Please keep out of character discussion contained to this thread. The previous one hit bump limit
/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal
1583 replies and 259 files omitted.
>>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 item
Does 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.
> 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
Does 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.
>>192976
As 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.
As 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.
>>192976
Fair 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.
Fair 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.
>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 killing
My 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.
>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 killing
My 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-earth
A 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.
>Even so the DM in some games would offer half-price for talking or sneaking, so the "best" option was always scorched-earth
A 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.
>>192977
People actually read this?!?!?!
>>192972
I 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 holding
If 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.
People actually read this?!?!?!
>>192972
I 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 holding
If 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 value
That 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
>Posey may have been raised by nobility and see only gold, gems, and magic as having any kind of value
That 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
>>192969
We 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 everything
Point taken
>guns
Now 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 nuggets
They 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?
We 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 everything
Point taken
>guns
Now 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 nuggets
They 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 heavy
Hence 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 character
Yeah, 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-40
No, 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
>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 heavy
Hence 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 character
Yeah, 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-40
No, 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
>>192976
Have you read Weapons Of Legacy? It has done mechanics you might be interested in, pertaining to a weapon's hidden history.
Have you read Weapons Of Legacy? It has done mechanics you might be interested in, pertaining to a weapon's hidden history.
>>192999
Oh, 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.
Oh, 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.
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.
>>193003
Thank you GM! This is extremely helpful to have as we go into the final stretch of the quest.
>30% incapacitated
Those 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.
Thank you GM! This is extremely helpful to have as we go into the final stretch of the quest.
>30% incapacitated
Those 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.
>>193003
Okay, 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.
Okay, 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.
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.
>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.
>>193013
I 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 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.
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.
>>193043
When Posey returns to make this her private island, she will move into the keep as her vacation home.
When 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.
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.
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?
>>193272
Sleep 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.
Sleep 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.
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.
>>193301
Crewing 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.
Crewing 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 equipment
The enthralled crew should already be taking care of that.
>we would have to dredge the Kostroma out of the sandbar which is a complex and difficult task without specialized equipment
The 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?
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.
>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)...
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
>>193461
Pic very much related. I like this idea
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
>>193461
Pic very much related. I like this idea
>>193479
Which one of these has a speed similar to the Kostroma? And the ship the pirates have?
>I like this idea
Oh 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/Megalodon
No 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.
Which one of these has a speed similar to the Kostroma? And the ship the pirates have?
>I like this idea
Oh 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/Megalodon
No 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.
>>193484
No, we are not feeding the bodies of sapient creatures to sharks. Go ask the Navy SEALs or somebody.
No, we are not feeding the bodies of sapient creatures to sharks. Go ask the Navy SEALs or somebody.
>>193487
Oh 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 ^:)
Oh 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 of
Well, 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.
>Must be other megafauna for a Leviathan to feed off of
Well, 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.
>>193489
>>193506
Speaking 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.
>>193506
Speaking 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.
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 hurt
I was thinking of having my puppies or monstro pick me up and carry me down.
>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 hurt
I 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?
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.
>>193654
I 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.
>>193654
I 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.
>>193665
Clubs, quarterstaffs and slings are 0 gp and can be crafted with whatever garbage lying around. Any unarmed character can arm themselves with those.
Clubs, quarterstaffs and slings are 0 gp and can be crafted with whatever garbage lying around. Any unarmed character can arm themselves with those.
>>193683
What 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
>>193682
although 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.
What 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
>>193682
although 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.
>>193685
I 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.
I 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 everyone
If 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.
>I still say we should take everyone
If 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.
>>193694
Okay, 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 earlier
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" 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.
Okay, 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 earlier
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" 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
>>193696
No, 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...
>>193696
No, 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 safe
You 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
>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 safe
You 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
>>193698
I'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.
I'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.
>>193699
We 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 behind
I 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 minds
As 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 tide
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.
>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.
We 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 behind
I 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 minds
As 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 tide
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.
>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 them
I 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 character
Idk 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 way
This 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 party
This 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 way
This 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 them
This 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 to
I 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 takedown
Idk 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 perspective
I 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 ship
Well, 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?
>>193479
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.
>>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 to
I 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 takedown
Idk 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 perspective
I 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 ship
Well, 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?
>>193479
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.
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 on
This.
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.
>>193699
This 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 boat
Why 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.
>>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 on
This.
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.
>>193699
This 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 boat
Why 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.
>>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.
>communists
Some may be a danger, others may be more amenable after seeing the horrible stuff their government was involved in.
>pirates
Zara 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.
>griffons
They 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 results
Could 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.
>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.
>communists
Some may be a danger, others may be more amenable after seeing the horrible stuff their government was involved in.
>pirates
Zara 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.
>griffons
They 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 results
Could 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 god
Gods 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 be
Well, 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.
>jihad
A 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.
>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 god
Gods 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 be
Well, 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.
>jihad
A 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.
>>193696
I 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 range
Only 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 him
Let him come
>>193706
>multiple posts complaining about being nerfed
Bruh, 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.
I 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 range
Only 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 him
Let him come
>>193706
>multiple posts complaining about being nerfed
Bruh, 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 character
Yeah, 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 off
Understood. It was wrong of me to bring it up anyway.,
>complaining about being nerfed
Alright, 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.
>waifuable character
Yeah, 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 off
Understood. It was wrong of me to bring it up anyway.,
>complaining about being nerfed
Alright, 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
>slings
I 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 Water
Good 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.
>hallucination
No 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.
>buff
I 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.
>weapons
The 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 notes
Tell me about it. Never forget to backup regularly.
>slings
I 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 Water
Good 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.
>hallucination
No 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.
>buff
I 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.
>weapons
The 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 notes
Tell me about it. Never forget to backup regularly.
But yes, me want Zara
>>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.
>busted
It 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 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.
>busted
It 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.
I kind of don't know how unicorn horns work in this game at all.
>>193737
Mine/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.
Mine/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.
>>193741
I think capturing Light Water in darkness would be better. If we can't see, then neither can his minions.
I 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.
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.
>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 vehicle
I still want you seize the Kostroma if possible.
>, it makes sense especially since GM pone probably it there for a reason
Yeah, obviously.
>I will say, however, that I do have one major issue with our current plan for Light Water
Three creatures is only slightly less than a full party.
>Odds are the Traveler is probably granting him some abilities
There 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?
>Okay, now that I've thought on it it makes sense to use the torpedo boat as our escape vehicle
I still want you seize the Kostroma if possible.
>, it makes sense especially since GM pone probably it there for a reason
Yeah, obviously.
>I will say, however, that I do have one major issue with our current plan for Light Water
Three creatures is only slightly less than a full party.
>Odds are the Traveler is probably granting him some abilities
There 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
>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
>>193758
I 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.
I 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 deckhouse
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.
>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-quarters
Don'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 rifle
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.
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 across
These 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.
>I don't know how useful stealth will be in the main deckhouse
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.
>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-quarters
Don'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 rifle
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.
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 across
These 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.
>Kira
Those 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.
>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.
>Kira
Those 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.
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.
>>193766
It'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.
It'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 bows
Rapid 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 rules
It 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 ringing
She 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 them
Don't even bother with using those. It takes like an hour to get even the most minor benefit from that skill.
>>193764
I 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
>>193769
Idk 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.
>It's two rounds unless if compared to bows
Rapid 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 rules
It 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 ringing
She 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 them
Don't even bother with using those. It takes like an hour to get even the most minor benefit from that skill.
>>193764
I 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
>>193769
Idk 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.
>>193770
Okay. 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
Okay. 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
>>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.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%93_Will_Travel#Paladin
Obviously 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 first
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. 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.
>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.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%93_Will_Travel#Paladin
Obviously 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 first
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. 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.
>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 Traveller
I was under the impression that Silver and Cavalier wanted to minimize casualties, but that works too.
>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 Traveller
I 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 tired
This 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 troops
This means getting off the island before we are pinned down and killed
>fighting suddenly stops on the island
This 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 restarted
Light 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.
>>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 tired
This 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 troops
This means getting off the island before we are pinned down and killed
>fighting suddenly stops on the island
This 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 restarted
Light 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.
>>193781
We already have it spelled out for us in prose:
>go to the boiler, then go to get Lightwater, then attack the Traveller
So that's what we will do. No more debate.
We already have it spelled out for us in prose:
>go to the boiler, then go to get Lightwater, then attack the Traveller
So that's what we will do. No more debate.
>>193781
There'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.
There'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.
>>193785
No. 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.
No. 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.
>>193783
Yes 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 noncombatants
My 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.
Yes 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 noncombatants
My 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.
[Reply] [Last 50 Posts] [Last 100 Posts] [Last 200 Posts]
You are viewing older replies. Click [View All] or [Last n Posts] to vew latest posts.
Clicking update will load all posts posted after last post on this page.
Post pagination: [Prev] [1-100] [101-200] [201-300] [301-400] [401-500] [501-600] [601-700] [701-800] [801-900] [901-1000] [1001-1100] [1101-1200] [1201-1300] [1301-1400] [1401-1500] [1501-1600] [1601-1683] [Next] [Live (last 100 replies)]
1683 replies | 267 files | 569 UUIDs | Page 1