Please keep out of character discussion contained to this thread. The previous one hit bump limit
230 replies and 19 files omitted.
>>188543Not that I can think of. Can you?
>>188545Well
>You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.)I think it's you who would call for the charisma check when it occurs, which would reveal that the target is charmed.
>>188504>>188541 →This was the best I could type while high and drowsy. I made my skill checks and gave some accompanying text. GM can interpret the results now.
My full participation is going to be limited for a while.
>>188549Rest well, poner.
While tempted to seize the opportunity and do the gunfire intimidation now that Posey has said their spiel - decent overall though it did take Brie a modicum of restraint to not react to "my" crew - I will wait until other players have had the chance to comment
Rules on failed intimidation rolls impacting NPC disposition or not, let's not take that risk. I don't mind if Brie continues to be the "unhinged" one of the group–if anything that helps sell the pirate narrative–but let's not turn the little help we get against us.
>>188557Let's not get it twisted. Brie doesn't want to HAVE to compel their actions, but he already knows how to do so.
>>188559Fuck it, this is the OOC thread.
Nonlethal scenario:
1a. Smoke grenade
1b. Blinding egg
Objective: Disable ready gunstallion (hoof-cuffs) and then "discourage" other guard from getting touchy-feely (with hooves OR bullets).
Violent scenario: Lets not go there
2. Hope that the party realizes Brie isn't insane, that this is intended to be useful in the long term even if panties are bunched and jimmies are rusleled.
Regardless how it ACTUALLY plays out, Brie is ready to tell the Commissar AND his lackeys who is in control, and its (ahem) Captain Posey.
"She wouldn't be captain, except she tells the wind where we're going. It's like in that old fable "Dune" where he who controls the spice melange'." Brie says with a mild mix of disingenuity, coupled with a sense that "this is the best pretext we're likely to have, so go with it.
Assisting Posey's Bluff check, which grants only the +5
>>188560Why would you attack them?
If they don't want to help us fight the Traveller, we could just walk away.
>>188563Ideally one wouldn't, but if they're not willing to assist, they can join the chain gang
>>188564And they will be told this, if push comes to shove
>>188565And when I say this, I mean Brie really doesn't want to use the blinding eggs; lots of reasons. But he also is only playing at the pretense that he couldn't individually disable this entire 4-pony crew single-handedly. Yes, it would be uncomfortable, but there was the time somepony decided to cast daylight over the sneaking rogue and he VERY ANGRILY still won.
Does Posey still have that goat? Just curious
>all these posts
Its contextual, and relevant to Brie's body language and presentation. He's quite tired of the hamby pamby "Golly gee, i dunno if this is a major threat" nonsense, and is ready to start compelling ponies at gunpoint.
Or killing them outright, thats also on the table
Hey Posey, do you have a picture of your character's cutie mark?
>>188599Without intending to detract from this question, let it be observed that GM remains in a timezone approximately 6 hours in advance of CMT
>>188599I do not have a picture, but I have a description:
>Posey's Cutie Mark is a dark sun surrounded by a red flare. It also resemble a buboe from the black plague. It fills out her soft and rotund flank very well. The Dark Sun above a white sky is Posey's mark of destiny.A the concept of a dark Sun was originally meant to be a parody of Celestia's cutie mark, going with the antichrist theme I was going for, but also ropes in a couple d&d references such as the black sun of Cyric from forgotten realms or the Dark Sun of Athas. It's also meant to be simple enough to be open to interpretation as to whether it refers to a red giant (Dark Sun) or a ring of fire ("corona"; "crown") eclipse.
The concept of the Sun going dark is a classic trope vampire apocalypse stories, and it is also a biblical reference to the moment when Christ died (Posey is a Necropolitan, created through ritual crucifixion; she still has little heart shaped stigmata on the bottom of her forehooves).
Rosey Ring is a reference to the Ring Around The Rosey nursery rhyme, which is a reference to the bubonic plague: A plague buboe looks like a black dot with a red ring around it. "A pocket full of posies" refers to filling ones pockets with flowers to mask the stench of plague, which also refers to Posey's skill at hiding her undead nature. The white horseman of conquest is also associated with pestilence.
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>>188601Is impressed enough by the lore to simply nod in approval
>>188606 →without having translated the commie-de-gook of either party:
If one HAS to lie, then it is best to keep the elements of deception as small as possible, that they can maximize the sincerity of their other words, such that only a skilled polygraph operator or a very skilled behavioral analyst can detect the deception.
So, without being able to retrieve the ko-fi account from which my commissions were to be delivered to, the artist in question DID post a bat mare that bears quite a resemblance to what instructions and 'source' material the artist was provided with. Well mostly, she's supposed to be fully dressed in a chinese-style dress. In any case, while not certain that this image is in any way related, it still serves as a decent example of Lacey Row
That was not me,... I use a comma when I do that
>>188545Is the torpedo based on the Mark 14?
Ooooh! Can the dialect of donkeys ('asinine') be brainrot?
Skibidy rizz, mewing sigma?
(It would be hilarious)
>>188656 →>Why would he be disheartened? If anything, there's been a multifold interest in it, and thats just amongst the players. And reminder, he can shut me down with the quickness. IDK what you're on about. I think you as players need to trust more in GM, if I'm being honestHe already told you that he was, and he already told you why. Scroll up.
Just wait for him to reply. Additional posts are not necessary so long as he's not active.
>>188655 →>I'm trying to assist your convoluted charisma check, in such as I can.Also, this is not how skill assists work. You need to use the same skill to aid another, so intimidation is not helping my bluff, or my diplomacy. Wanderer's Diplomacy to improve the attitude of an NPC towards an ally. Based on the results of your check, you would only be undoing the results of mine, potentially even making the NPC hostile (or, only hostile towards you; charisma skills work with one-to-one attitudes).
I did not ask for an assist. The results of my check would not benefit from just a +2, because they already hit the DC.
It is possible to coerce a target to treat them as friendly before using Diplomacy to improve that to helpful, but that's risky, and order of operations matters. I know this because Intimidate is my single highest skill and it is my specialty, but I am not using it because we agreed on a plan for negotiation, and we should at least wait and see if the first one worked before we move to coercion.
>no one is fucking postingWe are not posting because GM is not responsive because he has a life and said he would be away for a while, and without GM there is no game.
Just wait for GM like everypony else.
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>>188659>he already told you that he wasYes, weeks ago. And yes, I do trust that GM is pony enough to be able to process emotions over a several-week to month period, such that Brie could have such a potentially onerous discussion without things depreciating into outright conflict. If not, I trust GM to advise me in a similar capacity that he talked me 'down' from firing a potentially onerous "reckless" discharge of firearm.
Do you not trust GM to adjudicate when the time comes? I do, if that doesn't come across. My issue is playing a 'challenging' character who tests enough of "boundaries" to be consistent, but without pushing anyone too far.
I did mention I want to retire this characters, to make way for a much more reasonable bat, assuming we can survive this encounter.
So what if I'm the monster?
>that's not how skill assists work
We can debate about how "skill checks are intended to work" if we want, but we already fucked the pooch if we're intending an "uncomplicated" skill check. We fired off half-cocked before Brie even decided to interject. So if there's to be complaint about overlapped and/or inconsistent skill checks, check your boy who wants do do 4 different checks at the same time. Tell me about how that's supposed to work. In the meantime, I don't care whether the commies like us in the aftermath, I just wanna know if they're dying now or not.
And I want them to know that their choices will expedite how quickly they're somewhere between "unharmed" and "violently murdered"
Let's draw this out shall we?
If we're pirates, why are we "asking permission"? If we're pirates, why are we not making sure they're dead? Come on now, how committed to the 'role' do you want to be? I know, it's JUST a story, but stop with the clutching of pearls, please. If (you) have 'issues' getting your hooves dirty, please step aside and stfu for those who don't have such issues.
>>188669Oh don't say that, it would be funny
>>188667 →>Brie is given the Tucker Carlson squintBetter than nothing at all, at least they're paying attention enough to realize that they could die if they don't answer right
>Don't get shot
What I mean to say is, don't make the mistake of assuming that this is a time to get friendly and talk about our feelings. Lets stick to business and leave the personal aside.
>>188679Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Kira's a very friendly creature, though, it's in her nature.
>>188672Pic
>>188679Bro is literally saying "the fate of Equestria does not rest on us making friends
>>188695Yes, but let's not pretend we're gonna be pen pals and shit
>>188695To this end, the best we're likely to end up with is a triumphant "Group Photo" with the government-provided camera, that yes will be sent out if we exchange social medias.
It will be glorious. But lets not get hung up on details, let's get a move on. I know YOU know what the parameters of time are but WE don't, and I/Brie assume that we're wasting it with needless banter.
>>188697Interacting with GM pone's interesting and rich NPCs is never needless. Anyways, as long as we're not being egregious with our time management, I'm sure we'll be fine. And I'm certain GM pone would alert us if we were in danger due to time.
>>188721At least PRETEND to be pirates
Frenly reminder: My objective is to - as quickly as possible - get to where Stix and Scones can play too! ^_^
OMG THEY'RE FINISHED! I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to get them cuz my ko-fi got,... compromised. Presenting, Ms. Lacey Row
>>188772Very nice
rona-chan OC.
But seriously I'm glad you got it bro(s) and it looks great.
>>188773>rona chanREEEEEEEEE, you only say that cuz of the dress Xp
>>188772Nice. Does the first scene involve her breaking out of a lab in Wuhan? Perhaps sneaking out of a cage in a wet market?
>>188773cannot unsee
>>188778 →>>188782 →Before this devolves into another unintended argument, let me explain. Because this game has equal parts DnD modern and classic 3.5, I don't know how you intend technology to translate. The rogue skill "disable device" is SUPPOSED to pertain to swing traps, gear traps, and magical traps, where the only explosives are associated with bat guano.
Without prompting, I don't often know what appropriate skill checks I should be doing. And since generally rolling for unrequested skill checks is not what you're supposed to do - let alone spamming skill checks (which btw is a form of a demand) because you don't know what checks to roll - is not something I'm going to do. So, if you want to RETCON Brie making his skill checks, that's fine. But no, you're not 'finally' going to realize that this 'still needs doing'
>>188779P.S. If keep it up. I don't HAVE to describe lewd scenes with her,...
Okay. I went ALL the way back and reread ALL the posts from the moment we got the initial description of the plane, which occurred on January 10th.
Without going back over all the exchanges, this is the point that occurred most recently after Brie initially disabled the trigger mechanism but before things went off the rails.
>>188124 →>>188128 →Yes, they were not directed, which as I have said means they were implicitly directed at GM.
All of Brie's dialogue from that point was to make small talk with Cavaliere, as he was supposed to be there with Brie working on things. But when Cavaliere was suddenly making dialogue with Black Heel, I assumed that the party had returned and were having a group discussion outside the airplane. Not sure how that's to be resolved, but it invalidates ALOT of what Brie knows about the situation, specifically Black Heel and his commies, as well as all of Cavaliere's dialogue with Black Heel.
Unless we want to play it that Brie and Cavaliere set the equipment to be easily removed and then tracked the party down (which is an easy thing to explain since they can fly)
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The problem SPECIFICALLY occurs - not to point fingers - at
>>188308 → when GM had Black Heel addressing Chevaliere,
and orange stallion responding to Brie's spiel about "untethering the traveler", which up until then had not involved the other group.
Does anybody oppose Posey going off to do the bone whale thing I described earlier? I think it is
I guess we could go together, idk.
I've mostly given up on sacrificing the prisoner, even though making an Icegaunt in this context was something I was excited for. Since we're going for the route of leaving the prisoners alive, the scary ice zombie ally isn't as necessary.
IDGAF what anyone does, just don't treat it as your own personal Odyssey
Let me rephrase:
Most of us have a victory condition of GETTING OUT ALIVE, cuz we're actually alive and not ironically. Yes, we can actually die. Oh yes, you can 'die', but it's complicated; it isn't complicated for us. So if you wanna fuck off on your power fantasy, sure.
I have no intention of dying, but risk is part of the thrill of adventure.
Besides, having a floating bone creature is useful in case extraction plans fail and I need a ride off the island.
Also I can't think of any other way to carry a bomb that weighs more than a ton.
Posey can take the Run action and hustle indefinitely, so she can cover ground faster than most creatures of her speed when travelling over land at full gallop.
>>188799Arent you already dead?
>>188799>>188800For the record, this was purely a shitpost and in no way intended as a dig.
>deleted posts
Apologies, its set to not auto update, so Cavaliere's post didnt update before I posted
You know, if I had cast Disguise Undead, I might've been able to bring that aquatic ghast with me. An swimming minion could have been useful around now. Oh well, at least Gloomy is well-guarded.
>>188814 →>It would take only a couple of sentences from the each of us to figure that part out. There is no need to be so reckless.We've been talking about this for months now, tbh.
It's March. Let's get the show rolling.
>That might be something she decidedly does not want, depending on the magic she intends to useYour character's actions are yours to decide. I will not opposed them so long as they are not acts if aggression towards my character (which includes theft).
I already described what magic Posey intends to use OOC. She's animating bones to create minions for the boarding of the Kostroma, particularly the advanced Bone Lurker out of the leviathan bones.
Posey would prefer not to have witnesses in the act, but the party will see the results of her work anyway.
Cavalier being there is useful since he is a Ranger and can therefore safely navigate to and from the whale bones. Since his cruising flight would be about as fast as Posey's undead hustle, he would be able to keep up with her without exhausting himself.
... It would also mean that he would be there to stop her from immediately flying to the top of mended horn to sacrifice the enthralled prisoner to create an Icegaunt though, which she might have been tempted to do in the absence of a flying witness...
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>>188818Again, apologies; as a player I thought you were trying to hijack the decision, and as a character Brie doesn't trust the idea of Rosie going solo while she has the 'keys'. No objections
>>188820>while she has the 'keys'What "keys"?
Silver has the feather token we need to escape.
I guess she has her tiara, but that's not a key to anything
(...unless...?)I guess the prisoner is still on her floating disk.
>>188823I missed that, I have it in my notes that Rosie took the feather tokensince she asked for it
>>188823Thanks for reminding me, we really should take the prisoner off your hooves. Less chance he gets sacrificed that way, and Black Heel would likely not appreciate it if Posey returns less one of his sailors.
>>188825Pretty sure its too late for that
>>188833
Oh no, I'm SO scared.
>>188834I do hope you're doing your pushups. Prolly not, cuz yer a bitch
>188835
Easy on the salt. It's not good for your blood pressure.
>>188836Oh right, cuz my blood pressure is the concern. Not like you who needed everything paused for them how many times for whatever the fuck reason? Shutup you goddamn diva.
>188837
>Oh right, cuz my blood pressure is the concern.
Judging by how hard you are sneeding, yes.
>you who needed everything paused
I have never asked for the game to be paused.
On the handful of occasions where I was unable to play in the past two years, I almost always specifically said the party was free to proceed without me.
>Shutup you goddamn diva.
No u.
You are being massively gay for acting offended on someone else's behalf and shitting up the roleplay thread with ooc posts.
If Cavalier has a problem with me asking that he roll a survival check for me, he can tell me himself. He does not need you to speak for him. I will accept such a statement from him, not from you.
>he's still shitting up the RP thread
>>188838Who's sneeding? Oh, you said that a half hour ago. Aren't you precious.
>I never asked for anything paused"GM I demand answers to these 7 questions, and these 5 dice rolls"
"While you're doing that, I want to be doing this other thing, does that require a roll?"
"While it's that other player's general turn, attend to me, would you?"
I could go on.
You literally "Dread Pirate Roberts"ed over everyine, leaving no one any option but to start an ill advised argument OR pretend youre captain.
I never once used the word "captain" in that post.
And in that post, Posey explicitly described to Blackheel how the crew regard eachother as equals.
>>188859With a display like that Rosie is either the captain or the jester. Which is to be assu.ed?
Apolologies:
>equals
Because they were! Historically, pirate crews were 100% democratic. Oh, the captain led how they did things, bit what they did next was put to a 1 to 1 vote. So yes, you didnt say captain, you just painted it on your chest
Whatever you say, m8.
It's not like the story actually matters. It only matters that Blackheel believed it.
>>188864Well, anyone left alive should either believe/testify that we're pirates, or be sworn to some sort of secrecy, as a mission parameter.
Consider this a friendly notification
It was
>>188864>its not like the story really mattersThats the ARROGANCE I would address
Consider the idea that you're a part of a bunch of people who wanna get to the next thing.
Consider no one cares that you're a "extra special thing". Consider that you're verisimilitude accounts for playing along with the group. Consider that the group doesn't care/wont for leaving undead cuz "Its funny to me".
Focus
Please, everyone check in, decide on a not completely stupid course of action, and commit to it.
>>188873My plan was to animate the whale bones, and then fly them towards the Kostroma.
I really want to do that, but I can be persuaded to do otherwise.
>>188875>>188877 →OMG, literal feels from that
>>188873holdsIt would be a lot easier for me if we scheduled the next game day, just so we can get started
>>188879Agreed.
Until then, we're currently at "Meet back at the airplane"
>>188879>>188880Get started doing
what? Agree on a plan and then we can go about executing it
>>188881You are irritatingly easy to irritate. I assume what he means by 'get started' is "continuing onto the next leg", as we're branching off.
And yes, agreeing on the plan and executing it is the first step toward that. All we're lacking now is an agreement on where to meet back.
>>188881>>188882Easy to inadverdently irritate, that wasn't an aspersion. It's hard for me to not come across offensively. Someone once described me as "The most negative person they had ever met" and my response was "That' one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me". When it comes to shitposting - irl or online - can't stop won't stop. But it's almost never persaonal (if it is, you'll know). And if I'm being honest, GM is only one of several facets to the scheduling equation
>>188881I didn't mean to upset you, GM pone, I'm sorry. I'm just saying that it's hard to know when stuff's happening like this without any prior indication.
Anyways, something that would be useful for determining a course of action would be figuring out travel times and distances. Like, if two groups completing different sets of objectives would line up chronologically in parallel with each other. In that case figuring out a meet-up spot would be simple since there wouldn't be much if any waiting around for either group.
The objectives part of it is simple. We have four things we need to accomplish before going to the Kostroma: reanimate the leviathan skeleton, get the explosive and machine gun(s?) from the crashed plane, find the airponies and the airship, and find the last group of surviving commies. The explosive, machine gun, the airponies, and the airship should be self-explanatory: we need the first two for our fight against the Traveler, and the second two for our primary objective on the island. I know Posey keeps talking about the leviathan whale skeleton in terms of fighting the Traveler, and it
would be useful for this aim, but there's two things that are far more important we need it for: first, for it to carry the heavy explosive to the Kostroma, and second, for it to disable the GRU ship so it can't follow us when we make our escape. Rescuing the commies makes Black Heel happy, and it means we have more numbers in our favor for the final fight. If we know how long travel times between the different objectives are, and add on however long we think it will take to complete them, then we can figure out who completes what and when, like if we should split up into different groups and meet back up elsewhere, or if we should stick together to keep things simple.
Also, I'm going to state this loud and clear to everyone so there's no confusion: I want the commies to join Silver as his followers. They're Silver's version of Posey's cursed crown or Brie's airship. That's another reason why I want the commies rescued, and why I will be genuinely furious if people start deliberately killing them or causing them to get killed. This includes the possessed commies, since killing or banishing the Traveler should cause them to be freed. So please, let's not sacrifice any of them to create undead horrors.
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>>188885>I/Silver want the commiesNoted, taking 'killing them' off the table. Brie doesn't know that yet, but he won't escalate anymore.As a player, I don't have a preference whether we go first to make the Commissar happy, or find/rescue the marines/airship; GM made the Tucker face at me earlier, so I'm suggesting we make the Commissar happy.
>the GRU have a shipThe GRU have a ship!>greed intensifiesAnyway, I don't think we should worry about itineraries, I think we should make like Nike in the 90's
I was holding my breath all this time to avoid killing the millennial post...
>>188892Magnanimous of you
Taking the last of the pre 900's digits, let's look at this honestly. While as a purist, I could criticize GM for availability issues, there are far more glaring availability issues.
It's funny to me how the MOST available and read-to-play player is the one who is begging for engagement. It's almost like in order to play this game with any reliability you have to be unavailable and unwilling for lengthy periods.
Wouldn't it be nice if the people 'committed' to playing this game actually showed up once in a while.
Okay, can we agree on this course of action?
>Go from airship (current location) to whale bones to do Posey's plan
>Fly whale bones back to airship (current location)
>Pick up bomb from airship with whale bones (huge creature with a Str score high enough to carry it as a light load)
>Carry bomb from airship to Kostroma
>Board Kostroma
>Defeat Traveller's minions in a way that minimizes casualties
>Destroy Traveller
>Continue on to locate missing airponies
Note that I stopped planning here, because we don't know what developments will occur during or after the fight with the Traveller. If the fight reveals to be unwinnable, we should retreat and abandon the siege of the Kostroma in order to prioritize the airponies.
Really, we don't have to split up to visit the whale bones. I just proposed that because it would take less time. If splitting the party complicates things, we can just stay together.
I would like to proceed to the whale bones now.
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I'm going to need some information from GM pone. Namely, I'm going to need distances, travel times, dangers between the objectives, a full list of both the party members and the NPC followers we have, and locations near the Kostroma that could be used as rally locations.
>>188903Travel time was the only reason I wanted to split the party, just to take advantage of better overland speed for not needing to rest.
But I don't care about the specifics. Just take me to the whale bones.
>>188903>distances>travel times>dangersThe whaling station is down the hill hugging around the side of the cliff, maybe 10 minutes away going northwest. Maybe 8 minutes if that could be cut down. There are no known dangers between here and there, but monsters can appear out of thin air.
The exact location of the airponies is unknown, but a travel time of 40 minutes, or at least 30 minutes is likely given that the indicated location is on the opposite side of the island. The location is almost the same distance from the whaling station as it is from the cliff. The crashed airplane is maybe 5 minutes, perhaps less, from the current location on the cliff. The way to the airship requires going through the center of the island, either along the hill crest or along either side of the hill. On the north side of that hill is the bay where the GRU ponies are landing. On the south side is the bay where the Kostroma is located. The medieval village is maybe 20 minutes, perhaps less, from the current position and the whaling station alike. The modern village and the small pier are the closest obvious landmark to the Kostroma, being located at the base of the hill by the south bay. The Kostroma is hundreds of feet out into the water, evidently caught on a submerged sandbar. There is also what seems like a medieval keep on the east side of the bay.
The NPCs include the four griffins who are conscious, four mind-controlled ponies (including Sea Stone on the floating disk and three who are presumably tied up), two critically injured ponies (or was it three?), and the conscious ponies include the two who were rescued from the village, Pippette, the engineer who was with her, and then the four at the cliff, who are Blackheel, Starfire, Steppe Eagle and Rustiing Pine
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>>188907Thank you for clarifying.
>>188910 →In case anyone cares, a Bone Lurker is neutral. Most mindless undead like skeletons and zombies are evil (despite lacking thoughts or personal agency).
This being said, skeletons and zombies were made Evil in 3.5e (probably because they decided that Paladins should be allowed to smite zombies), and the Bone Lurker is a monster printed before the update, so at DM's discretion he could make it Evil in line with other mindless undead in 3.5e. Or perhaps he may decide that the monster is unique because of the residual magic in the noble leviathans bones.
Or perhaps GM just doesn't want me to reanimate the bones at all, in which case please just tell me clearly so I can give up on it and move on.