Please keep out of character discussion contained to this thread. The previous one hit bump limit
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>>192128Not this year, but I assumed that enough of the others were going that game progression would be postponed for these couple weeks. Have fun.
>>192129I know GM pone went, at the very least.
>>192128Raises HoofI did!
>>192052Sadly he's not super communicative
>>192129Between pony cons, trips out of the country, and an out of town trip, this coming weekend is the first weekend in eight weeks I will be home.
You shoulda seen him in the auction
>>192128I hope I can make it next year! Work doesn't make it very easy and I have not felt well the past few days.
>>192135I don't know how you get any time in for adventuring ponies. Hooves crossed Tenebrous will show up soon.
So. Quest Ideas. I have a few.
Fruit of the Tree of Life
This is a larger idea, and would be spread over a period of probably three in game days and take place over multiple locations. This is directly inspired by the Uncharted video game series, and thus hopefully has an Uncharted/Indiana Jones kind of feel. Planning has so far centered on Silver, but things can be modified.
In essence, Silver has stumbled upon a fruit that seems to have the power to reverse aging and presumably create biological immortality, besides other likely health benefits. There is some evidence as to where it came from, and the quest involves following that trail back to its source, to a "Tree of Life." Silver is not the only one to learn of the fruit, and so an antagonist faction likewise starts to look for the Tree. Chiroptera is my top contender now.
This essentially is an adventure looking into jungles, under old cathedrals in cities, and through multiple war zones.
Ace of Hearts
Does anyone remember how, in the early days of the Iraq War, the US military had a "playing card" designation for Sadam Hussein and his sons? No? I'm the only one who remembers that? Uh... So I have this completely original idea that the Black Hooves in Equestria have organized the priority of their "Most wanted" as playing cards. One specifically, the "Ace of Hearts" is nearby(ish). The Black Hooves are willing to pay a very large amount of money for the capture of this target, especially if she can be taken alive, as she may be bait for the Ace of Spades.
The basic idea is this: go up north to the location, set up bait, then try to infiltrate, then set a trap, then have a massive battle against a high level character, then leave before dangerous enemy reinforcements come.
>>192146The second one sounds interesting to me, since Posey is gathering funds for her conquest, and raising her profile as a mercenary among the Blackhooves could further her cause to eventually take over Baltimare. Posey has experience in abduction, infiltration and hostage negotiation as well from her service to the League on the shores of Farbrook.
It being nearby(ish) is also better for Posey, since she is a single mother.
The tree of life sounds interesting too, particularly with the travel through Warzones and ancient ruins, but idk if I could resist the temptation to try to turn it into a Tree Of Death.
>>192146>Fruit of the Tree of LifeCavaliere has no interest in gallivanting for a Tree of Life, even though he would be well-suited for such an adventure, since his quests center around more grounded problems. Also, the logical end result of success would be that he would turn younger, and I designed him to be the age he is quite deliberately.
That said, Amber would be a good pick for this quest since she is fond of old-style romance. She has not had any real quests since infiltrating the police station either. Finally, she had that odd dream about a mysterious ancient slab to find, and this would be a perfect starting point to get clues as to its whereabouts.
>Ace of HeartsThis is definitely a good pick for Cavaliere as though he's not necessarily a bounty hunter, retrieving dangerous people is something he does regularly. It's right up his alley, especially when it comes to outwitting an opponent and persuading him to face justice.
>>192146What exactly did the fruit from the tree of life actually do besides lower age? It was definitely useful to Silver, who was over middle age, but idk what it would really do for the rest of the party.
I'm more interested in the Tree Of Life itself, since it would be a potentially very valuable magical discovery. If it's anything like the Tree Of Life that I'm familiar with, its endless wellspring of life energy would also make it a boon for a mage looking to siphon it for defiling magic or other life-draining sorcery, without resorting to slaying entire cities or poisoning the earth for miles of radius.
There's also the plausibility of watering it with the blood of sacrifices to turn it into a Tree Of Death, or taking a fruit from the tree and corrupting it to cultivate a tree or evil, which could also be useful for a mage interested in becoming a Kaisharga.
I would certainly be interested in at least knowing the location of the tree.
>>192130Btw, what did Silver do with the seeds of the Tree Of Life? If it's not too much to ask, I would be interested in planting one on Curwhinny's farm after I buy it, and magically tending to it to possibly create my own magic tree overtime, just as an experiment. Iirc, a tree of life's fruits have a percentile chance of growing true if magically tended to.
Posey has vampiric blood, so even if she fails to produce a tree of death she might be able to cultivate a Gulthias Tree.
>>192151The Tree Of Life would certainly be a compelling sight for a Bard to write a ballad about.
Cavaliere's quests can be very clear-cut. Find X who has gone missing due to any sort of reason, reconcile Y and Z ponies who are at blows, help get an individual or family get back into the good graces of society, etc. Shorter quests would be preferable since he's doing them repeatedly as a profession, but it's not a requirement. They may or may not involve violence depending on how malicious or desperate antagonists would be. Variety is good, and there doesn't necessarily have to be an overarching plot for Cavaliere, since he's a fully developed character for the most part. His adventures can be episodic.
Amber Sunset is just about the opposite. She can hardly be called an adventurer at this point and needs to have a story laid out in front of her. One possibility is to have small, low-stakes adventures to help her find herself and gain attachment with Mustard Trim, starting out with something like exploring the underground city. After that she encounters the other PCs more often and can share in their adventures. Or, if you're bold enough and feel up to the challenge, you might write a whole bildungsroman where she is thrust into a high-stakes plot and has her relationship with Mustard simultaneously reinforced and tested. You can tell such a story with a particular character only once so I would like it to be satisfying if attempted at all. Truthfully, though, I'll be happy if I get to play Amber at all.
>>192147>It being nearby(ish) is also better for Posey, since she is a single mother.Auntie Debride will happily look over her foal
>>192156>What exactly did the fruit from the tree of life actually do besides lower age?>I'm more interested in the Tree Of Life itself, since it would be a potentially very valuable magical discovery.Have you played an Uncharted game, or at least, watched an Indiana Jones film? The MacGuffin being rather mysterious and possessing powers that are not understood by the adventurer's looking for it is an essential part of the plot in Indiana Jones and
especially Uncharted.
Silver would know that the fruit has the power to reverse aging to at least some degree, and to heal old wounds, including scars. And beyond that, it is unknown.
>>192151>Cavaliere has no interest in gallivanting for a Tree of Lifescrunchy>>192166>Find X who has gone missing due to any sort of reason, reconcile Y and Z ponies who are at blows, help get an individual or family get back into the good graces of society, etc.I hadn't thought of non-violent quests, now that I think about it....
>>192166>bildungsromanI don't speak German
Posey's quests for now would mostly revolve around increasing her personal power, be it magical, economic, social, or political. Posey is interested in forging powerful connections, amassing funds, and making breakthroughs in magic.
>Auntie Debride will happily look over her foal
Hisses! He's mine!
I guess that is worth considering though, if duty calls.
Other ideas include:
Mountain Town
The Occupation forces have an issue with a small copper mining town in the mountains where one, and now two of their representatives have gone missing or died mysteriously. Cavaliere, Silver, or a group must investigate. This could also be from a private quest giver.
Dragon Slayer
Fairly straight forward. There is oil in the badlands, and a specific dragon is attacking crews. Kill the dragon. Ideally this quest would be done on motorcyle or some other means of quick travel. The point is quite simply, kill a dragon. A unique part of this quest is using radio to direct "Fox Hound units," a set of planes that act as air support to keep the dragon grounded. For the whole party.
Water Treatment
A sea or lake monster has infested the reservoir or perhaps the water pumping station of Baltimare in such a way as to actually inhibit the flow and cleaning of Baltimare's water supply. Remove it. For anypony.
>>192173>Dragon SlayerA Dragon's corpse would be nice to have.
>Water TreatmentCould be drowners, in which case this would be a job for a necrologist.
More dragon related ideas:
Burglary
A long time ago, a dragon took up residence in the ruins of a castle just outside of Baltimare. It has grown as the years have gone by and is now fairly formidable. There is a suspicion that the castle was used to hide treasures secreted away during the seige and the revolt. Burglarize the castle and escape
Missing
The Island of the Dragon's Lair has a small enclave given to New Mareland as a refueling station for aircraft. A pony left the enclave onto the main island and has since gone missing. Try to find him.
>>192176>BurglaryHmmmm, treasure sounds like fun. Also another dragon to reanimate.
>MissingThis sounds decent too, but tbh we've been on this rescue mission for a year now, so I think I want to do something else.
>>192173>Mountain TownCavaliere would get involved only if there was an apparent threat of the occupiers moving in with force if he didn't.
>Dragon SlayerThe badlands are dragon territory. Cavaliere would not attack the dragon but he may devise a plan to enable it to escape or something.
>Water TreatmentThat's intriguing. Of these ideas it's the most likely for Amber to get involved in, perhaps accidentally as an urban explorer.
>BurglaryEither Cavaliere or Amber could attempt this. But, if the dragon was already there then who put the treasure in the castle and why?
>MissingDefinitely one for Cavaliere.
I should say that one idea I've loved for a while now is that it's the
monster that approaches the party as the quest giver
Actually come to think of it, the oldest version of the "burglary" idea was that the
dragon was looking for help tracking down something stolen from its horde.
>>192179>Another dragon to reanimateIt won't be easy to kill. If it's a Blackhooves issued quest, they will ask that the dragon
not be killed, as its death would displease many of the locals.
>but tbh we've been on this rescue mission for a year nowscrunch>>192180>Cavaliere would get involved only if there was an apparent threat of the occupiers moving in with force if he didn't.why though. But money
>The badlands are dragon territory. Cavaliere would not attack the dragon but he may devise a plan to enable it to escape or something.The idea is that an oil well was built in a location in the badlands, then the dragon attacked it. So now the dragon is being killed.
>That's intriguing. Of these ideas it's the most likely for Amber to get involved in, perhaps accidentally as an urban explorer.Maybe, though the monster isn't exactly one Amber would likely want to face
>But, if the dragon was already there then who put the treasure in the castle and why?This again was originally thought of as given by New Mareland. Basically Equestrian forces evacuated, or tried to, items of value from the city during the war, or maybe Popular Front rebels did the same in the revolt. Either they placed it in the castle as a kind of safe keeping, or they somehow lost the items in the woods and the dragon took the items to the castle as a part of its horde.
>>192185>the monster that approaches the party as the quest giverI do work on behalf of vampires and Liches.
Are we able to find our charges
Cavalier rolled a modified 20 to track a creature that was travelling over firm ground less than 24 hours ago. Even with poor visibility, the check should lead us right too him. Kira is tracking by scent, which means her base DC is 10, +2 for every hour passed, low enough to take 10. Every roll she's made this past month should be enough to find him.
All in all, the Rangers have rolled everything they should need to find him if he's within at least 5 miles from us. Do we find the airpony, or do we not?
Pardon if I come off as impatient, but I really want to get to the next part of the adventure.
>>192190When asked “where did the missing airpony go?” the ponies who were with him said that he went in the direction of the modern village as the airponies were traveling along the ridge line in the center of the island by the medieval village. For some reason you interpreted this as the Whaling/Sealing Station, and lead everyone there. I’m not sure how that mistake is made, given that the whaling/sealing station has never been called a “village.” The whaling station was listen for sound, there is no one there. It was searched for scent, and there is no one there. Every building was entered, and there is no one there. The airponies were asked for clarification, and they repeated that they saw the pony go towards the modern village while they were on the ridgeline. They stated explicitly that they have never been near the whaling station, and they did not know that the whaling station was there. There are no tracks of the air pony, because the airpony has never been near this location. There is no scent of the airpony, because it has been consistently, repeatedly, and damn bear explicitly said to almost certainly be hiding in a structure that’s a mile downwind past a hill. I’m not sure why you’re upset. Everything has been clear and logical and repeated multiple times.
>>192156Silver didn't find any seeds, and the fruit he found was also seedless. I think you'd need to go to the Tree itself to find the seeds.
>>192191Also fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, I really thought he said the whaling station...
>>192191I'm not upset, I was just confused.
Idk how we even got to the whaling station then. I thought we were going in the direction that the airponies indicated this whole time.
>damn bear explicitly said to almost certainly be hiding in a structure that’s a mile downwind past a hillAlright, let's just cut to the chase and go there then.
>>192191>For some reason you interpreted this as the Whaling/Sealing Station, and lead everyone there.I thought Posey was following Kira and Cavalier: the trackers. Did I even say whaling station? I only recall saying it after I read other posts saying it.
I guess it's my bad for confusing people, but was leaving the exploration details to the rangers this whole time.
>>192197I've just been assisting Kira and following along. This reminds me of playing an old-fashioned adventure game where you're given a clue, but it's vague enough that you go to the wrong area and bash your head against the wall for half an hour.
>>192198Whatever. Now we know we're not supposed to be here. Let's just cut to the village.
So, we go to the village, find the airpony, then go to the Kostroma, right?
>>192212Is that Kira? For some reason I imagined Kira was green and never checked.
Nice comm
So, is the plan to just go at the GRU group guns blazing?
I could have Monstro put down the bomb and charge them from above while we advance over land. Shots directed at my minion are shots not directed at us, and the bone lurker can crush, constrict and paralyzed enemies.
Since the group seems to only possess ranged weapons, we should try to enter me should try to enter melee and keep our targets in melee reach. That way we can benefit from the hit penalty for shooting into a melee, and possibly neutralize the enemies ala attack of opportunity when they fire. Characters proficient in melee weapons should focus on disarming or sundering the enemies guns with their attacks of opportunity to reduce their DPS, because I suspect their HP is high.
They're also less likely
Focus on flanking the machine gunner. If he's spending feats on burst fire, he's less likely to have precise shot.
I suspect the unicorn with the carbine is a mage: Someone should make it their mission to stay in melee with him, because you can never know what they will do.
The GRU are supposedly elite special forces, which means they're likely higher level than the ones we've fought so far.
We could just turn around and abandon the remaining airport to his fate, but I would recommend engaging with this encounter anyway. These are elite forces, which means they should be properly equipped as characters of their level. We can expect them to be carrying healing potions or wands, as well as +1 guns or ammo that might be useful to fight the Traveller.
The cover of fog means that encounters begin within melee range, so we could charge the enemy while they're flat footed.
>>192231That was most certainly
not the plan I was thinking of. Ideally we won't face the GRU again for the duration of the time on this island. We move to the modern village and reunite with both our missing airpony and the final group of Kostroma survivors, and from there make to board the nearby Kostroma. After we defeat the Traveler, my hope is that we can use Monstro to first unbeach the Kostroma, and then beach the GRU ship on the island so badly that it can't unbeach itself even during high tide.
>>192232> Ideally we won't face the GRU again for the duration of the time on this island. We move to the modern village and reunite with both our missing airpony The GRU group is in our way. We can't enter the village without engaging with them.
>the final group of Kostroma survivorsI must have missed that part.
>we can use Monstro to first unbeach the Kostroma, and then beach the GRU ship on the island so badly that it can't unbeach itself even during high tide.My plan was to use Monstro to drop the torpedo on the GRU ship, sinking them decisive victory. We have the explosive harpoon for the Traveller, so it's better to save the torpedo for a battleship.
>>192232How do you intend to get to the village without fighting the GRU?
>>192234>>192233We don't know if they're in the way, as far as my knowledge goes.
>>192236Well, the plot does not advance until we do something, so let's decide now.
>>192231I would prefer avoiding them via stealth but I get the sense that will not be an option, at least not with our big group. We could split off stealthy members of the party and have the main group take a detour, but experience has taught us that it's a poor idea. Maybe we should fight. I don't know.
>>192238>>192236I don't see any way out of this without fighting.
I could roll an opposed Charisma check to compel any of the communists/griffons currently charmed by Posey's gaze to enter the fray with us, to increase the number of targets and mitigate the chances of party members dying or taking serious injuries. The airponies, however, should stay back, because our payment hinges on them.
>>192241I don't think we should compel them but should ask them to help in the fight, mainly as longer-range firing support. Not all the griffons have guns either.
>>192242Characters without precise shot would be better off in melee. I think my charm ability can help with that.
>>192243These characters are already taking a big risk throwing their lot in with us. We will not force them to risk their lives for us.
Okay, so what are we actually doing?
I was ready for a fight, but the party seems to want to go around instead.
GM said we had to roll to go around, but what is it that we need to roll?
It's been a week. How do we proceed?