of many variant combat injury systems available for 3.5e, and probably the one to use to make even high level characters fear death. Unearthed Arcana has a few more combat injury variants worth looking at:
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/variant/unearthedInjury.htmlIf you use constitution based massive damage thresholds though, you might also want to use Action Points, which are a default in d20 modern (and also Eberron):
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Action_PointsAction Points are the "hero points" that allow characters to define themselves as the protagonists of the story even when the rest of the system enforces gritty realism and high lethality. They represent a pool of uncanny luck that allow players to modify dicerolls rolls (particularly the roll to not die after being shot) or use limited use abilities (Smite, Turn Undead, etc,) additional times. Action Points are a per-level resource, so they go well with e6 because the opportunity to refresh the pool gives an additional reward for leveling in place of actually leveling.
>That is what I wanted to capture. This feeling of historical crossroads, and a clash of ideologies and philosophies. Not a triumph of good over evil necessarily, but a definition of the terms.D20 Modern has an optional rule to use Allegiances in place of alignment:
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:AllegiancesAnd d20 Arcana even presents options for paladin-like class features and feats to work based on allegiances.
You might also like the Eberron setting, which is a war-themed mileau made to be nuanced in the sense of d&d's alignment system.
Really, there are a lot of variant rules that represent what you are describing, and many of them are default rules in d20 Modern. Most if not all of them are accessible through the SRD:
D20 Modern (highly recommended)
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Modern_System_Reference_DocumentD20 Arcana stuff is more easily read here:
http://dmreference.com/MRD/Arcana.htmhttps://spellbooksoftware.com/d20mrsd/arcana.htmlUnearthed Arcana:
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Variant_RulesMaybe take a long look at the d20 Modern stuff or the e6 rules and consider using some of it when this adventure is over.
>>194175>lower power scaling settingIs it though? Lord of the Rings has much lower power scaling than the Silmarilion, because it's a world in decay, but the heroes involved are explicitly superhuman. We see the very best that humanity has to offer in the likes of Aragon, Boromir and Faramir, but aside from Legolas (who by elf standards is a youngster) elves are mainly in the background. The very few elf-lords left around are the stuff of legend, and orcs (who are the degraded descendants of elves and are stronger than men) mention them with trepidation. Read the Silmarilion and the power-scaling becomes much more extreme, with elf-lords living through hundreds of years of near-constant war and dying only in some climatic battle or to treachery. Only a couple of humans approach that power level and they are marked with especial destiny, the culmination of perfect breeding among warrior peoples and with determination that awes even elves.
It should be noted that Tolkien personally fought in WW1 and was intimately familiar with its dehumanizing horror, and deliberately structured his universe as a living contradiction to it. When there is war, some of his personal experience leaks into it, but there is focus on the heroic actions of individuals as the deciding factors, and a sense of meaning and fate behind every event. It's an interesting reversal to take fantasy campaigns and settings intellectually descended from his work and turn them back into a grounded, gritty, depersonalized world.
I know what you mean though. Superheroes stories and anime are notorious for maximizing spectacle in fights, so it's unfair to compare any genre to these. Some anime resemble a children's understanding of power scaling with absurd depictions being handed out nonchalantly. I hope it's not insulting to treat that as unserious but it is what it is.
>Have you heard of the Hegelian Dialectic?pic related
Sorry, not sorry. I couldn't help but hear John Doman's voice when reading this. I do agree btw. It feels almost meaningless what side in these conflicts the PCs pick, outside of personal interest and risk. That's not a bad thing and I like the moral quandaries that come with it, at least for the mundane characters.
>That is what I wanted to capture. This feeling of historical crossroads, and a clash of ideologies and philosophies. Not a triumph of good over evil necessarily, but a definition of the terms.I like that, though it's hard to get in the microcosm of OE. I can certainly see it in how the Fellow Traveler has seized on a definition of communism and twisted it toward its own ends, though that's not really a crossroads for the PCs to choose
unless if we decide to not do our jobs and let Stalliongrad deal with it. I think it's best captured when navigating the factions in Baltimare itself: the Blackhooves, the ELF, the social democrats, communists, anarchists, and the Waterfront Gang. I made a joke about New Vegas earlier but that game had the same goal and it worked beautifully. The main difference is that in that game, the Courier is a nigh-unstoppable superhuman who absolutely has power to shape events in the region.
>>194179>ConanI swear everyone knows about that series but hasn't read it, myself included.
>You shouldn't think of HP as physicality, or you will frustrate yourself and break immersion. HP is a narrative device that represents how many near-misses and grazes a hero can take before their story ends. HP represents luck, skill and even divine blessings more than it does any measure of physicality.The problem is that this is copium because it directly overlaps other game mechanics that represent this, most notably AC which represents either uncanny dodging ability or armor. And then there are various feats and whatnot that fill that role as well. If HP wasn't meant to be physicality, then physically tougher classes like fighters and barbarians wouldn't have more HP than weaker but more agile/divinely blessed ones. Also John Wick does get shot sometimes in the movies, but he is usually wearing armor and has insane toughness.
>Another question though: where does that leave us, individual heroes, as the protagonists of this game? What is our role in this world? If it's not about heroism and destiny, what is it about?I can't speak for every character, but for most it's heroism or fulfillment in smaller ways. Cavaliere is good at a particular set of skills and he will keep using those skills in a way that follows his moral compass. Paladin in the TV show exists in the context of the Old West and although his presence affects many small locales, he never impacts history in any major way. I need to rewatch the series but he never arrests a governor, for instance, or does anything that would make history books. His deeds are small-scale and affect persons, not nations. Cavaliere might be different but doesn't need to be.
Amber is even more extreme in this regard and has done nothing heroic yet. It's impossible to imagine her rescuing a princess or couping a government. Yet, playing her is satisfying to me because it's living vicariously in this richly detailed world with interesting characters. Sometimes I don't want anything more than that.
This is hard to reconcile with a character intended to become a map-painter but I hope it's possible. It would be easier if said map-painter was a good-aligned idealist who other PCs can assist or at least coexist with, rather than be an embodiment of evil who will be hostile as soon as she reveals herself.
>>194181>>194183>scarlet kingSounds like a fantastical Ted Kaczynski
>D20 Modern>e6>action points>etc.>Maybe take a long look at the d20 Modern stuff or the e6 rules and consider using some of it when this adventure is over.I really want to do that because while this campaign is build around vanilla 3.5e it's obviously outgrown the possibilities afforded by that sourcebook. I've daydreamed for a while about collaborating to make this a fairly cohesive system, maybe even one that can be published and shared around. However, it's the sort of thing that would take several weeks at least of sitting around a metaphorical table to discuss and hash it out in committee.
My hopes for that have dimmed since that's obviously not very fun, and we've had trouble with motivation just for the actually fun part of playing a campaign when these mechanics aren't that much of a problem yet.Please let it be possible to incorporate some of this, but if it's not it's still acceptable to play with an incomplete and imperfect system.
https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/tag/e6This blogpost about e6 opens with a few paragraphs referring to the struggle in mileau that GM referred to earlier:
>I felt that people were struggling with a dissonance between what they thought high-level D&D was supposed to be like (Conan or Lord of the Rings) and what high-level D&D was actually delivering (mythological demigods).Tbh, not sure I completely agree with this take (and apparently commenters on his previous article had skepticism), but the blogger seems to agree with GM. He proposes e6-e10 as a solution.
>>194185>However, it's the sort of thing that would take several weeks at least of sitting around a metaphorical table to discuss and hash it out in committee.I mean, it's not like we don't do that already in between advancements in the actually game.
E6 isn't hard. Neither are the d20 Modern mechanics I mentioned. We could talk about it.
>>194187Yes but between everything else I don't know how I can find time to pore over sourcebooks and homebrews and think about how those mechanics can be incorporated. I don't know if GM pony will either. Just my response today took more time than I was comfortable spending, but that's a problem with me.
>>194184>It feels almost meaningless what side in these conflicts the PCs pick, outside of personal interest and risk.It doesn't have to be like that, imo.
>That's not a bad thing and I like the moral quandaries that come with it, at least for the mundane characters.What is a "mundane character" to you?
>The main difference is that in that game, the Courier is a nigh-unstoppable superhuman who absolutely has power to shape events in the region.That's what being the protagonist of an RPG means. It applies to most of not all games. Taking action that have consequences in the world gives meaning to a game.
>I swear everyone knows about that series but hasn't read it, myself included.Iirc, Marvel owns it but would rather sit on the IP and do nothing with it. They would probably just fill it with trannies anyway.
>this is copiumIt's literally what they tell you in the Player's Handbook:
>What Hit Points Represent: Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one. For some characters, hit points may represent divine favor or inner power. When a paladin survives a fireball, you will be hard pressed to convince bystanders that she doesn’t have the favor of some higher power.Just because it overlaps with AC doesn't mean it's not an abstraction. Even AC is an abstraction. Some games even treat AC as damage reduction.
>If HP wasn't meant to be physicality, then physically tougher classes like fighters and barbarians wouldn't have more HP than weaker but more agile/divinely blessed ones.It can be fluffed any number of ways. Frontline fighters have higher HP because being in the meatgrinder is part of their job description.
>Amber is even more extreme in this regard and has done nothing heroic yet. It's impossible to imagine her rescuing a princess or couping a government. In this world, Nightmare Moon was defeated by a librarian, a baker, a wannabe athlete, a seamstress, a pet-groomer, and a farmer, and those mares saved the world dozens of times since then. Idk what it is that makes you think that your horse isn't special enough to be a hero. Amber is a more powerful spellcaster than Posey, ffs.
>It would be easier if said map-painter was a good-aligned idealist who other PCs can assist or at least coexist with, rather than be an embodiment of evil who will be hostile as soon as she reveals herself.I mean, part of the point of Posey is that she's supposed to present herself as a hero and a false savior. She wants ponies to follow her, convincing them that she can save them in these desperate times, even if she has ulterior motives.
>while this campaign is build around vanilla 3.5e it's obviously outgrown the possibilities afforded by that sourcebookThe DMG straight up says to refer to d20 Modern for questions concerning modern settings.
>>194188>pore over sourcebooksThe e6 homebrew is only like three pages long.
Most of the d20 modern stuff is in the SRD. The only notable difference between 3.5e and d20 modern is that d20 Modern uses the aforementioned two 3.5e variant rules (Constitution based massive damage; Action Points) by default.
>>194186>TIP: A lot of class abilities would work just fine as feats. Even more class abilities would be appropriate as epic feats (or as part of an epic feat chain). The DM is encouraged to be flexible in helping players achieve the effects they want, as long as they would normally be achievable for the level range that the DM is shooting for.I could be content with never actually leveling beyond 6 if Animate Dead were made a lvl 3 spell (like it is for Clerics) and the Dread Necromancer's Familiar and Undead Mastery were both made into epic feats.
D20 Modern Arcana incantations can also fill the role for situationally limited higher level spell effects that require ages of research and hours to cast, like Create Undead.
Idk about the other player's ambitions though.
Some more easily-read e6 rules:
https://dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)/RulesI also linked the PDF rules document. It's only a couple pages long.
>>194189>What is a "mundane character" to you?Non-caster characters and those who don't have grand ambitions. That applies to every PC except for Posey, Spark and maybe Tenebrous.
>Just because it overlaps with AC doesn't mean it's not an abstraction. Even AC is an abstraction. Some games even treat AC as damage reduction.>It can be fluffed any number of ways. Frontline fighters have higher HP because being in the meatgrinder is part of their job description.Ok. There's just no hard-and-fast definition.
>Idk what it is that makes you think that your horse isn't special enough to be a hero.Good point. Maybe it's just reluctance on my part.
>The e6 homebrew is only like three pages long.>I also linked the PDF rules document. It's only a couple pages long.That's pretty good. I'm sorry if I've come across as disinterested. I'm just going through the middle of a productivity crisis atm. What you've shared is genuinely very useful.
Now that I finally have a day off from work, I just wanted to say that something I find really compelling about this game is the conflict between the ideals of heroism or "noble armies" as it's been called that is extolled by D&D and the ideals of ideology and "peasant armies" extolled by EaW. To use my characters as an example, Silver as a colt grew up hearing stories about heroes and adventurers from days past and he idolized them, to the point that he begged his father to train him as a warrior and when he grew into an adult he struck out on his own as an adventurer, only to find that the world had largely moved on from those stories and that the best he could hope for to be an "adventurer" was to basically be a bounty hunter and mercenary. Kira comes from a pre-industrialized tribal civilization in the wild savannahs and forests of Southeastern Zebrica, a caste society where each lamia has their role that they fulfill to better the whole of the tribe, where she was born not just as a hunter and trained as a hunter but also born into a
noble hunter family where the expectations of her role was even greater, and how she struggles internally with some aspects of her role in that society despite how much she prides herself in being one. To me it's compelling seeing how my characters react to this world they're in, a world that makes them seem almost like characters out of time despite being from this time. It also makes missions like this more interesting in my eyes because these are cases where these characters can
be something that is otherwise disappearing from the world: heroes.
>>194191What would you describe as a grand ambition?
>>194179>>194181>>194182>>194183>>194186>>194187>>194189>>194190On a long car ride I’ve had some time to reflect. I’ve come to realize that it isn’t Posey’s world view, or power scaling in D&D 3.5, or the rule set, or power gaming/balance in general that I am concerned about.
There is one thing, and one thing specifically that feels like an issue with Posey. I started to write about it, wrote 1700 words, realized I wasn’t close to done and started to worry that the series of posts may be too mean. So I’ll just try to summarize it.
Posey is kind of non-responsive to the environment around her in general. But in particular, she never really seems like she believes that she is in danger, that her task is difficult, that there is a chance of failure, and just in general doesn’t seem to suffer or hurt from the conflict she faces. This is evident from her words to other characters, her body language, attitude, and how she choses to approach encounters. I don’t like that, and I think the fact that Posey consistently
acts like she’s over levelled and too powerful for the campaign has lead me to believe that she
is overlevelled and too powerful for the campaign.
>>194193>I started to write about it, wrote 1700 words, realized I wasn’t close to done and started to worry that the series of posts may be too mean.Oh.. I am sorry to waste your time.
>Posey is kind of non-responsive to the environment around her in general. But in particular, she never really seems like she believes that she is in danger, that her task is difficult, that there is a chance of failure, and just in general doesn’t seem to suffer or hurt from the conflict she faces.This was by design. I made Posey hubristic and vain, and most importantly relentlessly confident to disguise her own insecurities. She believes that by acting as though she is great and powerful, she can wish manifest her dreams into existence. As a Sorceress, she believes that magical power comes from force of personality, so she puts on the persona of a great and powerful mage.
While other necromancers travel to Magehold, Posey was born there. In Magebold, there are no friends, only masters and slaves. Posey is a former sex slave to the vampire coven, and she has a deeply-rooted belief that weakness attracts violence. Her mother murdered her for reasons unclear, and to this day she still ponders why she was so brutally discarded in that act of wasteful violence. Her masters condemned her to a century of demeaning servitude after she failed to meet their unrealistic goals in creating a god of destruction. Her entire life and unlike has been a spiral of weakness and failure, but she is for the first time being given a real opportunity to make something of herself since coming to Equestria. She acts confident in her powers, but she is painfully aware that she is only capable of casting lvl 2 spells despite being over a century old, and so long as she remains weak she remains a slave to her masters, so she is absolutely
desperate to grow stronger. That is the reason why she responds so viciously when her powers are called into doubt in posts like this
>>192693 → To put it shortly, she's as narcissist, intentionally flawed, except it's ironic because when Posey looks in the mirror she doesn't see anything at all...
>This is evident from her words to other characters, her body language, attitude, and how she choses to approach encounters.Well, she did acknowledge the limits of her powers and was forced to flee on that last monster encounter we had:
>>192857 → (pic related)
>I don’t like thatI did design her that way, but if GM thinks it's annoying I guess I could try to approach things differently.
>Posey consistently acts like she’s over levelled and too powerful for the campaign has lead me to believe that she is overlevelled and too powerful for the campaign.GM, you do realize that Posey is only lvl 4, right? She has lvl 2 spells, just like Amber. Do you remember the last time she cast a spell in combat? It was Chill Touch, over a year ago. Her main class feature is her spellcasting ability, and I really don't think her spells have been disruptive in this game; almost all of her spells do some variation of the same thing, which is cause fear, deal pitiful damage with negative energy, or summon a minor monster. She is not "over leveled"; in fact, she is underleveled because spent two levels worth of XP in character creation making her half vampire because I autistically needed a mechanical justification for her corpse to remain sexy after death, and I thought she could earn that XP back quickly, but alas. She has ended half of every non-trivial encounter she's been in at single digit HP, surviving the fight with Luminous at literally 1 HP, whome she "honorably" handed the +2 Silver Sword to in an act of self-destructive confidence because she esoterically believed that defeating a paladin fairly would allow her to reach a new level of power.
Barely anything about the way Posey plays is related to her being over leveled; I have just been pressured to get creative with roleplay, tactics and desperate gimmicks (like summoning amoebas to counter an otherwise invincible hydra that she had to fight 1v1 while treading water) to try to represent the mighty sorceress I imagined in my head.
If me roleplaying her as a cocky brat and a glory hound is actually what's preventing you from letting me level up, I will amend that. Often in milestone games you only level up after the GM decides you've done feats that are sufficiently sufficiently "cool enough" to warrant a level up to represent your character, but I guess in this game it's the opposite.
>>194194Well, I did
not get across what I needed to in just a few words. I’ll either use some of what I’ve written, or I’ll just drop the whole matter.
>>194193>Posey is kind of non-responsive to the environment around her in general. But in particular, she never really seems like she believes that she is in danger, that her task is difficult, that there is a chance of failure, and just in general doesn’t seem to suffer or hurt from the conflict she faces.Do you feel the same about how I roleplay Virgin now? Should I tone down the silliness?
>>194196I like Virgin Flame
>>194192>What would you describe as a grand ambition?Taking over a territory and commanding a large force of hundreds or thousands, or otherwise influencing geopolitics to a measurable degree
>>194196>>194198I like her too, and we need silliness. Amber has had silly moments too.
>>194199What are your characters' goals?
>>194200Cavaliere just got into the game and has no long-term goals. He's seeking employment of the kind he's good at and otherwise lives for himself.
Amber still wants to make enough money to support her family back home and to get into music school. On top of that she also has a longing for adventure and to develop her relationship with Mustard Trim.
>>194199Would Kira trying to bring her people over into Equestria as refugees count?
>>194195Is there anything else you want to say?
>>194198>>194199Thank you, guys c:
>>194196Well, look at it this way. A game like this is basically a collaborative writing venture. Basically I write several parts of a story, you write another part, and the other players write respective parts. The point is to produce a hopefully decent piece of literature. But to do so, we kind of need to be on the same page.
Ponies are cute. I like the cuteness. And silliness is fun too. Is Virgin too silly? Uh... I'm not sure? She can be silly, just be sure that... at least some things that happen around her are responded to sometimes. I can work with silly or crazy. But moderation is probably best, at least for now, as the world around her is very serious. Her being silly in a serious world isn't necessarily a bad thing. We all have heard of and seen the "crazy guy/straight man" comedic duo where the contrast is a part of the joke (like Spongebob and Squidward). Just... Be mindful. But silly on. Virgin Flame is a cute character and I like her.
>>194205I try to roleplay Posey as silly too. Sometimes I break her glorious/serious demeanor by making her do silly things like fall down the stairs, forfeit the element of surprise to knock on doors, or demand that ponies rub her tummy for attention. Posey dreams of being a supervillain, but as of now she's just a lowly apprentice mage trying her best, and is very much still a silly cartoon horsie.
Being out-of-touch with the mileau is also part of Posey's character, because she's a member of the Dread League, which is a D&D faction in a WWII setting. Posey is a Victorian era character with Medieval ideals. I was originally going to have her only speak in middle English like Luna, but I decided it was a bit too much effort to be worth it because when I did test chats I thought it came off as annoying.
>But moderation is probably best, at least for now, as the world around her is very serious.I don't think so. I think your character is fine just as she is.
She could have some interesting development as a martial artist action hero, but she would need to enter combat for that to happen. Just wait for the situation to become serious and react to it accordingly.
>>194201>He's seeking employment of the kind he's good at and otherwise lives for himself.If he were just seeking employment, he would be better off making Profession checks in the city than risk life and limb doing secret mercenary work on a desert Island in contested territory. Maybe consider what he wants to acquire so much money for.
>Amber still wants to make enough money to support her family back home and to get into music school.She should just roll Perform for this. Not only does making Perform checks earn you enough money to live off of and then some, it also has a chance of attracting patrons who are impressed by your talents.
>Great performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d10 sp/day. In time, you may be invited to join a professional troupe and may develop a regional reputation.>Memorable performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 1d6 gp/day. In time, you may come to the attention of noble patrons and develop a national reputation.>Extraordinary performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d6 gp/day. In time, you may draw attention from distant potential patrons, or even from extraplanar beings.You can make a perform check in a hour, depending on the context. Once you hit that DC 20, money and plot developments will come to you. Use your spells to buff your skill checks and cast an illusion for a circumstance bonus to performance.
>>194205>Just... Be mindful. But silly on. Virgin Flame is a cute character and I like her.Aww, thank you.
Also, I think I'll play her more reactive in the future as you wanted. That way we are both satisfied. I get where you are coming from. ^^
Btw, you haven't replied in a while, which you obviously know. I'm just worried that I have caused this in some way but since you didn't make a statement about that in your last post and said tht you like my character it seems unlikely.
But I'm not here to stress you. Take you time. Like, I'm the last person to criticize someone for procrastination or whatnot. ^^
Just know that I'm ready when you are again.
>>194206Also, thank you for liking my character. ^^
>>194216I meant "reply" in the game thread for the game.
>>194205>A game like this is basically a collaborative writing venture.It's not ERP, it's "collaborative erotica">We all have heard of and seen the "crazy guy/straight man" comedic duo where the contrast is a part of the joke (like Spongebob and Squidward)This is sort of the dynamic between Amber and Mustard. I hope we get to see more of that, as well as more of Virgin Flame.
>>194206>Posey dreams of being a supervillain, but as of now she's just a lowly apprentice mage trying her best, and is very much still a silly cartoon horsie.Invader Zim would be a nice inspiration for that kind of character. Have you seen that show? You could combine that with the Addams family for a more gothic approach.
>If he were just seeking employmentNot his only motivation.
>She should just roll Perform for this.Having her be a busker is an option I might go for, but it has more risk from both hooligans and the law. What am I saying, that's a great idea.
>>194203Alright, I have quite a lot I want to say, and I am going to put it into words. I hope that what I say will be understood rather than dismissed, as I believe I am saying it in good faith. I am saying it because I want the Posey character to succeed and become better, not because I hate her and want her gone or replaced. I assure you that if I wished that, I could accomplish that in far fewer words. I have absolutely no idea how much of this is Posey as a character or you as a player. I would assume that it is some combination of the two, but I don’t believe I will ever know the answer to that. I am going to approach this as being my problem with the Posey character, given that everything I have to comment about are her in-character actions or inactions. I don’t know how much of my issues are actually based on recent observations. I know it’s the same issue I had more than a year ago now. I’m not sure if it has gotten better or worse. The vast majority of the examples I will be giving are from more than a year ago. Maybe that means that there are not so many issues in the recent past and things are better now. I hope so. All the same, I think I have at the very least finally figured out what bugged me a year ago, and I am now putting it into words. Why? Because it’s stuck in my head, and I think that typing it out will, if nothing else, allow me to move past it.
So, I think I should start the same way as I did with the Vir character. What is this here? This is a collaborative writing venture. We are writing a story together. You have one character, I have several characters and most of the world, and then a few other people have their own characters. Everyone is a writer, and what everyone writes is important to the whole. It is all important. It cannot work without me, and it cannot work without you.
But above all, what we are doing here is writing
a story. It isn’t quite textbook story telling, given that the ending and length are a bit unclear, and so structure doesn’t work in quite the same way. All the same, any story of any kind definitionally needs at least two things. It needs at least one main character – a protagonist. And it needs a conflict. But what exactly is a “conflict”? Something that the main character needs or wants or is trying to prevent, some main goal to obtain or avoid. Something that is desired or needed is absent for at least part of the story, some good thing is at danger of being lost, or some object of aversion either may come, or is here and needs to be removed. Quite simply, the main character experiences something bad. Want or fear. They are not in a state of perfect goodness the whole story.
Every work of literature requires overcoming adversity. It doesn't matter what it is. There are no exceptions. None. It's definitional to what a story even is. It's about the struggle. It's about the pain and the problems. The philosopher Hugo Weaving once said that humans, as a species, define their reality through misery and suffering. I am not certain to what degree that is true of the normal human life, but I can say with certainty that that is what defines all storytelling. Stories are about struggle, conflict, and in most but not all instances, overcoming the adversity. In doing so, something is proven or demonstrated. Your main character(s) don't need to win in order to have a story. There are stories where the main characters fail and the story is functional. You don't need your main character to be at all heroic for the story to function. There are stories with villains as main characters and they are functional. Your main character doesn't need to be an actual conscious person in order to function. There are stories with villages or nations or other impersonal things as main characters. But every story of any kind must necessarily have the main characters
suffer, or otherwise experience problems in obtaining what they want.
And now, what is a player character? A player character is a protagonist of this story. Posey, thusly, is a protagonist.
So. Now that we’ve established that characters must be subject to adversity, how do you show that in writing? And let’s say in the context of adventure, fighting, or fantasy especially.
Well, you can kill off main characters. This shows that the danger and adversity faced by the main cast is great and that the stakes are high. It is generally advisable to kill off a few main characters to show that you are serious, and this is why Boromir or Ned Stark are killed off relatively early in their respective story’s runs. But the problem is that you cannot simultaneously kill your characters and have them there to serve as characters in the story. Well,
you can see Gandalf and John Snow, but still, you can’t have your characters there for development and be dead. You can kill them at the end, sure, but that leaves most of the run time that you need to show the audience of the danger faced by the protagonists.
You could have the main characters be defeated or inhibited directly in their immediate short-term goal. This is advisable. However, it is still limited by the needs of the plot, as at some point, the action must advance.
>>194203>>194222So, the best thing to do is to have the main characters
act like they are in danger or facing adversity. See in Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring (movie), where a few characters want to leave camp and cross the river. Legolas, who doesn’t emote much, tells them sharply that they must not cross the river until nightfall, as the orcs that have been following them will see them cross and will be alerted to their presence. That would place them in unacceptable danger. This is how danger ought to be written. When we see the main characters kill orcs and Uruk Hai by the score, it’s easy to think “No, orcs are not that dangerous.” But when the main characters take orcs seriously and think they can be a danger, its easier for us in the audience to believe that they are, in fact, in danger. The fact that its shortly after this scene that Boromir is killed by Uruk Hai just adds to it. And we see this again and again. The forces of Sauron and Sauromon, despite consistently losing and being repelled, are always taken seriously by the main characters, who go out of their way to avoid being in pitched battles with them when they can.
Could you image what the Lord of the Rings would be like if Legolass just said “nah, the orcs will be fine”? The orcs would be a joke and the audience would be bored. How can we think the main characters are under threat if the main characters don't think or act like they are under threat?
In
Occupied, the character who does this best is Cavaliere. Cavaliere always takes the forces he fights against very seriously and acts like they can be a danger to him. Before fighting them, he always first asks himself the question “is it necessary?” and “can we actually win?” Posey, however, doesn’t seem ever to act like the opposing forces against her are actually dangerous. I get that she’s supposed to be bloodthirsty or something, but I’m trying to write a story where the main characters are in plausible danger. Could she maybe play along?
I remember you once said OOC that “players are supposed to win.” This statement is true. But
it’s impolite to say aloud. I heard that Gary Gygax was once quoted as saying something along the lines of “Players should win 70% of the time. But it should
feel like they are going to win 40% of the time.” We’re kind of all engaged in a collective suspension of disbelief here. I mean yeah, the players are probably going to win (probably), but like… this is a show. The illusion of danger is the point. It’s why we are here. There is a reason people like to play souls-like games, or set games to the hardest difficulty. The challenge is the entire point.
There is another way that characters can show that they are suffering adversity, and that is through the expression of emotion. This can be actual fear, pain, sorrow, or anxiety. They can express it through screams, crying, facial expressions, or their words. In The Lord of the Rings, expressions of fear, doubt, and adversity are absolutely everywhere. Legolas before the battle of Helms Deep is concerned and speaks about it with the other characters. Frodo wears a thousand yard stare almost the entirety of the last two movies. Aragorn expresses skepticism of the chances of survival in the diversionary battle before the Black Gate at the end of the Return of the King. When Aragorn thinks he’s lost Pippin and Mary, he kicks a helmet and screams
admittedly partly from fracturing a toe kicking the helmet. The otherwise indefatigable Sam expresses uncertainty of the likelihood that he and Frodo will survive Moroder. Sauron is described as experiencing “doubt” when the heir of Isildur returns and he does not know the location of the One Ring. Even Galadriel is troubled by the One Ring. It’s constant fear, doubt, and pain all around in The Lord of the Rings, and I do not think that it is a coincidence that both the books and the movies are so fondly remembered.
But no one agrees with my interpretation of Lord of the Rings, so let’s forget about that. Let’s talk about another series where the protagonist character is constantly emoting. In Kitchen Nightmares, chef Gordon Ramsey must go into a failing restaurant, observe its bad practices to try to understand what is wrong, then attempt to correct the bad practices so that the owners may place the restaurant back on track. In order to establish that Gordon Ramsey does indeed have a hard task ahead of him, it must be established that the current state of the restaurant is quite bad. How do you do that? Well you can just show what is on screen, and they do that. But more than that, chef Ramsey
reacts to what is on screen. And he reacts very strongly to what he sees. He yells at poor quality food. He makes insulting jokes. He curls his lips back in disgust when he sees a dirty kitchen. If Gordon Ramsey had kept a stiff upper lip when he, for example, saw cockroaches in the basement in
Dillon’s, rather than reacting with the visceral disgust he did, I think the episode would have been poorer. I believe that chef Ramsey’s strong reactions are very important to why the series is so fondly remembered today.
Posey will react physically and emotionally to running water, and I believe a few other things. This is fine, I just wish she would occasionally react a little to other things as well.
>>194215>>194194>I made Posey hubristic and vain, and most importantly relentlessly confident to disguise her own insecurities.Okay, let’s explore this. What is the difference between someone who is just entirely out of touch with reality on their own abilities, versus someone who puts on a façade in order to hide from themselves and others that actually, they believe they are fairly weak? The answer, of course, is that the latter actually believes themselves to be fairly weak. Now how does anyone know this? Obviously, we can’t see inside the head of another person. The only way we could possibly know that this is so is when we get a glimpse behind the façade. So then there must be some kind of look behind the façade. This may be small acts or expressions of emotions that may be noticed by no one except for the audience. This may be a complete nervous breakdown all at once. This may be the character’s confession to a confidant, or even when speaking to herself, or writing a letter to no one.
For an example of a small expression of emotion, I think of Breaking Bad, where the character of Tod, after shooting and killing a 14 year old kid, holds onto the tarantula in a jar that the kid was carrying. This shows his guilt. I will go into nervous breakdowns later. For examples of confessions to confidants, think of Tony Soprano in
The Sopranos, speaking to his therapist. Or the main character in
The Good Shepherd confessing that actually, his father killed himself, when he is confessing a secret to the Skull and Bones Society. Occupied has a good example. Kubana Kirafiki is afraid that she may be too soft, weak, and generally too much of a precious cinnamon roll to accomplish her task of saving her people. She confesses this insecurity to at least one other character, I believe it was Mala Mata.
You posted a picture of Flawless Sparklemoon from Tamers12345’s series. I don’t think that that is a coincidence. I believe you are trying to draw a parallel between that character and Posey. Flawless Sparklemoon is introduced as a sort of magical creation spawned between two characters. When she is first met, she is an antagonist who absolutely insists that she is superior to the two protagonist characters and is immediately hostile. She is defeated at the end of the episode, but returns later, hostile again. She eventually has an emotional breakdown where expresses that she has no identity as she is a sort of Frankestein’s monster. Like the monster she has no given name. “Flawless” was a fan name. Look at that picture you attached. Look at her eyes. Those are not the eyes of a pony who is completely confident in her abilities. Those are the eyes of someone who has been defeated. By her third appearance the other characters are outright treating her like a scarred or confused child.
Flawless Sparklemoon is explicitly very heavily based on a similar character from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Trixie. Trixie, like Posey, is bragadocious and tries to put on the appearance of being strong and powerful. When she is first met, she acts an antagonist to the main six, talking herself and her act up. The first time she experiences danger, she breaks down, screams, runs away, and admits to being a fraud. In her second appearance she is also an antagonist, continuing to be proud, but also showing signs of mental instability from an artifact she is using as a source of power. When she is defeated, she acts somewhat humble and is obviously much weaker. I’ll get to what happens when she is brough back to be a main character later.
Something that both Flawless and Trixie have in common is that when they are introduced in their first two episodes, they are antagonist characters, who only later become protagonists. It must be emphasized that the rules for antagonist characters are different than the rules for protagonists. The only thing an antagonist must do is to create trouble for the protagonists. Unlike protagonists, there is no requirement that an antagonist suffer or experience trouble. They do not need to suffer. They do not need to show weakness, flaws, or vulnerability. They do not need to be morally right or wrong. They do not need to win and they do not need to lose. They do not need to be conscious people. The protagonists do not need to be able to fight back against an antagonist. A hurricane, for example, can be a perfectly fine antagonist in a story, just so long as it creates problems for the protagonists.
Both Flawless and Trixie start off as proud and powerful in their respective stories. That is fine, because both are in the role of antagonists. Even as antagonists, both are defeated, and both suffer nervous breakdowns of one kind or another. They are both humbled and show the audience that they have been humbled. More importantly, when both are brough back later to act as protagonists
they drop the act. Flawless is like a child, but Trixie gets it worse. In Trixie’s third appearance, the first time she is seen, she is complaining about how bad things are for her, and she is confiding in Starlight. And then later in the episode when Starlight abandons her, she has a full-on suicide attempt. A suicide attempt. In the entire 219 episode run of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there are only two suicide attempts, and Trixie in “No Second Prances” is one.
>>194194>>194224Let’s try another cocky protagonist. Puss in Boots of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. He starts off afraid of nothing and extremely confident in his abilities. Within 15 minutes
he fucking dies. Sure, he gets better, but he’s on his last life now. Then less than 15 minutes after that, he gets defeated in a fight. He then withdraws into hiding, painfully aware of his weakness. Later in the movie, we see him suffer a full-on panic attack.
Or consider Walter White from Breaking Bad. That protagonist is certifiably a villain by the end of the show, and is also very arrogant generally and confident in his abilities, and unlike the other examples he remains so throughout the course of the show. He seems to genuinely believe that he is at least smarter than almost everyone around him, and usually believes himself to be more dangerous, that
he is the one who knocks. I don’t want to give a full summary of that show, but that show, from beginning to end, is full of Walter White suffering. Walter cries, sits in silence of how his life has fallen apart, throws a pizza on the roof in frustration, and has a tantrum with a police officer pulling him over that results in him being thrown in jail. His son hates him, his adoptive son hates him, his wife hates him and cheats on him – the entire show is Walter White suffering. I think that the fact that Walter White so visibly suffers so greatly in the show is a strong contributor to why so many people sympathize with him and remain on his side by the end of the show, even though he is clearly the villain.
Imagine if you had a cocky, arrogant protagonist who never showed any kind of vulnerability or flaw. You couldn’t say that the protagonist is simply hiding insecurities, because there would be no evidence for that. We have a name for this kind of protagonist. They are called a “Mary Sue,” where they do not serve as characters in a story, but the story serves only to make the protagonist look good. These are not good protagonist characters. But a Mary Sue exists in a sequence of words – it cannot properly be called a “story” – only when they actually win. What do you call the same when they remain arrogant, never express vulnerability, but also don’t have the strength to back it up? “Stupid” is the only thing I can think of.
The idea that you speak of for Posey is a pretty good idea. An apprentice who probably still technically ranks as a slave who needs to prove herself and is afraid of showing weakness. I don’t think her actions and scenes quite mesh with that, however. I don’t recall her confiding with anyone. I don’t think I’ve seen a nervous breakdown (aside I suppose from her fear of water). I don’t think she will occasionally briefly widen her pupils, pull her lips back, and lower her ears when a new threat arises, only to catch herself and return to a stoic expression. I don’t think I’ve seen her run away from anything in fear (except as a clear tactical retreat). I don’t think I’ve seen her laugh nervously, or look for excuses for why she’s trying to avoid engaging in a specific fight. I think it would be good to add some emotional reactions to show that while she likes to pretend that she’s a mighty sorceress, she’s still a scared little slave girl underneath.
> GM, you do realize that Posey is only lvl 4, right? She has lvl 2 spells, just like AmberI made that remark because when I insisted that Posey be nerfed, I think what motived me had far more to do with the absolute refusal of Posey to act like anything could be a danger to her, than it did with her character actually being overpowered.
Did you notice that when you insisted that your character is weak, you had to refer to math and actual results of battle? You can’t refer to roleplay, because she’s always roleplayed as if she’s way overleveled. Here is what you would do very well to understand. I don’t always immediately see the math. I don’t always see the spell list or the numbers. And I don’t always care. I don’t care if your character has 2 hp left or 32 hp left. What I care about, and what I notice, is the vibes of the combat as a whole. I am trying to create a story, an experience, and a world, where some things in the world are no threat at all to the player characters, some are a low threat, some are a medium threat, some would present a great challenge, and some are such that the player characters would be best off avoiding them. This is about the general emotions and tone and atmosphere. I’m trying to create a sense of danger. I’m trying to, sometimes, create a spooky environment. Or unease. Or of a heroic fight. If I can do that with Posey being level 7 then I’d probably do that.
>>194203There is one thing that Posey did that stands out to me as especially bad or insulting to me. It is the worst thing that she has done that I have not already covered, but also representative of a pattern. It happened more than a year ago, and it still lives in my mind. It is her aside to Gloomy in this post right here:
>>176099 →>"I hear Baltimare has some excellent diners; we should visit them before they're gone."Where do I even begin with this one?
If Posey were saying this line to the Kaftar priest, or to any of the Kaftar present, I could just say that she’s trying to puff herself up or to reassure them. A false display of bravado. But she isn’t. She’s remarking this to Gloomy, whom she has no real reason to be dishonest to. It really seems like an honest expression of her inner feelings. Posey is making little quips about how super easy it is to conquer Equestria. Like it’s a foregone conclusion. No uncertainty, no doubt, no real challenge. It’s like waiting for a check in the mail. No more complicated or interesting. This is after a year of me trying to craft an experience to show that conquering Equestria is not easy and it absolutely should not be boring.
Could you imagine if any character – anyone – from Lord of the Rings spoke about defeating Sauron that way? Could you imagine if Luke Skywalker talked about defeating the Empire this way? Harry Potter of killing Voldemort? John 117 about defeating the Prophet of Truth? Twilight Sparkle about defeating Nightmare Moon? Walter White of Killing Gus Fring? Gordan Ramsey about fixing Amy’s Baking Company? No writer would ever have their main characters discount the difficulty of the task, unless that character were very quickly proven disastrously wrong, or the character is very obviously lying to himself as cope, and neither is obviously the case with Posey here.
This line is the exact opposite of the “One does not simply walk into Morodor.” The audience is supposed to think that the main goal of the main character is hard. That’s why they are reading/watching/playing. Because they want to see the struggle in the process of accomplishing the goal. If the main character doesn’t think that the process of accomplishing the main goal is any less certain or more difficult than waiting for a check in the mail then is the main goal actually interesting?
What am I supposed to do with this line? I had spent an entire year crafting an experience for Posey showing what has become of dark and evil magic in a world where light and the good guys have already triumphed. That was the whole point of Posey’s grand tour of Baltimare in the first year.
>>194226The idea behind Posey's grand tour of Baltimare was to show the fate of dark magic in a world where light and goodness has already triumphed. Every new faction met has a different approach to the problem. All have failed. The point was to show that Equestria is and was extremely powerful, especially in resisting dark magic. With the defeat of the Alicorns and the withdrawal of the armies that defeated them, there is an opportunity. However, even just the existing forces of the ELF and the New Mareland Revenue & Customs force are shown to be powerful enough to continue troubling dark magic users.
The first character that Posey meets is Lament, and Posey can see that he hides in the shadows and has in large part stopped partaking in the occult. Mostly he lives a dissolute life, and in fact, to some degree he is trying to blend into normal society. Then there are the true occultists who tried to carry on with their practices, but do so in secret. These are the voodoo zebras, the Crocutta, and the Kaftar. They failed. Customs agents discovered them, and sent in mercenaries to kill them, and now their strongest magic practitioners are dead. The Kaftar and the Crocutta are both boxed in in a ghetto where the military maintain a cordon. They sit waiting until a final push expels them from the country. Then you have the approach taken by the last vampire. He practiced his deeds in the open, and as a result, he was tracked down and destroyed even more quickly. This last example is probably the closest foil to Posey, given her lack of discretion.
The very last set of dark magic practitioners that Posey encounters, or was supposed to encounter, was the licensed necromancers of Jim Haykins. In my mind, it was like a xenofiction film, where the main characters were wild animals resisting the encroachment of humans on their land. They meet with the domesticated household pets of the humans, who explain to them the benefits of having quality, free food delivered to them in great quantities, and of sleeping in cushions in air conditioned buildings. You’re still getting your balls chopped off by your masters. The necromancer Ersatz Orgone was supposed to be a necromancer perhaps the equal of Posey’s master, but so lost to harmony that he may as well be counted like a Paladin. Diligent Debride was supposed to speak with a lisp, have an odd baby craze and just generally be weird.
When Diligent Debride gives her speech hyping up the Licensed Necromancers of Equestria, I had hoped Posey would respond to that with revulsion, or rejection at what Debride was suggesting. Instead it was “poor little pony must be tired after that.” Just “too long, didn’t read.” I remember I made that long post on the same day that I went with a friend to the movies to see
ISS. I remember thinking “What was the point of writing that? Why did I post that?” When I had better things to do with my time. At least Cavaliere’s player responded to it with some praise. So there is that.
Not terribly long after the line I dissected above, Posey decided that she was going to sacrifice the very obviously ill diamond dog bitch that she has captured in an earlier mission. Posey never expressed any curiosity about her illness, it was just another unimportant detail. What Posey did not care to find out was that she was infected with a fungus of a monstrous nature. When Posey tried to sacrifice the bitch, the fungus transformed her into a monster that Posey had to fight. Posey dumped all of her offensive magic into the monster to kill it. The whole fight was just annoying to Posey, because it got in the way of the task at hand. The purpose of the fungal monster was to show that there are older, more dangerous things in Equestria that you can’t simply fuck with. You can compare it to Shelob or the Balrog in the Lord of the Rings if you like, the point is that I was trying to see if I could get Posey to just take Equestria seriously. She did not. There was an OOC remark about too much HP on enemies or something. I was defeated in my goal. This happened when I stayed up until 3 AM local time in my hotel room, simultaneously doing a session for Amber that went worse than the session for Posey, and knowing that I had a flight back to the United States leaving in just four hours. I was left knowing that I had accomplished nothing good and that I was the idiot for staying up and doing that, when any intelligent person would have not run the session and would have just gone to sleep.
>>194215That isn't all I had to say, just all I could write down so far
>6+ posts about how the character I made is annoying and out of place
Give me a while to read through this...
>>194229Awwwwwww...I need to head to work right now, but once I get the chance I wanna type out why I personally like Posey. It probably won't be 6+ posts but don't take that as an admonishment about her, I'm just limited by time and availability.
>>194222>I am saying it because I want the Posey character to succeed and become betterWhat exactly do you mean by "succeed" in this case? I made a villain character, knowing full well that villains are supposed to lose while still wanting to contribute to the plot of the game. My idea of a successful character arc was contributing to a long and brutal mass-combat military campaign and liberating Equestria from Changeling occupation before Posey's own greed and lust for power eventually led to her own downfall (something like the ending of Game Of Thrones, but less sausage). Now, I'm getting the sense that the mass combat military campaign isn't going to happen, so idk what success is.
The other idea I had of a successful character arc was the "redeemed villain" arc, where Posey's alignment becomes non-evil after leaning the value of friendship. Thing about being a redeemed villain though is that it requires prior villainy, and so far the only truly evil things Posey has done is sacrifice a couple diamond dogs for power.
What is success to you? I am willing to go along with whatever plot developments you have planned for my character.
>what we are doing here is writing a storyI am very much interested in being part of the story. I'm just not really sure what that story is right now. I thought it was going to be an EaW-inspired military campaign, but now I am not so sure. Seems more like a location-based slice-of-life daily world-building project that isn't really story-driven so much as it focuses on describing whatever scene it falls on.
>And now, what is a player character? A player character is a protagonist of this story. Posey, thusly, is a protagonist.Maybe I'm replying too soon, but didn't we just have the discussion about how this game was supposed to subvert the "heroic" expectation of d&d where characters decide the fate of the world? Maybe I am reading too much into it.
I think I get your point though.
>you can’t have your characters there for development and be deadWell, you can also have the memory of deceased characters appear in flashbacks, or refer to those characters when dealing with relics or other objects they left behind, especially when one character is trying to follow a deceased character's legacy.
I get the point though.
>>194223>In Occupied, the character who does this best is Cavaliere. Cavaliere always takes the forces he fights against very seriously and acts like they can be a danger to him.Cavalier's player also often seems the most concerned about being ineffective or underequipped. Idk though.
>Posey, however, doesn’t seem ever to act like the opposing forces against her are actually dangerous.I mean, she had all of those monologues referring to her training as a cerebrant and how the Intruder constituted a planetary threat if it wasn't dealt with swiftly.
I also usually describe in detail how her body falls apart and the flesh melts off her bones as she gets to low HP, and also stated that the apparent condition of her body is tied to her confidence and sense of self.
>I’m trying to write a story where the main characters are in plausible danger. Could she maybe play along?Okay, I will try to play along. How would you like me to roleplay her engaging with the danger? Do you want me to make her act afraid? Or do you want me to make her hesitate before major decisions instead of acting confident?
I struggle with PbP roleplay, so any suggestions are welcome.
>I remember you once said OOC that “players are supposed to win.” This statement is true. But it’s impolite to say aloud. I said that to another player who was spending weeks being paranoid about the next encounter to a degree that was drastically slowing down the game. I didn't mean to give the impression that I wasn't taking the threat seriously, but at the time I was frustrated that the paranoid tactical discourse was taking the plausibility too seriously, and the weeks delay was breaking my immersion.
>“Players should win 70% of the time. But it should feel like they are going to win 40% of the time.” We’re kind of all engaged in a collective suspension of disbelief here.It's felt very close to me so far. The fight with Luminous, the Hydra, and that last monster all ended with Posey at single-digit HP.
>There is another way that characters can show that they are suffering adversity, and that is through the expression of emotion. This can be actual fear, pain, sorrow, or anxiety.I mean, I tried to express Posey's fears in whatever ways I could. Her fear of stagnation, fear of failure, fear of her dark masters, fear of facing the reality of her own powerlessness and the possibility that she might just be condemned to another century in the obsidian mines if she doesn't succeed. I tried to illustrate part of that with the seal skull scene, although it seems like you didn't really like that.
As for pain, and also fear, I could roleplay that, but Posey isn't supposed to be a living character but instead an undead character, which is what I usually take in mind when roleplaying her interactions with fear and pain. She's also a masochist, which is it's own discussion, but the point being that on top of her torturous upbringing pain is a welcome experience because it reminds her of what it was life to feel alive.
>Posey will react physically and emotionally to running water, and I believe a few other things. This is fine, I just wish she would occasionally react a little to other things as well.I will keep this in mind. Are there any ways in particular you would like me to approach her?
>>194224>What is the difference between someone who is just entirely out of touch with reality on their own abilities, versus someone who puts on a façade in order to hide from themselves and others that actually, they believe they are fairly weak? The answer of course, is that the latter actually believes themselves to be fairly weak? No how does anyone know this? Obviously, we can’t see inside the head of another person.That is a major flaw in my character design, now that I think about it... I had hoped that posting Trixie reaction images alongsude my posts to suggest dramatic irony would be enough, but alas.
>This may be a complete nervous breakdown all at once.Well, Posey does throw hissy fits whenever her powers are called into question, the last one being the conversation with the Intruder through the corrupted soldier body.
>FlawlessYeah, I did make the reference on purpose. Posey is also a Frankenstein's monster driven by hubris and vanity, and has little sense of self outside her delusions of grandeur.
>Those are not the eyes of a pony who is completely confident in her abilities. Those are the eyes of someone who has been defeated.I posted that gif to illustrate Posey's expression after having been turned into Swiss cheese in the last encounter.
>humbledI can do that if you want, but consider it from Posey's perspective: Posey hasn't even been in Equestria for three days. The past 2.5 years irl have been 2.5 days in character. It's a bit early for drastic changes to her core beliefs, isn't it?
I could do a 180 on her character, but it would feel a bit forced.
Posey's priority all this time has been proving herself, as aa leader and as a war mage, with the purpose of growing her powers to complete her apprenticeship and end her enslavement. That's the reason why she's facing the Eldritch God instead of just fleeing. It's not because she doesn't recognize the danger, but because she believes that only by showing confidence in the face of danger can her powers grow.
>>194225>The idea that you speak of for Posey is a pretty good idea. An apprentice who probably still technically ranks as a slave who needs to prove herself and is afraid of showing weakness. I don’t think her actions and scenes quite mesh with that, however.I had really hoped scenes
>>181808 → ,
>>192693 → ,
>>192857 → served to characterize her shortcomings, but idk.
>I don’t recall her confiding with anyone.Realistically, who does she have to confide in? She a monster and a spy.
She has Gloomy, but I left him at home during this adventure.
>I don’t think I’ve seen a nervous breakdownThere was the scene where she freaked out a when the Intruder called her weak.
>I don’t think she will occasionally briefly widen her pupils, pull her lips back, and lower her ears when a new threat arises, only to catch herself and return to a stoic expression.In that same linked post, and a few others, I have described the appearance of her lips ears and teeth, and the way she appears more like a bat or a wolf when she loses her composure.
(For the record, characters with vampiric heritage have bat-like or wolf-like features if they have low charisma)
There's also posts such as
>>191449 → >>178502 → >>190343 → >>172882 →I'm not trying to minimize your criticisms, but I would like you to appreciate the efforts I make to roleplay her when I actually try to.
>look for excuses for why she’s trying to avoid engaging in a specific fightGM, in what scenario is it appropriate for Posey to run away from an encounter you wrote? Would that not be frustrating? Call it metagaming, but I approach every encounter and obstacle as content you worked hard for me to engage with, which is why don't run away from fights except when they're against obviously-impossible odds (like when she was met with a giant machine gun aimed at her after the close fight with Luminous).
Was I supposed to run from that Hydra fight? I barely made it. I wasn't confident in my ability to flee while it attacked me underwater, but it did feel like a fight I was supposed to run from because it was such an overleveled encounter. I fought through it anyway because Posey had previously expressed wanting to fight a hydra some day (because they make very good zombies) earlier in the story, and there was her chance.
She did crawl away from that last monster fight:
>"...B-B-BUCK...!" she gags, as she finally sees the limit to her strength....
>You can’t refer to roleplay, because she’s always roleplayed as if she’s way overleveled.Okay... See, I think I have fundamentally misunderstood your approach to milestone leveling. I thought my path to leveling up would be acting glorious and confident so that my character would come off as "deserving" to level up, like 1v1ing a Paladin nemesis or howling in glory on top of the corpse of a dead hydra, but I see that my roleplay was counterproductive and annoying to boot and instead of leveling led to my character apparently needing to be nerfed. I see that now
>>194226>Where do I even begin with this one?I'm just going to say that that was not my proudest moment in roleplay. I was trying to be silly by casually talking about her apocalypse-cultist ambitions while also trying to illustrate the perspective of an old necromancer with vampiric who sees life as a transitive thing to be consumed and enjoyed in the brief period while it lasted,as well as a means of expressing her utter confidence in the eventual victory of the Dread League, but that didn't go well. I thought it would make me look edgy and cool, it it was just sausage. I was sausage. I am sorry. I'll try not to do it again.
If it's any consolation, I have in the years since revised Posey's nihilistic outlook on life.
>>194227>They failed. Customs agents discovered them, and sent in mercenaries to kill them, and now their strongest magic practitioners are dead.See, I interpretted that as a list of potential NPC contacts and powerful mage that Posey should aspire to out-do and eventually raise from the dead. The gnolls in particular seemed like potential allies who would sooner lash out and join the Armageddon than go quietly into the night, which is why I brought back their head priest as a ghoul and instructed him to do the same to his rival.
>Instead it was “poor little pony must be tired after that.” Just “too long, didn’t read.”That was rude of me. I'm sorry.
>What Posey did not care to find out was that she was infected with a fungus of a monstrous nature.Well, it's only been like 20 hours since Posey encountered the fungus, but I assure you that if she discovers mold growing on her she would be very, very, very alarmed.
>This happened when I stayed up until 3 AM local time in my hotel room, simultaneously doing a session for Amber that went worse than the session for Posey, and knowing that I had a flight back to the United States leaving in just four hours. GM, even though I do act impatient to roleplay, please don't be pressured to stay up late if you don't want to. My roleplay capacity withers when I have to post late at night anyway, and it results in me making posts that come off as standoffish and rude because I made them past midnight after my normal-pills wear off.
All I can say is that I will try harder. Almost everything in this post really just refers to instances of me being a bad player. Sometimes I suck. Oftentimes even. I have no excuse.
>>194231You don't really have to do that. It's not necessary.
>>194232>What exactly do you mean by "succeed" in this case?Uh... be a good and memorable character, I guess? Mostly what I mean is that I want you to keep playing and stay around.
> I made a villain characterI think that this right here is the source of all of the problems. This. You wanted a villain as your player character, and so you looked to archetypes of mage-villains. The trouble, I bet, is that you looked to
antagonist characters as a model and then tried to replicate worked well for
antagonist characters. The problem is that Posey is a
protagonist. The rules for protagonist characters - even villain protagonists - are not the same as for antagonists. A villain protagonist may be a villain, but they are still a protagonist. As I said, the main difference is that a protagonist must suffer, while an antagonist need not. Most antagonists cannot simply be placed in the role of a protagonist without major modifications to their characters and experiences.
I would recommend looking at examples of villain protagonists in media. Walter White from
Breaking Bad, Tony Soprano from
The Sopranos, Arthur Fleck from the 2019
The Joker, Yuri Orlov from
Lord of War. I'll repeat that the key is that the villain protagonist character must visibly suffer under adversity.
>Now, I'm getting the sense that the mass combat military campaign isn't going to happenWell it's a neat idea, but when I suggested mass combat it was an unpopular idea... so maybe not.
>Thing about being a redeemed villain though is that it requires prior villainy, and so far the only truly evil things Posey has done is sacrifice a couple diamond dogs for power.I promise you, everyone knows that you are going for Posey as a villain character
>What is success to you? I am willing to go along with whatever plot developments you have planned for my character.I mean, mostly I just want Posey to... how do I say... exist within the world as a reactive part of it? I want her to pretend like she feels like she's in danger when I place her in danger, I want her to interact with NPCs, and I want her to notice things in her environment. Basically I want her to play the game. The problem I've had is that I feel like she doesn't respond to things around her, and it is most obvious and problematic with regards to danger.
Should it be scaled up to mass combat? I don't know. Maybe? I think I'd kind of like to keep things smaller scale but at the same time there is an appeal to leading a small ary of undead in a raid against a base, or something like that. Its not a terrible idea. The main thing is that Posey is going to be a protagonist character in the lead up to that, and she needs to emote to show that she is experiencing adversity during the lead up. A villain needs to be threatening. A protagonist, even a villain protagonist, needs to be threatened. These are not the same thing.
I'll admit that I'm not super into the whole acts of villainy thing. It would be very easy to, for example just do unethical things with the prisoners taken in quests like the current one, like take the
Kostroma survivors and sell them into slavery in Nova Griffonia, or keep the zebra mare as a sex slave. I wouldn't really have a problem with that. But I don't think that that is what you have in mind when you speak of villainy. Just going out and terrorizing the general civilian population of the Equestrian population centers just because lol evil doesn't really appeal to me.
>so far the only truly evil things Posey has done is sacrifice a couple diamond dogs for power.You literally just said "all she did was kidnap and murder a few people in an occult sacrifice." What does a person have to do to qualify as "evil" in your mind? I don't have an analogy for this. It is a race to the bottom. I will admit that while reading the Epstein files I have thought "oh, this would be a good idea for a villain. But at the same time it's kind of... draining and unfun. I get the definite impression that you/Posey would read the Epstein files the same way that Patrick Bateman looks at Paul Allen's business card, like it's a challenge that you have to outdo in a race to the bottom. Edge is one thing. A race to the bottom just does not appeal to me. I do not want to see that, I do not care to see that. I stopped watching Tamers videos, and it is mostly because his videos wanted to just kill random people in the world and present it like it's some kind of joke. Just killing random people is horrible. I hate it. It isn't funny. I don't want to watch a show about an extremely unlikeable, asshole serial killer. It is unpleasant to me. It isn't for me. I liked his videos better when they were about fart jokes.
Personally I'd recommend acting as the token evil character of the party, wherein Posey is sufficiently """good""" or allied to the party such that the party tolerates her presence, but she's very obviously not actually completely reformed and is certifiably evil. See my gal Trixie. I absolutely love her, and while she isn't liked enough to be allowed to be a part of the main cast, she would be the token evil character if they let her. This is also more or less what I did with my older Blue Skies character, and to some degree, what I still do with characters like Neela or Mala. But at the same time, my standard of what constitutes "evil" is very different from yours, so maybe that isn't satisfying.
>Seems more like a location-based slice-of-life daily world-building project that isn't really story-driven so much as it focuses on describing whatever scene it falls on.Uh... I'm working on that
>>194239>I think that this right here is the source of all of the problems.Well, I guess that's what I will focus on.
To be a bit more specific, what I was actually going for was a false hero who would play the role of a hero and only later be revealed to be a villain, but that's just nitpicking.
>antagonistI don't mean to be an antagonist at all. An antagonist, by definition, opposes the protagonist(s). I don't mean to get in the way of anyone else in the party. Quite the contrary. I was hoping the whole party would be interested in squashing bugs and liberating Equestria from Changelings. Idk though.
> I want her to pretend like she feels like she's in danger when I place her in danger, I want her to interact with NPCs, and I want her to notice things in her environment.I can work on that.
>Just going out and terrorizing the general civilian population of the Equestrian population centers just because lol evil doesn't really appeal to me.Posey would know better than to do that in Baltimare, or any other civilized area. You don't shit where you eat. Posey is trying to build a reputation and bide her powers, so she can't just be killing ponies at random. If that's what she wanted, she would have done it already.
Would be interested in trying it in Changeling-occupied territory or no-mare's-land though.
>What does a person have to do to qualify as "evil" in your mind?Not a lot.
I'm not contesting that Posey is evil, just that her actual villainous acts, or actions in general, have been few so far. Then again, she has only been in the universe for less than a week.
>I get the definite impression that you/Posey would read the Epstein files the same way that Patrick Bateman looks at Paul Allen's business card, like it's a challenge that you have to outdo in a race to the bottom.Nah. I originally wrote a version of her that way, but edge for the sake of edge is just boring. I also thought I mentioned that Posey isn't fond of vampires, because they remind her of where she was born, which isn't that different from Epstein Island.
What Posey wants is to conquer. Not just edge for the sake of edge, but evil for a higher purpose. To be the fail of fate. A mighty conqueror.
>Personally I'd recommend acting as the token evil character of the party, wherein Posey is sufficiently """good""" or allied to the party such that the party tolerates her presence, but she's very obviously not actually completely reformed and is certifiably evil. That's kind of what I have been going for so far, actually.
>Uh... I'm working on thatIt's not really necessarily a bad thing, but if you want us as players to be engaged with your plot you might want to make our roles in the plot and expectations thereof a bit more clear.
Gonna throw in my two cents addressing the two of you simultaneously, because I think both of you make good points. So many, in fact, that it's impractical for me to quote what I like and say "I agree" so just assume I do agree with just about everything not mentioned.
>See in Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring (movie)
Let me reference the book for something that Tolkien did poorly. He made very few missteps in his storytelling so this one stood out to me. Also, spoilers, but if you're a GM you should have read the books by now. There's a certain enemy/steed that keeps being referred throughout Fellowship as a dire, unearthly threat that's in pursuit of the fellowship. We don't see it directly in that book (which is a smart move) but along the river Legolas shoots it with a bow from the sound it made and it goes down in one hit. While it would have messed up Tolkien's plot progression for a standard encounter to take place, this diminished the apparent threat in the eyes of the audience.
>“Players should win 70% of the time. But it should feel like they are going to win 40% of the time.”
Also keep in mind that Gygax was considered especially brutal in his quest design. A 30% loss rate sounds generous, but consider it can take only one loss for a player character to be killed, or a total party wipe if retreat isn't possible. This quest we're on is hard by the standards of the campaign, but we still have something like a 90% win rate even if you count Kira's and Cavaliere's disastrous sortie.
>This is about the general emotions and tone and atmosphere. I’m trying to create a sense of danger. I’m trying to, sometimes, create a spooky environment. Or unease. Or of a heroic fight.
>Maybe I'm replying too soon, but didn't we just have the discussion about how this game was supposed to subvert the "heroic" expectation of d&d where characters decide the fate of the world? Maybe I am reading too much into it.
These are solid points and therein lies the problem with writing a campaign according to "vibes." It works well until there is a misunderstanding. GM Pony wants a campaign where the PCs aren't terribly significant on a global scale, yet has given a quest where the outcome of what the PCs do is just that. There is an intrinsic conflict to what the intent is here. I know that's ancillary to creating an environment of fear and urgency, but other misunderstandings have arisen because of that too. I've kept pushing for us to get quest objectives done, to the neglect of certain details and worldbuilding, because of these "vibes," but that creates a perception of wasted effort on GM Pony's part.
In fact, it seems like every major delay we've had in the game is because of these misunderstandings some of which are my fault, because even though we all want to move forward one of us gets sad and loses motivation to keep writing. I get it, it happens, but this has been such a common occurrence that it has seriously stymied progress for months at a time. If all this time and effort spent writing OOC had gone into the actual quest itself, we could already be a quarter of the way through the Kostroma at least. Still, it's better to square away this conflict if it's at all possible so we don't keep coming back to this. I hate having to write in this thread if it's not about future plans.
>Posey hasn't even been in Equestria for three days. The past 2.5 years irl have been 2.5 days in character. It's a bit early for drastic changes to her core beliefs, isn't it?
>I could do a 180 on her character, but it would feel a bit forced.
That's a problem too, the difference between in-game and real time. We've spent so much time at the figurative table that it feels like we should have more progress and character development, but it makes no sense from a narrative standpoint. I was initially against time skips but that would be the only way to resolve this issue.
>GM, in what scenario is it appropriate for Posey to run away from an encounter you wrote?
This is a common problem in DnD. How does the GM make it clear that an encounter is meant to be fought or to be fled, without outright telling the players as such? In video games it's a little easier because game mechanics can do that job for you (in OFF, the Batter also explicitly tells you that running from Enoch is the only option), but in tabletop it's more obtuse. You can make the enemy ridiculously powerful, but if we're dealing with unknowns like the Fellow Traveler's summons that's less apparent. Posey was given some encounters she was meant to flee from, but that wasn't apparent and she won by the necrotic skin of her teeth.
>Well it's a neat idea, but when I suggested mass combat it was an unpopular idea... so maybe not.
It's just not something our characters are written for. I don't mind being left out if you go forward with it.
>Patrick Bateman
"American Psycho" is one of the best books with a villain protagonist ever written. Fun fact, I pitched the idea of a PC who would be a serial killer in the same vein, but GM pony quickly shot that one down.
>This is also more or less what I did with my older Blue Skies character, and to some degree, what I still do with characters like Neela or Mala.
They also are not totally evil but have skewed moral standards to favor an end, with that end not being the destruction of all life. Neela's different, but is just a lovable rogue slut.
>Would be interested in trying it in Changeling-occupied territory or no-mare's-land though.
GM pony mentioned the world having changed and this is a factor. These powerful nation-states are in a tense stand-off and neither is in favor of a border flare-up which would very quickly be brought to the attention of either side's leadership. It's more akin to the Cold War than WW2. Neither side wanted to start an overt war so they stuck to covert missions and proxy conflicts.
>>194241>Also keep in mind that Gygax was considered especially brutal in his quest design. A 30% loss rate sounds generous, but consider it can take only one loss for a player character to be killed, or a total party wipe if retreat isn't possible. This quest we're on is hard by the standards of the campaign, but we still have something like a 90% win rate even if you count Kira's and Cavaliere's disastrous sortie.It was also for a conpletely different version of the game, where there would be twenty players, and one "referee" for every four players, and each player was playing three characters, and each character had fifty henchmen. Proto D&D was very much a mass combat military campaign style game where characters got deleted left and right.
It was also before d&d games had linear story progression or standardized leveling processes. The creation of 3.5e is what led to the four-person party standard.
>I know that's ancillary to creating an environment of fear and urgency, but other misunderstandings have arisen because of that too. I've kept pushing for us to get quest objectives done, to the neglect of certain details and worldbuilding, because of these "vibes," but that creates a perception of wasted effort on GM Pony's part.For me, quest objectives getting done is important just for the feeling of having accomplished something.
>If all this time and effort spent writing OOC had gone into the actual quest itself, we could already be a quarter of the way through the Kostroma at least. This.
Tbh, I kind of regret making the OOCthread sometimes. It feels like ever since then we've spent more time talking about the game than actually playing it.
>That's a problem too, the difference between in-game and real time. We've spent so much time at the figurative table that it feels like we should have more progress and character development, but it makes no sense from a narrative standpoint.I've said it before that drawn-out pacing really complicates immersion. It's difficult to develop character when your character has been in the country for less than a week. Strong-willed characters don't have existential crisises or moral epiphanies after only a few days travel.
Tbh, when all of this is said and done, we need to figure out a way to fix the pacing in these quests if we want to be able to keep doing them. I really want to do more quests like this, so I think it's important to try to figure this out so we can keep adventuring together. It shouldn't have to take this long. There must be some solution to this.
Less than half a year ago I started one of my own campaigns, and I'm three and a half chapters through it already; my PCs leveled up six times. I don't mean to throw stones, PbP games always take longer, but I'm trying to put it in perspective when we're talking about just a single adventuring day (about 8 hours in universe) in twice as much time irl.
The unannounced weeks-long hiatuses don't really help either, tbh. I shouldn't complain, but it would be nice to know when/if the game is actually active. Just telling us "sit and wait for a few weeks" would make it better, so I'm not constantly refreshing /vx/ for updates.
>I was initially against time skips but that would be the only way to resolve this issue.I'm going to want to take a few months of downtime after this quest. I have to blockbust a property, defraud a realtor, get a grant from the university, move into a new lair, pay back my patron, open a shop, start a business, enroll my son in school, etc.
I think everypony else could use some downtime too. With no overarching plot to keep us busy, there's nothing to stop us from grinding downtime activities for several months while we can.
>It's just not something our characters are written for.I specifically wrote my character with mass combat in mind.
>These powerful nation-states are in a tense stand-off and neither is in favor of a border flare-up which would very quickly be brought to the attention of either side's leadership. It's more akin to the Cold War than WW2. Neither side wanted to start an overt war so they stuck to covert missions and proxy conflicts.Posey doesn't work for any of the factions involved, so unless she were to intentionally stage false flag operations, there's little reason it would affect the relationships between nations.
And even if it did... Aren't we the protagonists? Changing the world through our actions and choices is what protagonists do.
>didn't we just have the discussion about how this game was supposed to subvert the "heroic" expectation of d&dMerriam Webster's dictionary defines a "protagonist" as
"(1): the principal character in a literary work (such as a drama or story)
(2): the leading actor or principal character in a television show, movie, book, etc. b: an active participant in an event"
It adds this fascinating detail
>Struggle, or conflict, is central to drama. The protagonist or hero of a play, novel, or film is involved in a struggle of some kind, either against someone or something else or even against his or her own emotions. So the hero is the "first struggler", which is the literal meaning of the Greek word prōtagōnistēs. A character who opposes the hero is the antagonist, from a Greek verb that means literally "to struggle against".Maybe the stakes are world-ending high-fantasy or maybe they are not. Either way, the character that a story focuses on must suffer some kind of adversity. Changing the scale or the themes of the story does not change that fact.
>I also usually describe in detail how her body falls apart and the flesh melts off her bones as she gets to low HP,This is true. I just wish she'd emote more
>How would you like me to roleplay her engaging with the danger? Do you want me to make her act afraid? Or do you want me to make her hesitate before major decisions instead of acting confident?Well, I tried to give an exhaustive list of possible ways to show adversity. If I really had to give a recommendation, it would be to start with facial expression. Horses have ears that mostly stand up, but will flop back in moments of fear or annoyance. Pony characters have massive eyes and lips that can convey quite a bit of emotion, then you have the ability to lower the head, move the tail, paw at the ground - there is quite a lot you can do with non-verbal expressions.
She can also use her words. Think of Emile at the end of Halo Reach saying "I am ready. How about you?" after he's been run through by an energy sword and before he stabs the elite in the neck. He knows he will die, but he's making sure that he's taking the elite with him. This statement does
not convey fear. It
does convey an acknowledgement of the danger. Or consider Gimli's remarks before and during the battle before the battle before the Black Gates in
The Return of the King. He says "Small chance of success, certainty of death? What are we waiting for?" and at the Black Gates, "I never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an Elf." Both of these statements likewise do not convey fear but they do convey to the audience that Gimli is in danger.
I know that when I've had an especially stressful day (or just morning) at work, I'll go into my car and just sit in silence, or listen to music.
>tried to illustrate part of that with the seal skull sceneI recall that it was weird, but not much else. I think I was still upset about the tiara at that time, but I am not sure.
>Posey isn't supposed to be a living character but instead an undead character, which is what I usually take in mind when roleplaying her interactions with fear and pain. She's also a masochist, which is it's own discussion, but the point being that on top of her torturous upbringing pain is a welcome experience because it reminds her of what it was life to feel alive.Just do something that makes her seem like she's doing something dangerous and she knows that she is doing something dangerous
>>194234>I could do a 180 on her character, but it would feel a bit forced.The "humbled" was in reference to example characters. I just want Posey to seem like she's experiencing danger or adversity.
>Realistically, who does she have to confide in?I do not know
>GM, in what scenario is it appropriate for Posey to run away from an encounter you wrote?The only one where I really wanted her to move away was the machine gun. I had thought earlier today of writing up everything around the killing of Luminous, but that is many words.
The reason I mentioned running away was because I wanted to attempt to be logically exhaustive with possible ways of showing that a character perceives that the adversity against them is great. I thought of Cavaliere avoiding fights as one such way. But I did say weeks ago that Cavaliere avoiding every fight was somewhat frustrating, so I can't really have it both ways.
I don't know and I don't really care. I just want
something to suggest that Posey knows that she is on a battlefield and not in a library. I just want interactivity with the environment.
>She lost a battle and was close to losing a couple moreI know
>misunderstood levellingJust look at it this way. When your organization is spending more money than it is taking in, and another person in the organization says "Hey, let's spend more money" are you going to agree to that? No, you decrease spending and increase income until the problem is solved, then you look at increasing spending. Likewise, Posey has in many cases just kind of seemed to not take the world very seriously, and that was a problem to me. So I wanted to solve the problem, and it seemed it was because the character was strong enough that she didn't really need to take the world seriously.
>The gnolls in particular seemed like potential allies who would sooner lash out and join the Armageddon than go quietly into the nightThe Kaftar stand out as being the faction Posey most connects with. I was thinking of making a post but decided against it
>>194234>2.5 years irl have been 2.5 days in character.>every major delay>stymied progress for months at a time>we could already be a quarter of the way through the Kostroma at least>regret making the OOCthread>we've spent more time talking about the game than actually playing it>fix the pacing in these quests>It shouldn't have to take this long>twice as much time irl>unannounced weeks-long hiatuses>sit and wait for a few weeks
>>194243>I just wish she'd emote moreWell, Posey has the "Paralyzed Face" taint symptom, and I was roleplaying to honor that, which coincidentally matched the aesthetic of the expressionless stoic goth bitch I was feeling horny for when I wrote her. I could fix it to fit your tastes better and engage with the content more proactively though.
Just fyi, it's also not always easy for me to roleplay my character's emotions or expressions through this medium. It's hard enough for me to roleplay irl, let alone through text. It's just a shortcoming of mind. I can try though.
>start with facial expression. Horses have ears that mostly stand up, but will flop back in moments of fear or annoyance. Pony characters have massive eyes and lips that can convey quite a bit of emotion, then you have the ability to lower the head, move the tail, paw at the ground - there is quite a lot you can do with non-verbal expressions.Got it. This part is fun, and I have been working on it.
>She can also use her words.Not as easy for me, but I will pay more attention to how I phrase her dialogue.
>Take threats seriously.Understood.
>>194244pets the ponyThis is a fixable problem, GM. Let's figure out how to progress the story together and figure out the pacing. Pacing is a thing I struggle with too, even when I'm just reading off of a pre-written module. It's no reason to feel ashamed, but maybe we could discuss how we could work things out in a productive manner.
Or we could shelf that for now and just focus on continuing the game as is and keeping things moving. I am really interested in seeing what awaits aboard the Kostroma.
>>194238I want to, though. I really do like Posey, how weird she is and how out of place she seems, since she very much is. I like her backstory, her colt, her overly ambitious plans for Equestria. I like many of her eccentricities and quirks of how she interacts with other characters. Honestly the only issues I've had with her have been a couple of...interesting RP decisions (vomiting several quarts of blood
was actually kinda funny and silly in a Posey sort of way, it was just not the best action at that current moment) and her current cover story for her powers, but even then I still don't really mind because I've been thinking of ideas relating to it for interactions between Posey and Silver. I don't know what you think of the idea, but I think there could be a good dynamic between the two that could lead to a genuine friendship between them. I feel like they're similar in a lot of ways. They both have similar ambitions for the whole of Equestria (Silver would deeply desire to see Equestria liberated from Hegemony control), they both are a bit out of place in this world and in this time (Silver less so than Posey, but he still based much of his early life off of old stories of heroes and adventurers and continues to use a greatsword in an age of rifles and machine guns), and both went through pretty intense training as foals (again, Silver definitely didn't go through anything like what Posey did with her descriptions of honestly torturous training, but he was drilled pretty relentlessly by his father as a young colt). In addition, while Posey is a dark character with a bit of light inside her that could be nurtured, Silver is a light character with a darkness inside him that could be exposed. I could see them getting along, with it starting slow with the truth of Posey's true origins being told to him and gradually growing stronger as they talk and start to influence each other, with either Posey being pulled into the light or Silver being pulled into the dark.
Also I do want to say that I personally wouldn't mind the mass combat.
I was going to reply to GM's post, but it looks like it's gone now.
That's fine. I think I was beginning to lose my temper as I typed anyway. It's been a really stressful week at work.
I didn't hallucinate the warcraft skill after all. I just for some reason remembered it from the second party Dark Sun book. That's not much better though....
I think there was a version in a 3.0 book buried somewhere, but idk.
I invited someone who followed me on fim fiction, or linked to this specific thread, who had written stories in EAW verse. I thought they might enjoy it here. I hope that was okay.
>>194257New friends are always welcome
>>194258Nice that's good to hear. ^^
>>194255Me. It was a reference to this
>>194241>even though we all want to move forward one of us gets sad and loses motivation to keep writingAlthough I think post is deriding the phenomenon, it’s genuinely true. I really do get sad and lose motivation.
And then this
>>194252>That's fine. I think I was beginning to lose my temper as I typed anyway.In response to a post I made and deleted, where I guess you had to reply anyways to let me know a post I made pissed you. Like no shit. Yes, I know what I wrote was faggy. That’s why I deleted it. If I thought what I had posted was fine or needed to be said, I wouldn’t have entirely deleted it. What could I even possibly have written in response except “well fuck you too”? I figured u would just cancel my plans to continue the game that weekend (which I did do) and just not respond. But I realized that silence is too ambiguous because there are many possible reasons for silence. So I wrote “not encouraging” in reference to what I stated above. In retrospect, just writing “well fuck you too I guess” would have been a much clearer statement and would have been better.
>>194257That’s good, but I feel like this isn’t the best of all times.
>>194256That's a neat skill.
>>194262>Although I think post is deriding the phenomenon, it’s genuinely true. I really do get sad and lose motivation.It's not derision. You have my sympathy and I don't think anyone is totally immune to that effect. I'd like to find a way out of it.
>That’s good, but I feel like this isn’t the best of all times.Yeah....
>>194262>Although I think post is deriding the phenomenon, it’s genuinely true. I really do get sad and lose motivation.I get this feeling when GMing too, often right before the session when I look over the content I spent a week preparing and suddenly hate everything I wrote; or when it's time for me to prepare content for next week and lose all of my energy. All of that pales in comparison to the sinking feeling I get when I detect disappointment in my players' voices and conclude that I have once again fumbled a session (failure to properly roleplay NPCs, forgetting the stats of NPCs I spent 3 weeks making, wasting a third of the session stuttering and looking up basic rules, etc).
My strategy for that is to just try to prepare as much as I can ahead of time so that when I do run out of steam I have a decent amount of content prepared, focusing on what I need to prepare immediately and what needs to be done that session. Then when it's time to run and I get cold feet I bite the bullet just focus on advancing the plot so that the party accomplishes something, just to keep things moving.
It's not a great strategy, because I'm not a great DM, but it's how I try to tackle the issue of motivation-drain.
I probably missed the point here though, let me address in detail:
>Although I think post is deriding the phenomenon, it’s genuinely true. I really do get sad and lose motivation.I don't think he's deriding the phenomenon, just observing it. Although the player may be frustrated, he's just pointing it out so that players know to be more sensitive, because how we treat each other, especially GM, does affect how the game runs.
>I guess you had to reply anyways to let me know a post I made pissed youYeah, sorry about that. I just shouldn't have replied at all. I was kind of pissed at the time, but there was no need for me to mention it after the post was deleted.
>fuck youNot the way I meant it, but I guess it's too late for that.
>I figured u would just cancel my plans to continue the game that weekend (which I did do) and just not respond. But I realized that silence is too ambiguous because there are many possible reasons for silence. Tbh, being a bit more transparent about session plans and your motivations (or lack thereof) and apprehensions could do us all some good.
>>194264It's second party material, but potentially useful in a game that features mass combat and military stuff. Dark Sun made it exclusive to Fighters (they love high CHA fighters for some reason), Templars and Bards, but it could logically be extended to Warblades, Paladins, Crusaders, Factotum and most of all Marshalls. Marshalls in particular would appreciate a full-round-action ability that buffs allies based on their Cha, especially in an e6/e8 game where lvl 1 allies remain relevant in combat forever; adding Cha to attack rolls means they could actually hit consistently. It could also be a substitute for the Local/History skill for military related topics. It could even be a primary skill for running a militia-related business (if your Warcraft mod is higher than your BAB, which would only be true for Marshalls and Bards).
>>194269I'm sure that once we get the ball rolling we'll be able to have regular sessions due to the fun we'll be having. Apprehension is a strong demotivator but once you overcome that everything gets easier.
That warcraft skill could also be very useful for some quest ideas.
So, what is everypony looking to spend their quest reward on?
I was thinking of using some of it to buy off Curwhinny's dungeon from Glass Towers (after blockbusting the property value with the help of the ghosts, if I can persuade them), and set up a research facility to open my business and stow the resources I will need to eventually equip my army.
I was thinking of buying adventuring gear (Cape Of Charisma, Rod Of Undead Mastery, Ring Of Desecration, Scrolls, Nightcaller, Robe Of Bones, etc) and spellcasting components, but idk what level I will be at the end of this. I do think we could persuade/pressure Captain Waters to requisition some equipment loadouts appropriate for our level if we remind him that slaying the eldritch god and fighting an endless army of monsters was not part of the job description.
If we are able to relight the boiler, we could sell the Kostroma for a significant sum. If we split that between us, we could afford some good gear.
I feel like we don't really talk about the game here anymore... I guess that's because we haven't been playing frequently.
Anybody have plans they want to share?
>>194284That, and that life has a lot of us being quite busy. I'm not quite sure what my characters will spend their quest rewards on. For Silver I'm definitely thinking of a workshop so he can make custom weapons and armor. For Kira...she might start saving money so she can afford to hire the ships to bring her people to Equestria.
>>194281I will probably enchant my revolver and that would take the lion's share of the reward. The rest would be useful for miscellaneous equipment, but I will likely save it in case any future expenses pop up. I wouldn't mind doing some charity missions.
>I do think we could persuade/pressure Captain Waters to requisition some equipment loadouts appropriate for our level if we remind him that slaying the eldritch god and fighting an endless army of monsters was not part of the job description.You mean for a different mission? If you mean keeping equipment as personal property, unless if the NMN (New Mareland Navy) is very corrupt that's improbable. Militaries are sticklers for keeping tabs on equipment and even soldiers who serve for years are expected to turn in issued gear after years. There's a reason why soldiers get called "government property." Whatever goes unused for this mission will probably need to be logged and turned in. Iirc that's how it works in DnD Modern too.
>sell the KostromaI'm not against that except, of course, the destroyer that could chase us down and destroy us.
>>194284>plansI want to enjoy the experiences Baltimare has to offer before doing some minor quests. It may be easier to keep the ball rolling that way since there's less stress regarding every encounter. The problem with big quests like this is that when things do stop, it takes a lot more effort to start again. It's like pushing a cart up a hill.
That said, GM, if you need any help with getting things in order, let us know. We all want to continue.
>>194286>improbableWell, I plan to get compensation for the extra work/danger, even if I need to make some Charisma checks.
>the destroyerI intend to blow that up with the torpedo.
In fact, if we draw it out, we could have Monstro ambush it from underwater.
>>194347That is both cute and silly
So as you may have guessed, there are some scheduling issues. Fluffernoodle's player works night shift about six days a week, which does not leave many openings for sessions with all three players. This combines with my schedule which makes me work in the morning on weekdays, and also I'm out of town often. Very often. So it's hard to coordinate the players for scenes like combat.
I had planned for more combat to happen before getting to the boiler. Maybe that's a bad idea? Maybe I should cut out much of the combat, or most of it? I'm not really sure...
>>194572I am fine with whatever. I don't mind excessive challenge where I die or nearly die, nor do I mind easy encounters where I get to wipe the floor with the enemy.. I am okay so long as the game progresses.
As a DM, I also do find it painful to cut content after having spent days or weeks preparing encounters because I scheduling issues forced me to not run them for the sake of progressing the story, so I sympathize with the dilemma.
I wouldn't mind fighting the encounter myself if Silver/Kira were given a reason to be forced to address something in the rear of the herd "off screen". Whatever moves the story forward.
>>194572>>194573I’m with Posey here. Also, I like combat but as we saw I’m frustratingly useless at it while I’m away. After Thursday I should be back in the swing of things.
We haven’t established who should be the negotiator to defuse encounters, or even if we should defuse them, so that complicates matters
>>194574>>194573>>194572The last encounter wasn't too hard, and only took so longer because players decided they wanted to take the pacifist route halfway through. I think we might be able to get through the next one with a reduced party. Bring it on.
>>194575>pacifist routeThis was from the start. I gave a message, Posey immediately gave a more threatening message before any response came back, and they turned hostile. Then Posey tried to kill them when the party hadn’t agreed on lethal force. I don’t want to blame you, but it was confusion and we need to decide before the fact.
>>194576Posey said those threatening words to test if they were free-willed individuals who valued their lives, because she is used to handling thralls and mindless monsters, in addition to prisoners and glory hounds. Rational actors would have either surrendered in the fact of greater numbers, or else barked back curses and proud declarations of defiance. The fact that they wordlessly attacked us was really all the evidence we needed to tell that they were already the Intruder's minions: they were already hostile.
>>194576>Then Posey tried to kill them when the party hadn’t agreed on lethal force.You know, I also didn't really agree to going out of my way to save the lives of enthralled pirates, pirates I intend to fight later for their ship. I did come with the default assumption of fighting whatever threats stand in our way to our objective. Unlike the Stalliongraders, whom we have a temporary pact with, we have not made any kind of agreement or alliance with the pirates. Posey is a hired mercenary who has already performed above and beyond call of duty to protect her charges; she is not being paid to save pirates. Furthermore, her nonlethal charm and fear spells are seemingly ineffective on the thralls. It's easy for you to preach pacifism when you are a monk with the feats to do it, but if I want to do nonlethal damage my melee mod is +0. To top it off, Posey is playing the part of her pirate disguise seriously, as Captain Waters ordered, and as a "pirate" she should have no reservations against killing whatever opponents try to stop her from taking the ship.
Posey checked if they were capable of communication before attacking them, not because she wouldn't have killed them if they were free willed, but because that is what we agreed to do. She upheld her part of the agreement.
If you wanted Posey to switch to nonlethal tactics, you should have convinced her to do it in character, not assumed that we agreed not to kill anything in the dungeon by default.
>>194574>We haven’t established who should be the negotiator to defuse encounters, or even if we should defuse them, so that complicates mattersI am a Cha-based character. I have +10 Diplomacy, +14 Bluff, and +15 Intimidate, +9 Hypnosis, as well as a Charm Gaze that I can use on any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creatures once per day per target. I thought I would be qualified to be the party face, but language barriers got in the way for most of this adventure, and for the rest the enemies were seemingly immune to any other methods. I would have delegated my starting languages to something else if I knew that this would be an issue.
I can still try to charm/intimidate creatures without a shared language though.
>>194579Doesn't she speak Imperial?
>>194580Tbh, I don't even know. I listed her languages as "Ponish" (what I assumed to be common), Infernal, Abyssal, "Griffon", but later I found out that that apparently didn't make sense. I was waiting until she leveled up to amend her sheet.
Posey is supposed to be a spy and a mage. I selected languages I assumed would be most suitable for that, but idk.
>>194581I assume I automatically start with "common", and get three bonus languages for my Intelligence modifier. I don't know bonus languages are available to Unicorns though. Maybe I don't even have access to those languages. I would assume Posey at least speaks languages that would have been relevant to her time as a scout in Farbrook and a warrior on the Arcturian front. I would like her to be able to read ancient manuscripts as a scholar in the arts, but idk what languages those would be.
I'm not even completely sure how many languages exist in this setting,or which ones I as a unicorn am allowed to start with.
>>194577>The fact that they wordlessly attacked us was really all the evidence we needed to tell that they were already the Intruder's minions: they were already hostile.We’ve established that there is an in-between state of not fully being a flaw yet influenced to some degree by coercion and fear. We haven’t ruled that out but they wouldn’t be fully rational in the same way that a wounded animal isn’t rational. Diplomacy can still work but takes greater care, or so I assume.
>>194578>she is not being paid to save piratesNeither are we paid to kill them. This can be argued along moral alignments so I won’t bother with that. Practically speaking, Posey doesn’t gain from killing them other than the unlikely prospect of reanimating, and other than combat risk it doesn’t hurt her from going along with the party if they agree.
>but if I want to do nonlethal damage my melee mod is +0.Don’t take offense for the suggestion that Posey hangs back while our subduing party members do most of the work.
>To top it off, Posey is playing the part of her pirate disguise seriously, as Captain Waters ordered, and as a "pirate" she should have no reservations against killing whatever opponents try to stop her from taking the ship.Considering our paltry “crew” shouldn’t she prioritize capturing experienced pirates she could impress into service? Piracy is not all brutality.
>If you wanted Posey to switch to nonlethal tactics, you should have convinced her to do it in character, not assumed that we agreed not to kill anything in the dungeon by defaultYou’re right and we didn’t get to have that discussion. Should we have it now?
>>194579>Ithought I would be qualified to be the party faceChecks help but they shouldn’t be a magic win condition. What you actually roleplay is important. When she’s not seductive, Posey has been too direct and aggressive which hurts diplomacy efforts. This is why I never wanted her as the face.
>>194583Plus, Kira's planning on trying to free the possessed creatures from the Traveler's influence, so keeping them alive helps us in the long run.
>>194583>We’ve established that there is an in-between state of not fully being a flaw yet influenced to some degree by coercion and fear. We haven’t ruled that out but they wouldn’t be fully rational in the same way that a wounded animal isn’t rational. Diplomacy can still work but takes greater care, or so I assume.That would entail using Intimidate instead of Diplomacy. I am a specialist in that.
I was going to roll it at the beginning of the last encounter, but I elected not to.
>Posey doesn’t gain from killing themWell, it does make it easier to steal their torpedo boat, since we would not have to fight them for it.
We need to seize at least one of these ships to get home, and I would preferably like to capture them both. Posey already implanted her Mark inside Blackheel to make him easier to coerce later if push comes to shove.
>going along with the party if they agreeYeah, sure.
>Don’t take offense for the suggestion that Posey hangs back while our subduing party members do most of the work.This conversation started with GM being concerned that he would have to cut back the combat encounters he prepared because not enough players can show up for them at the same time. Having present players not participate is counterproductive.
Also, I like combat. I want to participate in combat. Fighting is part of the game.
>Considering our paltry “crew” shouldn’t she prioritize capturing experienced pirates she could impress into service? Piracy is not all brutality.I mean, yeah, it they comply, but it also helps if we outnumber/outpower them, or otherwise have leverage.
>You’re right and we didn’t get to have that discussion. Should we have it now?I guess so, but tbh I have grown a bit weary of these long OOC discussions and would rather roleplay/plan in-character.
>Checks help but they shouldn’t be a magic win condition. What you actually roleplay is important.I somewhat agree, but if Diplomacy checks fail after a roleplaying attempt was made, that signals that the creatures were not really predisposed to being persuaded in the first place. This is common, because Diplomacy is a skill that should have reasonable limitations.
Intimidate/Bluff are opposed checks though, so they are more reliable.
>When she’s not seductive, Posey has been too direct and aggressive which hurts diplomacy efforts.Well, this is by design, and it is the personality that I wrote for her, subject to change through character development. Posey is quick to resort to brute force when her charms fail, due to her upbringing.
But again, maybe talk about it in-character.
>>194572All of those tangents aside, how do (You) want to proceed, GM? As I said, I am okay with whatever way you want to move forward. If you make your narrative intentions a bit more clear (or just hint at them), we could work to realize then better.
>I had planned for more combat to happen before getting to the boiler. Maybe that's a bad idea? Maybe I should cut out much of the combat, or most of it? I'm not really sure...I love combat, and if you spent time writing encounters I would suppose you want to use them.
There are cases against it though:
1. Narratively, the Traveller has no actual reason to prevent us from fixing the boiler. Having a working ship would allow it to sail across the world and land in a country with more creatures for it to enslave. It might intentionally withhold its minions in the lower decks in an attempt to use the party to repair its means of transportation, biding its powers to unleash on us later when we are no longer useful. This is actually what I assumed when we arrived on the deck and were not immediately attacked.
2. As you said, it's difficult getting all of the players together in this PbP format with all of our schedules, particularly for combat. That coupled with the fact that the adventure has run well over a year means it may be necessary to minimize unnecessary encounters to keep the story moving forward. The longer the adventure runs, the more difficult it becomes to keep all the players together in it.
3. Mechanically, we are well over the XP budget for this adventure, several times that actually. I am not complaining about that, because I have my unlimited self-healing gimmick and have shrewdly been very stingy with my spell slots, but most of the other characters have run out of healing potions and daily use class features. Couple this with the fact that few of the enemies have dropped standard treasure, particularly healing potions, it makes the adventure increasingly difficult over time as resources are chipped away and the XP budget continues to grow beyond what the game is balanced for, particularly from the perspective of the low-op characters. The XP budget is more than a leveling tracker, it also tracks how many encounters are appropriate to put in a single adventure.
4. The other two players seem to want to go the pacifist route, and I am out-voted 2-1 on that plan. This means limited combat options for the enthralled enemies, or that the other players who want to minimize bloodshed may not appreciate or enjoy having to fight so many enthralled creatures. It also means that some of the encounters might be slowed-down as party members try to assess the enemy's sanity and hold back their turns trying to speak before proceeding to change tactics, like they did last encounter.
5. Encounters you prepared for the boiler can always be recycled and used elsewhere on the ship. This makes it less painful to cut content. Narratively, the traveller could be redirecting its resources to defend more important places, like Light Water or its body.
But don't mistake these points as lack of enthusiasm for combat. I relish in combat, and I want to engage with those encounters. Blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne. Combat is fun. I am just laying out these points to make you feel less hesitant/remorseful about tossing things out, because I had the same problem with having to cut encounters in my own campaign recently.
>>194585Actually, I cannot actually say I know anything about that XP budget thing, because just last week I just discovered that I had been calculating XP the wrong way for nearly a decade
(I had been using the 3.0 encounter-based version instead of the 3.5 adventure-based version because my first adventure was written for 3.0 and never fixed the error because I had a habit of just checking the SRD instead of actually reading the DMG... I need to apologize to every DM whom I annoyed by asking "how much XP do I get?" after every individual encounter like it was a default assumption)...
Anyway, GM. You should do whatever you are comfortable with. I would just like to keep the game moving forward.
>>194585>>194586I am just now suddenly realizing that this sort of back-seat DM comment was completely uncalled-for. Idk what got into me at the time to think that that was acceptable. I can't delete it, so just ignore everything I said here.
>>194585>That would entail using Intimidate instead of Diplomacy.Let's decide on which one we use first, in-character. Unless if you do a good-cop-bad-cop scenario, trying them at the same time will undermine each other. At the time I was irked not because you used a particular method to get them to stand down, but because you did this immediately afterwards and it seemed to turn the griffons hostile.
>Well, it does make it easier to steal their torpedo boat, since we would not have to fight them for it.We all have an interest in escape, and while we cannot trust pirates, we can strike a relatively bloodless deal.
>Posey already implanted her Mark inside Blackheel to make him easier to coerce later if push comes to shove.scrunch>This conversation started with GM being concerned that he would have to cut back the combat encounters he prepared because not enough players can show up for them at the same time. Having present players not participate is counterproductive.Also, I like combat. I want to participate in combat. Fighting is part of the game.
More fights against summons, then.
>I guess so, but tbh I have grown a bit weary of these long OOC discussions and would rather roleplay/plan in-character.I'll write something up.
I agree with the rest of what you wrote, except I don't want to rush through the Kostroma. There could be a lot of interesting things to see.
>>194588>Let's decide on which one we use first, in-character.You know it takes an entire minute (10 rounds) to modify a creature's attitude with a Charisma check, right? I didn't roll Intimidate before last encounter because there was not time.
>it seemed to turn the griffons hostile.They were already thralls. That means they were hostile before we arrived.
>We all have an interest in escape, and while we cannot trust pirates, we can strike a relatively bloodless deal.Aside from the workers like Zara who are useful in maintain the ship, the pirates aren't really of any use to us. The enthralled pirates also are zero use so long as they are mine controlled, and are a danger/liability. And once the Intruder is defeated, the need for combatants will have already passed, so all that would do is leave more creatures to argue with about our escape.
There is no real benefit in risking our own lives to prevent them from dying in combat, except for that it might impact Zara's productivity in repairing the boiler.
Also, I want to sell the ships to fund my research lab and army.
>scrunchPosey plans ahead.
Do you really trust the communists not to turn on us after all of this is done? You think they would rather be deserters in fleeing to foreign country and not instead roll the dice trying to negotiate with the GRU? Posey considered this, so she took precautions, either to make their leader easier to control or to detonate the tumor if control fails.
Also, if I level up enough, I could try using Necrotic Domination for the first time.
>More fights against summons, then.Doesn't that contradict what you said in the previous post?
>I don't want to rush through the Kostroma.I don't want to "rush" either. I am a completionist. I know that there is treasure on this ship, and I intend to find it. I just want to get through it at a decent pace.
>>194589>You know it takes an entire minute (10 rounds) to modify a creature's attitude with a Charisma check, right? I didn't roll Intimidate before last encounter because there was not time.I don't know what GM thinks but should it apply to life-or-death situations? I'm thinking when we're in that sort of situation, that time requirement is waived. Think of "Come with me if you want to live" from Terminator. You could argue it's intimidation but it's not a threat, it's a genuine offer of rescue. There are other examples from media of course where an unwilling character is convinced to cooperate in a dire situation, and those don't take ten minutes. Of course, any attitude adjustment is temporary and after the danger is passed you would have to make a genuine diplomacy check.
>They were already thralls.But do we know for absolutely sure?
>There is no real benefit in risking our own lives to prevent them from dying in combat, except for that it might impact Zara's productivity in repairing the boiler.This is a genuine concern since we know she's mentally vulnerable. Hurting or killing her mates has already done a number on her.
>Also, I want to sell the ships to fund my research lab and army.Your pragmatic concerns are valid, but rather than focus a conceptual, expensive army, why not have a short-term group of goons recruited off the pirate ship? It's not like they would have anywhere else to go after we take their ship, so they may be of use to you.
>Do you really trust the communists not to turn on us after all of this is done?I don't, and from your character's perspective it was a smart move. You waited for the right moment when all the PCs were distracted because some of our characters would nonetheless take issue with such dark magic.
>Doesn't that contradict what you said in the previous post?I mean, if we are fighting summons we don't have to worry about non-lethal damage. Posey could be more directly involved instead of being a third wheel. Personally, I don't mind fighting to subdue living creatures, but if it's not fun for you then that's a concern. This is a game for all of us.
>I just want to get through it at a decent pace.I understand. Sorry for my insinuation.
>>194592>should it apply to life-or-death situations? I'm thinking when we're in that sort of situation, that time requirement is waived. Think of "Come with me if you want to live" from Terminator. You could argue it's intimidation but it's not a threat, it's a genuine offer of rescue. There are other examples from media of course where an unwilling character is convinced to cooperate in a dire situation, and those don't take ten minutesI mean, I guess? In that scene, everything that preceded with the liquid metal terminator is doing quite a bit of work. But... sure?
>any attitude adjustment is temporaryThat's how intimidate works anyways. The NPC doesn't like you once you leave.
>>194593If diplomacy doesn't work then let us know and we can stick to intimidation. I would however like to get the pirates on our side for the near future. It just seems to me that the last encounter could be interpreted as diplomacy and intimidation cancelling each other out and causing hostility. It'd be best to avoid that situation.
>>194592>But do we know for absolutely sure?Yes, because, like I said, they made no attempts to communicate with us or with each other. No angry shouts, no begging, no curses, no desperate cries, nothing.
And that was pretty clear from the time initiative was rolled. A conscious person would have made some kind of reply, or at least spoken to their ally.
>This is a genuine concern since we know she's mentally vulnerable. Hurting or killing her mates has already done a number on her.Point taken.
>why not have a short-term group of goons recruited off the pirate ship?The goons can't really contribute anything while they are mind controlled.
>It's not like they would have anywhere else to go after we take their ship, so they may be of use to you.Why would they just let us take their ship? They are pirates.
>You waited for the right moment when all the PCs were distracted because some of our characters would nonetheless take issue with such dark magic.Nopony else in the party has any ability to identify a spell being cast, or the nature of the magic. The spell had no discernable effect. Posey said he mark would allow her to contact him again, which is true.
>I mean, if we are fighting summons we don't have to worry about non-lethal damage.I mean, sure I guess? I think fighting Humanoids is supposed to be expected in a war themed game though. I'm also more effective against humanoids.
Also, summons don't drop any loot.
>>194595Diplomacy has pretty clearly not worked on the mind controlled creatures, and all of my fear effects have so far been ineffective. It is not worth it to attempt to negotiate with the thralls.
>It just seems to me that the last encounter could be interpreted as diplomacy and intimidation cancelling each other out and causing hostility.They were already mind-controlled. That much was obvious. They attacked us without a word.
If dialogue were the trigger, they would have said something to us or to each other before they attacked.
>>194596You might be right on the thralldom part. Sill, other crewmembers we encounter may not be enthralled and we should have a plan for how to deal with them.
>The goons can't really contribute anything while they are mind controlled.I mean afterwards. You could smuggle them into Baltimare. You wouldn't be the first to do that.
>Nopony else in the party has any ability to identify a spell being cast, or the nature of the magic. The spell had no discernable effect. Posey said he mark would allow her to contact him again, which is true.Cavaliere has ranks in arcane knowledge and Blackheel visibly responded. It would've caused questions at least.
>I mean, sure I guess? I think fighting Humanoids is supposed to be expected in a war themed game though. I'm also more effective against humanoids.Pirates aren't good-aligned to begin with but if they cannot make a conscious choice, good-aligned creatures will not want to kill them. Think of that episode of Samurai Jack where he has to fight a horde of people mind-controlled at a music festival.
>>194597>Sill, other crewmembers we encounter may not be enthralled and we should have a plan for how to deal with them.We shout something at them to a goat a reply, and if they respond intelligently we go from there. Easy.
>You could smuggle them into Baltimare.Why would we do that though? What use do we have for uncontrolled pirate NPCs?
Tbh, I would much rather have their corpses.
>arcane knowledgeYou use Spellcraft to identify spells being cast.
>It would've caused questions at least.Maybe. I did bluff Blackheel. He's a unicorn, so he might be suspicious, but he won't know for sure until or unless it affects him.
>Pirates aren't good-aligned to begin with but if they cannot make a conscious choice, good-aligned creatures will not want to kill them.I am not good aligned.
>>194598>We shout something at them to a goat a reply, and if they respond intelligently we go from there. Easy.Diplomacy or intimidation, or just "respond if you can hear me?" Let's decide on this, either here or in-character.
>Why would we do that though? What use do we have for uncontrolled pirate NPCs?>Tbh, I would much rather have their corpses.sighIf you're remaining undercover, surely you understand the appeal of amoral but still-living henchmen? I know Posey prefers going solo so far, but there's all this talk about a hypothetical "army" yet even a small number of undead would trigger widespread panic if discovered. Meanwhile gangs are everywhere in Baltimare and while having one might trigger a police response it wouldn't completely expose her mission like having a bunch of undead would.
>Maybe. I did bluff Blackheel. He's a unicorn, so he might be suspicious, but he won't know for sure until or unless it affects him.Posey's odd nature has already inspired a lot of suspicion from multiple characters.
>I am not good aligned.Cavaliere and Kirafiki are, which is my point. Silver is neutral but he also goes out of his way to spare enemies.
>>194599>surely you understand the appeal of amoral but still-living henchmen?I mean, that's a plausibility, but I was going to attract my own henchmen when I took the feat.
Posey is making connections with living creatures already though. She is already cultivating extremism within the gnoll community, Lion King style.
>>194600>I mean, that's a plausibility, but I was going to attract my own henchmen when I took the feat.Yes but this is a cheap and easy opportunity right here. This can save you time and effort. Also, griffons are more accepted than gnolls and if you can forge some paperwork you can get them to do errands for you in the daylight. I'm just spitballing here but the advantage is obvious.
>>194601Posey hates griffins. She wears armor made of griffin bones for a reason. Her spell component pouch is filled of preserved griffin fingers, eyeballs, hearts, feathers, etc. It's due to her upbringing, fighting griffons on the front, and also diffusion from spending time among ponies in Farbrook who were surrounded by hostile griffins.I will consider it, but I already had some plans for my followers. I will see if these characters show any remarkable traits that would make them worth keeping.
>>194602Btw we can discuss some of this in-character
>>194591 →
Also pls don't explode any implanted tumors in the creatures, I'd still like the Kostroma survivors to become Silver's retinue.
I assume Cavalier wants the other frag grenade?
Posey took a grenade, a couple flare guns (fire damage is good to bypass damage reduction at a range), and anything else that only requires simple/archaic weapon proficiency.
If the harpoon comes with a spear gun, she takes that too. It could be useful with the Fight with Light Water.
Even if it doesn't come with a spear gun, Silver or Kira (the ones with the highest melee/range mods) should take it. Even with the penalty to hit, it has the potential to immobilize its target and prevent Light Water from escaping or casting spells.
I think the whalers were proficient in harpoons, but they're not following us right now.
>>194618 →This is good geographic context, but I still don't know what languages would be available to Posey specifically.
Posey has capacity to learn her base racial languages (I would assume unicorns near Farbrook speak the same languages as Equestrians?), plus three additional languages for her Int score (I guess picking from the languages you mentioned in that post?).
I was originally going with Shadow Scholar or Student as a starting occupation to pick up a couple more languages, but maybe Hedge Wizard would be more appropriate, which means no extra languages.
What languages did everyone else take? I don't think very many others have positive Int scores, so did some of you get bonus languages for your race or skill ranks, or some other source?
>>194626Silver knows Ponish and Severyanan (Pony-Russian) fluently from his origins, and knows a bit of Wechselbalg (Changeling) from his time as a soldier in the Great War. Meanwhile, Kira knows her native Lamia language (still working on a name for it), knows Ponish as the vast majority of literature her tribe managed to acquire through trade in recent years is written in Ponish (plus not knowing Ponish would make this game infinitely harder), and because of her aristocratic background she knows the old language the lamias once spoke a long time ago (no spoilers on what that language is yet because it would give away the mystery of their origins). Neither of them know any of the more "exotic" languages that D&D has like Abyssal or Infernal as they don't have enough experience with them to know anything about them.
For Posey, my assumption is that for the "common" languages she would know Ponish due to it being the dominant speaking language of the League, and Imperial should her masters have ever thought of sending her in against the Arcturian Order. Assuming that Farbrook, Firtrees, and Watertown would have their own language (as their cities and ponies typically have common, Ponish names), it's also likely she would know Hillpony as well. Snowpony is in a similar boat, though Snowpony characters GM Pone has made have had Swedish names and spoke Swedish so I'm assuming the Snowpony language would use Swedish as it's base. Other than that I imagine Posey would know multiple of the more exotic D&D languages from her studies and training in the League.
>>194627Were those automatic languages for you, bonus languages, or ones you took with skill points?
For Posey's baseline automatic language, I think she would speak Equestrian (Riverpony dialect), which I think is that they would be speaking in Farbrook. This would be an eloquent-but-archaic high-unicorn tongue, with the subtle slavic accent I like imagining her with. She might speak Riverpony too.
For her military career, I think she would speak Imperial Griffonian, given that she has spent decades on the Arcturian front. I had "Griffon" on her character sheet, but I guess I should specify that it's imperial.
That leaves me with two languages to fill from my intelligence score. Looking for something appropriate languages for her as a scholar. I was considering something Zebrican or Somnambulan, for her studies of necromancy in the Society Of Bones. Something similar to Golarion Nekril would be nice to communicate with the dead.
I had her speaking Abyssal and Infernal for harlot-contracting purposes, but idk if I will ever get those spells anyway. Most friends have telepathy too.
Posey was brought up as a slave within the Coven Of Blood as a filly, so maybe she would speak Deytsch (a phonetic, distorted variation of German where words are transcribed into Cyrillic and then back to English)? Some of the Coven's terms use German names, such as Einhornische Schwesternshaft. A German accent would make her a lot hotter... Posey resents vampires, but that's mostly because her mother murdered her and denied her that opportunity to become a proper vampire herself, she she would probably speak their language, holding out that she might still become one.
Now that I think of it, the Dread League mentions the ghoul caste of undead mostly communicating through telepathy. Maybe I should pick that up through mutation.
>>194629So maybe:
Racial languages (Magic-blooded, half-vampire unicorn):
>Farbrook Equestrian (High-unicorn, Riverponian Dialect)>Deystch (distorted German vampire tongue)Bonus languages:
>Imperial Griffonian (Griffon lands lingua franka)>???>???Maybe some Zebrican language, to read voodoo texts, Somnambulant glyphs, or communicate with gnolls. Idk though.
I guess learning Changeling could be useful too.
>>194631I'm Posey should definitely speak Riverpony and Wittenlander, since that's what they speak in Barrad (a faction Posey would favor were she not already dead). Those would be Slaves-esque and Old English-Germanic respectively.
Knowing Old-Unicon (Latin-ish?) would fit her in with the university, and I would imagine it is the language spoken by arcane scientists.
Somnambulan (Coptic) could be fitting, although idk if trips to pseudo-egypt are going to be part of future adventures.
If GM ever has the time to weigh in on what would be appropriate/useful in this game, that would be appreciated.
This image made me think of Posey.
>>194635Posey has much higher hygiene standards than that. She washes regularly and applies a lot of perfume. She smells like roses.
It's even in her name. "A pocket full of posies", as in masking the scent of plague and decay. I based jer nickname on the nursery rhyme because it was my idea to make an undead spy-like character who took great efforts to disguise herself as one of the living and to keep her body attractive.
Strong aura though.
>>194636>>194637I like stuff like that. It reminds me of the background lore to Brie's name.
Not trying to make some sort of subtle point here. Just genuinely what came to mind.It's intricate like that. Good job. c:
Also, nice catch on the power level of the oc's ability. Honestly, impressive that you found it so fast.
>>194638I am an expert in 3.5e d&d mechanics that I will never get to actually use.
I'm still huffing hopium that I could get to lvl 8 with this character and do some actual Necromancy, somehow...
>>194639>real necroLike, that skellington whale you wanted?
>>194640Yes, although that wasn't my spell. It was a scroll I bought with my starting equipment, now used-up. I can't do it again.
Reanimating the whale bones was peak necro experience though.
>>194634Basically, Hill Pony would cover Farbrook, Firtrees, and Water Town. Witteland and Barrad speak a similar language that maybe is mutually intelligible? Then a slavic-type dialect in Lake City, Bakara, and the River Republic, and linguistic isolates for Vartai and Nimbusia. "Snow Pony" would cover Cubria and Everfrost. The existence of a latin-esque language in Equestria would make sense, as Equestrian Ponish isn't a real language but is more likely a bizarre eclectic syncretism of multiple languages spoken by the various unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus tribes that confederated to make up modern Equestria. Whether this language is also recognized by academics in the Riverlands I am not sure. I would be surprised if it were not recognized in Magehold.
I do not know what languages are most spoken in the lands of the Dread League. Rosa Maledicta is explicitly Equestrian and the text and generals imply that Ponies are a majority, griffins are most of the rest, and zebras round out the remainder, but that's about it. I wouldn't put too much faith in generals being named after Franco-Prussian War generals, I think those are just cutsie names and easter eggs. The mod kind of suggests that ponies originated in the north of Equus in areas that are now frozen wastelands when the world was different than it is now. Ponies crossed over to griffonia, going along the north, and settling in the eastern part of the continent. I think originally the ponies held a swath of territory from the Straits of Vedina going east and then south until the Forgotten Coast, and it was the Black Crusade that first disrupted the pony settlement by killing off the native ponies in the area that is now the Arturian Order, and also encouraging Griffins to settle up there, thus breaking off the Cubrians from the Hill Ponies. Perhaps many of the ponies of the Dread League are from the first ponies to settle in that area, maybe even from when the dread peninsula wasn't a frozen hellscape but a temperate climate. Or maybe all of them migrated from elsewhere, drawn by sharing the same predilection for a specific variety of dark magic. Maybe they have their own language, maybe they have adopted one as a dominate language, and maybe it's polyglot, I don't really know.
The world of Equestria at War doesn't have a true lingua franca, I think. It's not like in modern times how if you speak english, you can call a taxi or order food whether you're in Varna, Liepaja, or Osaka. Equestrian Ponish dominates its corner of the continent, and likely a few places around it, but Equestria doesn't have the economic and political might to force Ponish to dominate as English does in our world. Herzladish was the language of the Griffonian Empire, which
did dominate over every Griffin nation and several non-griffin nations in Griffonia and Equus. Zebrica has no equivalent of Ponish or Imperial/Herzlandish; it is much more divided. Colthage is probably the most influential of the Zebra nations outside of its own borders, however, because of its maritime culture.
Certainly you can redo your character's languages if you like. As for which languages she should know, my philosophy is always that it should be what makes sense within the internal logic of the world. For Posey, I think this would be Hill Pony (or possibly Snow Pony) because I think this is her native language, since she was captured or sold from one of those countries. Also, because her cover story is that she is from Farbrook, I think it would make sense that she can speak that language. Posey must know Equestrian Ponish, because otherwise the game can't really work. Also if she's being sent as a spy there she needs to know the language. Equestrian i probably prestigious in the Dread Lands because Rosa Maledicta speaks it natively, but who knows. Imperial is the most obvious "foreign" language for Posey to know because it's the most widespread among griffins (the most commonly encountered non-pony race and the most numerous race in all of EAW) and the most prestigious. I'm not sure what her fourth language would be, though I think it being an academic language makes sense. Snow Pony (if that isn't her native) may also make sense as it's probably a common pony language in Magehold and it's probably Gloomy's native language. The language of the River Republic/Bakara/Lake City would make sense as well.
Basically my opinion is Posey speaks Hill Pony (or Snow Pony, which ever is native), Equestrian Ponish, Imperial, and her fourth language is probably either something that is written in in books and spoken aloud in incantations or rituals, or it's a useful foreign language.
I don't have plans for using Sonambula and its secrets any time soon
except maybe in a possible quest for Amber. At the risk of spoilers, my most highly anticipated next project involves bat ponies and Chiropterra.
>>194644Very helpful lore dump. Thank you. This makes things a lot clearer.
>makes sense within the internal logic of the world. For Posey, I think this would be Hill Pony (or possibly Snow Pony) because I think this is her native language, since she was captured or sold from one of those countries.Posey wasn't captured or sold from any pony country. Posey is a dhampir/katane (half-vampire) who was born into slavery to the Coven Of Blood, created by a Vampire Lord who went through a tedious process of birthing her to spawn a minion with unprecedented power (or perhaps just an excuse to drink indulgently every day for a year); she was groomed as one of the "flowers of the coven" and served the degenerate vampires as a source of food and pleasure, with the (empty) promise that she would become one of them when she was mature. Her first life ended when she was discarded and slain at the beginning of her adolescence by her mother after it was discovered that she could not be directly controlled as a thrall like all the others, turning her into a Slaymate (undead child who died from betrayal by a parent) who was later sold to Necromancers by the Society Of Bones (slaymates are highly-coveted by necromancers because of their rarity and unique aura). The Society implanted her corpse with necrotic tissues from an Atropal Scion (fragment of a stillborn god) and resurrected her in hopes that the rotten godling would take her body as a host and grow into a god of destruction, but that failed and so she was reenslaved before she was Crucimmigrated and joined the ghoul caste. She became an apprentice mage to earn her freedom, but has been trying to reach a threshold of power to break her bindings for nearly a century because her master would prefer to keep her in service forever than to see her succeed at their impossible missions.
Posey never knew her father, and I did not write him. He was presumably slain after her mother was finished with him, although his corpse could still be shambling around somewhere. He likely would have been a hillpony or snowpony slave, or perhaps a Necromancer who traveled from Equestria.
What makes her different from the rest of the Dread League is that she could be one of the few "native born" mages there. She has only ever known servitude to the League and had never been free.
>OW THE EDGE!Yeah, in hindsight, this is a garbage backstory full of pointless retarded edge, and I kind of regret writing it that way, but I already mentioned it before so whatever.
Point being is that Posey would have no native language of her own aside what is spoken by the higher-ups in the Coven Of Blood. This is probably either some variation of equestrian, or some obscure vampire tongue.
Gloomy is a snowpony, descended from a savage tribe of wendigo-worshipping cannibals. Due to his especially young age when Posey acquired him, he would not know very much about his previous culture.
>Basically my opinion is Posey speaks Hill Pony (or Snow Pony, which ever is native), Equestrian Ponish, Imperial, and her fourth language is probably either something that is written in in books and spoken aloud in incantations or, or it's a useful foreign language. Good to know. I think I would take a latin-esque "Old Unicorn" as a language spoken by magical scholars in the university.
>>194644>my most highly anticipated next project involves bat ponies and ChiropterraI think I have a hunch what that might be about.
Unrelated, do batponies bear any relation to or association with vampires, even superficially?
>>194647I'm going to say tentatively no, bat ponies don't have an association with vampires, even in the psychology of xenophobic Equestrians. The vampire fruit bat we see in the show is aesthetically distinct from the bat pony guards we see earlier and later in the series
In fairness, I think that bat ponies don't actually exist in the show cannon, and all we are seeing are magic charms or detachables for Luna's royal guard. The comics I don't believe have any association, and in EAW lore, there is no association, even in black legends against bat ponies.
I'm curious as to what you think it is
>>194648>In fairness, I think that bat ponies don't actually exist in the show cannon, and all we are seeing are magic charms or detachables for Luna's royal guardYeah, Fluttershy is a lycanthrope, and the guards are just wearing tacky armor.
In my homebrew mileau, I considered bats an underdark drow-like niche, maybe as Pegasus nightmare moon loyalists who were driven underground after nightmare moon's banishment.
I never finished writing it though.
>curious Well, I used to be in a discord server with some artists who were EaW devs, and I picked up some info about the plotlines with native bat rebellions and whatnot. I think you mentioned a journey south too, so I thought it was related to that.
That's pretty much the extent of my hunch.
Looking forward to it.
>>194645>>194648I should mention that Brie really wanted there to be a bat pony based on a vampire bat. White, and also Japanese for some reason
>>194649>Cursed and banished descendants of Nightmare Moon loyalistsThat makes sense, I suppose
EAW lore seems to be that the bat ponies are the indigenous inhabitants of parts of what is now southeastern Equestria
>>194650Yeah, I am aware.
The pseudo-colonial trope felt a bit slightly forced to me, but it is what it is.
Iirc, Nightmare Moon has some routes to rally bat pony natives against Equestria, which is actually what I got the idea from.
Any connection between vampires and bats would probably just be superficial; Desmodu bear no relation to vampires in D&D, so no reason for thestrals to be. Vampires have as much in common with wolves and rats as they do with bats (all spreaders of pestilence) too.
Fun fact, the closest genetic relative to bats are camels.
>>188149How is she supposed to operate a Vickers without fingers or a horn???
>>194652Good question. We've mostly been glossing over the details of how horses use guns. Presumably, triggers would be adapted so that trained earth ponies can use them.
>>194654See, how can you go talking about nations and politics of ponies when you dont even rectify how a horse uses a gun
What would a pony version of a fixed squad based MG operate if they lack any dexterous appendages or a horn that can use magic??
Maybe its like.... hoof pedals on the floor?
Earth ponies bite with splendid dexterity.
>>194656Why dont they give them metal teeth like Jaws for close combat situations?
>>194652I was going to answer "the same way they operate a mosin nagant and other guns." But heavy machine guns like Vickers literally have buttons in the open you can just press with a hoof, much more easily than a trigger.
>>194651>The pseudo-colonial trope felt a bit slightly forced to meIn an earlier version of EAW, the ponies came in and oppressed the bat ponies and hate them because... ponies are just like that I guess. And for a thousand years not a single bat pony among the millions of them was able or willing to liberate them. So fortunately a rich white girl, I mean, alicorn princess, was able to come along and free them all from pony oppression and racism, achieving complete societal change in about a year and a half or so. However the developers realized that this plotline was cliche and unintentionally racist, so it was completely rewritten. Now, the bat pony tribes are a completely separate culture from Equestrian society. They do not integrate because they have no desire to. This makes much more sense to me than ponies hating bat ponies for no real reason, and bat ponies being too stupid, lazy, or complacent to liberate themselves.
In Occupied lore, bat ponies have historically lived separately from Equestrian society, but recently, large corporations have realized that they can import bat ponies into the cities and exploit their nocturnal behavior by having them work the nightshift, thus easily operating two shifts out of the same factory or warehouse. Bat ponies don't really participate in collective bargaining, are often brought in as scabs, and are seen as undermining wages and the labor market. This besides a theory that they commit crimes at night.
>>194657Give this man a medal
>>194658Alright but, in the picture how is she supposed to operate it? You could use your hoof but another problem arises, how is she supposed to stabilize the gun and aim it while firing with the aiming mechanism? Is there any way she could even swivel the gun?? I would love to see what a domestic pony usable MG would look like
Earth ponies lack hands so easy metal implants giving them super lethal strong biting would be a cheap way to give your Earth Ponies an extra weapon that isnt just horseshoes and kicks
>>194659I think it's a button between the handles? Just sit or lay down, place both hooves on the handles, then angle the end of the hoof in to press the button to fire. Use hooves to move the gun left and right. The gun is stabilized by its tripod.
>>194660Yeah those machineguns have have the firing switches right between the two handles. You press it with your thumbs while holding the two handles giving you stability, control and firing it without using a usual trigger
but the issue is that those were made for thumbs and are meant to be used in *conjunction* with the handles so you have control.
Youd have to modify the gun to be able to be pressed by a hoof on those.... but no fingers to hold the handles
What if its a hoof peddle thats below the normal handles and they use their mouth to actually swivel and aim the machinegun?
>>194655I am a relatively new player, and my character is a unicorn who does not even use a gun, so I cannot say. I am not even completely sure which firearms rules this game uses.
Maybe look at EaW lore for reference. There's been plenty of discussion on that matter.
>>194657I have considered doing that with my zombies
(if I ever freaking get any...), using the Craft (body modifications skill), just for flavor and the illusion of innovation. Thing is, it mechanically does very little that holding a weapon does not already do unless you use specialized magic and rare materials. In most cases, you are better off holding a sword.
The same Dragon Magazine article that craft skill was printed in said that weapon grafts and other visible combat body modifications tend to be frowned upon or even reviled in non-evil societies. By modifying your body with weapons, you objectify yourself as an engine of war at the expense of your dignity as a person, which is the reason why people wouldn't do it. That was the point of augmented characters like Jaws, to show how sinister and depraved the villains were that they would disfigure themselves for combat.
Of course, Posey as an evil necromancer does not value things such as "sanctity of life" or "dignity", so she would have few reservations against doing this to her thralls. Her own body was modified by her masters, originally meant to become a temple for a dead godling, and later for combat and pleasure. What holds Posey back from that however is her extreme sense of vanity, wanting to keep herself beautiful while many other psychopathic necromancers would be satisfied with monstrous rotting bodies, or at least for now. If she were to graft herself, she would do so while trying to maintain her natural beauty.
Ponies are gentle creatures, and as a result bodily combat mods would be few and far between.
>>194658>first paragraphYeah, that's why I said it felt forced.
It's also not a secret that a large portion of EaW devs are openly commies and like those sorts of colonial plotlines. Can't blame them for it entirely; commies like map-painter power fantasies as much as the rest of us do.
I haven't actually looked into it for over half a decade though. I wasn't aware of the rewrite.
>second paragraph.Interesting take on nocturnal creatures in industrial society. I like this kind of world-building.
Labor conditions in America got a lot worse when electric lighting made late-night shifts plausible.
I still think my underdark/Drow ripoff is cooler, but alas feverishly daydreaming for hours on end does not spawn a lore document into existence, so I kneel to the guys who actually write down their lore.
Btw, any chance we could advance the plot Soon™?
>>194659>Alright but, in the picture how is she supposed to operate it? I call it rule of cool, tbh. The show is full of instances that don't logically fit into horse anatomy, especially in the later seasons. You could jump through hoops and come up with things like battle saddles in FOE, but imo that's more trouble than it is worth and the end result is still nonsensical.
But again, check the EaW world-building forums. People have been arguing about this for the past decade.
>Earth ponies lack hands so easy metal implants giving them super lethal strong biting would be a cheap way to give your Earth Ponies an extra weapon that isnt just horseshoes and kicksAs the only character with a bite attack (mutant zombie) I don't think it would really be helpful as a balancing measure, because characters who wanted to be modern combat characters aren't going to want to bite in melee anyway. Posey has one because Posey is a literal monster, and also because she is defiantly archaic within the setting, coming from a faction which is frozen in medieval tech (also pretty weak too).
A slam attack or two would be appropriate though, especially since it would qualify them for the Beast Strike feat.
Even then, it's nothing compared to the power of flight. If Earth ponies actually needed a buff, I would probably give them Powerful Build and dwarven stability, possibly even access to magic resistance or damage at higher levels through feats or other progressions.
There's plenty of 3.5e homebrew, and also ponyfinder to reference.
I bumped into this thread just because I thought the opening picture was silly but now I have a burning hunger to know more
>>194661Maybe? A pedal seems a little unwieldy. I would be terrified to let the end of the gun be placed in the mouth because if
any of the recoil goes into the mouth you could have broken teeth or busted lips.
>a large portion of EaW devs are openly commies and like those sorts of colonial plotlinesI don't really think that's what's behind it. I think that the original plotline was "bat ponies are negroes" because it's a cliche plotline that we all grew up with, and when you start out writing, you're probably going to start by repeating plotlines you've already heard 6000 times. These same "commie devs" realized that this is sausage actually, and went out of their way to completely rewrite that part of the game. And that's because they recognized that the plotline was sausage. People who are committed leftists don't understand that their early attempts at writing are sausage, they just become more sausage, and that is not what happened here. Also in an open dev diary, they explicitly refused to do colonial plotlines for Zebrica, because "There's so much more you can do with a fantasy world than a Heart of Darkness plot."
>I still think my underdark/Drow ripoff is coolershrugsIn fairness, the Chiropterra story is sort of like that. Although what you described sounds more like Vampires: The Masquerade, with being a bat pony being a curse.
Also, for what it's worth, the Gnolls of Baltimare are there for fairly similar reasons. Or at least, their presence is tolerated for similar reasons. The Kaftar gnolls are nocturnal, and they work specifically in the warehouses and especially oil refineries and chemical plants of Red Heart in the night shift.
>Btw, any chance we could advance the plot Soon™I'm out of town now and have fairly little time. I'll be back late Sunday
>>194663Desire to Know More Intensifies
>>194664I didnt even consider the risk to their teeth, youre right with the gun recoil would shake them around
youd have to put the aiming mechanism somewhere it wouldnt be throttling you when you shoot.... maybe some sorta recoil mechanism to stop that like suspension springs
*desire to rip into interesting lore intensifies*
How long as this been worked on anywho?
>>194665The RP game? Since the very end of 2018, although at a fairly slow pace. As for exactly how you hold a gun with hooves... not so long
>>194666Aye the RP game. Since 2018? Nearly 10 years now damn
There must be enough events in there to fill a history text book
>>194667There's a decent number, but there's also been hiatuses and what have you, so not as many as you may think.
>>194668Fair, nearly 8 years is a long time to be doing something on the regular without breaks
Is there custom artwork for it?
>>194669There's some. It's after midnight here, let me post it later. Also hopefully some other players can chime in
>>194669There is indeed some. Amber commissioned a pretty large scale and detailed scene, and some of us have gotten art made of our characters. Give me a minute to get something done first and I'll see about posting a couple.
>>194670>>194671NICE!
I appreciate the hospitality despite me being a newfag tourist here
Any chance we could get the results of Posey's listen check soon?
>>194672If you would like to play, I would be more than glad to help you make a character.
>>194675I have too many irons in the fire these days. Maybe one day but not atm
But I would love to learn more about it
>>194676I mean, we get to play once a month at best these days. It's actually minimal investment.
>>194672Here we are. The first one is the art commissioned by Amber Sunset of her date with Mustard Trim. The second one is the very noodly and friendly lamia Kubana Kirafiki (also known as Kira). The third one is some
really old art of Silver Sword, made pretty shortly after I initially joined the game. I'm hoping to get some newer art commissioned of him, I'm just waiting for a good reference to get finished.
>>194677Its a lotta stuff going on atm, prepping for college, running a weekly D&D game, prepping for another one
>>194678Oh fuck this is lovely <3
>>194616Can't, sadly, due to weight limitations.
>>194626>What languages did everyone else take?Cavaliere has a couple but I can't remember what they were aside from Feathesian, and to my chagrin I lost my character sheet so I can't simply check. I think the others were Wingbardian and Aquilean, but I'm not sure.
>tfw I picked the most useless languages>>194658>However the developers realized that this plotline was cliche and unintentionally racist, so it was completely rewritten.Thank goodness
>>194672Always happy to see a guest! This remains my favorite DnD setting of all time and it's great to see new frens see it too. Hopefully things get less busy for you.
>>194681Eventually~
However there is something I can offer y'all. I really love making maps and I really like making them for others. I can make or donate a few for y'all if you want
>>194682That'd be stupendous. I've been asking GM Pony to make a map of Baltimare for the longest time. He has a good sense of where everything is and has described it verbally, but a map is worth a thousand words. Also we've been turned around a couple of times on our current quest for want of a map, to the point that GM Pony eventually had to oblige and draw something.
>>194681>I lost my character sheetYou should probably rewrite it now then, at least as a temporary measure to finish this adventure.
>>194681>weight limitationsIt's like 1 pound, isn't it?
Posey takes both grenades then.
>>194683I can make some maps for y'all easy peasy if I have a list of details, landmarks and a style and whatnot that you would want in it
>>194686Based cartographer. I wish I had those skills.
>>194684I'll have to. I think there's a scan of it floating around somewhere.
>>194685Yes but Cavaliere is right at the limit of medium encumbrance. If he takes anything more he'd get pretty bad maluses.
>>194686There have been some posts outlining both the general layout of the city as well as key landmarks. They're from a while ago so I'll wait and see if GM Pony wants to write a full, fresh description.
>>194687>>194688Alright, just have him ping me here with the details and Ill make some maps.
I generated some slop in a sad attempt to to illustrate Posey, although the more that I look at the least-terrible results the more realize how emo-tier and unoriginal my edgy anime-ripoff red-and-black vampire OC really is...
>>194693These would be great as refferences for actual draws.
Whys she got swirls for eyes.
>>194694Well, she was originally inspired in part by Makima from chainsaw man, who was also based off of the white horse if Conquest.
The ring eyes were supposed to represent her hypnotic vampire gaze. In hindsight, I probably should have gone for something more original. Maybe simple yellow eyes would be good enough.
I once flirted with making her mane pale pink (was going for a blood-Sakura theme that I ended up nixing) or white and her eyes red instead of yellow, but it's a bit late for that.Then again, she has that cosmetic mutation to make her mane and eyes change with her mood, so maybe the color might drain from her as she levels up.
*inhales copium*
>>194693Awwww, I still like her.
>>194695Why not test those ideas and see if they look nice
Whats the campaign setting's technology level?
>>194698Similar to base EaW, the technology level is quite broad. At the high end in places like Equestria we have WWII-era technology, including automobiles, radio and early television, and enemies capable of wielding firearms of the era. However, some like Silver like to stick to tradition, where he uses a greatsword in combat in addition to firearms such as rifles. Others like Kira simply come from places that haven't developed the technology yet, as she uses a recurve bow and spear in combat.
>>194698WWII-inspired tech era. Low-magic, despite being in Equestria.
Posey is from the Dress League, which is high-magic but medieval tech..
>>194697I did. I just posted the pics that illustrate how I have described her so far in game.
>>194699>>194700I like it, transitional times for ponies
>>194700Falr enough Posey
>>194690flicks tongue>>194689I've found a few descriptive paragraphs of Balimare, particularly along the water line, but I haven't really described the city in full evidently. See
>>127290 →>>146490 → >>157618 → >>171483 →>>194693What's wrong with her eyes?
>>194698World War 2ish. The date is supposed to correspond, more or less, with January 29th, 1943. However the actual shown technology is closer to early WW2 or interwar than it is to "secret weapons of WW2."
>>194700Shush. Starlight Glimmer in season 7 is not representative of the magical abilities of your typical unicorn. Or of the earlier show as a whole for that matter
>>194704I can easily make a few maps if im given specifics~
I like making maps that have purpose to em, like to have a store for the players, or a tavern for them to hang out, a quest giver place
Gimmie some specific details you want for function and I can whip something up
Interestingggg, so kinda a generic early-mid atomic age?
Alright alright
Lemme... throw y'all a little freebie here
just threw this together. See if this is the sorta style that works
>>194704>>194705I managed to find Amber's initial tour of the city which has some history and placement:
>>129901 → >>130231 → >>130246 → >>130535 → >>130690 → >>131519 → >>131933 → >>132350 → >>132888 → >>132977 → >>133188 →And one from a later quest:
>>144705 →There's one bar that Silver likes to frequent but I don't know where it is exactly. I did find this though
>>132317 →>>194706Also, is that Illwinter's map tool? I've been asking GM Pony to use it for years.
>>194707I use the Dungeon Painter Studio tool along with adding in as many custom assets as I need
>>194704>What's wrong with her eyes?She has vampire eyes. This was the bot's attempt at generating the concentric rings that make up her hypnotic gaze.
>>194709She should get some contact lenses for that Posey. Itd be a dead giveaway if someone could just casually see swirls
Girl needs some shades to look cool AND hide her medical disorder
If this next encounter shows signs of being too hard, Posey could open the door, cast Summon Swarm into the boiler room, and then Silver and the rest of the party could hold the door shut while Posey concentrates on the spell.
A bat swarm is impervious to weapon attacks, so without a mage or AoE weapon the enemies will eventually all die of bleed damage from the bat Swarm 's wounding effect.
Just an idea, since the rest of you guys are low on HP and healing rn. Otherwise, I will save my slots for the Intruder.
>>194710I guess her eyes should be more subtle.
>>194711Give her some sick early 1900s sunglasses.
>>194712Her eyes are supposed to look mostly normal by default.
She would wear shades anyway due to light sensitivity.
>>194713Make her look like a 1940's beatnik please
>>194714That's how she would dress casually. The pics were how she dresses for battle.
>>194707I would like to know the approximate location of Curwhinny's catacombs, because I intend to build my lair there.
I have now acquired a full suite of Kira emotes. This is but a small selection.
>>194693I didn't mention this earlier, but Posey's design is really cool.
>>194717And these are cute! Where did you get them?
>>194718They're an artist on Ko-fi. You get 17 emotes for $85, and for an extra $15 you can get a custom made emote making it 18 for $100.
https://ko-fi.com/mar241218
>>194693Fuckin' weeaboos
But if you want to have a character that's a white unicorn with a red or pink mane, sure, do it. There's two other white unicorns with pink-red manes in the game, the snow pony Keskoo, and the Changeling Zwolf who takes Keskoo's form and adds sexual appeal. Neither have been seen in a while and are not close to the action. White is basically the default color of a unicorn in literature and culture, and red or pink are colors of sexual desire, so it makes sense as a color scheme. Admittedly Posey wouldn't be the only red maned, red eyed, fanged pony in the immediate party, given that Kira has the same.
I will say that fangs would kind of stand out and be hard to explain, since only Bat Ponies and Kirin have fangs. In Equestria, fangs on a unicorn are easy to explain. "My grandmother was raped by a bat pony." But Farbrook is very far from either bat ponies or Kirin, and neither have any reason to go there. What Farbook
is close to are vampires. Farbrook is also infamous for being not only proximate to changelings, but very tolerant of changeling infiltrators. If a pony is from Farbrook and has fangs, that pony is... well obviously not actually a pony, but something much more malign than a bat pony or kirin hybrid.
>>194705reeee it's not generic atomic age, it's pre-atomic age (called the "Machine Age" in Stellaris, and just the late industrial age in Civilizaton). Also magic plays a role in some technological devices, so there's still fantasy elements.
>>194706Hmmm... It looks like it may work best on smaller scales
Maybe the ship for the current quest? Silver's beach house? Baltimare is a metropolis, and a bit large
>>194715Are you sure? She's always described as wearing large numbers of bones and she seems to carry random tools on her back. I imagine she'd look more like Pinkie Pie in Cupcakes with random body parts on her
A shame, because the black cloaks and the pig tails look great>>194716Northwest of the town center in an area only now being built up and brought into the city.
>>194717Oh my...
>>194720Those were experimental pics.
The fangs are supposed to be subtle when not in use, if not entirely invisible. She only looks like a bat or a wolf when she loses her composure (which is also when she starts to rot).
I thought of red or pink hair because Posey is in part a variation of a Suel Necromancer I wanted to play years ago, and that Grayhawk ethnicity often has red or even pink hair. Also because she was partly inspired by Rosa Maledicta (Rosa's alluring design is 80% of why anyone cares about her mechanically mediocre faction). The yellow eyes were meant to look "golden", but also convey a hidden meaning of pestilence and illness, while also depicting the eyes of a predator at night. Red could probably work too.
>She's always described as wearing large numbers of bones and she seems to carry random tools on her back.The bot wasn't able to put bones/armor/bags in without the entire pic being distorted. It doesn't even properly show the dagger and throwing needles woven into her mane (Posey is armed to the teeth).
Posey's defining feature is that she's a white unicorn with red eclipse cutie mark (a ring of fire eclipse to be precise, which is where "Rosey Ring" comes from; also looks like a plague bubo). Being a mage, she has an astrological sign as her mark. The red ring of fire is the "crown" of the eclipse, but Posey actually earned it by weaving a wreath of roses for her mother during her time as a slave to the Coven (a thing that Gloomy still does for her): it was part of the theme of faux-nobility, and also a bastardization of the crown of thorns symbolism, adding to the antichrist motif she was supposed to have.
She's supposed to be striking and appear beautiful, inspiring even, even though she's completely rotten on the inside. Her vampire heritage allowed her to maintain her appearance post-mortem (vampiric corpses don't rot), and because of her boundless vanity she wears heavy makeup and takes great efforts to maintain her mane and fur.
I just had second thoughts about the mane and eye colors. Not sure about the mane style either
Original description:
>Rosey Ring appears as a youthful mare with soft and elegant features. Her coat is a pristine snow white, and exceptionally fluffy. Her mane is a sanguine red-pink, and is soft, fine and silky, almost glowing with its vibrant color. Her mane is exceptionally long, and usually done up in a braid or a war bun. Her body is slender and dainty, with generous feminine endowments. She has a calm and professional demeanor, and she comes off as mature, despite her apparent youth. When she moves, she seems to glide over the ground, with grace that seems almost supernatural. The spring in her step betrays a deceptively strong body. She trots with a regal confidence, puffing her fluffy chest out and holding her head high, and making eye contact with anyone within eyesight. Her elegant and courtly demeanor betrays an aura of absolute menace, a predatory supernatural hunger conveyed in her hypnotic gaze. She always seems alert and engaged, her ears swiveling like tiny satellite dishes. Overall, she is strikingly beautiful. She seems to radiate youth and vitality, but something about her supernatural appearance is... Unsettling. She seems almost more like an exquisite painting of a mare than a living thing, uncanny in her supernatural beauty.>Rosey Ring's eyes are like pools of gold, with hypnotic radial concentric rings. They glow with authority and give off a mesmerizing aura that demands submission. Staring into them too long gives feelings of unease and terror, but their commanding presence makes it difficult for any unfortunate souls who've caught her attention to look away.>Posey's Cutie Mark is a black sun surrounded by a red flare. It also resemble a buboe from the black plague. It fills out her soft and rotund flank very well. The Dark Sun above a white sky is Posey's mark of destiny.>Posey's appearance is unnatural and supernatural, her vampiric heritage allowing her to appear closer to life despite being dead. Her appearance greatly depends on her mood: when cheery, her fur appears pristine and fluffy white; when less-cheery, her skin appears rotten and blotched, and her eyes glass over. When she's feeling especially nasty, she may briefly show bat-like or wolf-like traits as her monstrous nature makes itself known. Posey's appearance is a reflection of her own vanity and sense of of self (proportional to her charisma score): when she's confident, she's beautiful; when she's distressed, she appears more corpse-like. Her fangs are retractable.I would like to rewrite my sheet when I level up, so I maybe will wait to decide on final details for her appearance then. Unless of course you would prefer it now.
Whats the character lineup? Have you guys managed to earn a rogues gallery yet?
>>194721Silver would also have some pretty neat suggestions for Posey's cover story IC after the Traveler is defeated and everyone's sailing off to safety, if she'd like to hear it.
>>194722Well, we currently lack a Rogue PC, so I'm not sure we can call it a rogues gallery.
>>194723Oh sorry. dont mean to use jargon
So a rogues gallery means a lineup of antagonists or villans.
Like has the party delt with or made enough enemies for there to be an actual group of them and I dont mean like thugs or mooks
>>194723>Well, we currently lack a Rogue PCWhat we actually lack is a mage. I'm a Dread Necromancer, so I can't really do blastin' or utility.
A Beguiler would easily fit the Rogue niche too though. It's also a Fixed-list caster, so it's very easy to play.
Clerics and Druids are always useful.
>>194725Warmages are also good blasters, albeit only good as blasters. Similarly easy to play.
Oh, a Factotum is also useful in the Rogue niche, or any niche for that matter. Also functions as a utility mage, blaster, and healer.
Aside from skill point allocation, it's easy to build because the only feat you'll ever want is font of inspiration.
>>194724>>194725I know, I was making a pun based off the shared terminology of the phrase and the D&D class
Are there any plans to continue the game soon?
>>194729I'm back now. Hoping to start again tomorrow
What do the square boxes to the right of "Ammunition" under "Attacks" on the character sheet represent? How many shots does each box represent?
Should I swap out Wingbardian for Herzlander? Current known languages are Ponish, Wingbardian, Aquilean and Feathesian. I can't get rid of Feathesian now since I used it in a plot-relevant way (and it's still useful here), and I want to be able to speak the equivalent of French because it's fancy. Wingbardian seems much less useful than Herzlander, but Cavaliere is supposed to be of Wingbardian descent. Should I get rid of Aquilean?
>>194866Nova Griffonia seems to be inhabited by a mixture of Fetahesians, Aquellians, Herzlanders, indigenous Pony, Yak, and Penguin minorities, and presumably other Equestrian and Griffonian migrants. Nova Griffonia seems to have its own language, which is represented by a mixture of English, Dutch, and German words, and seems to be a kind of west-germanic colonial language, presumably kind of like Afrikaans. Judging by his name I would assume that Garv Cavaliere is of Wingbardian heritage, which is presumably a significant minority in Nova Griffonia
I feel like I should stop playing Posey as a bootleg Barbarian and actually cast my spells now.
Can I get an interpretation on how Chill Touch is actually supposed to work? I have been avoiding using it because I wanted to avoid rules debates.
My reading was that with the instantaneous duration, the spell gives you a number of "charges" based on CL, and those touch attacks stay within you indefinitely to be discharged on subsequent rounds.
Thing is, the rules compendium contradicts this and says that if an instantaneous spell gives multiple attacks, all of the attacks are made at once. Problem with that is that would mean the spell gives a number of attacks based on caster level, which is a lot. Seems dysfunctional.
The other interpretation is that all of the attacks are made at once, but they can only be targeted at different opponents. This is pretty weak, and not necessarily supported by text, but idk.
>>194871Is Chill touch a spell that uses a spell slot, or a supernatural ability?
I'm holding out for monk to be useful in an urban civilian setting, but I can see why people hate the class when it comes to dungeon crawling. 1d6 damage, melee range, mediocre attack bonus, and strict limitations on armor and weight do not work well on a modern battlefield.
>>194970Monk isn't exactly powerful, but some of my favorite builds include monk levels.
Thing about unarmed combat is that you need to specialize into it to get return on investment, or you need to have an alternative universal damage source. Unarmed combat is generally stronger than most one-handed weapon builds though.
>>194970Monk builds can be good with prestige classes and Multiclass feats (like Tashlatora), but they require some careful building.
You might want to consider Unarmed Swordsage or even Shadow Sun Ninja too. The Setting Sun martial discipline might be most suitable for the nonlethal style you want. Problem with that is it does little for ranged combat (although ballista throw and shadow garrote are pretty good ranged attacks).
I think Virgin Flame would make an excellent Shadow Sun Ninja, both in lore and to suit the mechanics she talked about.
Ranger / Mystic Ranger × Scout with Swift Hunter could be good for both melee and ranged combat, albeit as a skirmisher. I think it would be good for a flying character too.
If you want to do Monk/Ranger, you should probably consider an Ascetic Hunter build. Rangers can also be good with natural weapons, which is good with Monk ala Beast Strike.
There's actually a lot of unarmed combat material in d20 modern, probably because contemporary action movies value it so much. Since this is a modern setting, the DMG does suggest that you should have access to d20 Modern material.
If this were PF2e, I would tell you to play Bullet Dancer.
Does anypony have plans/tactics they want to share for the next room?
>>195071I wrote this
>>195057 →The idea is to maximize the firepower we have there, to avoid getting caught in a chokepoint, and to stay behind cover as we proceed through the room methodically. We should probably get combatants in teams of two, Marines style, so they can support each other.
>>195072Posey can tank hits from humanoids, so the ranged fighters in the party could support her with cover fire immediately after she goes in. It would minimize casualties on our part.
If I get dogpiled, I could try my Negative Energy Burst, and then try to escape under the door with gaseous form.
>>195073She can't consume healing potions. Why do you want your character to blow her cover by doing things living ponies shouldn't (already everything she's done should make an intelligent character suspicious)?
Also let's avoid relying on tanking. Firstly we ought to conserve health for as long as possible. Secondly, enemies do a lot of damage and if you do get dogpiled a bunch of gunshots might kill you in one turn. Thirdly, the enemies have been able to split their focus so far which means it might not even work to keep them from our ranged fighters.
>>195075So what do you want to do then?
>>195076Whittle down the enemy, shoot serious threats, and disarm weaker threats. We've got lots of ammo, so let's use that instead of HP.
>>195077I mean how fo you want to enter?
I offered to enter first.
>>195078Yes, let's have you, Silver, Mala and Stained Sand breach and take point on either side of the door. Cavaliere and Kira can follow next, and the rest of the party will enter last once we have cover to shelter them.
>>195081You should consider the possibility of the party being attacked by conjured tentacles from the rear again.
>>195082That's why we're not taking every combatant in the initial wave, and why we're taking the rest into the room afterwards.
>>195084Okay then. I guess we'll progress as soon as we know the results of that healing roll.
>>195111 →The Warhead is being carried/guarded by Monstro on the main deck. It weighs thousands of pounds. I intend to use it to sink the GRU ship. Retreating to go back and get it, deconstruct it, carefully divide its contents, and remake those contents into a new bomb would take much longer than everyone taking 20 to hack down the door. Also, any door so strong that we couldn't hack it down would only be opened with explosives too strong to safely detonate on the ship without sinking it.
We have the explosive harpoon, but I would prefer to save that for the Intruder (because it has been repeatedly compared to a dead whale, so a weapon designed to kill a whale-sized organism seems like a MacGuffin to me).
>>195104 →Wait, is this door watertight? Aw rats, nevermind. My trick was going to be Gaseous Form.
>The boiler room door on a 1940s Soviet warship was a heavily armored, watertight, circular or oval-shaped pressure door made of thick steel. These access points often featured heavy dogging mechanisms (manual locking levers) to maintain a seal against fire, steam, and water, crucial for survival during combat damage, as seen in examples from the era.I don't see any way we could reasonably open this without the key.
>Key Storage Methods: Similar to other Soviet secure facilities and hotels of the era, important keys were often attached to large, heavy, or brightly marked objects to prevent theft or accidental removal from the area.
>Engineering Officer's Station: A secure, locked key locker inside the main engine room or engineering office.
>Central Control Station/Bridge: A master key locker for the machinery spaces, accessible only to the officer of the watch or the chief engineer.
We passed by both of these locations. Maybe we might have seen the key on our way?
>>195117 →Aside from what we just found in this room, I think we're out of potions entirely. This has been a long adventure, and the loot has been slim, so our resources are stretched thin.
Also two thirds of the party have decided to risk extra personal injury to save enthralled NPCs.Tbh, if I didn't have my self-healing gimmick I would have died ten times over by now.
Next adventure, if we anticipate to fight this many encounters without rest/restock again, we should ditch the potions and collectively pool for some fully-charged wands of healing spells instead. A fully charged wand of cure light wounds costs 750 gp, which is equivalent to 50 potions of cure light wounds for the price of 15 potions. It's also the same price as a healing belt, which I recommend that every non-undead party member buys at the earliest opportunity.
Potions are notoriously overpriced in 3.5e, with their one redeeming quality being that anyone can use them (healing belt is good for that) and that the user is considered to be both the caster and the recipient (gimmicks). I only recommend spending on them for gimmicky Truenamer Potion-chugger builds that exploit
Spell Rebirth and Repair Item (and even then, Skull Talismans are better), or for martials who need multiple buff spells cast at once on them with Dwarven Ready-Drink Helms. Wands are usually the cheaper option, and more important wands can be spend all at once in long missions where you need a lot of healing.
Here, I'm gonna share some homebrew spells and my idea for a doe healer that could join the rest of the party. She has a child of her own and a buck in her homeland, but got separated from them when she got shipwrecked. Now she is trying to get back to them. However, she is nurturing enough that she can't let anyone suffer if she can stop it and will help out... Or, I could simply say that she is kind.
Homebrew
These are my ideas, I only had ChatGPT summarize it because... I'm lazy.
>Pic related of doe getting sexed inspired the doe character somehow. ^^
>Attached is homebrew doc
>>195119You claim to not know the rules, and yet you are confident enough to make your own homebrew spells. I think you are more suited for DMing than you think.
>>195120>I think you are more suited for DMing than you think.Thank you <3
>yet you are confident enough Dunning-Kruger syndrome. ^^
>>195119Cute! I get the sense she would get along well with Kira and Amber
not sure about Neela, who is a doe but of different temperament.
>>195119Oh nice!
Is the idea for a potential ally to join on the ship, or in Baltimare/Trottingham? If it is on the ship, presumably she'd be part of the Haulkland Pirate boarding party.
It's not hard to imagine how. Say she was abducted by pirates and taken as their doctor. Or she was, like Zara Zama the Zebra, abducted by Chiropterrans who sold her to Haukland. Or she was rescued by fishergriffs and then taken by pirates. Or she was stranded outside of the country when war were declared and she got bored, so she joined a pirate crew. There are actually a number of ways.
In Equestria at War, there are two to four areas of deer settlement. One is on the continent of Equus and shares a slim border with Equestria to Equestria's east, and a longer border with the Changeling hives to its north. It gets invaded and occupied by the Changelings early, a couple years before Equestria. This nation is wealthy, well developed, and generally Nordic coded. Specifically, it is mostly Finnish coded, using the Finnish pantheon, but it also uses Icelandic and other nordic sources. The deer are supposed to be based on reindeer, though of course white tail are also an influence.
The next great nation(s) of deer are in Hindia, a set of at least four deer nations in northwestern Zebrica above and slightly east of the Kirin lands. These deer are Indian coded. They are based on Chital and asian deer. There are also two smaller deer nations. Uusi Cervitae is an island nation off the coast of Hindia and near Macawia. Austuria is located in sourthern Griffonia, and is basically outright a viking settler colony like Vinland.
The Breezie acting as a familiar is actually a really cute idea. The visuals are interesting, and it's intriguing that several of them seem to imperil the breezie.
A character who is already a mother would be interesting, especially as it implies that she is somewhat older, possibly middle aged or near it. Of course there is a lot you can do with a deer.
I have a whole list of other characters, but I want to focus on getting Posey to a respectable level first.
>>195119Deer! Also, damn that's a lewd image.
>>195123>The Breezie acting as a familiar is actually a really cute idea.https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseMh/healer.htmlThe Healer class normally comes with a Unicorn Mount (arguably the strongest part of the class, which is only played at tables where DMs ban Clerics). Since this is not appropriate in a pony game, substituting it with an improved familiar might be appropriate.
>>195126Actually, I really shouldn't disrespect the Healer class like that. It's solidly good at its job, and then some.
Every class looks bad when you compare it to Cleric.
>t. still regrets playing a Dread Necromancer instead of a Cleric
>>195127How would Posey be different behaviorally or in her personality if she were a cleric instead of a dread necromancer?
>>195128Well, Posey's prototype was originally written as a Cleric of Atropus ("Doom Faust") with the Deathbound and Undeath domains, specializing into Dreadmaster or Master Of Shrouds, possibly picking up Domination through Warpriest; I also considered her as a Rogue/Cleric Sacred Outlaw cultist infiltrator. If I played her as a Cleric, I would probably make her more idealistic and zealous in her white horse conquest antichrist apocalypse prophecy, and less as a seductive and Charismatic infiltrator. Since her main stat would be Wisdom instead of Charisma, her behavior would be more abrasive and idealistic, although I considered giving her Madness Domain and play her as a functionally negative-wisdom zealot who was completely insane.
Tbh, in hindsight, that would probably just be even more annoying, and I wasn't sure about playing a godless ideal Cleric even though they evidently exist within the setting. Also, I picked Dread Necromancer not just because it has the word "dread" in it, but also because you might notice that I am a compulsive powergamer so I decided to play a tier 3 Fixed-list caster instead of a tier 1 open-list caster like a Cleric or Wizard as method of self restraint at a table that seemed relatively low-op. I am just frustrated that a Dread Necromancer doesn't get access to Animate Dead until lvl 8, when a Cleric gets it at lvl 5.
Oh, and she wouldn't have Charnel Touch, which means her combat tactics would be drastically different due to lack of unlimited out-of-combat healing, and she would be far more averse to taking damage. Clerics are full of surprises though. Posey would be one to leave most of her slots open during the day and wait until she finds an obstacle for which she wants to prepare the right spell for the job. She would have heavy armor and Cleric BAB, making her better as a combatant, but only marginally. I probably would have been less tempted to spend two and a half levels worth of XP making her a half vampire and buying off that LA (because the DR was nerfed and the charm gaze has had diminishing returns); I mainly did that because I wanted an excuse to make her sexy post mortem.
The other class I considered playing was Deathmaster, arguably a stronger version of Dread Necromancer. It's a prepared caster with a spellbook, Cleric BAB, and an undead companion. They notably get animate Dead as a lvl 2 spell, as well as access to a lot of stronger Wizard spells, and are more robust as casters overall. Her behavior would be pretty much the same, except that she would probably be more evil due to the theme of the class.
https://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseDc/deathMaster.htmlPosey's current theme is supposed to be a hybrid of Sorcerer, Wizard and Cleric, with a bit of a Van Hellsing/Richten style hardboiled exorcist and occult expert. That's arguably doable as a Cleric though, because it describes Van Richten.
Aside from not having any minions right now, I am satisfied with Posey's class choice. It makes her different, being a Dread Necromancer from the Dread League. Her lack of access to conventional Wizard spells also speaks to her background as a specialist and as a slave, since her masters forbid her from practicing other magic. I also wanted to play Posey as a Charismatic leader who would inspire armies of intelligent followers instead of just undead minions, so I wanted to play a Charisma-based class.
The Society Of Bones is pretty strongly Arcane themed, so Clerics would really only be vampire Ex-Clerics (who retain their Cleric powers through newfound belief in evil and undeath, despite being self-centered and hubristic), a bit like Baka. I figured her mother White Rose might have been a self-serving vampire ex-Cleric of Nightmare Moon, since I already mentioned that the Coven would repeatedly heal her after tormenting her and and feeding off of her as a filly, and also an apostate Ex-cleric vampire would have ironically fit the sort of hubristic and shallow mare she was.
It might even be why Posey has tried to fuck every priest she meets so far.
>>195126I think a good substitute for the Healer's Unicorn Companion would be to give the Healer a Coure Eladrin as a familiar familiar, plus maybe Wedded To Light as a bonus feat (although maybe they could also just take it normally).
A coure Eladrin is a tiny-sized celestial similar to a sprite, and could fit the niche of a "celestial breezie" (the kind that a mage would make a pact with). Like the Celestial Unicorn, it has a constant Magic Circle Against Evil, as well as detect evil/good, and some other minor nifty spells. Unlike the Celestial Unicorn, it cannot teleport or carry/defend the Healer in combat, but it could offer the Healer Other useful abilities as a familiar. It's 60 ft fly speed and and ability to take on the form of an incorporeal ball of light (think of Tinker Bell) would make it very, very useful for delivering touch spells, something that the Healer can greatly benefit from tactically. It lacks any of the celestial unicorn's innate healing abilities, but the Wedded To Light feat can help with that.
The loss of mount is a bit painful, but an improved familiar would be useful to the Healer in many ways. It also creates the possibility for the Healer to enter healing-friendly prestige classes that require/advance familiars, such as Mystic Wanderer (great Charisma synergy, good for potions) or even Fleshwarper (for those going for a Saint Cosmas and Damian theme).
>>195129>If I played her as a Cleric, I would probably make her more idealistic and zealous in her white horse conquest antichrist apocalypse prophecy, and less as a seductive and Charismatic infiltrator.I prefer the charismatic infiltrator personally.
Femme fatales make compelling characters in fiction for a reason.
>Also, I picked Dread Necromancer not just because it has the word "dread" in it, but also because you might notice that I am a compulsive powergamer so I decided to play a tier 3 Fixed-list caster instead of a tier 1 open-list caster like a Cleric or Wizard as method of self restraintThank you for that!
>low-opWhat does that mean?
>I mainly did that because I wanted an excuse to make her sexy post mortem. And we're all grateful for that
>The other class I considered playing was Deathmaster, arguably a stronger version of Dread Necromancer.Maybe her mysterious master is that? That's an interesting class, though a much louder option for the Dread League. In terms of real-life parallels probably like the GRU to the Dread Necromancer's FSB>It might even be why Posey has tried to fuck every priest she meets so far.I really like that aspect of her, that she tries to corrupt good-aligned creatures she encounters like a true femme fatale. She might've even started making inroads with party members if she hadn't gotten so...excited.>>195130>A coure Eladrin is a tiny-sized celestial similar to a sprite, and could fit the niche of a "celestial breezie" (the kind that a mage would make a pact with).This is classic fae and sounds perfect. Clerics are good but this quest has shown just how useful a specialized Healer would be. You can't go wrong with that.
GM, could you answer if that search check was successful and/or we have any leads towards finding the key to the boiler? Because if not we need to think of another way forward, and that will take its own series of questions/checks.
Posey asked Blackheel if the boiler could be opened from the inside. Does he respond?
Posey could plausibly try to use Dimensional Rift to teleport through and open the door from the inside, but that's very resource costly for her and has a chance of instantly destroying her. If we could drill a tiny hole through, Posey could use Gaseous Form to enter the room. Neither of those plans work if the door cannot be opened from the inside though, and my research is telling me that Soviet boiler room doors are locked from the outside.
Blackheel and the sailors surely knew that the boiler room door would be locked when they arrived: did they come with anything to bypass the lock, or to locate the key? Blackheel said "explosives", but all we have is the torpedo (with Monstro on the top deck), the explosive harpoon (dubiously strong enough), and two frag grenades. Do the sailors have any explosives of their own, or any in the artillery section we just passed? Do they know where the key is? Does anypony say anything on the matter?
Mare ass for faster reply.
>>195122>>195123>>195125Thank you, guys for the nice reception. I might get back to some of it.
Knowing myself taht's just wishful thinking.^^ Don't worry too much about this character. I might never get to finish her or get around to her so don't pondeer her implications of the game or whatever, she might never be.
>>195133What's your opinion on the Wedded-To-Light Coure Eladrin Familiar replacing the Healer's Celestial Unicorn Companion feature?
>>195132>Mare ass for faster reply.Good thinking ^^
>>195133I want you in the game. I want you in the game ASAP!
To the other players: would anypony have any objective if I took three skill points away from Arcane Knowledge (currently 5) and put one in Sense Motive (currently 4), one in Use Rope (currently 4), and one to know the Yak language? I shouldn't have put any points in Arcane Knowledge but 5 was an especially stupid decision.
>>195135>healer familiar change I don't really have any. When I said that she was a healer, I referred to the archetype. I didn't know there existed a class called "healer" in 3.5.
I guess that's one way to do it while not straying too far from the rules, so maybe.
>>195136>asapThanks. ^^
I'll try.
>>195136Use Rope is not a good use of skillpoints. It's a trash skill, and you can take 10 for most things anyway.
You need two skill points to learn a language, unless you are a class with the Speak Language Skill, like a Bard.
Arcana is a useful skill, as it covers the most creatures and being knowledgeable about magical effects and traditions is just good to have. 5 ranks also gives you synergy bonus. 5 ranks is better than 4 ranks for any skill with synergy, because it's basically free ranks.
>>195137If you want help playing a Healer, I could help you.
Healer is actually a relatively easy class to play, like all of the classes in the Minis Handbook. It's less powerful than Cleric, but much easier to play overall.
>I'll tryWait, are you not the same one who is playing the monk?
>>195138>Use Rope is not a good use of skillpoints. It's a trash skill, and you can take 10 for most things anyway.I beg to differ, since we've been using it a lot this quest, and 5 ranks gives a +2 synergy to escape artist which will definitely also be useful. Sense motive is a better pick nonetheless.
>You need two skill points to learn a language, unless you are a class with the Speak Language Skill, like a Bard.The section wasn't too clear, but after consulting the chart it makes sense.
>Arcana is a useful skill, as it covers the most creatures and being knowledgeable about magical effects and traditions is just good to have. 5 ranks also gives you synergy bonus. 5 ranks is better than 4 ranks for any skill with synergy, because it's basically free ranks.It's been of no use at all this quest and the +2 to spellcraft seems even more useless. I don't see myself ever having to pass these skill checks. Even with the tiara it wasn't that useful. Still, I'll think about your advice, and this is why I've been bouncing this question off you guys.
>>195139>we've been using it a lot this questWhen was the last time you rolled the skill?
In most cases, just knocking someone out with nonlethal damage is easier than tying them up.
>+2 synergy to escape artist which will definitely also be usefulThat synergy only applies to escaping rope bindings.
Ask yourself, how many situations do you expect to be capture and tied up but not outright killed?
It's your character, but I wouldn't bother with that skill.
>>195139>I don't see myself ever having to pass these skill checks. Even with the tiara it wasn't that useful.Tbh, idk about knowledge skills for this game. I rolled all my knowledge skills multiple times trying to see if Posey, an undead expert, could correctly identify that colt as a ghost, but I never got a confirmation. I tried again with Arcana to identify a possible illusion, but I got unclear results, and I resorted to trying to grab/touch him to confirm that he wasn't an illusion, and in the process I spoiled the entire encounter...
I think I might just avoid ranking up my Religion skill going forward. Waiting for level up to revise my sheet though.
>>195140I've been taking 10 with a +9 bonus. I believe that means the check for enemies to escape is 29. Sometimes you want to leave an enemy lucid as well. Well, not in this situation, but I'm thinking ahead to when Cavaliere will be dealing with ruffians in the city.
>Ask yourself, how many situations do you expect to be capture and tied up but not outright killed?I know we roleplay realistically but it's still a work of fiction and it's likely to happen, so long as one doesn't try a hopeless last stand against a group of enemies. I already have a +8 to escape artist so it's not critical to boost that any further. I would rather put a point in sense motive and gain +2 to diplomacy which is far more useful.
>I think I might just avoid ranking up my Religion skill going forward. Waiting for level up to revise my sheet though.From experience, knowledge checks in local, geography, history, and maybe dungeoneering tend to be more useful in this campaign than the others. Arcana is vague but its applications, whether it's studying a magical artifact or hunting magical big game, isn't terribly relevant to my plans for Cavaliere. It could be useful, sure, but I put 5 ranks only because I thought it was an interesting random skill that was also a class skill
totally not to dissuade Posey from practicing barely veiled necromancy around him. After I lost my character sheet I had to recalculate Cavaliere's skill points and found out I had miscalculated by four points over previously. Combine this with not knowing how many points I'll get at level 6 (I might even lose some depending on the classes I pick) and the skill point economy is a little strict. Now that I say that, I should probably forget about speaking Yak since it would be a waste.
>>195142You can't take 10 on use rope. You only roll it when someone tries to escape.
Again, your character. If you intent to use a lot of rope, go ahead.
Escape artist is good if your grapple mod is bad.
Sense Motive is an opposed skill. You might want to max it out.
>local, geography, history, and maybe dungeoneeringI don't have any of those skills. I have Religion and Arcana.
>LanguageIf you're that concerned with language, you should find a way to cast Tongues. Getting it cast on you permanently could be beneficial. I was planning to do that later.
Hmmm, Coure Eladrins have Tongues. A Ranger could access one through Urban Companion and Improved Familiar.
.
>ban evader is still seething
>>194720>reeee it's not generic atomic age, it's pre-atomic age (called the "Machine Age" in Stellaris, and just the late industrial age in Civilizaton). Also magic plays a role in some technological devices, so there's still fantasy elements.Question, do stores still sell radium makeup, or does Posey have to hoard canisters a decade ago?
>>195173>radium makeup>radioactive makeupNopony can make this shit up.
>>195174It was a thing in real life.
>Radium makeup was a dangerous 1930s beauty fad, primarily sold by brands like Tho-Radia, which claimed radioactive isotopes (radium and thorium) offered a "radiant" glow, tightened skin, and cured wrinkles.This was like 10-15 years after the Radium Girls incident too.
Hmmm, if we're around that era now, and the show takes place before the game, Rarity might have used this stuff in the past.
>>195174>Nopony can make this shit up.Only God can.
>>195175>>195173Looking into this, I think that the fad would have probably been more or less over by 10 years before the setting, possibly 15 years before, and that selling products like that with radium in it would have been actually illegal for about four years
>>195177Alas, I will have to search for the forbidden makeup myself. All the more reason to go treasure hunting.
At least Gloomy can still enjoy his Oat Softener.
G: coughs blood
I wonder what other household substances future generations are going to be horrified that we used? My guess is something related to microplastics.
>>195178Kek, saved
In case you haven't read the blurb yet, it's fakeStill there were real-life unhealthy fads aplenty
>>195180I already know it's satire.
Where did we determine that Light Water was hiding again?
I think I might want to try to rush down Light Water by slipping through the gaps in the deck with Gaseous Form. I could distract him by having Monstro ram the control tower. Once I can get line of sight with him, I could incapacitate him with some of my debuff spells.
Alternatively, I could try Dimensional Rifting to his location to catch him off guard. That has a 1% chance of destroying me though, and furthermore it subjects Posey to unforseen interactions since we are dealing with an aberrant entity with a lot of summons in the works, so sundering special geometry and getting nibbled on by nameless horrors might carry extra risks.....
>>195138It would be funny to have a unicorn horse as the familiar for a pony, or in this case doe. ^^
>>195138>Wait, are you not the same one who is playing the monk?I am indeed him. ^^
I generated some goyslop as concept art for Posey's familiar (if I ever get to lvl 7...)
A Ghostly Visage is a minor undead spirit symbiont uniquely available to Dread Necromancers. As a symbiont, it can serve as a helper or as a parasite, with a unique ability to meld itself with its victims through a touch attack.
Alone, ghostly visage looks like just a puff of smoke with subtle dark spots for eyes, but it can manifest a face on its host; the face is a horrific visage of pure horror and menace contorted in the agony of undeath. This one has distinct dimples and rosey cheeks, inspired by Dimple from Mob Psycho. The lolling tongue is inspired by Boo from Mario and Ghastly from Pokemon.
Its Gaze Of Terror is supposed to compliment Posey's fearmonger/debuffer style of combat, and its incorporeal nature makes it excellent as a scout. I was thinking of giving it a cute, playful and mischievous demeanor, always giggling and curiously examining the world around it, and very fond of surprises and nose-to-nose boops. Ghostly visages relish in causing terror to the living, so I was thinking of a name like "Peekaboo".
>>195253The aislop was better than I thought it would be, but Ig it wasn't something complex and intricate like a hand and such.
>(if I ever get to lvl 7...)It feels like you keep mentioning this. Idk, if it's an insight joke, like friendly bantz, but I can't help but wonder if the GM takes this as criticism. I could be wrong, but just a heads up on how it may be interpreted on his part. Idk.
Anyway, your familiar could be fun and cute.
>>195254It's not really criticism, just me poking fun at myself for daydreaming about higher level adventure ambitions. I have a tendency to put the cart before the horse.
Yeah, familiars are fun. One perk of the Dread Necromancer it's the only class that can get a ghostly visage familiar, although it only gets it a lvl 7. Other options include an Imp, Quasit, or Vargouille. The Imp/Quasit is probably better as a familiar overall due to their useful spells and the ability to take the form of a bat/rat/wolf, but I never actually got to play with a ghostly visage familiar before, so I wanted to try it.
>>195253Those images look like if there were a "the gang goes to Japan" episode/special, that would be mascot of a Japan funeral home service.
>>195256Well, I did reference three Japanese sources in the design, so I guess that was the result..... The long tongue is pretty iconic among Nintendo ghost monsters, probably based on some yokai folklore.
Last pic that the official Ghostly Visage illustration on the Fiend Folio. Its description reads:
>A minor undead spirit similar to a ghost, a ghostly visage inhabits corporeal bodies. Its name comes from its ability to manifest a transparent face on its host’s body.>When not attached to a host, a ghostly visage looks like little more than a puff of smoke about 1 foot in diameter. Only by looking carefully can a character discern its eyes, which appear simply as dark spots within the smoke. When attached to a host, the visage normally lurks inside the host’s body. It can, however, manifest a face on the host’s body, including covering the host’s own face. This face has a horrible appearance, contorted in the agony of undeath.>Visage (Ex): At will, a ghostly visage can manifest a face anywhere on its host’s body, including over the host’s own face (the host’s vision is unaffected). This face looks corporeal and fleshy, but it is actually the visage’s incorporeal form.There isn't any actual specifics of what a ghostly visage looks like while manifested other than being "horrible". Being a creature that was once alive in a pony setting, it must look like a pony of some kind, which is challenging to make horrible, although I think a pallid white face, a tongue dripping with ectoplasm, and a void-black eyes perpetually bleeding tears of black icor would be a good start. It can suppress its gaze, so it could also be that the visage has no true form and is only manifesting a projection of pure suffering and fear on the face of its host.
>>195256Were we able to succeed in repairing the boiler?
>>195253>>195257Any inspiration from Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion? This reminds me of that game.
Where did we determine that Light Water was again?
>>195292He's a hippogriff from Hippogriffia, if I remember correctly.
pic unrelated
>>195294I meant his physical location.
>>195295He is somewhere in the conning tower near the bridge. He might be holed up in the radio room and not in sight of any windows.
Also, found this pic especially relevant.
>>195413
I do want to say, this idea for a petroleum monster: sick as hell, I love it. I'm just sorry that me falling asleep derailed things and caused all of this frustration. I do really, really apologize for my part in it.
After the petroleum monster is dealt with (and presumably they find some way to wipe off all of the oil they're now covered in, Kira especially must be feeling gross), is it alright if we can revisit Cargo Hold 4? Maybe it was because I was worried about a time limit with the boiler, or maybe I was just extremely unobservant (if I'm missing something, it's usually right in front of my face), but I still want to experience this ship, quest, and everything you had planned originally as you intended. Please don't change things just because my schedule's too unreliable...
>>195413
>>195412
>Why are the supernatural things, the only things in the entire campaign that must have some mystery, the only things in the entire world you care to even remember, let alone ask questions about?
Because those are the only things my character is equipped to be knowledgeable of. Posey is a student at the University Of Arcane Sciences and an occultist. Supernatural effects and creatures are her portfolio of expertise. Posey doesn't know anything about modern military tactics, economics, ships or really anything else mundane because she does not have those skills; she knows about magic and magical creatures. Posey is adventuring to train and expand her own powers by facing and conquering supernatural threats, and as an exorcist and alienist she has a stoic analytical demeanor because she knows on a personal level that showing fear in the face of Eldritch horrors means failure. She analyzes supernatural effects because that is her job in the party as an occultist, especially in situations where her actual spellcasting ability isn't particularly useful. It's her job to identify supernatural phenomena, point out their weaknesses, and especially to tell the party if they can actually face the threats before them or if they should all just run in the other direction: an animated object is manageable, a clay golem in close quarters is a TPK; knowing the difference is Posey's job. When we face a new kind of enemy, of course her first priority is to identify what the threat is, because she needs to give the party tactical information on how to defeat it.
>Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.
GM, the reason why we just wait between posts is because we all assume you are not available between post, and asking too many unnecessary questions is distracting.
>He's very obviously balanced for the whole damn party to attack at once and it's insulting that you would even momentarily think otherwise.
Well, PC classed characters have CR equal to their HD, so I figured if he were balanced as a main threat he would be lvl 6-8 Wizard before considering monster allies in the encounter, maybe even lvl 9, but I guess that's still 4-5 levels above me. I still thought I should risk it anyway and try to tap him with a Spectral Hand + Ghoul Touch.
>At least it will be fun for me because I'd love to see how many outsider summons I can give him as supporting allies all at the same time in the same fight.
See, the fact that this enemy has seemingly unlimited summons is the reason why I thought making a beeline towards him is tactical, because he's just slowly chipping away at us otherwise. The longer we wait to attack him, the more opportunities he has to harass and damage us while expending our resources with remote summons. I have so far been avoiding expending my spell slots in combat just because as far as I can tell the enemy is trying to force us to expend our limited resources with his unlimited resources. As far as I can observe, the summons don't seem to have any resource cost on his side, and apparently he's going to outnumber us no matter how many approach, so I think a rush-down/assassination approach is the safest way.
>>195418Posey would also like to wash herself off at the next opportunity. She doesn't want to face the intruder while looking horrible.
>>195412
Heroes Of Horror is a good supplement for integrating horror aspects into D&D. It has lots of horror tropes, mechanics, and ideas. It also gives insight on how to integrate horror in ways that make the party take it more seriously, and advises when and when not to use horror aspects to avoid oversaturation or frustrating players. I think you might find it useful.
It also happens to be the book that the Dread Necromancer was printed in. Maybe give it a read. File related.
I may as well post Heroes Of Battle too, the supplement for military campaigns and mass combat.
Also Lords Of Madness, which has insights into how to use classic aberrations in D&D while still preserving their trope as unknowable Eldritch monstrosities.
I can understand the frustration with fantasy ttrpg mechanics detracting from horror fluff in games. However, as a crunch enthusiast, I believe that mechanics are a tool to enable great roleplaying experiences, not an obstacle to them. Maybe that's just my taste though.
I can see why you would be frustrated. In my own campaign, the lvl 7 Druid recently got possessed by a CR 12 incorporeal nature demon (formerly the goddess of pumpkins) which has been whispering in his ear and silently compelling him to commit evil, making his character wander the area while he is asleep and commit unknown acts, and often knocks him out and prepares his spells instead of him. I thought that this would create drama and character development about the dangers of worshipping demons, except... It just didn't? The Druid say no urgency in exorcising the demon or horror in his loss of autonomy; he didn't even try to get rid of it or appease the spirit for mercy, nor did he try to ask it for power or Eldritch secrets. He just passively accepted demonic possession as a plot device, and was perhaps slightly frustrated by being inconvenienced by it. I thought of trying to scare him by making it commit random acts of violence or forcing him to kill one of the cute NPCs I keep by the party for character development, but that would have just further derailed my plot.
I'm the next couple sessions I am going to reveal that the demon simply abandoned him when it discovered a more suitable host, possibly reintroducing that demon-possessed host as a villain later.
Point is, it can be frustrating when players don't take horror aspects the way you expect them to, but that's just what happens in D&D. It happens to all DMs.
I can try to engage with your game a bit more seriously, but please be aware that all this time I have only been doing what I thought made sense in character and responding to situations with the information I had.
Maybe my character is a bit too analytical, but I thought that was the only thing I was really good for in this party besides a self-healing pincushion. I thought that being an expert in the occult would be Posey's main contribution to the group, identifying threats and proposing ways to overcome obstacles. I guess I failed on that front.
But really, if you don't want me to use the knowledge skill, just tell me, because being indirect just leads to frustration.
An example would be the ghost in that abandoned village. I had Posey roll Religion to identify the ghost, because she is an expert in the undead and had seen a ghost as recently as yesterday so I thought she would easily know a ghost if she saw one. When that check result came out unclear, Posey believed it to be an illusion created by the Intruder, so she tried touching it to interact with it to tell if it was an illusion, and then the encounter just ended when GM got frustrated. I now know that you were just trying to keep some mystery in the game and didn't want me to reveal the nature of the encounter with a simple skill check. In hindsight, I should have just used Rebuke Undead as soon as I saw it to check it it was undead...
Idk, I'm trying to be helpful, but maybe I should just shut up...
>>195412>Cavaliere's player has already said that the horror elements in the campaign are oversaturated and overplayed.It's more of a "too much of a good thing" angle. I can like a dessert and think it's delicious, but if it's the entire meal rather than just the dessert then I'll grow critical of how sweet it is. This particular quest is all about horror and it's very well done, but I miss Amber's adventures because they are wonderfully mundane in comparison. But I'm also someone who craves variety in entertainment in general, so don't take this as dour criticism.
>>195413>And of course no further questions were asked, no further exploration done by any party member. Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.I do believe we surmised that the hold had been repurposed into a shelter for some of the crew. However we weren't given any leads to investigate further. No notes left out in the open nor comments by the crew tagging along who should know something considering they were here. I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet. I understand it's not easy to write dialogue for so many characters but their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger? And yes, there are questions in my head that have gone unspoken, like why the Hauklander boarding party is missing, but I haven't had an interesting time to bring it up yet.
I don't know if you have ever played Half Life 2, but in the sections where Alyx follows you, she'll occasionally comment about the surroundings. Not in a constant, annoying way like millennial writing tends to do, but she'll drop occasional hints and give small bits of exposition about the ruined world she inhabits. That's the sort of thing I want. Since we boarded the Kostroma, it's felt like the NPCs are just followers with a name and face, but without much to offer aside from fighting and occasionally helping with skill checks the party isn't cut out for.
I can understand your frustration and I hope my critique doesn't tick you off further. Take this as encouragement to keep doing what you're good at, because we the players will respond more to it, and you'll feel satisfaction in return. A big flaw of play-by-post is that we have no idea when you are genuinely unavailable and when you're waiting for dialogue before we move on.
Also considering
>>195420 I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game. Posey's motivations make sense but I still think she may want to capture him alive, unless if she has an undeclared ulterior motive.
>>195420>>195422>>195423>>195425Nah, these are pretty helpful, I think. Also, I have no idea why that druid character just went along with it, even for me that's a bit crazy.
>>195420A second post, I know, but I just thought of it: Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world. She's been sent to Equestria as a spy to learn its strengths and weaknesses, right? Among other things, of course. If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose. Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones
as a tank?
>>195426>I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet.>their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger?Tbh, I have to echo this. It is their ship, and they are far more familiar with it than us. I figured they would be guiding us and/or telling us the fastest route to the boiler and what seems out of the ordinary.
>I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game.It depends on the edition, but iirc in OG CoC backgrounds were rolled randomly.
>>195428>Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world. She can't do that here.
>If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose.She's been doing that. I tried to illustrate that with her passive commentary about the abandoned buildings and sewers between Baltimare being ideal hiding spots for forces.
>Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones as a tank?I already mentioned that idea.
She needs to level up before she can consider that.
>>195429What even is the appropriate "horror" response to this situation anyway? To run away screaming instead of facing the encounters?
>This is very limiting for the character and it means that she's not fit to be in as many supernatural situations as non-occultists.I mean, I said that I was interested in taking jobs as an exorcist and supernatural detective. Idk how that is limiting. Posey said that there is always work for a Necrologist where there is war, because the tragedy and bloodshed always attracts evil (including herself).
>This is what has to be done with the Posey character to challenge her, there is no other way. The challenge must be either of a mundane nature that's she's not suited to face, or it must be of such a great degree that she's still not suited to face it even with her specializationGM, in my experience over the past couple years, ALL if the challenges we have faced have been resolved by shooting the enemies in the face or hacking them to pieces.
Why is it even necessary to tailor challenges to her? All of our enemies so far have already been immune to fear (half of her offensive ability). Her specialization has barely been relevant except for her self-healing gimmick they let her tank some shots so that the rest of the party didn't die.
>Because Posey is not impressed in the same way that Silver or Cavaliere is, there is not as much reason to put her in that circumstance. The second biggest reason to use the supernatural is for tragedy. Ghosts and hauntings usually come about because of great suffering or tragedy. Curses are the same.Posey is impressed by supernatural tragedy. She sees it as romantic. She's also a scholar who is specifically interested in sporadic reanimation through tragic events, because that's relevant to her backstory, because she was a Slaymate before her masters remade her. Anypony who pursues necromancy has some sort of romantic fascination with tragedy and pain, and Posey is no different. Have I not expressed that at every opportunity?
Why do you think she kissed that suicided unicorn and encouraged him to get up from the grave to take revenge on life? Why do you think she wanted to take the ghost child home with her? Why do you think she reanimated Agire as a ghoul and told him it was his destiny to lead his people even in death? Or how she told Agire's family/temple that "My masters believe that the bonds of friendship need not end in death". It's all romantic to her.
>Posey is less fit for supernatural plots than other charactersPosey specifically trained for this situation. She's a Cerebrant. She had all that monologue about how her masters through her into the Cerebrotic Mire and didn't let her come back to reality until she learned to claw her way back. She described the torturous training she went through to achieve Cerebrosis and gain dreadful fear-based necromantic and summoning magic. She described how monsters from the far realm invade this world with her "beachgoer" metaphor, and why the aberrant incursion was a threat to the world, so that the party could be resolved in their efforts to fight.
She even talked about how she believed that fate had led her here, because she trained for this moment and it is finally paying off. It was part of her theme that all the torture she endured was so that she could achieve greater heights.
Idk how I could have possibly roleplayed her in a way that fit the theme more.
>the best way to challenge her is to place her in modernity. I know that this quest has not been satisfying.I would be satisfied with any level-appropriate encounters with adequate treasure and XP. I am not that picky. You can roll them randomly off of a table if you want.
>What would be the point of an occultist character? Did you read the PDFs I sent?
>Their ideology would not be challenged.Posey's ideology was directly challenged multiple times. Furthermore, the places where her ideology was reinforced made her even more livid, because the Intruder's grand plan to remake the world without death and limits and whatnot was her own dream, and she is not about to let some freak from beyond the firmament take it from her: Equestria isn't his to conquer.
.
.
You know, I really have been trying to engage with this content. I have been trying to face the encounters in a way I believed was thematic and fun while also being helpful to the party. I knew there would be some challenges when I made a character from the Dread League, but this isn't really the challenge expected...
>>195429>>195430It seems your goals, themes and "feel" for the campaign are orthogonal to one another and I don't know how they can be resolved without one giving way. It's like a campaign intended to be a gritty noir film but one character is a comedic buffoon, or vice versa with a serious character in a circus. Can you make it work? Maybe; Shakespeare was able to put comedic relief into most of his tragedies. It's never easy to do however and it's worth noting the comedic relief in Shakespeare's works appears only in select scenes and never is a main character. Also he was the sole writer whereas this is a collaborative project, and each of you as co-writers seem to struggle to understand the other's goals.
It's pretty clear that the horror aspect of cosmic horror was bound to fail as soon as Posey revealed she wasn't merely a mundane necromancer but had actually been to the Cerebrotic Mire and had "been there; done that." It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.
Abraham Van Helsing, Harry Dresden, Thomas Carnacki, etc. How is there not room for occultist characters in supernatural stories? How am I even supposed to roleplay a mage at all if not as an occultist?
You know, when I came in to this game, I think was thinking of having more of a romantic and esoteric approach to magic, but then I was introduced to the College Of Arcane Sciences, who treat magic itself as a science, and I thought they that was the approach I was expected to adopt too even though I was slightly apprehensive about it.
How am I actually supposed to roleplay this character without feeling that the way I roleplay is on trial every three weeks?
>>195431Just because Posey is vaguely familiar with some of the horrors of far realm entities does not invalidate her role in the story. She described a torturous experience that she only barely survived and said that nothing is certain or logical in the realms beyond the firmament. Only confirmed what little she actually knew, and how horrible things could become if the problem was allowed to spread.
>It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.Tbh, this is more of Posey's approach to rare undead creatures. Gotta catch 'em all.
>>195432>But that’s not true at all.Maybe I was exaggerating a bit. I meant within this particular island adventure, but even then it wasn't that simple. I should not have said that.
>>195433GM, Posey is a Cerebrant, but that doesn't make her an expert the far realm. She's still only a lvl 4 necromancer with zero ranks in Dungeoneering. Her Cerebrant Meditation training only makes her slightly more resistant to the spells of far realm entities, and only gives her a hoof-full of fear-based necromancy and summoning spells. That's it.
The reason why she brought up the Cerebrotic Mire was to express to the party that reality could shift around them at any moment, about how the void beyond the firmament was like an ocean and our reality was just a tiny island with water crashing over the beach. I thought it was important for her to bring that up because she has also gained Aberrant magic at the cost of her sanity, which made her a character foil for the villain, and I thought it was appropriate to acknowledge that the quest was relevant to my backstory because I thought that was intentional. That doesn't mean she knows what will happen or how things work, only that it is bad. She does not have all the answers. She told the story of an alienist sorceress (Zceryll) who lost her mind entirely and became a monster (in a bad way) by trotting down that horrible path, and how she swore that that fate would not be her own. She said all of that in-character so that the party could be resolved to fight, because that's what a good mage would do. Or maybe not, idk.
She acted confident in spite of that because that's what she always does. Posey is one to roll the dice and go on offensive even when she knows she's not cut out for something, because she fears failure more than death; that's the mindset that makes her 1 v 1 a hydra underwater, or fight a higher-level paladin alone. She's hubristic; it's part of her character.
How do you even want her to behave? This conversation was triggered by me rolling Arcana to identify a construct that I was afraid would be similar to a golem. Do you just want me to stop making knowledge checks? Is there an expected pattern of behavior I should adopt? Any lines I should say? What do you want me to do?
>>195429>Posey doesn't really emotionally connect with anyone or anything.She has Gloomy.
She was even willing to give up access to her Ghast minion just to make sure that he was protected.
But really, if you want my character to emotionally connect to things, why maybe just give her some more things to connect to?
Dragon #330 has more insights for the Far Realm and how to integrate cosmic horror in D&D. It also happens to be where Cerebrosis was printed:
https://dn721605.ca.archive.org/0/items/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine330.pdf
Why is it that between every encounter and room description we have to have another ooc discussion about how a party member's in-character reaction to a description or encounter was taken personally? It's getting in the way of a adventure that already struggles with pacing.
Is my own dogshit opinion really so valuable that we have to stop the game every other week to talk about it? Are my casual, poorly-expressed thoughts really that important? I didn't think the perception of my taste would be so important here. I'm just a shitposter roleplaying a dead horse.
It feels like every time I say something, do something, or fail to say/do something, there has to be an ooc discussion on how it doesn't fit into the mileau and/or was taken as an antagonistic attack. Why is it like that? It's only been getting worse over time, to the point where it feels like I am walking on eggshells for what to say, when I should be focused on roleplaying and advancing the plot.
It's all so tiresome.
>>195443
I already know that.
That wasn't really the point of the post.
I should be off Sunday and Monday this week, if that works with anyone else for continuing.
It's just been stressful...
I'm off today and Wednesday if anyone's interested
So apparently that faggot who told us we were “playing call of Cthulhu at best,” “dating sims are dumb,” “if you’re playing furred humans I want out,” and “every game I’m a part of becoming murder hoboing” has finally taken Cavaliere’s advice and actually started lurking. He’s pointed out a few legitimate issues that have not been addressed, but honestly I think they probably should be.
So first and foremost, let’s start off with something that should have been said two weeks ago: I am sorry Posey’s player. I was frustrated when the flow of combat was interrupted by a player leaving combat, and when I saw the insight rules I misinterpreted them for something else. Of course the more serious issue here is why is misinterpret those rolls, but unfortunately I don’t have an answer for that.
The second issue major issue is scheduling. Silver’s player in particular usually works night shifts, Possy and I both work day shift and spend more time on our phones at work than we should, and Cavaliere seems mostly available. But then I travel a decent amount and sometimes work takes more time. I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.
The other thing is that I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questline. I also have about three different endings and I’d sort of like to know where people think it is going or wish it is going to get an idea of which I should use. Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion. I have some ideas for follow up in Trottingham, but I do want to know what players want.
Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after Thad
>>195605>I am sorry Posey’s playerAlright, I can accept that. I was pretty frustrated at the time too.
Let's just try not to get heated over minor miscommunications again.
>I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.Good idea.
>I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questlineI would like to defeat the Intruder, which probably means either killing Light Water and/or destroying the Intruder directly; this is either an assassination of a humanoid, or some kind of monster boss fight. Light Water sounds easier to kill, so I would like to kill him at the earliest convenience.
Then I would like to use Monstro to drop the torpedo on the GRU ship to sink them. I have researched the rules for sinking ships, and I believe that torpedo should be enough. Total destruction with maximum casualties is my goal. I do intend to rank up my Destruction affiliation by razing an enemy stronghold this way.
After that, I would like to commandeer the Kostroma and sail back to Baltmare, towing the Torpedo ship alongside us. I intend to use my social skills (Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy, Charm) to seize control of the vessel, combined with the sailors having nowhere else to go. I already placed my Mark inside of Blackheel's nose to make him easier to control later.
>Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion. At some point in this process, I would like to level up. I have been counting the approximate XP throughout the adventure, and according to my estimates we should have leveled up possibly several times, particularly Posey who is lvl 4 with bought-off LA and I would hope gets to approach the actual party level.
After we sail back to Baltimare, I would like to sell both ships and their cargo to the military. I intend to use the profits from it to find my research lab, my army and my other expenses.
Then I would like to extract additional payment from Captain Waters with the Airponies testifying that we performed above and beyond the call of duty, because fighting an Eldritch demigod with unlimited summons. As payment, I would like to negotiate for Level-appropriate equipment for adventurers of our level (per Magic Item Compendium Guidelines), to solve this party's problem with being under-equipped.
After all of this, I would like to take some downtime, possibly several months, to open my research lab and establish a proper base of operations and do various errands. Posey has only been in this country for one week, and she would like some time to get settled in if that adventure schedule allows.
>>195606I typed all of that poorly, and it sounds like shit. It's midnight for me. I might try to articulate it better later.
Goodnight
>>195605>Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after ThadI am on.
Let's do some roleplaying if that's okay with you. I will go cereal mode. No fr fr. I'm sensing this will be difficult for me ^^, but I actually prefer to play Vir's story seriously, despite stuff I did.
Anyway, the reason for no roll-play is that I completely lost Vir's sheet. And no matter how many times I read through the rules and character creation, it just doesn't stick. idk what it is at this point ^^
So for now let's just play character stuff, I will try to use my words to get around things. I will eventually get back to re-learning the rules, just not up for it right now, sry.
Anyway, thanks for the post c:
When we attack Light Water, I would appreciate it if the martials stayed away from him for the first couple rounds and instead focused on keeping summoned monsters away from me, or shot him with ranged weapons. The reason is that I want to try to debuff him with some ranged AoE spells like Summoned Swarm (bats, for bleed damage, and to distract unintelligent momsters) or Kelgore's Grave Mist, but that could cripple anypony within 5 feat of him. Posey isn't affected by Grave Mist or Summon Swarm (it only targets living creatures), so she and monstro could take on the Frontline, but she will need help from the rear to neutralize summoned monsters that could disrupt her Concentration.
I somehow doubt it will be easy to rush him down and engage him in melee anyway. I at least want to render him exhausted or force him to waste actions trying to end the bleed condition with some ranged attacks.
>>195683 →We got meta information the other week that suggests Light Water is the actual boss fight.
Blackheel agrees with me in-character.
If the Intruder itself turns out to be animate and capable of fighting on its own, it is at the very least relying on Light Water to do its decision making and perception at this point, so killing Light Water would weaken it and remove its ability to think tactically.
Why do you even want to attack the Intruder first anyway?
>>195686 →By that, you are assuming that the Intruder itself is easier to defeat than Light Water and/or will not fight back, when it has been demonstrated to be all-but indestructible and capable of melting objects near it.
I do not envision any scenario where this whale-sized alien that has been foreshadowed for more than a year does not wake up and attack us directly as soon as we try to destroy it, so I want to get rid of its mage ally first.
We know that Light Water is "balanced for the entire party to fight", which means we can infer his level range. NPCs have CR equal to their HD, so he would be around lvl ~8 on the higher level end (if we are effectively a lvl 5 party and his fight is an "overwhelming" encounter) before considering monster allies or extra special powers. Creatures he summons during combat aren't calculated in the encounter level, but ones he summons before combat are.
Chances are that he will be a very difficult fight, but still a beatable fight with our party composition (some of us might die though).
You plan also has a flaw: although the Intruder isn't capable of moving on its own, Light Water is. If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.
Sorry about the delayed response. Kira wants to gather up as many of the possessed creatures as possible into the cargo hold furthest away from the Traveler, seal up any open airways using the chromium the ship was carrying, and then call upon her god Ouroboros to use her as a conduit for His power to purge the Traveler's influence from the minds of the possessed creatures.
>>195684>>195687I have no illusions that the Intruder is going to be a difficult fight. However, I think it's going to be a hard fight regardless and "blinding" it will not help us much, or will merely exchange one challenge for another. The way I see it, fighting Light Water first and then the "weakened" Intruder alone will not be any easier than fighting a full-strength Intruder and a helpless Light Water. Going after Light Water separately means we will be fighting ponies with blades and guns as well as whatever he can do. That will use up all our healing supplies and might take several NPCs out of action, and then we have to go back down, fight more summons, and still deal with the Intruder somehow.
It's far more advantageous tactically to attack the Fellow Traveler at full strength. Then, so long as we win, it doesn't matter if we're weakened as we can subdue Light Water anyway. Our reward is also potentially greater because we have a better chance of capturing him alive.
>If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportation.
>>195690That's a third option....
>>195692>Do we know if he can teleport?Considering his profession, he has to be a spellcaster if some kind. If he is capable of lvl 3 spells he could use Dimensional Rift to teleport anywhere in this ship.
>>195692>Our reward is also potentially greaterWe already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.
>we have a better chance of capturing him alive.I wasn't intending to keep him alive. I want his head. I'm going to hang it on my mantle in my new lair.
>Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportationIf he is a mage, you should assume that he has teleportation spells until proven otherwise.
Summoning isn't that different from teleportation either.
I really do want to rearrange my feats once I level you so that I can swap Magical Aptitude for Magical Heritage and be able to cast Prestidigitation, mostly for mane care.
>>195693It's possible but we can't assume either way. My point still stands.
>>195694>We already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.Yes but they are observers whereas only Light Water has clear knowledge of what the Fellow Traveler is. His live knowledge is infinitely more valuable. Also from a lawful standpoint he needs to be brought back to be judged for his crimes.
>>195697I can cast speak with dead and force his severed head to confess his crimes.
Light Water can move.
The Intruder cannot.
We should eliminate the one that can move.
>>195684>>195687As per the current way the quest line has been structured, yes, Light Water is to be taken first, but that's because the assumption is Light Water would be taken first. The main reason I wanted it that way was so that the structure of the ship could be used and explored. But that might just be tedious without that much reward.
>>195698You'd be revealing your necromancer nature....
>>195699Okay....
I really wanted to capture him alive but it won't be easy and I don't think anyone will seriously try
>>195701You can definitely try to take him alive. This should be relatively easy if his health doesn't go below -9 or if he is Kira'd. You'd just need to keep Posey and Blackheel from delivering a killing blow.
Assuming he is not at any risk of being eaten by Our Fellow Traveler
>>195701>You'd be revealing your necromancer nature....Posey is an employee of the university of arcane sciences under the necrology division: her profession in necromancy is public knowledge. Speak With Dead is not a spell with the [Evil] descriptor, and using it in pursuit of criminal justice would not damage her reputation.
Also, Posey wants to kill him. He insulted her.
>>195703I see...
I will have to grab your tail again.
>>195706Posey will actually kill you this time for that. She's already in a bad mood over the oil.
>>195707But bad mares like having their tails pulled....
>>195706>>195708Maybe consider nipping her ear? I think that may be better received
Can somepony direct me to the rules for firearms in this game? Are we using d20 modern, or something else? Where can I read them?
I have asked this question a few times now. Idk what I would have done if my character used firearms.
I would like to apologize for wasting all that time running off by myself and splitting the party.
I was just so desperate to get one kill in, but it wasn't right for me to take up time like that.
>>195876I am not going to mince words. When you galloped off I didn't care one iota whether Posey lived or died, and this counts on both an IC and an OOC level. You can see this in how Cavaliere didn't even bother stopping her after combat, compared to before when he tried to save her (un)life. In fact, I went offline for a few hours once the fighting stopped because I was still very angry at you and decided to take a break.
My issues with Posey are now less to do with her in-game personality than it is how you play this game, and "oh this is how she acts" is no longer an excuse to me. You have constantly and consistently tried to strong-arm the party into doing whatever you want. This happened memorably with the tiara, which you instantly and foolishly tried to use in front of all of us. You backed down when it was obvious a fight was going to break out, but insisted on keeping the tiara and "promised" to donate it to a university. You tried to start a fight with Blacksteel when we first met him and when it was obvious he is an important character, but settled with infecting him with a necrotic cyst. We got on a radio with Light Water, and although we were unlikely to outright Speech 100 him, we were making headway until you butted in and threatened him. On the boat, when we tried to convince each other of how best to approach this very dangerous mission, you kept rushing us by rounding up NPCs on your own and comically climbing up to the
Kostroma multiple times while we were still in discussion. Below decks, we tried to determine if our first encounter could be reasoned with but didn't have much opportunity before you pulled a Leeroy Jenkins. That one was forgivable since it was obvious those were petrushkas. In the boiler room, you again tried to strong-arm us into fighting Light Water first, and Posey's comical restraint by Cavaliere destroyed what little regard the NPCs had for her. And finally, just now, with a creature that was conscious, willing to talk, and had personal reasons that we were productively engaging with, you outright sabotaged our attempt at diplomacy. Yes, it's obvious sabotage because you have been clamoring for combat and the griffon made it obvious that he hates bandits/pirates. I refuse to let this continue.
You can judge the quality of a player by how he interacts in a cooperative setting. A great player will figure out how to achieve his own goals while, at least superficially, achieving other players' goals. A good player will convince other players to pursue his goals in lieu of his own. A mediocre player will sulk in the corner when he doesn't get his way. A
horrendous player will do what you've been doing, which is openly undermining others to get his way and his way only. The way you play this game reminds me of friendslop games, or at least how Youtubers play them, where at least one guy does stupid and counterproductive things because it's funny. The difference is of course that those games are intentionally very short and hopping back into the lobby represents very little time lost. Any multiplayer game where there is an actual investment to get to a certain point will have players who will yell at you for the same type of behavior at the very best. This game we're playing represents an investment of untold numbers of hours on the part of the players and the GM pony, both in play and thinking about how to move forward. Some of us have drawn OCs or spent money to commission art for them. There's a laxity in our game that we all enjoy, but we've long gone past this point in the case of Posey. We've explained our displeasure in-character a lot and sometimes out-of-character, but for all of that there has been no adjustment.
I have basically no actual military experience, but I've known multiple people who served and what's all-important in a military context is working together as a team. This entire quest is themed after commando raids and is cooperative so this military aspect is paramount. In a real-world setting, people who are incapable of working with others get screened out fairly fast. For those units unlucky enough to have those who slipped through the cracks, whether enlisted or officer, let's say something happens to them that gets them marked as MIA.
You use the word "coquette" and gas her up as a spy but as I've said before she sucks at that too. Posey is extremely predictable. She casts charm on everypony she meets, uses absurdly high CHA skills to manipulate, and if she can get one alone casts necrotic cyst. In combat she casts frightening presence every single time and charges in blindly, not dying either because of dumb luck or because of teammate support. She
constantly flaunts her undead affinity to a degree that even modernists who scoff at old tales of necromancy would become suspicious, but we're not supposed to get suspicious because "oh she works for a university that has a school of good necromancers" even though the very head of that department has outright stated that students of the field are distrusted by society.
Posey is essentially a more capable Scrappy Doo, if you've ever seen that show. She's a millstone. We've all seen those cartoon episodes where one character drags down everybody else to their annoyance, and usually the message at the end is to not get angry at that character even though it was largely justified. The difference is that the millstone character is often mentally retarded or has a unique method that actually works at the end. Posey is not retarded, at least going by INT stats, nor do I see her method as revolutionary.
I'd write more but don't want to extend this to two posts. I've strongly considered having Cavaliere forcefully muzzle her to prevent further sabotage. She'd resist of course, triggering a fight she can't win, and because she's undead she would disappear at 0 HP. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.
>>195912>and "promised" to donate it to a universityI promised no such thing. I said I would bring it back to the university for research.
>You tried to start a fight with Blacksteel when we first met him and when it was obvious he is an important characterWhat I first tried to do was charm him, to avoid a fight.
>settled with infecting him with a necrotic cystThat's a failsafe to make things easier later.
>We got on a radio with Light Water, and although we were unlikely to outright Speech 100 him, we were making headway until you butted in and threatened him.Did you envision any scenario where this mission is finished without fighting him? He wasn't giving us any useful information, just his smug villain monologue that Posey responded to.
>climbing up to the Kostroma multiple times while we were still in discussion. We had been discussing for over two weeks irl.
>In the boiler room, you again tried to strong-arm us into fighting Light Water firstThat was obviously the plot. Even GM said it was the intended path forward.
>sabotaged our attempt at diplomacyMy 32 on Intimidate WAS my attempt at diplomacy. If 32 Intimidate didn't persuade him, I didn't think anything would.
My Intimidate is higher than my Diplomacy.
>Posey is extremely predictable.Rude... My spell list is limited. Not really saying much from the guy who does nothing but shoot a gun or punch.
>In combat she casts frightening presence every single time and charges in blindly, not dying either because of dumb luck or because of teammate support.All this time, I have been tanking shots and drawing attention to myself in combat because nopony else in this party brought sufficient healing resources, and I have been saving my actual spell slots for Light Water and the Intruder. I would have died 10 times over were it not for my self-healing gimmick, and if at least half of the attacks directed at me were directed at other party members, all of the rest of you would be dead. I don't act like a walking pincushion just because I like it.
>unique method that actually works at the end.Have we not been winning?
>She'd resist of course, triggering a fight she can't winTry me.
If you thought she was resisting seriously during the tail-grabbing incident, you might be very disappointed.
>>195912>In combat she casts frightening presence every single time and charges in blindlyMy preferred method of combat is actually summoning monsters and using ranged touch spells with Spectral Hand. The frightful presence is an always-on debuff.
I have resorted to melee as a means to save spell slots in an adventure that has had quite a few encounters without rest, while also drawing attacks to myself so that the rest of the party would not be targeted. I wouldn't fight like this if it were not tactical; I played a mage because I wanted to sling spells.
>>195912Pic very much related
>>195913So,
I think you can argue that Posey is right in many or most of these situations. What I don't think you can argue is that there is indeed a conflict between the two characters and that posey forced the entire party into a particular course of action with her's.
When the Petrushkas and Schattenwechsel showed up, they did not immediately attack. Cavaliere, Silver, and Posey all engaged them in conversation. Schattenwechsel was willing to go back and forth with all of them. He showed that he was not receptive to Posey's hostile demeanor, her bandit disguise, her desire to attack his comrade, and that he had the high ground and an easy way to retreat. But neither did he shoot at them. He set a red line for Posey not to cross, that is, that he did not want Posey closing within melee range as they talked. While Cavaliere was still talking with Schattenwechsel, Posey crossed that red line, and the griffin, unwilling to give up a first move advantage, attacked in a surprise round. This obviously sabotaged Cavaliere's efforts at diplomacy.
When the idea was conceived, Schattenwechsel was intended to be basically the second follower of The Traveler besides Light Water. He fell to the side when Light Water was able to make his presence felt and he was not. But Blackheel mentioned him by name twice and referenced a griffin as the leader of the mutiny against the former and his crew on multiple occasions. Blackheel in fact names him as the leader of the leader of the mutiny, having a more direct role than Light Water. The intent with this fight was that immediately upon the conclusion of the fight with the Petroleum Monster, a set of Petrushkas would make annoying pot shots in a surprise round from the higher level, then immediately withdraw. I added Schattenwechsel because why not? Blackheel had and has extremely negative history and disposition towards Schattenwechsel, and this is why Blackheel was the only character besides Posey targeted by the Petrushkas, and why Blackheel shot at him specifically. There was half of a second when I considered that maybe Blackheel would start combat, but this was dismissed out of hand as unfun for the party. So yes, Posey could absolutely say that this was always going to end in combat and that continuing diplomacy was a waste of time.
HoweverWhen Posey crossed the red line, Cavaliere had found a line of attack in his reasoning with Schattenwechsel that seemed to hold at least some promise. Schattenwechsel had already demonstrated that he believes much of the world operates under a system of the strong exploiting and harming the weak, that the ends do sometimes justify the means, and that he was willing to take a risk on something not from this world to solve its problems. He demonstrated that the utopia of unity that Light Water promised really was his ideal of utopia. So Cavaliere decided instead to persuade him that actually this "Fellow Traveler" was very much willing to harm the weak and was
not going to lead them to utopia, and he was going to use as evidence the fate of the snow pony village. Schattenwechsel may have already known this. He may have known some but not all of the details. He may have known nothing at all and it was the secret of the Science team.
What I can say definitively is that this would have been an opportunity to engage with the game world by referencing or making use of the dream sequence his Amber character had showing what happened in the snow pony village before this quest. This also would have been a great time for Posey's knowledge of the realm of chaos, demons, and other assorted eldrich horrors to come in use. Posey could have explained that she knows what this thing is, or what it might be. Or at least, what general category of thing it is. And if she wasn't sure, she had the knowledge to lie convincingly. She could have explained to Schattenwechsel that as best as she can tell, this thing is not interested in Harmony or utopia. It is an invasive predator that sees sapient creatures as food.
I had intended Schattenwechsel to be hostile and Cavaliere's attempt at diplomacy was not in the original plan. But neither was Silver pulling out a machine gun, Kira climbing up the pipes, or Posey chasing after him. Sometimes the spanner in the works can be fun.
I can understand Posey not wanting to spend time on diplomacy because when they tried that with Light Water, Light Water essentially said that he is too tied in with The Traveler and can't really disengage now, that he must "ride the tiger." However, the good aligned members of the party at least had or have the chance to convince the antagonists that what they are working for is a wild, hungry, man-eating tiger. Is that too much to ask for? I understand that lawful good characters can be annoying with an insistence on exhausting other ways to resolve conflict, but I still kind of feel like there were better options than provoking the enemy into a surprise round. Like, she could have said in character "You aren't going to convince them." Or could have said "If I showed you proof your 'Fellow Traveler' isn't what you think it is, would you abandon it?" Or just something other than exploding the negotiations against everyone else's will and letting the enemy shoot first without anyone else having a say in the matter.
And there have definitely been other instances. But I've managed somehow to use almost all of my available characters so I'll stop here.
>>195916>What I don't think you can argue is that there is indeed a conflict between the two characters and that posey forced the entire party into a particular course of action with her's.Okay... I can concede that.
>When the Petrushkas and Schattenwechsel showed up, they did not immediately attack. Cavaliere, Silver, and Posey all engaged them in conversation. Schattenwechsel was willing to go back and forth with all of them. He showed that he was not receptive to Posey's hostile demeanor, her bandit disguise, her desire to attack his comrade, and that he had the high ground and an easy way to retreat. But neither did he shoot at them. He set a red line for Posey not to cross, that is, that he did not want Posey closing within melee range as they talked. While Cavaliere was still talking with Schattenwechsel, Posey crossed that red line, and the griffin, unwilling to give up a first move advantage, attacked in a surprise round. This obviously sabotaged Cavaliere's efforts at diplomacy.Okay, I will admit my intimidate check did mess up attempts at diplomacy, but nobody said that they were going to roll diplomacy either. There was no plan communicated, so I did what made sense to me.
Tbh, I was exhausted from DMing all day and perhaps not paying attention as closely as I should have.
>But Blackheel mentioned him by name twice and referenced a griffin as the leader of the mutiny against the former and his crew on multiple occasions. Blackheel in fact names him as the leader of the leader of the mutiny, having a more direct role than Light Water.>Blackheel had and has extremely negative history and disposition towards Schattenwechsel>I considered that maybe Blackheel would start combatI understood that much. I inferred from Blackheel's attitude that the situation was not going to be solved diplomatically, so I went for intimidation because that is my better skill. Also, as far as pirates go, intimidation is how you deal with mutiny.
But it didn't work. Maybe if I gave someone else a chance to roll it might have worked. I am sorry.
>What I can say definitively is that this would have been an opportunity to engage with the game world by referencing or making use of the dream sequence his Amber character had showing what happened in the snow pony village before this quest. This also would have been a great time for Posey's knowledge of the realm of chaos, demons, and other assorted eldrich horrors to come in use. Posey could have explained that she knows what this thing is, or what it might be. Or at least, what general category of thing it is. And if she wasn't sure, she had the knowledge to lie convincingly. She could have explained to Schattenwechsel that as best as she can tell, this thing is not interested in Harmony or utopia. It is an invasive predator that sees sapient creatures as food.Yeah, tbh... In hindsight, that would have been interesting to discuss. Sorry for jumping the gun.
>I can understand Posey not wanting to spend time on diplomacy because when they tried that with Light Water, Light Water essentially said that he is too tied in with The Traveler and can't really disengage now, that he must "ride the tiger." However, the good aligned members of the party at least had or have the chance to convince the antagonists that what they are working for is a wild, hungry, man-eating tiger. Is that too much to ask for? I understand that lawful good characters can be annoying with an insistence on exhausting other ways to resolve conflict, but I still kind of feel like there were better options than provoking the enemy into a surprise round. Like, she could have said in character "You aren't going to convince them." Or could have said "If I showed you proof your 'Fellow Traveler' isn't what you think it is, would you abandon it?"Fair point.
I will try to communicate better going forward.
>letting the enemy shoot first without anyone else having a say in the matter.Well, actually, I had a readied action to attack before combat began, and I had hoped to win the standoff and go first thanks to my improved initiative feat, but perhaps I misinterpreted the rules.
I want to reiterate that I didn't expect there to be a surprise round, because the enemy was right there in front of us unhidden and we had our weapons drawn, so I thought it would just be regular initiative.
At least the surprise round attacks were directed at me.
>>195917So I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is that after Posey crossed the red line, Cavaliere made his post where he mentioned the Snow Pony village. Cavaliere's player also has the Amber character, who in a dream sequence played as a teenaged child in that village, watching it being taken over by The Traveler, then confronting the Traveler, and finally his POV character was killed by it, along with a small child that accompanied her. Within this quest, Silver or Cavaliere found a dead science team member who had a folder that included a detailed description of what was found in the snow pony village, and a number of photographs, including a photograph of some 80 civilians, women and children among them, face down dead and frost covered in a ditch, having apparently drowned. Light Water, head of the science team, would have known all of this. The griffin may not have known this. Even if he did, he probably wouldn't have seen the photographs. This would have been new information for Cavaliere and Silver to present to Schattenwechsel as a part of diplomacy. More to the point, this would have been a fun way for Cavaliere and Amber's player to weave together different experiences and part of the game world in a way that is completely in line with his character. Whether it would have worked is besides the point, it's what Cavaliere would have done if Posey had not stopped him. When Posey provoked the griffins, she took away Cavaleire's players ability to play the game.
Cavaliere's player chose to play a lawful good character who uses force only when other methods are exhausted. You can argue that that is annoying and that it doesn't fit with the setting or quest, but then again, you can argue the same thing about the hotheaded necrologist character. Cavaliere's player is just trying to play his character, and his character would not engage in hostility until there is no alternative. Let him play it.
Imagine that the party encounters a set of ghosts, ghouls, or necromancers that Posey is an expert in. And then immediately, Cavaliere fires a rocket from a rocket launcher at them which through its splash effects knocks Posey out and completely disables her from acting at all in the encounter, and he did this knowing it was screwing over Posey and doing it intentionally as a way to stop Posey from interacting with the ghouls, because he finds the way that she does things to be tedious and annoying. How would you feel? You'd be pissed and quit playing the game for at least a few hours, which is exactly what Cavaliere's player did last night.
And yes, it absolutely looked like you were knowingly and intentionally sabotaging Cavaliere's diplomacy because it was taking too long for your liking and you assumed it was doomed to fail anyways. Maybe that isn't what happened, but I definitely thought that you were deliberately sabotaging Cavaliere's diplomacy because he was annoying you in that moment that it happened. This is not the first time this has happened. Again, you can argue that Posey was right and Cavaliere was wrong, but I don't think you can argue that Posey undermined, or tried to undermine, Cavaliere and Silver's attempts at diplomacy in what I count as four separate instances. Maybe it's only three, but I do believe it's more than one. These are the first encounter with Blackheel where either Posey or Brie was a single move away from starting a gunfight, on the radio conversation with Light Water where Light Water started just insulting Posey and carried on talking with Cavaliere and Silver, the petrushkas in the armory where Cavaliere should have known those were Petrushkas, and here.
For the record, what set off the fight was Posey very obviously trying to close distance with Schattenwechsel so that she could be in melee range. That's why Schattenwechsel set a red line of "Not one more step." That's why Posey's very obvious violation set off the fight.
>Surprise roundMaybe it should have been an initiate roll, given that Schattenwechsel had to give an order? Then again my general position has been that if you already have a gun or drawn bow aimed at a target and you let it loose/fire, you get the first shot. The main thing is that when I designed the encounter a week before the circumstances were different and a surprise round was intended. i probably should have let Posey get off her arrow, although I didn't acknowledge it for reasons I cannot remember.
In the future I would recommend just saying in or out of character "You know that we're going to have to fight these people, don't you?" when Cavaliere or Silver start to annoy you, rather than outright sabotaging them. Same thing when they debate what to do for so long that they don't do anything
>>195919>Whether it would have worked is besides the point, it's what Cavaliere would have done if Posey had not stopped him.Question, does Cavalier even have diplomacy ranks? Was he actually going to roll the skill?
>When Posey provoked the griffins, she took away Cavaleire's players ability to play the game.Well, what Posey was actually trying to do was make them stand down and let us pass (or at least stop pointing their guns at us), not to provoke them. If she were provoking she would have just attacked them outright.
Kira was already moving into melee, and diplomacy takes a full minute of conversation to resolve. I used my standard action charm ability, hoping at least half of the enemies would be charmed by me before combat began, and when I failed to charm the presumed leader I tried intimidation.
I rolled pretty high on Intimidate, but I still failed; they must have been higher level than I anticipated.
I think I get your point though.
But yeah, gambling on an Intimidate check did in fact screw Cavalier's chance to be diplomatic, and that was pretty pretty dickish of me to do. I did not pay proper enough attention to his player's intentions and I acted selfish and reckless, and for that I apologize.
Still though, we also only had like 1 round until the giant snake closed distance and grappled one of them, so I can't take ALL of the blame for initiating combat either.>Imagine that the party encounters a set of ghosts, ghouls, or necromancers that Posey is an expert in. And then immediately, Cavaliere fires a rocket from a rocket launcher at them which through its splash effects knocks Posey out and completely disables her from acting at all in the encounterTbh, this is a poor comparison, because targeting an ally with an AoE attack is just attacking them (and so is grappling, for that matter). I, for one, have been very careful of not hitting allies with AoE attacks as a mage. I wanted to throw a frag grenade at the oil monster, but Silver and Cavalier were in melee with it. I wanted to cast Kelgore's Grave Mist in several encounters, but allies moved and I did not want to hurt them, so I avoided doing so because that is basic Spellcaster etiquette.
>How would you feel? You'd be pissed and quit playing the game for at least a few hours, which is exactly what Cavaliere's player did last night.I would not do that. I am not one to ragequit. I would be annoyed ooc, but Posey knows that the undead are normally shoot on-sight in most places and has accepted that as a danger of her profession. I would be pretty pissed at being blown effect, because that is attacking my character, and my character would probably retaliate for that... if not for the fact that being "knocked out" for Posey actually just means being destroyed at 0 HP, in which case I would have to make another character.
It would not be the first time a party member has killed my character or deliberately killed monsters I expressedly wanted to interact with (both happened in my last Chaosium game, in the same session), and it probably won't be the last.
>For the record, what set off the fight was Posey very obviously trying to close distance with Schattenwechsel so that she could be in melee range. That's why Schattenwechsel set a red line of "Not one more step." That's why Posey's very obvious violation set off the fight.I thought my intimidate check would succeed, but it didn't. I thought it would be a cool show of strength with the deliberate step as I stared into his soul, but it didn't work. I figured a failed check would initiate combat anyway, but I guess I should have asked ooc before I did anything.
>Maybe it should have been an initiate rollIt's not really important, because their attacks against me missed.
I was just trying to say that it was not my intent to endanger the party with a surprise round.
.
Maybe we could coordinate better if we announced our intentions ooc during tense situations, so no pony else messes up plans.
>>195682Like this; this is an example of me trying to announce my intentions to cast powerful AoE spells in narrow corridors that might harm party members caught in their AoE, so that we can plan around it and formulate cooperative tactics, but nopony even replied. If I just wanted to be a dick I would just do pic related.
I am at least trying to communicate. If anypony wants to make a skill check without being interrupted, just tell me ahead of time.
I will try to do better though.
Let's try it right now. The next corridor has enemies shooting from all sides at the dark. Since this means that party members without Darkvision would be flat footed anyway, they would be best off taking full-round Run Actions to clear the hallway while another character draws fire.
Maybe like this: I will go ahead and use my high Bluff mod to create a distraction and attract the attention of the enemies by taunting the Intruder, while the rest of the party runs through the hallways. If I get overwhelmed/dog piled, maybe another party member can help me out, or not.
Thoughts?
(Part 1)
>>195913>I promised no such thing. I said I would bring it back to the university for research.This is a promise considering everypony recognizes how dangerous this artifact is and how untrustworthy Posey has been so far, to the point that it's only this assurance that we begrudgingly let her keep it. I'm of the mind to have Cavaliere tail her and ensure she does deliver it to the university, because that would be in-character for him.
>That's a failsafe to make things easier later.Blacksteel coughing after she touched him added to her suspicious behavior and means none of our characters can trust her in close proximity with themselves or with anypony else. No matter how you charm Blacksteel now, you can't undo that.
>Did you envision any scenario where this mission is finished without fighting him? He wasn't giving us any useful information, just his smug villain monologue that Posey responded to.He did seem to waver before you butted in. Also I didn't write this quest so who am I to say what outcomes are possible? Talk is free so it's generally worth doing.
Let me explain why we're exhausting our options for diplomacy and why it's in Posey's interest to play along, other than "being stupid evil is annoying and makes everypony want to kill her."
OOC reasons include:
Besides neutrals/companions there are very few enemies who aren't puppets or commandos who would shoot us on sight, so attempting it doesn't feel overplayed.
Some of these creatures, like the pirates or Schattenwechsel, are either in over their heads or misled by the Traveler, which means it may be possible to recruit them and increase our strength. At the very least, not fighting them means not risking getting shot and using more limited healing potions, so we're better capable for the rest of the quest.
I personally see it as more of a challenge to win over baddies than to just kill them.
IC reasons include:
No creature besides Kira seriously thinks a fully pacifist option is realizable, but other than Posey and maybe Blacksteel the characters generally oppose unnecessary killing.
I don't know if these characters can be converted away from communism, but our PCs dislike communism and see taking them away from this regime as a sort of rescue.
Cavaliere very strongly opposes summary execution and believes in bringing criminals alive to face formal judgement. This is why he is so intent on capturing Light Water.
More cynically, the Blackhooves will be interested in what information they have and are likely to reward us for each one taken alive, no matter how minor. It's also not hyperbole to say that Light Water might be worth more than the entire rest of the
Kostroma.
Also note that the other characters have been trying to find common ground to convince each other. Cavaliere in particular knows a few things about Posey: she is vaguely evil, vain, bloodthirsty, but also greedy. She's kept talking about how she wants to steal the
Kostroma and sell it. Cavaliere knows she has nothing in common with his ideals of justice, so he has been trying to placate her greed to get her on board with capturing the mutineers. This has been basically ignored and Posey has offered no counter-arguments, to the point that when we do fight Light Water it's a given the PCs will have to hold her
and Blacksteel from outright killing him. Her only justification has been "he insulted me" which shows how irrational of a character she is. If this is how she acts on a military mission of grave importance, what is she going to do in polite society? As much as I like the idea of her setting up a trap to kill Paul Allen for a slight, what is she going to do when she is inevitably inconvenienced by a cop, or by a figure of some importance? Again, she sucks both as a spy and as a party member.
>We had been discussing for over two weeks irl.We were all annoyed but I remember you were especially unwilling to compromise until GM Pony had to tell you, "no you can't bring a bunch of weak characters on board to shoot into the hold." Strong-arming does nothing to move us along, it just makes us more peeved at you.
>That was obviously the plot. Even GM said it was the intended path forward.That's the weakest justification you can have. My OOC reasons (such as wanting to use the rifle my character's been lugging around, which he can't use in close quarters) and my character's earnest beliefs have not been addressed, so why should I budge? Yes there's been talk about how Light Water focuses the Traveler's energy or whatever, but there's no proof that he's critical to its ability to fight. It appears GM Pony gave us a choice and choices matter.
>My 32 on Intimidate WAS my attempt at diplomacy. If 32 Intimidate didn't persuade him, I didn't think anything would.If rolls are all it takes, why don't we dispense with all the fluff and just have a vaguely threatening statement with an intimidation roll/vaguely nice-sounding statement with a diplomatic roll? Evidently it doesn't matter to you how a character actually thinks or how to structure an argument to convince him. Since you're so overspec'd on CHA skills, the rest of us can sit back and do nothing while you win every roll. Why are we wasting time roleplaying in a dice-throwing game?
In all seriousness though, it's my view that the player still has to come up with a point that works, and the roll is how the character manages to sell it.
>Not really saying much from the guy who does nothing but shoot a gun or punch.If I picked ranger or monk only, then I could do only one of those options. Even so, I've used tactics and positioning whether it's worked or not. Just in the fight against the oil monster, I had to figure out the best way to stop the flow of oil, and once that was done, since the monster was resistant to either of my main attacks, I had to take out a less effectual knife to attack.
(Part 2)
>>195913>All this time, I have been tanking shots and drawing attention to myself in combat because nopony else in this party brought sufficient healing resources, and I have been saving my actual spell slots for Light Water and the Intruder. I would have died 10 times over were it not for my self-healing gimmick, and if at least half of the attacks directed at me were directed at other party members, all of the rest of you would be dead. I don't act like a walking pincushion just because I like it.Nopony has been asking you to tank. In fact it's very odd to all our characters that a supposedly academic mare is not only extremely bloodthirsty but is getting shot multiple times every encounter and managing to somehow heal despite not taking any of the limited healing potions. You couldn't make it any more obvious that you are not what you seem. In terms of tactics, there is extremely little coordination between yourself and the other players, and although you're very strong in combat nopony trusts you because running headlong into danger is so stupid.
As for healing resources, both Cavaliere and Kira were rushed into this mission after being introduced to the campaign and had essentially no time to buy healing potions, and Posey has no reason to take them being undead. That leaves only Silver to "blame" but meh. We were given some at the start of the mission, though they evidently weren't enough, and have had to scavenge what we could. I actually don't mind this because it's the same sort of resource distribution as many horror games where limited resources keeps you leery of fights, even when you can win the fight. If anything it made us over-cautious for GM Pony's taste.
>Have we not been winning?We've had a total of three encounters aboard the
Kostroma and none were intended to be very hard. Posey's contribution as a tank/DPS has been valuable but not essential.
>If you thought she was resisting seriously during the tail-grabbing incident, you might be very disappointed.Yesterday I strongly considered it, even if it would get multiple characters killed, make us fail our mission, and doom the world to an ever-encroaching cosmic threat. The main reason I won't is because Floof invested both his characters here and he obviously doesn't want them killed over stupid drama. If that happened he would reasonably want to leave the campaign altogether, and if two players left (I don't think you would stay around either) GM Pony may just close it altogether.
You should reread what you said, however, and consider why this has been a problem for us. Posey has been retarded for much of this quest yet the other PCs can't really hold her in check without risking you making her go full nuclear and doom everything. The tail grab incident was funny, but I had to talk you out of casting an AOE blight spell once Kira grappled Posey. This makes her even worse of a loose cannon, since you're holding all of us hostage if we don't go along with your strong-arming methods. Again, not only does this make her a terrible spy but you a bad player, since you can't reasonably play along. I feel like I have to belittle you because anything less subtle won't get the point across.
I hate that I enjoy doing so>>195916>>195919I agree with all of this.
>>195917>Okay, I will admit my intimidate check did mess up attempts at diplomacy, but nobody said that they were going to roll diplomacy either. There was no plan communicated, so I did what made sense to me.I think we have different interpretations on when a diplomacy/intimidation roll is called for. It seems your experience is that a roll should be called right away whenever making a point and that the roll should carry the effort. This is why you're ludicrously overspec'd compared to the rest of us, who have a broader set of skills instead. For my personal preference, I want to roll only when I'm asked to for multiple reasons. Foremost is that it allows for more thoughtful diplomacy. You can have a back-and-forth dialogue to explore a character's motivations, and then capitalize on those to deliver a convincing argument via roleplay. You can't do that with an initial roll since you can roll only once. Also, it's more skill-based in terms of roleplaying rather than luck. We've tried both methods this campaign and I far prefer the roleplay-heavy option.
As for a plan, you do realize Posey was behind Cavaliere and could whisper to him? Too much whispering might trigger escalation via suspicion, but we could at least get on the same page instead of talking over each other. An intimidation roll could have actually worked here, since we outnumbered them and were clearly battle-hardened, but not the way you did it.
>Sorry for jumping the gun.Sorry won't cut it until there's an observable change in behavior. Hate to say it, but as of right now I don't want to play another cooperative quest with you in the future because of all of this.
>>195921>Question, does Cavalier even have diplomacy ranks? Was he actually going to roll the skill?Four ranks in diplomacy, and yes he's held back by a -1 CHA penalty. Not great, but at least he can make the attempt. I wasn't going to roll until asked. Maybe, if Posey had asked where he was going with this, Cavaliere could have handed her the photographs and let her play up the threat the Traveler poses, using her excellent diplomatic skills. However, that would take a degree of compromise and roleplay.
>Well, what Posey was actually trying to do was make them stand down and let us pass (or at least stop pointing their guns at us), not to provoke them. If she were provoking she would have just attacked them outright.I hope you never encounter a mugger irl. That's not a threat or any wish towards personal harm btw, but a genuine hope for your well-being. Approaching a confident man with a gun while openly threatening him is the worst thing you can do. Also, Kira was hidden from view.
(Part 3)
>>195921>I rolled pretty high on Intimidate, but I still failed; they must have been higher level than I anticipated.Let me reiterate:
THE REASON YOU FAILED IS BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU ROLEPLAYEDIf you had gone along with our attempt at diplomacy or just shut up, or if we had coordinated on a different angle of intimidation ("We've fought countless puppets and just slew a monster made of this very ship's fuel; we can cut you down where you stand") then we may have avoided combat. You kept playing up your pirate-ness when he was very vocal about how much he hated bandits of all sorts. If you're tired from DMing, fine, but in tense moments like this you can sit back and observe instead of directly acting counter to what the rest of the party is doing.
Also, DnD has variance in how heavy you want roleplay vs. dice-throwing for various aspects of the game, but the very SRD explains there are different checks according to circumstances regarding the characters. I think GM Pony also plays according to this; you rolled an absurdly high bluff when accusing Cavaliere of "molesting" her and Stained Sand believed her for a moment despite having witnessed her entire tantrum. However you seem to rely on these over-spec'd skills as a replacement for coming up with convincing arguments towards NPCs. Again, if you want the game to just be dice-throwing instead of roleplaying then just say so and maybe we can dispense with all the effort that comes with writing realistic characters.
Again, Kira stayed hidden and was there as a contingency, which worked out.
>I wanted to cast Kelgore's Grave Mist in several encounters, but allies moved and I did not want to hurt them, so I avoided doing so because that is basic Spellcaster etiquette.There is spellcaster etiquette and then there is diplomat's etiquette. I know we don't have a designated spokespony, but although Cavaliere's arguments are often different from either Silver's or Kira's they tend to work in the same direction. Posey, for all her skill points, acts like a bull in a china shop.
>Maybe we could coordinate better if we announced our intentions ooc during tense situations, so no pony else messes up plans.We could do that as a crutch and I think we'll have to. I generally prefer communicating in-character via whispers if they're adjacent, or going off body language, but that might be too much for now.
>>195922Look, the three of us as players have to agree on what we do next, first, before we talk about the minutiae. Convince us OOC and IC that we go straight for Light Water. I wanted to go after the Fellow Traveler but now I'm leaning towards Kira's idea of using a planar ally to pacify some of our enemies.
I already apologized for my reckless behavior. Idk what else to say at this point.
Maybe I will make a more comprehensive reply later.
>>195925>THE REASON YOU FAILED IS BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU ROLEPLAYEDI will, however, take the time to say that that is NOT how the Intimidate skill works. Unlike Diplomacy, which can have a flexible DC based on RP and NPC motivations and attitudes, the Intimidate skill only requires me to be able to menace or otherwise frighten my enemy. A glare is often sufficient. Even animals and monsters can roll Intimidate (albeit, at a -4 penalty if not sharing a language). It is not a DC but instead a level check based on the enemy's wisdom score modified by their hit dice. The enemy succeeded on their level check, and so my roll failed.
I have made multiple successful coercion checks with far fewer words this adventure.
>>195923>This is a promise consideringI promised nothing. I said I would take it back for research.
Also, the Tiara is an intelligent magic item: functionally an NPC, just like all the mind controlled sailors you wanted to save. It would be a waste to throw it away or try to destroy it without exploring its plotline.
>ensure she does deliver it to the universityPosey works for the university. She is the one who will be researching it.
>Also I didn't write this quest so who am I to say what outcomes are possible? Talk is free so it's generally worth doing.Posey also warned the party several times that the mere act of speaking-to or otherwise interacting with this unidentified powerful psychic entity could have allowed it to infest your minds or dominate nearby creatures, but that was ignored. This is a basic principle in Call Of Cthulhu.
I was reckless with the tiara, but you were reckless talking to bind-bending monsters.
>Besides neutrals/companions there are very few enemies who aren't puppets or commandos who would shoot us on sight, so attempting it doesn't feel overplayed.Didn't Captain Waters tell us to avoid engaging with the communists?
>Some of these creatures, like the pirates or Schattenwechsel, are either in over their heads or misled by the Traveler, which means it may be possible to recruit them and increase our strength.>I personally see it as more of a challenge to win over baddies than to just kill them.[PLACEHOLDER]
>At the very least, not fighting them means not risking getting shot and using more limited healing potionsMost of these non-lethal tactics are very limiting and risk us further damage. We don't ALL have Improved Unarmed Strike.
Nevertheless, I have thus far cooperated with your insistence on nonlethal tactics and avoided spells that would cause bleed damage, like Summon Swarm. I cooperated all this time.
I cooperated in spite of the fact that the chance of the communists turning on us or joining with the GRU as soon as this quest is over is not zero. Every enemy spared while they are mind controlled is an enemy that we might have to fight later when then are not mind controlled. If you didn't notice, they outnumber us heavily.
Why do you think I even burned spell slots to put that Cyst in Blackheel? We had no way of knowing if he would turn us in to the GRU as soon as this is over, so I planned ahead.
But I cooperated with your pacifist route anyway, because that's what most of the party wanted to do.
>are likely to reward us for each one taken alive, no matter how minorPlausible...
>It's also not hyperbole to say that Light Water might be worth more than the entire rest of the Kostroma.I calculated the cost of the ship converted to gold pieces. Idk if the Blackhooves would pay us more than that much for capturing him alive, unless they intended to use his knowledge for nefarious purposes to reverse engineer the powers of the Intruder, in which case Posey is the least of your concerns.
>She's kept talking about how she wants to steal the Kostroma and sell it.Posey is taking her mission seriously, which is to pose as a pirate to avoid political scandal, and stealing ships is what pirates do. Maybe you should take your mission seriously too. The allies you want to make are more likely to trust greedy pirates with transparent motives than shady political operatives with unknown goals.
The Kostroma be necessary to take us home, especially since Silver wants to take all of the stalliongraders home with him to his base and they can't possibly all fit on that Torpedo boat, so this is the best course of action.
>Cavaliere knows she has nothing in common with his ideals of justiceYeah, and cooperating with a griffon paladin-wannabe is also antithetical to Posey's beliefs and backstory, but you don't see me complaining about it.
Our characters have conflicting beliefs, but between the two of us Posey was written first.
>when we do fight Light Water it's a given the PCs will have to hold her and Blacksteel from outright killing him.Maybe that's a sign that you don't need to spare him.
>"he insulted me"He didn't just insult her, he insulted her master, her powers, her country, and her profession.
And yes, she is vain enough to kill him for that.
>what is she going to do in polite society?You have already seen how Posey behaves in polite society.
She is awkward, archaic and still learning the nuances of modern life. That's kind of the point of her character.
>what is she going to do when she is inevitably inconvenienced by a copShe's passed through multiple military checkpoints already. She gets through them with a combination of charms and charisma checks, like any Sorceress would.
>>195939>Again, she sucks both as a spy and as a party member.Oh, fuck off with that. You are in no position to complain about me being bad at my job. You're supposed to be a mighty ascetic mystical hero who can fell giants and solo small armies, but you have the same DPS of all the lvl 3 subelite warriors we fought on this adventure. You're supposed to be the resourceful one who is always prepared, but you didn't even have your items sorted out when you arrived (a wise ranger would have brought his own cure wand), and you had to jettison half of your equipment because you were too weak to carry it. You tried scouting ahead, and after failing your stealth checks and meeting a warband you jobbed so hard I that had to sacrifice TWO of my precious flying minions (which I cannot replace; also they cost a total of 2150 gp in spell comments) to rescue you so that you could retreat; and then I had to make an Intimidate check to scare off that same warband (albeit, I did enjoy doing it) because you were too low HP and you didn't want to fight them.
Glass houses, bitch.
>you were especially unwilling to compromiseAll I wanted was to enter the ship and leave most of the airponies behind. I came up with several ideas.
>That's the weakest justification you can have.Why do we even need a reason to go kill fight the villain that has been foreshadowed all year?
>the rifle my character's been lugging around, which he can't use in close quartersSince when can you not shoot a rifle in close quarters? You have point blank shot and precise shot.
Where are you getting these gun rules?
>so why should I budge?Well, if you prefer to have a "it's what my character would do" moment, you could just sit by yourself while the rest of the group fights.
>Yes there's been talk about how Light Water focuses the Traveler's energy or whatever, but there's no proof that he's critical to its ability to fight.You also don't know if the Intruder can even be destroyed at all in its dormant state. It survived a meteoric impact: maybe it can't even be destroyed.
Light Water is vulnerable to bullets. Light Water is capable of moving/escaping. NPCs like Blackheel want to get rid of him. That's all the reason we need.
>If rolls are all it takes, why don't we dispense with all the fluff and just have a vaguely threatening statement with an intimidation roll/vaguely nice-sounding statement with a diplomatic roll?Okay.
>Evidently it doesn't matter to you how a character actually thinks or how to structure an argument to convince him.No, well-phrases dialogue could occasionally earn you a +2 circumstance bonus to a skill check, or plausibly even lower the DC or even eliminate the need to roll at all.
>Since you're so overspec'd on CHA skillsPosey is specialized in Bluff and Intimidate because infiltration and conquest is her job, and it is necessary for her success and survival. She doesn't have diplomacy ranks, just racial/synergy bonuses and high charisma: force of personality.
>If I picked ranger or monk only, then I could do only one of those options.And I am a sorceress who charges into melee with a sword. We both play in odd ways.
>>195924>Nopony has been asking you to tank.I'm still taking bullets that would otherwise be directed at you. This turned out to be necessary with all the encounters we have fought on this adventuring day.
>You couldn't make it any more obvious that you are not what you seem. You can bring that up after the question if you want, or even right now if you want.
I did not make this character with the assumption that I would be able to keep the disguise forever.
>I actually don't mind this because it's the same sort of resource distribution as many horror games where limited resources keeps you leery of fights, even when you can win the fight. If anything it made us over-cautious for GM Pony's taste.Well, the books do say to adjust encounter difficulty in low-magic games specifically because combat is balanced around players being assumed to have frequent access to healing magic, but we have managed so far.
Not that I am complaining.
>We've had a total of three encounters aboard the Kostroma and none were intended to be very hard. We have had four encounters, not including the one Posey fought by herself. Two waves of humanoids, one giant monster, and one wave of humanoids accompanied by a mid-high level elite NPC.
This is on top of the three adventuring days of encounters we have already fought through on this adventure, but we are managing. We are winning despite odds.
>The tail grab incident was funny, but I had to talk you out of casting an AOE blight spell once Kira grappled Posey.Do not attack me and I will not attack you.
>It seems your experience is that a roll should be called right away whenever making a point and that the roll should carry the effort. This is why you're ludicrously overspec'd compared to the rest of us, who have a broader set of skills instead.I did not put all these ranks, features, traits and other resources into pumping my intimidate mod to not use it.
>As for a plan, you do realize Posey was behind Cavaliere and could whisper to him?Then why didn't you? If you had a plan, you had the opportunity to share it.
>An intimidation roll could have actually worked here, since we outnumbered them and were clearly battle-hardened, but not the way you did it.I met all the conditions to make an Intimidate check. Don't make assumptions when you can't see behind the DM screen.
>Sorry won't cut itThen continue seething.
>Approaching a confident man with a gun while openly threatening him is the worst thing you can do. Well, if I encountered what seems to be a powerful sorceress with a robe made of shadows and a crimson halo in a land where mage could turn my skin inside out with a glance or redirect bullets or lay powerful curses on those who sleighted them, and that mage does not seem at all scared, I might hesitate before attacking them.
Would you mug Darth Vader? I wouldn't.
>irlD&D is not real life.
>>195925>THE REASON YOU FAILED IS BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU ROLEPLAYEDNo. Intimidate is an opposed level check. I met all of the conditions to roll it. I can intimidate with a simple glare if I want to, and I like that because it fits my theme of a character with an imposing presence.
You are only assuming it failed because of "roleplay" because you did not like it. You have no information to base that off of.
>the very SRD explains there are different checks according to circumstances regarding the characters. I am aware of how the SRD and DMG handle the Diplomacy and Bluff skills, and how their DCs vary by factors of ten or more based on circumstances.
Now look at the Intimidate skill: do you see those same circumstance factors there? No, it is an opposed level check. It is the least-powerful but most-reliable charisma skill.
> I think GM Pony also plays according to this; you rolled an absurdly high bluff when accusing Cavaliere of "molesting" her and Stained Sand believed her for a moment despite having witnessed her entire tantrum. That was a shitpost that I did not intend to actually get away with.
>I know we don't have a designated spokesponyThis is usually the character with the highest Cha skill mod.
>Convince us OOC and IC that we go straight for Light Water.Blackheel wants to do it, and it's his ship. I said this IC.
OOC, GM wants us to do it. It is easier and simpler to do content in the order that the GM is prepared for.
>Kira's idea of using a planar ally to pacify some of our enemies.What is Kira even doing? What powers is she using?
This is a little off-topic, but if anyone lurking is familiar with the country of Sweden, could you tell me what the must see locations and sights of Sweden are? Especially towns, cities, and castles. Thank you
>>195943I'm sorry for shitting up your thread, GM. I weighed the cost of replying, and it seemed worse to just ignore it this time.
I will try not to engage with arguments going forward. I don't want to get baited into another weeks-long pissing contest like I was with Brie's player.
>>195944But please try to take the wishes of other players into consideration. Even if you don't agree with it, or can't understand it, it is better to have a game wherein everyone is having fun and more or less getting along with others, rather than just begrudgingly tolerating each other.
>>195945Alright. I will try harder.
I have mellowed out and can see I was typing too angrily earlier.
>>195939>tiaraThose are important details, yet Posey still forced the issue without consensus. I can overlook it because (aside from the reckless handling) it's in-character, but it showed what was to follow.
>Didn't Captain Waters tell us to avoid engaging with the communists?He never told us about the eldritch world-destroying horror.
>Most of these non-lethal tactics are very limiting and risk us further damage. We don't ALL have Improved Unarmed Strike.It hasn't been productive or safe for Cavaliere either. I said not fighting them, not non-lethal attacks only. I am not going to force party members to avoid lethal attacks because that would be idiotic when their lives are in danger and the stakes are so high. I really meant dissuading combat when we have a chance to. That pirate boarding party is still somewhere, so we might get another chance.
>Nevertheless, I have thus far cooperated with your insistence on nonlethal tactics and avoided spells that would cause bleed damage, like Summon Swarm. I cooperated all this time.Thank you, but if you suggested using swarm against a particularly large and dangerous group we might actually go along with it. I actually have more objection to using it against Light Water like you want because I want to capture him alive. I know you really want to kill him but I feel like your justifications aren't as strong and we should agree as a party one way or the other first.
>unless they intended to use his knowledge for nefarious purposes to reverse engineer the powers of the Intruder, in which case Posey is the least of your concerns.We really won't know if his knowledge is at all useful until we interrogate him ourselves, and then if we really have to we can chuck him overboard. If anything though I think the tiara is more directly dangerous since it's an active mind-control artifact that we're taking back.
>Maybe you should take your mission seriously too.The worst I've done as Cavaliere is convince Bokli to come along by suggesting citizenship in Equestria, which no pirate can reasonably promise, but it worked because I pay attention to character motivations. No, he hasn't been LARPing as a stereotypical pirate, but neither have the actual pirates we came across (yes, I know there are canonical stereotypical pirates in this time period, that is if you take the movie as canon). Really, the worst damage to our cover has come from having to countermand your "orders" which have been reckless and without consensus. Likewise, Posey took the nominal position of "captain" without any approval, when I'd much prefer designating Silver as such due to in-character leadership experience and his neutral alignment.
>The Kostroma be necessary to take us home, especially since Silver wants to take all of the stalliongraders home with him to his base and they can't possibly all fit on that Torpedo boat, so this is the best course of action.I do now agree on that because we got the boiler running.
>Yeah, and cooperating with a griffon paladin-wannabe is also antithetical to Posey's beliefs and backstory, but you don't see me complaining about it.My point was that despite differences Cavaliere has been trying to work along with her motivations to his best ability, but this is entirely one-sided. Not storming off/attacking isn't enough since we're stuck on this quest together and have to find a common solution.
>He didn't just insult her, he insulted her master, her powers, her country, and her profession.>And yes, she is vain enough to kill him for that.Okay, so how do we convince her not to do that? Because that reason certainly won't convince Cavaliere or anyone else, and I don't want to have to worry during a boss fight about how to hold back a party member as soon as he's low HP.
>>195940>You're supposed to be a mighty ascetic mystical hero who can fell giants and solo small armies, but you have the same DPS of all the lvl 3 subelite warriors we fought on this adventure.He's not supposed to be anything other than a fast-drawing western duelist who's also good at throwing punches, but prefers to solve problems without violence using his other skills. Also adding guns from Modern throws off DPS figures, and of course a revolver will do less damage than a SMG. That's why I brought the ATR.
>You're supposed to be the resourceful one who is always prepared, but you didn't even have your items sorted out when you arrived (a wise ranger would have brought his own cure wand)That's an OOC issue because I didn't even know what that was.
>you had to jettison half of your equipment because you were too weak to carry itMoreso the fact that Cavaliere is reliant on dexterity bonuses, and found a powerful weapon to use. I'm sure you would have done the same in his shoes.
>You tried scouting aheadIt wasn't so much as the encounter itself (which was an unlucky happenstance and due to
all of us missing that encounter) but trying to take out the squad leader by himself. If Kira wasn't getting gunned down I would've avoided it.
>I came up with several ideas.I was uncharitable there. You did actually try to come up with a plan we'd agree to before eventually getting frustrated and attempting to leave.
>Where are you getting these gun rules?If I recall, GM Pony required that the ATR had to be fired supported, which is less than idea in close quarters. Cavaliere could go prone anywhere, but it would leave him vulnerable.
>Well, if you prefer to have a "it's what my character would do" moment, you could just sit by yourself while the rest of the group fights.Right now it's Posey (and Blacksteel, but he's a NPC) vs. Cavaliere. You can't leverage popularity against me. Diplomacy stats notwithstanding, Cavaliere makes better arguments than Posey, and he's also willing to give Kira's idea a try while Posey has been rather dismissive.
>>195940>You also don't know if the Intruder can even be destroyed at all in its dormant state. It survived a meteoric impact: maybe it can't even be destroyed.It has a hard exterior but it has an orifice, and we have enough explosives to blow it to kingdom come.
>Light Water is vulnerable to bullets. Light Water is capable of moving/escaping. NPCs like Blackheel want to get rid of him. That's all the reason we need.Blackheel's wishes aren't relevant unless if they help us to do what we need to do. Those other considerations are worth weighing as a party. Do we risk a harder, maybe impossible bossfight but while we're at full-strength to make the secondary objectives easier, or do we risk serious losses doing the secondary objective to hopefully make the main bossfight easier? There is no obvious answer. There's also the consideration that if we do fight Light Water, we might not have to kill him to weaken the Fellow Traveler. Maybe knocking him unconscious is enough like with the petrushkas, and there's the slim chance we can convince him to reject the Fellow Traveler and let him atone, which will probably kill him but achieve the same ends.
>She doesn't have diplomacy ranks, just racial/synergy bonuses and high charisma: force of personality.I don't know what bonuses you have, just that you have more capability for charisma than any other character in the game, yet it's being squandered. It reminds me of a retarded person trying to write a smart character: to him, it sounds smart, but it's laughably bad to someone who gives it seriously thought. See the classic comparison between
Sherlock and
No Country for Old Men. It's the same deal with Posey and Cavaliere. Posey is naturally charismatic to an absurd degree yet every creature in the party either outright hates her or views her with suspicion. She bosses others around, doesn't even pretend to care about the well-being of others, and regularly throws fits of rage. She basically acts like a barbarian and is oblivious to that because she brute-forces her charisma checks. I hate to toot my own horn, but while Cavaliere is not naturally charismatic (in fact he has a malus), he's checked on party members to see how they're doing, coordinates with the team, and even gave away his food and booze to the various stragglers and prisoners. Does that mean everypony is willing to die for him? Not necessarily, but I'd like to think they're less likely to turn on us. Silver has also done a good job of winning over creatures along our way
even if his primary motivation seems to be getting in their pants. Meanwhile, Posey seems to take the communists turning on us as a given, and although using them as a means to an end is in line with her character, she never came up with a convincing sob story like how greedy capitalists forced her into a life of piracy.
>I'm still taking bullets that would otherwise be directed at you. This turned out to be necessary with all the encounters we have fought on this adventuring day.Thank you, but still, heed my words.
>I did not make this character with the assumption that I would be able to keep the disguise forever.She just arrived in the city, still has basically nothing, and will be in that location with these characters who have been around her. Unless if you intend to kill them for being witnesses, it would be wise to keep your cover from being blown.
>We are winning despite odds.And more importantly, we are having fun.
>Do not attack me and I will not attack you.You do realize we were trying to save Posey's (un)life, right? If she went to Light Water I was not intending to follow, because screw these strong-arm tactics. Maybe some creatures would have went with you but we would have lost those too. Please stop doing things the other party members hate and we won't be causing trouble for you, either. It reminds me of how on the boat you wanted to dissect dead griffons despite there being a time constraint and despite being in full view of other creatures. I know we all have acted before thinking things through but geez.
But no, if Posey decides to gallop off again to her own peril, we won't stop her this time. If she tries to kill a creature the rest of the party unanimously agrees to leave alive, or otherwise causes unnecessary risk for the rest of us, there will be problems.
>I did not put all these ranks, features, traits and other resources into pumping my intimidate mod to not use it.You'll get your chance, even if not on this quest. The thing is, you could have used it here if you communicated a plan to use it. However, that would require trust from the other party members, and that is squarely in the negatives currently.
>Then why didn't you? If you had a plan, you had the opportunity to share it.Cavaliere was the first to see them and to communicate with them. I think it's courtesy to follow the lead of whoever's first to initiate conversation, and if you have a better idea, to present that first. If Posey saw them first and used intimidation, while Cavaliere tried diplomacy without getting her approval first, I would be in the wrong there. I will confess however, that this was happening too fast for me to keep up with what the other party members were saying while I was honed in on writing up my main argument.
>Then continue seething.You'll get your fights. However, this particular attempt at diplomacy, with the unique approach I was taking, is forever gone. I won't forget that.
>Well, if I encountered what seems to be a powerful sorceress with a robe made of shadows and a crimson halo in a land where mage could turn my skin inside out with a glance or redirect bullets or lay powerful curses on those who sleighted them, and that mage does not seem at all scared, I might hesitate before attacking them.>Would you mug Darth Vader? I wouldn't.The griffon was allied with a (in his mind) benevolent demigod from outer space. Conventional magic wouldn't cut it.
>>195941>You are only assuming it failed because of "roleplay" because you did not like it. You have no information to base that off of.Maybe I'm mistaken then and an intimidate check wouldn't have worked at all. However, take it from GM Pony's own words:
<When the Petrushkas and Schattenwechsel showed up, they did not immediately attack. Cavaliere, Silver, and Posey all engaged them in conversation. Schattenwechsel was willing to go back and forth with all of them. He showed that he was not receptive to Posey's hostile demeanor, her bandit disguise, her desire to attack his comrade, and that he had the high ground and an easy way to retreat. But neither did he shoot at them. He set a red line for Posey not to cross, that is, that he did not want Posey closing within melee range as they talked. While Cavaliere was still talking with Schattenwechsel, Posey crossed that red line, and the griffin, unwilling to give up a first move advantage, attacked in a surprise round. This obviously sabotaged Cavaliere's efforts at diplomacy.>It is the least-powerful but most-reliable charisma skill.I was considering giving Cavaliere more points in intimidate but he's deficient in a number of other skills he needs and that's of less priority.
>That was a shitpost that I did not intend to actually get away with.It was funny though, and I'm glad you did it.
>This is usually the character with the highest Cha skill mod.I would pull my hair out if we had to rely on Posey for every communication. Nopony would be left alive.
>Blackheel wants to do it, and it's his ship. I said this IC.He is a political commissar, and I don't think that even factors into the ship's regular chain of command. In fact, I don't know who is the acting captain in this situation. The implication is that the survivors are so decimated and scattered that there's no clear leader.
Also, as a political commissar, he is more committed than your average communist, and giving him what he wants now risks that he'll turn on us once it's opportune, especially when he realizes we're headed for Equestria. It's really a good thing that you gave him that cyst
though I still stand by that this unnecessarily undermines your cover.
Finally, he can't call the shots anyway. NPCs can guide us, support us, inform us, or refuse to go with us, but they can't lead. You can like them, hate them, make love to them, but they don't make the decisions. We as players do. Right now, we have three players: you, myself, and Silver/Kira's player, so two of us should agree on one course of action and the third should abide by it (nothing says one HAS to, but it's good to do so).
Personally, while I think fighting the Fellow Traveler now is tactically the smartest choice, I'd like to see what Kira's idea is, if it doesn't take too much time.
>>195944In Brie's case it was just spite-filled hurling of insults for its own sake. I'd like to think this has been marginally more productive, even though I've said things I shouldn't have. You've already said you're sorry, but I just want to have confidence that we won't be butting heads over and over the rest of this. It would be better to have a wizard hurling fireballs into crowded rooms than this.
>>195946Thank you!
Magic resources update:
So far I have used:
One lvl 1 spell slot on Chill Touch (seven touches not expended) in combat
Two lvl 1 slots (Versatile Spellcaster) to cast Necrotic Cyst (to control Blackheel later)
Two lvl 1 slots to cast Disguise Undead (averting mane crisis + intimidating/glamorous costume change in preparation of a boss fight)
The remaining power in my scroll of Animate Dead (creating Monstro)
This leaves me with:
Three lvl 1 spell slots
Five lvl 2 spell slots
Misc abilities:
Racial Spell-like abilities:
Detect Magic 1/day (Magic-blooded), unused
Read Magic 1/day (Magic-blooded), unused
Nystul's Magic Aura 1/day (magic-blooded), unused
Gaseous Form 1/day (seven round duration; Red Curse), unused
Spellstitching SLAs (now lost)
Create Magic Tattoo 3/day, expanded, active
Tenser's Floating Disk, expended, active
Unseen Servant, expended, active
Supernatural Ability:
Negative Energy Burst (7d4) 1/day, unused
Unused consumable magic item resources:
"Magic bullets" (unidentified) x5
"High caliber magical silver bullet" x1
"Magic rifle crystal"
Arcane Scroll of Ray Of Enfeeblement (CL1), (6 charges)
"Hyena mask" (unidentified)
"Hyena totem" (unidentified)
.
I think I have enough left for this boss fight due to Posey's extreme, but I am going to be drained after any hard fights.
If anyone else wants to try using the magic bullets or the rifle crystal, you can be my guest. I tried to figure out what they do years ago, and I am pretty sure DM has forgotten what they actually do by now.
The bullets are all at least +1 weapons. I think magical ammunition resizes like most worn magic items do.
>>195943I can't come up with anything worthwhile seeing in Sweden. Like, 'Uppsala Domkyrka' was impressive when I saw it, but compared to churches in Europe, it's really not that special. And while there are statues and stuff to watch, it kinda is less than anything out in Europe.
The Vasa Museum is pretty neat, but again its really just an old, previously sunken ship.
I guess there is Runes ingraved in stone at certain places to check out, that's pretty neat.
And there's that law: Right to roam, that enables you to pick berries and mushrooms and such in private forests and such. So feel free to check out nature.
Otherwise, it's not Norway in terms of landscape and views, sadly.
Otherwise, I would direct you to the internet for things I might have missed. I genuinely don't know if there really is anything, especially to impress an American. We are a very humble country in that regard.
We do have a bunch of statues and fortresses scattered around in the country tho. Then again, it's not as big as the ones elsewhere.
If you wanna meet up, we can do that, too. ^^
I think I came up with a plan for how to have Kira do her ritual and also finish the debate for where to go next at the same time. I just need to type/research.
>>195971>>195973 →>>195975 →>>195981 →So, anyway, I was thinking that while Kira did her little prayer ritual, I could draw some sigils and do some chants with a Forgery check and a Bluff check to make Light Water believe that we are actually about to invoke divine intervention, which would make him desperate and cause him and the Intruder to attack us, and then we could fight them.
I just sort of default assume that they must have some limited degree of dimensional travel because most mages do and the Intruder was able to travel across space-time and summon countless creatures. I thought that if we can get them to teleport to our location, we could give ourselves a surprise round while also being able to fight them without being dogpiled by summons.
Also it would conveniently end the discussion about where to go which boss to fight next.
>>195954Thank you, Sven!
>>195953>and I am pretty sure DM has forgotten what they actually do by nowNo, that was ammunition for a magical rifle (it's a thing in Equestria at War, look it up there)
>>195984I meant the bullets, but okay.
I will just assume that they are +1 bullets.
If anyone wants them, be my guest. The Traveller might have damage reduction, so ranged fighters should consider it.
SoOn the one hoof, our main constraint in advancing - the availability of fluffernoodle's player - seems to have cleared up at least somewhat.
However, I am not perfectly available at the moment, and I am not sure how long this window would advance.
I would very, very strongly recommend that any planning or ideas or what have you that needs to be settled out of character happen now, instead of waiting until we can move, then finding that there is a problem.
>>195985Was it on the torpedo boat? Then it's either for the anti-tank rifle, or for a griffonian-style rifle.
Like in real life, basically every faction has its own bullet design. So whatever faction that you find ammunition with, that's the faction that ammunition works with. Did you find it in diamond dog scavenger ship? Then it's Equestrian/New Mareland (they use the same bullets). On the Kostroma? Then it's Stalliongradian. On the pirate boat? Then it's Griffonian Empire. And so forth
>>195987>I would very, very strongly recommend that any planning or ideas or what have you that needs to be settled out of character happen now, instead of waiting until we can move, then finding that there is a problem.I want to go assassinate Light Water. Blackheel agrees and that appears to be the intended resolution.
Cavalier wants to go destroy the a Intruder. The Intruder is the main monster, so I say that has some merit. However, I also have a strong feeling that the Intruder might not actually be destructible unless Light Water is defeated first and/or it is coaxed out of dormancy.
Kira wants to go do her prayer ritual thing that is somehow supposed to free all of the thralls from control. I have yet to get my religion check resolved, so idk. If it would actually work though, that does sound like the best thing to do, because it would eliminate some 50% of enemies we have to fight (especially since the rest of the party wants to go the pacifist route, and although Posey specializes in fighting subelite humanoids she's frustrated that they seem to be immune to fear).
(Silver doesn't get a vote because his player is playing two characters. Unless he agrees with me, of course.)To compromise, I suggested picking a ln advantageous location to do Kira's ritual, and then using one of the enthralled sailors as a camera to show the enemy, to bluff Light Water and/or the Intruder to come out and fight us themselves, and then we just fight whichever of them shows up.
This plan of course only works if either the Intruder or Light Water are capable of casting dimensional door or otherwise rushing to the scene (flying/slithering) though, but if we do Kira's thing at all I think it's worth a shot. It would be a very Call Of Cthulhu way to defeat the monsters, and thematically takes back control from an enemy that has been calling the shots throughout the adventure.
Tbh, I don't have very strong feelings about what to do next, so long as we can actually advance the plot.
>Like in real life, basically every faction has its own bullet design. So whatever faction that you find ammunition with, that's the faction that ammunition works with.Magic ammo doesn't resize? I guess that makes sense.
>Did you find it in diamond dog scavenger ship? Then it's Equestrian/New Mareland (they use the same bullets).I found the rifle crystal and all 5 magic bullets and also the high caliber silver bullet in the diamond dog ship.
Anyways, just offering them to anypony who wants to use them.
If no pony uses them, I will just sell them after the quest is done. I might keep the high caliber silver bullet though, if only because it looks like an anti-vampire weapon and it would look good excellent on my desk as a prop for a Necrology consultant.
>>195973 →>>195978 →>>195980 →>>195979 →The reason that Posey was using innuendo was because she wanted to keep her bluff secret, so that the Intruder doesn't get wind of her plan to ambush it.
If players are receptive to the plan, she will use innuendo to communicate it to them to (with the exception of Kira, because she has to lack ulterior motives for her prayers to be genuine).
Does anypony have thoughts to share?
>>195989I'm receptive to it. Kira will be very happy to free all of the new friends!
>>195983I like this idea, since it reverses the playing field to be in our favor. Cavaliere could set up his ATR in the best possible place.
>>195987>I would very, very strongly recommend that any planning or ideas or what have you that needs to be settled out of character happen now, instead of waiting until we can move, then finding that there is a problem.I agree. We should either do Fluffernoodle's idea seriously, or a feint, or maybe both simultaneously.
>>195988>However, I also have a strong feeling that the Intruder might not actually be destructible unless Light Water is defeated first and/or it is coaxed out of dormancy.A strong feeling is not the same as knowing, and while DnD doesn't always play by hard-and-fast logic, I do think it's the better option to attack the source. Because it's in a hold, our option for retreat is better than in the narrow corridors of the upper decks.
So we have a plan then?
Okay, let's pick a place to do Kira's thing. I don't want to do it in the boiler room. Maybe somewhere above deck, so I can use Momstro.
Also, GM, can you give me the results of my knowledge check?