Please keep out of character discussion contained to this thread. The previous one hit bump limit
/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal
1594 replies and 241 files omitted.
Where did we determine that Light Water was hiding again?
I think I might want to try to rush down Light Water by slipping through the gaps in the deck with Gaseous Form. I could distract him by having Monstro ram the control tower. Once I can get line of sight with him, I could incapacitate him with some of my debuff spells.
Alternatively, I could try Dimensional Rifting to his location to catch him off guard. That has a 1% chance of destroying me though, and furthermore it subjects Posey to unforseen interactions since we are dealing with an aberrant entity with a lot of summons in the works, so sundering special geometry and getting nibbled on by nameless horrors might carry extra risks.....
Alternatively, I could try Dimensional Rifting to his location to catch him off guard. That has a 1% chance of destroying me though, and furthermore it subjects Posey to unforseen interactions since we are dealing with an aberrant entity with a lot of summons in the works, so sundering special geometry and getting nibbled on by nameless horrors might carry extra risks.....
I generated some goyslop as concept art for Posey's familiar (if I ever get to lvl 7...)
A Ghostly Visage is a minor undead spirit symbiont uniquely available to Dread Necromancers. As a symbiont, it can serve as a helper or as a parasite, with a unique ability to meld itself with its victims through a touch attack.
Alone, ghostly visage looks like just a puff of smoke with subtle dark spots for eyes, but it can manifest a face on its host; the face is a horrific visage of pure horror and menace contorted in the agony of undeath. This one has distinct dimples and rosey cheeks, inspired by Dimple from Mob Psycho. The lolling tongue is inspired by Boo from Mario and Ghastly from Pokemon.
Its Gaze Of Terror is supposed to compliment Posey's fearmonger/debuffer style of combat, and its incorporeal nature makes it excellent as a scout. I was thinking of giving it a cute, playful and mischievous demeanor, always giggling and curiously examining the world around it, and very fond of surprises and nose-to-nose boops. Ghostly visages relish in causing terror to the living, so I was thinking of a name like "Peekaboo".
A Ghostly Visage is a minor undead spirit symbiont uniquely available to Dread Necromancers. As a symbiont, it can serve as a helper or as a parasite, with a unique ability to meld itself with its victims through a touch attack.
Alone, ghostly visage looks like just a puff of smoke with subtle dark spots for eyes, but it can manifest a face on its host; the face is a horrific visage of pure horror and menace contorted in the agony of undeath. This one has distinct dimples and rosey cheeks, inspired by Dimple from Mob Psycho. The lolling tongue is inspired by Boo from Mario and Ghastly from Pokemon.
Its Gaze Of Terror is supposed to compliment Posey's fearmonger/debuffer style of combat, and its incorporeal nature makes it excellent as a scout. I was thinking of giving it a cute, playful and mischievous demeanor, always giggling and curiously examining the world around it, and very fond of surprises and nose-to-nose boops. Ghostly visages relish in causing terror to the living, so I was thinking of a name like "Peekaboo".
>>195253
The aislop was better than I thought it would be, but Ig it wasn't something complex and intricate like a hand and such.
>(if I ever get to lvl 7...)
It feels like you keep mentioning this. Idk, if it's an insight joke, like friendly bantz, but I can't help but wonder if the GM takes this as criticism. I could be wrong, but just a heads up on how it may be interpreted on his part. Idk.
Anyway, your familiar could be fun and cute.
The aislop was better than I thought it would be, but Ig it wasn't something complex and intricate like a hand and such.
>(if I ever get to lvl 7...)
It feels like you keep mentioning this. Idk, if it's an insight joke, like friendly bantz, but I can't help but wonder if the GM takes this as criticism. I could be wrong, but just a heads up on how it may be interpreted on his part. Idk.
Anyway, your familiar could be fun and cute.
>>195254
It's not really criticism, just me poking fun at myself for daydreaming about higher level adventure ambitions. I have a tendency to put the cart before the horse.
Yeah, familiars are fun. One perk of the Dread Necromancer it's the only class that can get a ghostly visage familiar, although it only gets it a lvl 7. Other options include an Imp, Quasit, or Vargouille. The Imp/Quasit is probably better as a familiar overall due to their useful spells and the ability to take the form of a bat/rat/wolf, but I never actually got to play with a ghostly visage familiar before, so I wanted to try it.
It's not really criticism, just me poking fun at myself for daydreaming about higher level adventure ambitions. I have a tendency to put the cart before the horse.
Yeah, familiars are fun. One perk of the Dread Necromancer it's the only class that can get a ghostly visage familiar, although it only gets it a lvl 7. Other options include an Imp, Quasit, or Vargouille. The Imp/Quasit is probably better as a familiar overall due to their useful spells and the ability to take the form of a bat/rat/wolf, but I never actually got to play with a ghostly visage familiar before, so I wanted to try it.
>>195253
Those images look like if there were a "the gang goes to Japan" episode/special, that would be mascot of a Japan funeral home service.
Those images look like if there were a "the gang goes to Japan" episode/special, that would be mascot of a Japan funeral home service.
1778871984_1.jpg (64.4 KB, 1600x900, Dimple-Waves-Goodbye-–-Mob-Psycho-100-III-Episode-6.jpg)
1778871984_2.png (78.6 KB, 512x512, pkm-gastly-shows-tongue-512x512.png)
1778871984_3.png (788.1 KB, 969x1039, what-is-it-with-nintendo-and-giving-characters-long-tongues-v0-nhw0n1pe2wee1.png)
>>195256
Well, I did reference three Japanese sources in the design, so I guess that was the result..... The long tongue is pretty iconic among Nintendo ghost monsters, probably based on some yokai folklore.
Last pic that the official Ghostly Visage illustration on the Fiend Folio. Its description reads:
>A minor undead spirit similar to a ghost, a ghostly visage inhabits corporeal bodies. Its name comes from its ability to manifest a transparent face on its host’s body.
>When not attached to a host, a ghostly visage looks like little more than a puff of smoke about 1 foot in diameter. Only by looking carefully can a character discern its eyes, which appear simply as dark spots within the smoke. When attached to a host, the visage normally lurks inside the host’s body. It can, however, manifest a face on the host’s body, including covering the host’s own face. This face has a horrible appearance, contorted in the agony of undeath.
>Visage (Ex): At will, a ghostly visage can manifest a face anywhere on its host’s body, including over the host’s own face (the host’s vision is unaffected). This face looks corporeal and fleshy, but it is actually the visage’s incorporeal form.
There isn't any actual specifics of what a ghostly visage looks like while manifested other than being "horrible". Being a creature that was once alive in a pony setting, it must look like a pony of some kind, which is challenging to make horrible, although I think a pallid white face, a tongue dripping with ectoplasm, and a void-black eyes perpetually bleeding tears of black icor would be a good start. It can suppress its gaze, so it could also be that the visage has no true form and is only manifesting a projection of pure suffering and fear on the face of its host.
Well, I did reference three Japanese sources in the design, so I guess that was the result..... The long tongue is pretty iconic among Nintendo ghost monsters, probably based on some yokai folklore.
Last pic that the official Ghostly Visage illustration on the Fiend Folio. Its description reads:
>A minor undead spirit similar to a ghost, a ghostly visage inhabits corporeal bodies. Its name comes from its ability to manifest a transparent face on its host’s body.
>When not attached to a host, a ghostly visage looks like little more than a puff of smoke about 1 foot in diameter. Only by looking carefully can a character discern its eyes, which appear simply as dark spots within the smoke. When attached to a host, the visage normally lurks inside the host’s body. It can, however, manifest a face on the host’s body, including covering the host’s own face. This face has a horrible appearance, contorted in the agony of undeath.
>Visage (Ex): At will, a ghostly visage can manifest a face anywhere on its host’s body, including over the host’s own face (the host’s vision is unaffected). This face looks corporeal and fleshy, but it is actually the visage’s incorporeal form.
There isn't any actual specifics of what a ghostly visage looks like while manifested other than being "horrible". Being a creature that was once alive in a pony setting, it must look like a pony of some kind, which is challenging to make horrible, although I think a pallid white face, a tongue dripping with ectoplasm, and a void-black eyes perpetually bleeding tears of black icor would be a good start. It can suppress its gaze, so it could also be that the visage has no true form and is only manifesting a projection of pure suffering and fear on the face of its host.
>>195295
He is somewhere in the conning tower near the bridge. He might be holed up in the radio room and not in sight of any windows.
Also, found this pic especially relevant.
He is somewhere in the conning tower near the bridge. He might be holed up in the radio room and not in sight of any windows.
Also, found this pic especially relevant.
>>195413
I do want to say, this idea for a petroleum monster: sick as hell, I love it. I'm just sorry that me falling asleep derailed things and caused all of this frustration. I do really, really apologize for my part in it.
After the petroleum monster is dealt with (and presumably they find some way to wipe off all of the oil they're now covered in, Kira especially must be feeling gross), is it alright if we can revisit Cargo Hold 4? Maybe it was because I was worried about a time limit with the boiler, or maybe I was just extremely unobservant (if I'm missing something, it's usually right in front of my face), but I still want to experience this ship, quest, and everything you had planned originally as you intended. Please don't change things just because my schedule's too unreliable...
I do want to say, this idea for a petroleum monster: sick as hell, I love it. I'm just sorry that me falling asleep derailed things and caused all of this frustration. I do really, really apologize for my part in it.
After the petroleum monster is dealt with (and presumably they find some way to wipe off all of the oil they're now covered in, Kira especially must be feeling gross), is it alright if we can revisit Cargo Hold 4? Maybe it was because I was worried about a time limit with the boiler, or maybe I was just extremely unobservant (if I'm missing something, it's usually right in front of my face), but I still want to experience this ship, quest, and everything you had planned originally as you intended. Please don't change things just because my schedule's too unreliable...
>>195413
>>195412
>Why are the supernatural things, the only things in the entire campaign that must have some mystery, the only things in the entire world you care to even remember, let alone ask questions about?
Because those are the only things my character is equipped to be knowledgeable of. Posey is a student at the University Of Arcane Sciences and an occultist. Supernatural effects and creatures are her portfolio of expertise. Posey doesn't know anything about modern military tactics, economics, ships or really anything else mundane because she does not have those skills; she knows about magic and magical creatures. Posey is adventuring to train and expand her own powers by facing and conquering supernatural threats, and as an exorcist and alienist she has a stoic analytical demeanor because she knows on a personal level that showing fear in the face of Eldritch horrors means failure. She analyzes supernatural effects because that is her job in the party as an occultist, especially in situations where her actual spellcasting ability isn't particularly useful. It's her job to identify supernatural phenomena, point out their weaknesses, and especially to tell the party if they can actually face the threats before them or if they should all just run in the other direction: an animated object is manageable, a clay golem in close quarters is a TPK; knowing the difference is Posey's job. When we face a new kind of enemy, of course her first priority is to identify what the threat is, because she needs to give the party tactical information on how to defeat it.
>Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.
GM, the reason why we just wait between posts is because we all assume you are not available between post, and asking too many unnecessary questions is distracting.
>He's very obviously balanced for the whole damn party to attack at once and it's insulting that you would even momentarily think otherwise.
Well, PC classed characters have CR equal to their HD, so I figured if he were balanced as a main threat he would be lvl 6-8 Wizard before considering monster allies in the encounter, maybe even lvl 9, but I guess that's still 4-5 levels above me. I still thought I should risk it anyway and try to tap him with a Spectral Hand + Ghoul Touch.
>At least it will be fun for me because I'd love to see how many outsider summons I can give him as supporting allies all at the same time in the same fight.
See, the fact that this enemy has seemingly unlimited summons is the reason why I thought making a beeline towards him is tactical, because he's just slowly chipping away at us otherwise. The longer we wait to attack him, the more opportunities he has to harass and damage us while expending our resources with remote summons. I have so far been avoiding expending my spell slots in combat just because as far as I can tell the enemy is trying to force us to expend our limited resources with his unlimited resources. As far as I can observe, the summons don't seem to have any resource cost on his side, and apparently he's going to outnumber us no matter how many approach, so I think a rush-down/assassination approach is the safest way.
>>195412
>Why are the supernatural things, the only things in the entire campaign that must have some mystery, the only things in the entire world you care to even remember, let alone ask questions about?
Because those are the only things my character is equipped to be knowledgeable of. Posey is a student at the University Of Arcane Sciences and an occultist. Supernatural effects and creatures are her portfolio of expertise. Posey doesn't know anything about modern military tactics, economics, ships or really anything else mundane because she does not have those skills; she knows about magic and magical creatures. Posey is adventuring to train and expand her own powers by facing and conquering supernatural threats, and as an exorcist and alienist she has a stoic analytical demeanor because she knows on a personal level that showing fear in the face of Eldritch horrors means failure. She analyzes supernatural effects because that is her job in the party as an occultist, especially in situations where her actual spellcasting ability isn't particularly useful. It's her job to identify supernatural phenomena, point out their weaknesses, and especially to tell the party if they can actually face the threats before them or if they should all just run in the other direction: an animated object is manageable, a clay golem in close quarters is a TPK; knowing the difference is Posey's job. When we face a new kind of enemy, of course her first priority is to identify what the threat is, because she needs to give the party tactical information on how to defeat it.
>Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.
GM, the reason why we just wait between posts is because we all assume you are not available between post, and asking too many unnecessary questions is distracting.
>He's very obviously balanced for the whole damn party to attack at once and it's insulting that you would even momentarily think otherwise.
Well, PC classed characters have CR equal to their HD, so I figured if he were balanced as a main threat he would be lvl 6-8 Wizard before considering monster allies in the encounter, maybe even lvl 9, but I guess that's still 4-5 levels above me. I still thought I should risk it anyway and try to tap him with a Spectral Hand + Ghoul Touch.
>At least it will be fun for me because I'd love to see how many outsider summons I can give him as supporting allies all at the same time in the same fight.
See, the fact that this enemy has seemingly unlimited summons is the reason why I thought making a beeline towards him is tactical, because he's just slowly chipping away at us otherwise. The longer we wait to attack him, the more opportunities he has to harass and damage us while expending our resources with remote summons. I have so far been avoiding expending my spell slots in combat just because as far as I can tell the enemy is trying to force us to expend our limited resources with his unlimited resources. As far as I can observe, the summons don't seem to have any resource cost on his side, and apparently he's going to outnumber us no matter how many approach, so I think a rush-down/assassination approach is the safest way.
>>195418
Posey would also like to wash herself off at the next opportunity. She doesn't want to face the intruder while looking horrible.
Posey would also like to wash herself off at the next opportunity. She doesn't want to face the intruder while looking horrible.
>>195412
Heroes Of Horror is a good supplement for integrating horror aspects into D&D. It has lots of horror tropes, mechanics, and ideas. It also gives insight on how to integrate horror in ways that make the party take it more seriously, and advises when and when not to use horror aspects to avoid oversaturation or frustrating players. I think you might find it useful.
It also happens to be the book that the Dread Necromancer was printed in. Maybe give it a read. File related.
Heroes Of Horror is a good supplement for integrating horror aspects into D&D. It has lots of horror tropes, mechanics, and ideas. It also gives insight on how to integrate horror in ways that make the party take it more seriously, and advises when and when not to use horror aspects to avoid oversaturation or frustrating players. I think you might find it useful.
It also happens to be the book that the Dread Necromancer was printed in. Maybe give it a read. File related.
I may as well post Heroes Of Battle too, the supplement for military campaigns and mass combat.
Also Lords Of Madness, which has insights into how to use classic aberrations in D&D while still preserving their trope as unknowable Eldritch monstrosities.
I can understand the frustration with fantasy ttrpg mechanics detracting from horror fluff in games. However, as a crunch enthusiast, I believe that mechanics are a tool to enable great roleplaying experiences, not an obstacle to them. Maybe that's just my taste though.
I can see why you would be frustrated. In my own campaign, the lvl 7 Druid recently got possessed by a CR 12 incorporeal nature demon (formerly the goddess of pumpkins) which has been whispering in his ear and silently compelling him to commit evil, making his character wander the area while he is asleep and commit unknown acts, and often knocks him out and prepares his spells instead of him. I thought that this would create drama and character development about the dangers of worshipping demons, except... It just didn't? The Druid say no urgency in exorcising the demon or horror in his loss of autonomy; he didn't even try to get rid of it or appease the spirit for mercy, nor did he try to ask it for power or Eldritch secrets. He just passively accepted demonic possession as a plot device, and was perhaps slightly frustrated by being inconvenienced by it. I thought of trying to scare him by making it commit random acts of violence or forcing him to kill one of the cute NPCs I keep by the party for character development, but that would have just further derailed my plot.
I'm the next couple sessions I am going to reveal that the demon simply abandoned him when it discovered a more suitable host, possibly reintroducing that demon-possessed host as a villain later.
Point is, it can be frustrating when players don't take horror aspects the way you expect them to, but that's just what happens in D&D. It happens to all DMs.
I can try to engage with your game a bit more seriously, but please be aware that all this time I have only been doing what I thought made sense in character and responding to situations with the information I had.
Maybe my character is a bit too analytical, but I thought that was the only thing I was really good for in this party besides a self-healing pincushion. I thought that being an expert in the occult would be Posey's main contribution to the group, identifying threats and proposing ways to overcome obstacles. I guess I failed on that front.
But really, if you don't want me to use the knowledge skill, just tell me, because being indirect just leads to frustration.
An example would be the ghost in that abandoned village. I had Posey roll Religion to identify the ghost, because she is an expert in the undead and had seen a ghost as recently as yesterday so I thought she would easily know a ghost if she saw one. When that check result came out unclear, Posey believed it to be an illusion created by the Intruder, so she tried touching it to interact with it to tell if it was an illusion, and then the encounter just ended when GM got frustrated. I now know that you were just trying to keep some mystery in the game and didn't want me to reveal the nature of the encounter with a simple skill check. In hindsight, I should have just used Rebuke Undead as soon as I saw it to check it it was undead...
Also Lords Of Madness, which has insights into how to use classic aberrations in D&D while still preserving their trope as unknowable Eldritch monstrosities.
I can understand the frustration with fantasy ttrpg mechanics detracting from horror fluff in games. However, as a crunch enthusiast, I believe that mechanics are a tool to enable great roleplaying experiences, not an obstacle to them. Maybe that's just my taste though.
I can see why you would be frustrated. In my own campaign, the lvl 7 Druid recently got possessed by a CR 12 incorporeal nature demon (formerly the goddess of pumpkins) which has been whispering in his ear and silently compelling him to commit evil, making his character wander the area while he is asleep and commit unknown acts, and often knocks him out and prepares his spells instead of him. I thought that this would create drama and character development about the dangers of worshipping demons, except... It just didn't? The Druid say no urgency in exorcising the demon or horror in his loss of autonomy; he didn't even try to get rid of it or appease the spirit for mercy, nor did he try to ask it for power or Eldritch secrets. He just passively accepted demonic possession as a plot device, and was perhaps slightly frustrated by being inconvenienced by it. I thought of trying to scare him by making it commit random acts of violence or forcing him to kill one of the cute NPCs I keep by the party for character development, but that would have just further derailed my plot.
I'm the next couple sessions I am going to reveal that the demon simply abandoned him when it discovered a more suitable host, possibly reintroducing that demon-possessed host as a villain later.
Point is, it can be frustrating when players don't take horror aspects the way you expect them to, but that's just what happens in D&D. It happens to all DMs.
I can try to engage with your game a bit more seriously, but please be aware that all this time I have only been doing what I thought made sense in character and responding to situations with the information I had.
Maybe my character is a bit too analytical, but I thought that was the only thing I was really good for in this party besides a self-healing pincushion. I thought that being an expert in the occult would be Posey's main contribution to the group, identifying threats and proposing ways to overcome obstacles. I guess I failed on that front.
But really, if you don't want me to use the knowledge skill, just tell me, because being indirect just leads to frustration.
An example would be the ghost in that abandoned village. I had Posey roll Religion to identify the ghost, because she is an expert in the undead and had seen a ghost as recently as yesterday so I thought she would easily know a ghost if she saw one. When that check result came out unclear, Posey believed it to be an illusion created by the Intruder, so she tried touching it to interact with it to tell if it was an illusion, and then the encounter just ended when GM got frustrated. I now know that you were just trying to keep some mystery in the game and didn't want me to reveal the nature of the encounter with a simple skill check. In hindsight, I should have just used Rebuke Undead as soon as I saw it to check it it was undead...
>>195412
>Cavaliere's player has already said that the horror elements in the campaign are oversaturated and overplayed.
It's more of a "too much of a good thing" angle. I can like a dessert and think it's delicious, but if it's the entire meal rather than just the dessert then I'll grow critical of how sweet it is. This particular quest is all about horror and it's very well done, but I miss Amber's adventures because they are wonderfully mundane in comparison. But I'm also someone who craves variety in entertainment in general, so don't take this as dour criticism.
>>195413
>And of course no further questions were asked, no further exploration done by any party member. Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.
I do believe we surmised that the hold had been repurposed into a shelter for some of the crew. However we weren't given any leads to investigate further. No notes left out in the open nor comments by the crew tagging along who should know something considering they were here. I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet. I understand it's not easy to write dialogue for so many characters but their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger? And yes, there are questions in my head that have gone unspoken, like why the Hauklander boarding party is missing, but I haven't had an interesting time to bring it up yet.
I don't know if you have ever played Half Life 2, but in the sections where Alyx follows you, she'll occasionally comment about the surroundings. Not in a constant, annoying way like millennial writing tends to do, but she'll drop occasional hints and give small bits of exposition about the ruined world she inhabits. That's the sort of thing I want. Since we boarded the Kostroma, it's felt like the NPCs are just followers with a name and face, but without much to offer aside from fighting and occasionally helping with skill checks the party isn't cut out for.
I can understand your frustration and I hope my critique doesn't tick you off further. Take this as encouragement to keep doing what you're good at, because we the players will respond more to it, and you'll feel satisfaction in return. A big flaw of play-by-post is that we have no idea when you are genuinely unavailable and when you're waiting for dialogue before we move on.
Also considering >>195420 I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game. Posey's motivations make sense but I still think she may want to capture him alive, unless if she has an undeclared ulterior motive.
>Cavaliere's player has already said that the horror elements in the campaign are oversaturated and overplayed.
It's more of a "too much of a good thing" angle. I can like a dessert and think it's delicious, but if it's the entire meal rather than just the dessert then I'll grow critical of how sweet it is. This particular quest is all about horror and it's very well done, but I miss Amber's adventures because they are wonderfully mundane in comparison. But I'm also someone who craves variety in entertainment in general, so don't take this as dour criticism.
>>195413
>And of course no further questions were asked, no further exploration done by any party member. Okay fine, sure, we'll move along, Instead of the days between encounters being filled with dialogue or exploration it can just be waiting, whatever you want.
I do believe we surmised that the hold had been repurposed into a shelter for some of the crew. However we weren't given any leads to investigate further. No notes left out in the open nor comments by the crew tagging along who should know something considering they were here. I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet. I understand it's not easy to write dialogue for so many characters but their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger? And yes, there are questions in my head that have gone unspoken, like why the Hauklander boarding party is missing, but I haven't had an interesting time to bring it up yet.
I don't know if you have ever played Half Life 2, but in the sections where Alyx follows you, she'll occasionally comment about the surroundings. Not in a constant, annoying way like millennial writing tends to do, but she'll drop occasional hints and give small bits of exposition about the ruined world she inhabits. That's the sort of thing I want. Since we boarded the Kostroma, it's felt like the NPCs are just followers with a name and face, but without much to offer aside from fighting and occasionally helping with skill checks the party isn't cut out for.
I can understand your frustration and I hope my critique doesn't tick you off further. Take this as encouragement to keep doing what you're good at, because we the players will respond more to it, and you'll feel satisfaction in return. A big flaw of play-by-post is that we have no idea when you are genuinely unavailable and when you're waiting for dialogue before we move on.
Also considering >>195420 I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game. Posey's motivations make sense but I still think she may want to capture him alive, unless if she has an undeclared ulterior motive.
>>195420
A second post, I know, but I just thought of it: Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world. She's been sent to Equestria as a spy to learn its strengths and weaknesses, right? Among other things, of course. If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose. Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones as a tank?
A second post, I know, but I just thought of it: Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world. She's been sent to Equestria as a spy to learn its strengths and weaknesses, right? Among other things, of course. If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose. Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones as a tank?
>>195426
>I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet.
>their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger?
Tbh, I have to echo this. It is their ship, and they are far more familiar with it than us. I figured they would be guiding us and/or telling us the fastest route to the boiler and what seems out of the ordinary.
>I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game.
It depends on the edition, but iirc in OG CoC backgrounds were rolled randomly.
>>195428
>Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world.
She can't do that here.
>If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose.
She's been doing that. I tried to illustrate that with her passive commentary about the abandoned buildings and sewers between Baltimare being ideal hiding spots for forces.
>Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones as a tank?
I already mentioned that idea.
She needs to level up before she can consider that.
>>195429
What even is the appropriate "horror" response to this situation anyway? To run away screaming instead of facing the encounters?
>This is very limiting for the character and it means that she's not fit to be in as many supernatural situations as non-occultists.
I mean, I said that I was interested in taking jobs as an exorcist and supernatural detective. Idk how that is limiting. Posey said that there is always work for a Necrologist where there is war, because the tragedy and bloodshed always attracts evil (including herself).
>This is what has to be done with the Posey character to challenge her, there is no other way. The challenge must be either of a mundane nature that's she's not suited to face, or it must be of such a great degree that she's still not suited to face it even with her specialization
GM, in my experience over the past couple years, ALL if the challenges we have faced have been resolved by shooting the enemies in the face or hacking them to pieces.
Why is it even necessary to tailor challenges to her? All of our enemies so far have already been immune to fear (half of her offensive ability). Her specialization has barely been relevant except for her self-healing gimmick they let her tank some shots so that the rest of the party didn't die.
>Because Posey is not impressed in the same way that Silver or Cavaliere is, there is not as much reason to put her in that circumstance. The second biggest reason to use the supernatural is for tragedy. Ghosts and hauntings usually come about because of great suffering or tragedy. Curses are the same.
Posey is impressed by supernatural tragedy. She sees it as romantic. She's also a scholar who is specifically interested in sporadic reanimation through tragic events, because that's relevant to her backstory, because she was a Slaymate before her masters remade her. Anypony who pursues necromancy has some sort of romantic fascination with tragedy and pain, and Posey is no different. Have I not expressed that at every opportunity?
Why do you think she kissed that suicided unicorn and encouraged him to get up from the grave to take revenge on life? Why do you think she wanted to take the ghost child home with her? Why do you think she reanimated Agire as a ghoul and told him it was his destiny to lead his people even in death? Or how she told Agire's family/temple that "My masters believe that the bonds of friendship need not end in death". It's all romantic to her.
>Posey is less fit for supernatural plots than other characters
Posey specifically trained for this situation. She's a Cerebrant. She had all that monologue about how her masters through her into the Cerebrotic Mire and didn't let her come back to reality until she learned to claw her way back. She described the torturous training she went through to achieve Cerebrosis and gain dreadful fear-based necromantic and summoning magic. She described how monsters from the far realm invade this world with her "beachgoer" metaphor, and why the aberrant incursion was a threat to the world, so that the party could be resolved in their efforts to fight.
She even talked about how she believed that fate had led her here, because she trained for this moment and it is finally paying off. It was part of her theme that all the torture she endured was so that she could achieve greater heights.
Idk how I could have possibly roleplayed her in a way that fit the theme more.
>the best way to challenge her is to place her in modernity. I know that this quest has not been satisfying.
I would be satisfied with any level-appropriate encounters with adequate treasure and XP. I am not that picky. You can roll them randomly off of a table if you want.
>What would be the point of an occultist character?
Did you read the PDFs I sent?
>Their ideology would not be challenged.
Posey's ideology was directly challenged multiple times. Furthermore, the places where her ideology was reinforced made her even more livid, because the Intruder's grand plan to remake the world without death and limits and whatnot was her own dream, and she is not about to let some freak from beyond the firmament take it from her: Equestria isn't his to conquer.
.
.
You know, I really have been trying to engage with this content. I have been trying to face the encounters in a way I believed was thematic and fun while also being helpful to the party. I knew there would be some challenges when I made a character from the Dread League, but this isn't really the challenge expected...
>I don't like how the scientists, and Blackheel to a lesser extent, have been so quiet.
>their silence implies there's nothing interesting for them to say, so why should the players linger?
Tbh, I have to echo this. It is their ship, and they are far more familiar with it than us. I figured they would be guiding us and/or telling us the fastest route to the boiler and what seems out of the ordinary.
>I wonder how Call of Cthulu handles occultist backgrounds. Obviously that sort of background provides an advantage but I doubt it completely nullifies the horror aspect of the game.
It depends on the edition, but iirc in OG CoC backgrounds were rolled randomly.
>>195428
>Posey should definitely be interested in learning more about the mundane aspects of this "modern" world.
She can't do that here.
>If Posey knows all about the supernatural and the mysterious, then she should be trying to learn whatever she can about the more "normal" parts of Equestria and how to either counter them or turn them to her purpose.
She's been doing that. I tried to illustrate that with her passive commentary about the abandoned buildings and sewers between Baltimare being ideal hiding spots for forces.
>Like, what if she stole the schematics to a tank, and then tried to use necromancy to animate a giant pile of bones as a tank?
I already mentioned that idea.
She needs to level up before she can consider that.
>>195429
What even is the appropriate "horror" response to this situation anyway? To run away screaming instead of facing the encounters?
>This is very limiting for the character and it means that she's not fit to be in as many supernatural situations as non-occultists.
I mean, I said that I was interested in taking jobs as an exorcist and supernatural detective. Idk how that is limiting. Posey said that there is always work for a Necrologist where there is war, because the tragedy and bloodshed always attracts evil (including herself).
>This is what has to be done with the Posey character to challenge her, there is no other way. The challenge must be either of a mundane nature that's she's not suited to face, or it must be of such a great degree that she's still not suited to face it even with her specialization
GM, in my experience over the past couple years, ALL if the challenges we have faced have been resolved by shooting the enemies in the face or hacking them to pieces.
Why is it even necessary to tailor challenges to her? All of our enemies so far have already been immune to fear (half of her offensive ability). Her specialization has barely been relevant except for her self-healing gimmick they let her tank some shots so that the rest of the party didn't die.
>Because Posey is not impressed in the same way that Silver or Cavaliere is, there is not as much reason to put her in that circumstance. The second biggest reason to use the supernatural is for tragedy. Ghosts and hauntings usually come about because of great suffering or tragedy. Curses are the same.
Posey is impressed by supernatural tragedy. She sees it as romantic. She's also a scholar who is specifically interested in sporadic reanimation through tragic events, because that's relevant to her backstory, because she was a Slaymate before her masters remade her. Anypony who pursues necromancy has some sort of romantic fascination with tragedy and pain, and Posey is no different. Have I not expressed that at every opportunity?
Why do you think she kissed that suicided unicorn and encouraged him to get up from the grave to take revenge on life? Why do you think she wanted to take the ghost child home with her? Why do you think she reanimated Agire as a ghoul and told him it was his destiny to lead his people even in death? Or how she told Agire's family/temple that "My masters believe that the bonds of friendship need not end in death". It's all romantic to her.
>Posey is less fit for supernatural plots than other characters
Posey specifically trained for this situation. She's a Cerebrant. She had all that monologue about how her masters through her into the Cerebrotic Mire and didn't let her come back to reality until she learned to claw her way back. She described the torturous training she went through to achieve Cerebrosis and gain dreadful fear-based necromantic and summoning magic. She described how monsters from the far realm invade this world with her "beachgoer" metaphor, and why the aberrant incursion was a threat to the world, so that the party could be resolved in their efforts to fight.
She even talked about how she believed that fate had led her here, because she trained for this moment and it is finally paying off. It was part of her theme that all the torture she endured was so that she could achieve greater heights.
Idk how I could have possibly roleplayed her in a way that fit the theme more.
>the best way to challenge her is to place her in modernity. I know that this quest has not been satisfying.
I would be satisfied with any level-appropriate encounters with adequate treasure and XP. I am not that picky. You can roll them randomly off of a table if you want.
>What would be the point of an occultist character?
Did you read the PDFs I sent?
>Their ideology would not be challenged.
Posey's ideology was directly challenged multiple times. Furthermore, the places where her ideology was reinforced made her even more livid, because the Intruder's grand plan to remake the world without death and limits and whatnot was her own dream, and she is not about to let some freak from beyond the firmament take it from her: Equestria isn't his to conquer.
.
.
You know, I really have been trying to engage with this content. I have been trying to face the encounters in a way I believed was thematic and fun while also being helpful to the party. I knew there would be some challenges when I made a character from the Dread League, but this isn't really the challenge expected...
>>195429
>>195430
It seems your goals, themes and "feel" for the campaign are orthogonal to one another and I don't know how they can be resolved without one giving way. It's like a campaign intended to be a gritty noir film but one character is a comedic buffoon, or vice versa with a serious character in a circus. Can you make it work? Maybe; Shakespeare was able to put comedic relief into most of his tragedies. It's never easy to do however and it's worth noting the comedic relief in Shakespeare's works appears only in select scenes and never is a main character. Also he was the sole writer whereas this is a collaborative project, and each of you as co-writers seem to struggle to understand the other's goals.
It's pretty clear that the horror aspect of cosmic horror was bound to fail as soon as Posey revealed she wasn't merely a mundane necromancer but had actually been to the Cerebrotic Mire and had "been there; done that." It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.
>>195430
It seems your goals, themes and "feel" for the campaign are orthogonal to one another and I don't know how they can be resolved without one giving way. It's like a campaign intended to be a gritty noir film but one character is a comedic buffoon, or vice versa with a serious character in a circus. Can you make it work? Maybe; Shakespeare was able to put comedic relief into most of his tragedies. It's never easy to do however and it's worth noting the comedic relief in Shakespeare's works appears only in select scenes and never is a main character. Also he was the sole writer whereas this is a collaborative project, and each of you as co-writers seem to struggle to understand the other's goals.
It's pretty clear that the horror aspect of cosmic horror was bound to fail as soon as Posey revealed she wasn't merely a mundane necromancer but had actually been to the Cerebrotic Mire and had "been there; done that." It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.
Abraham Van Helsing, Harry Dresden, Thomas Carnacki, etc. How is there not room for occultist characters in supernatural stories? How am I even supposed to roleplay a mage at all if not as an occultist?
You know, when I came in to this game, I think was thinking of having more of a romantic and esoteric approach to magic, but then I was introduced to the College Of Arcane Sciences, who treat magic itself as a science, and I thought they that was the approach I was expected to adopt too even though I was slightly apprehensive about it.
How am I actually supposed to roleplay this character without feeling that the way I roleplay is on trial every three weeks?
>>195431
Just because Posey is vaguely familiar with some of the horrors of far realm entities does not invalidate her role in the story. She described a torturous experience that she only barely survived and said that nothing is certain or logical in the realms beyond the firmament. Only confirmed what little she actually knew, and how horrible things could become if the problem was allowed to spread.
>It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.
Tbh, this is more of Posey's approach to rare undead creatures. Gotta catch 'em all.
>>195432
>But that’s not true at all.
Maybe I was exaggerating a bit. I meant within this particular island adventure, but even then it wasn't that simple. I should not have said that.
>>195433
GM, Posey is a Cerebrant, but that doesn't make her an expert the far realm. She's still only a lvl 4 necromancer with zero ranks in Dungeoneering. Her Cerebrant Meditation training only makes her slightly more resistant to the spells of far realm entities, and only gives her a hoof-full of fear-based necromancy and summoning spells. That's it.
The reason why she brought up the Cerebrotic Mire was to express to the party that reality could shift around them at any moment, about how the void beyond the firmament was like an ocean and our reality was just a tiny island with water crashing over the beach. I thought it was important for her to bring that up because she has also gained Aberrant magic at the cost of her sanity, which made her a character foil for the villain, and I thought it was appropriate to acknowledge that the quest was relevant to my backstory because I thought that was intentional. That doesn't mean she knows what will happen or how things work, only that it is bad. She does not have all the answers. She told the story of an alienist sorceress (Zceryll) who lost her mind entirely and became a monster (in a bad way) by trotting down that horrible path, and how she swore that that fate would not be her own. She said all of that in-character so that the party could be resolved to fight, because that's what a good mage would do. Or maybe not, idk.
She acted confident in spite of that because that's what she always does. Posey is one to roll the dice and go on offensive even when she knows she's not cut out for something, because she fears failure more than death; that's the mindset that makes her 1 v 1 a hydra underwater, or fight a higher-level paladin alone. She's hubristic; it's part of her character.
How do you even want her to behave? This conversation was triggered by me rolling Arcana to identify a construct that I was afraid would be similar to a golem. Do you just want me to stop making knowledge checks? Is there an expected pattern of behavior I should adopt? Any lines I should say? What do you want me to do?
>>195429
>Posey doesn't really emotionally connect with anyone or anything.
She has Gloomy.
She was even willing to give up access to her Ghast minion just to make sure that he was protected.
But really, if you want my character to emotionally connect to things, why maybe just give her some more things to connect to?
You know, when I came in to this game, I think was thinking of having more of a romantic and esoteric approach to magic, but then I was introduced to the College Of Arcane Sciences, who treat magic itself as a science, and I thought they that was the approach I was expected to adopt too even though I was slightly apprehensive about it.
How am I actually supposed to roleplay this character without feeling that the way I roleplay is on trial every three weeks?
>>195431
Just because Posey is vaguely familiar with some of the horrors of far realm entities does not invalidate her role in the story. She described a torturous experience that she only barely survived and said that nothing is certain or logical in the realms beyond the firmament. Only confirmed what little she actually knew, and how horrible things could become if the problem was allowed to spread.
>It's like trying to film a scene where a character is supposed to avoid crocodiles with tense framing, but Steve Irwin is also there and he's cheerfully tackling them and showing them off to the camera.
Tbh, this is more of Posey's approach to rare undead creatures. Gotta catch 'em all.
>>195432
>But that’s not true at all.
Maybe I was exaggerating a bit. I meant within this particular island adventure, but even then it wasn't that simple. I should not have said that.
>>195433
GM, Posey is a Cerebrant, but that doesn't make her an expert the far realm. She's still only a lvl 4 necromancer with zero ranks in Dungeoneering. Her Cerebrant Meditation training only makes her slightly more resistant to the spells of far realm entities, and only gives her a hoof-full of fear-based necromancy and summoning spells. That's it.
The reason why she brought up the Cerebrotic Mire was to express to the party that reality could shift around them at any moment, about how the void beyond the firmament was like an ocean and our reality was just a tiny island with water crashing over the beach. I thought it was important for her to bring that up because she has also gained Aberrant magic at the cost of her sanity, which made her a character foil for the villain, and I thought it was appropriate to acknowledge that the quest was relevant to my backstory because I thought that was intentional. That doesn't mean she knows what will happen or how things work, only that it is bad. She does not have all the answers. She told the story of an alienist sorceress (Zceryll) who lost her mind entirely and became a monster (in a bad way) by trotting down that horrible path, and how she swore that that fate would not be her own. She said all of that in-character so that the party could be resolved to fight, because that's what a good mage would do. Or maybe not, idk.
She acted confident in spite of that because that's what she always does. Posey is one to roll the dice and go on offensive even when she knows she's not cut out for something, because she fears failure more than death; that's the mindset that makes her 1 v 1 a hydra underwater, or fight a higher-level paladin alone. She's hubristic; it's part of her character.
How do you even want her to behave? This conversation was triggered by me rolling Arcana to identify a construct that I was afraid would be similar to a golem. Do you just want me to stop making knowledge checks? Is there an expected pattern of behavior I should adopt? Any lines I should say? What do you want me to do?
>>195429
>Posey doesn't really emotionally connect with anyone or anything.
She has Gloomy.
She was even willing to give up access to her Ghast minion just to make sure that he was protected.
But really, if you want my character to emotionally connect to things, why maybe just give her some more things to connect to?
Dragon #330 has more insights for the Far Realm and how to integrate cosmic horror in D&D. It also happens to be where Cerebrosis was printed:
https://dn721605.ca.archive.org/0/items/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine330.pdf
https://dn721605.ca.archive.org/0/items/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine330.pdf
Why is it that between every encounter and room description we have to have another ooc discussion about how a party member's in-character reaction to a description or encounter was taken personally? It's getting in the way of a adventure that already struggles with pacing.
Is my own dogshit opinion really so valuable that we have to stop the game every other week to talk about it? Are my casual, poorly-expressed thoughts really that important? I didn't think the perception of my taste would be so important here. I'm just a shitposter roleplaying a dead horse.
It feels like every time I say something, do something, or fail to say/do something, there has to be an ooc discussion on how it doesn't fit into the mileau and/or was taken as an antagonistic attack. Why is it like that? It's only been getting worse over time, to the point where it feels like I am walking on eggshells for what to say, when I should be focused on roleplaying and advancing the plot.
It's all so tiresome.
Is my own dogshit opinion really so valuable that we have to stop the game every other week to talk about it? Are my casual, poorly-expressed thoughts really that important? I didn't think the perception of my taste would be so important here. I'm just a shitposter roleplaying a dead horse.
It feels like every time I say something, do something, or fail to say/do something, there has to be an ooc discussion on how it doesn't fit into the mileau and/or was taken as an antagonistic attack. Why is it like that? It's only been getting worse over time, to the point where it feels like I am walking on eggshells for what to say, when I should be focused on roleplaying and advancing the plot.
It's all so tiresome.
>>195443
I already know that.
That wasn't really the point of the post.
I already know that.
That wasn't really the point of the post.
I should be off Sunday and Monday this week, if that works with anyone else for continuing.
It's just been stressful...
I'm off today and Wednesday if anyone's interested
So apparently that faggot who told us we were “playing call of Cthulhu at best,” “dating sims are dumb,” “if you’re playing furred humans I want out,” and “every game I’m a part of becoming murder hoboing” has finally taken Cavaliere’s advice and actually started lurking. He’s pointed out a few legitimate issues that have not been addressed, but honestly I think they probably should be.
So first and foremost, let’s start off with something that should have been said two weeks ago: I am sorry Posey’s player. I was frustrated when the flow of combat was interrupted by a player leaving combat, and when I saw the insight rules I misinterpreted them for something else. Of course the more serious issue here is why is misinterpret those rolls, but unfortunately I don’t have an answer for that.
The second issue major issue is scheduling. Silver’s player in particular usually works night shifts, Possy and I both work day shift and spend more time on our phones at work than we should, and Cavaliere seems mostly available. But then I travel a decent amount and sometimes work takes more time. I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.
The other thing is that I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questline. I also have about three different endings and I’d sort of like to know where people think it is going or wish it is going to get an idea of which I should use. Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion. I have some ideas for follow up in Trottingham, but I do want to know what players want.
Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after Thad
So first and foremost, let’s start off with something that should have been said two weeks ago: I am sorry Posey’s player. I was frustrated when the flow of combat was interrupted by a player leaving combat, and when I saw the insight rules I misinterpreted them for something else. Of course the more serious issue here is why is misinterpret those rolls, but unfortunately I don’t have an answer for that.
The second issue major issue is scheduling. Silver’s player in particular usually works night shifts, Possy and I both work day shift and spend more time on our phones at work than we should, and Cavaliere seems mostly available. But then I travel a decent amount and sometimes work takes more time. I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.
The other thing is that I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questline. I also have about three different endings and I’d sort of like to know where people think it is going or wish it is going to get an idea of which I should use. Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion. I have some ideas for follow up in Trottingham, but I do want to know what players want.
Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after Thad
>>195605
>I am sorry Posey’s player
Alright, I can accept that. I was pretty frustrated at the time too.
Let's just try not to get heated over minor miscommunications again.
>I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.
Good idea.
>I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questline
I would like to defeat the Intruder, which probably means either killing Light Water and/or destroying the Intruder directly; this is either an assassination of a humanoid, or some kind of monster boss fight. Light Water sounds easier to kill, so I would like to kill him at the earliest convenience.
Then I would like to use Monstro to drop the torpedo on the GRU ship to sink them. I have researched the rules for sinking ships, and I believe that torpedo should be enough. Total destruction with maximum casualties is my goal. I do intend to rank up my Destruction affiliation by razing an enemy stronghold this way.
After that, I would like to commandeer the Kostroma and sail back to Baltmare, towing the Torpedo ship alongside us. I intend to use my social skills (Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy, Charm) to seize control of the vessel, combined with the sailors having nowhere else to go. I already placed my Mark inside of Blackheel's nose to make him easier to control later.
>Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion.
At some point in this process, I would like to level up. I have been counting the approximate XP throughout the adventure, and according to my estimates we should have leveled up possibly several times, particularly Posey who is lvl 4 with bought-off LA and I would hope gets to approach the actual party level.
After we sail back to Baltimare, I would like to sell both ships and their cargo to the military. I intend to use the profits from it to find my research lab, my army and my other expenses.
Then I would like to extract additional payment from Captain Waters with the Airponies testifying that we performed above and beyond the call of duty, because fighting an Eldritch demigod with unlimited summons. As payment, I would like to negotiate for Level-appropriate equipment for adventurers of our level (per Magic Item Compendium Guidelines), to solve this party's problem with being under-equipped.
After all of this, I would like to take some downtime, possibly several months, to open my research lab and establish a proper base of operations and do various errands. Posey has only been in this country for one week, and she would like some time to get settled in if that adventure schedule allows.
>I am sorry Posey’s player
Alright, I can accept that. I was pretty frustrated at the time too.
Let's just try not to get heated over minor miscommunications again.
>I think that going forward we should try to communicate what we anticipate our availability to be for the coming week or two.
Good idea.
>I’d like to know how players wish to approach the end of the questline
I would like to defeat the Intruder, which probably means either killing Light Water and/or destroying the Intruder directly; this is either an assassination of a humanoid, or some kind of monster boss fight. Light Water sounds easier to kill, so I would like to kill him at the earliest convenience.
Then I would like to use Monstro to drop the torpedo on the GRU ship to sink them. I have researched the rules for sinking ships, and I believe that torpedo should be enough. Total destruction with maximum casualties is my goal. I do intend to rank up my Destruction affiliation by razing an enemy stronghold this way.
After that, I would like to commandeer the Kostroma and sail back to Baltmare, towing the Torpedo ship alongside us. I intend to use my social skills (Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy, Charm) to seize control of the vessel, combined with the sailors having nowhere else to go. I already placed my Mark inside of Blackheel's nose to make him easier to control later.
>Then there’s also the plans for immediately after the conclusion.
At some point in this process, I would like to level up. I have been counting the approximate XP throughout the adventure, and according to my estimates we should have leveled up possibly several times, particularly Posey who is lvl 4 with bought-off LA and I would hope gets to approach the actual party level.
After we sail back to Baltimare, I would like to sell both ships and their cargo to the military. I intend to use the profits from it to find my research lab, my army and my other expenses.
Then I would like to extract additional payment from Captain Waters with the Airponies testifying that we performed above and beyond the call of duty, because fighting an Eldritch demigod with unlimited summons. As payment, I would like to negotiate for Level-appropriate equipment for adventurers of our level (per Magic Item Compendium Guidelines), to solve this party's problem with being under-equipped.
After all of this, I would like to take some downtime, possibly several months, to open my research lab and establish a proper base of operations and do various errands. Posey has only been in this country for one week, and she would like some time to get settled in if that adventure schedule allows.
>>195606
I typed all of that poorly, and it sounds like shit. It's midnight for me. I might try to articulate it better later.
Goodnight
I typed all of that poorly, and it sounds like shit. It's midnight for me. I might try to articulate it better later.
Goodnight
>>195605
>Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after Thad
I am on.
Let's do some roleplaying if that's okay with you. I will go cereal mode. No fr fr. I'm sensing this will be difficult for me ^^, but I actually prefer to play Vir's story seriously, despite stuff I did.
Anyway, the reason for no roll-play is that I completely lost Vir's sheet. And no matter how many times I read through the rules and character creation, it just doesn't stick. idk what it is at this point ^^
So for now let's just play character stuff, I will try to use my words to get around things. I will eventually get back to re-learning the rules, just not up for it right now, sry.
Anyway, thanks for the post c:
>Also Sven I just need to find my last few posts, because I know what I had planned after Thad
I am on.
Let's do some roleplaying if that's okay with you. I will go cereal mode. No fr fr. I'm sensing this will be difficult for me ^^, but I actually prefer to play Vir's story seriously, despite stuff I did.
Anyway, the reason for no roll-play is that I completely lost Vir's sheet. And no matter how many times I read through the rules and character creation, it just doesn't stick. idk what it is at this point ^^
So for now let's just play character stuff, I will try to use my words to get around things. I will eventually get back to re-learning the rules, just not up for it right now, sry.
Anyway, thanks for the post c:
When we attack Light Water, I would appreciate it if the martials stayed away from him for the first couple rounds and instead focused on keeping summoned monsters away from me, or shot him with ranged weapons. The reason is that I want to try to debuff him with some ranged AoE spells like Summoned Swarm (bats, for bleed damage, and to distract unintelligent momsters) or Kelgore's Grave Mist, but that could cripple anypony within 5 feat of him. Posey isn't affected by Grave Mist or Summon Swarm (it only targets living creatures), so she and monstro could take on the Frontline, but she will need help from the rear to neutralize summoned monsters that could disrupt her Concentration.
I somehow doubt it will be easy to rush him down and engage him in melee anyway. I at least want to render him exhausted or force him to waste actions trying to end the bleed condition with some ranged attacks.
I somehow doubt it will be easy to rush him down and engage him in melee anyway. I at least want to render him exhausted or force him to waste actions trying to end the bleed condition with some ranged attacks.
>>195683 →
We got meta information the other week that suggests Light Water is the actual boss fight.
Blackheel agrees with me in-character.
If the Intruder itself turns out to be animate and capable of fighting on its own, it is at the very least relying on Light Water to do its decision making and perception at this point, so killing Light Water would weaken it and remove its ability to think tactically.
Why do you even want to attack the Intruder first anyway?
We got meta information the other week that suggests Light Water is the actual boss fight.
Blackheel agrees with me in-character.
If the Intruder itself turns out to be animate and capable of fighting on its own, it is at the very least relying on Light Water to do its decision making and perception at this point, so killing Light Water would weaken it and remove its ability to think tactically.
Why do you even want to attack the Intruder first anyway?
>>195686 →
By that, you are assuming that the Intruder itself is easier to defeat than Light Water and/or will not fight back, when it has been demonstrated to be all-but indestructible and capable of melting objects near it.
I do not envision any scenario where this whale-sized alien that has been foreshadowed for more than a year does not wake up and attack us directly as soon as we try to destroy it, so I want to get rid of its mage ally first.
We know that Light Water is "balanced for the entire party to fight", which means we can infer his level range. NPCs have CR equal to their HD, so he would be around lvl ~8 on the higher level end (if we are effectively a lvl 5 party and his fight is an "overwhelming" encounter) before considering monster allies or extra special powers. Creatures he summons during combat aren't calculated in the encounter level, but ones he summons before combat are.
Chances are that he will be a very difficult fight, but still a beatable fight with our party composition (some of us might die though).
You plan also has a flaw: although the Intruder isn't capable of moving on its own, Light Water is. If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.
By that, you are assuming that the Intruder itself is easier to defeat than Light Water and/or will not fight back, when it has been demonstrated to be all-but indestructible and capable of melting objects near it.
I do not envision any scenario where this whale-sized alien that has been foreshadowed for more than a year does not wake up and attack us directly as soon as we try to destroy it, so I want to get rid of its mage ally first.
We know that Light Water is "balanced for the entire party to fight", which means we can infer his level range. NPCs have CR equal to their HD, so he would be around lvl ~8 on the higher level end (if we are effectively a lvl 5 party and his fight is an "overwhelming" encounter) before considering monster allies or extra special powers. Creatures he summons during combat aren't calculated in the encounter level, but ones he summons before combat are.
Chances are that he will be a very difficult fight, but still a beatable fight with our party composition (some of us might die though).
You plan also has a flaw: although the Intruder isn't capable of moving on its own, Light Water is. If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.
Sorry about the delayed response. Kira wants to gather up as many of the possessed creatures as possible into the cargo hold furthest away from the Traveler, seal up any open airways using the chromium the ship was carrying, and then call upon her god Ouroboros to use her as a conduit for His power to purge the Traveler's influence from the minds of the possessed creatures.
>>195684
>>195687
I have no illusions that the Intruder is going to be a difficult fight. However, I think it's going to be a hard fight regardless and "blinding" it will not help us much, or will merely exchange one challenge for another. The way I see it, fighting Light Water first and then the "weakened" Intruder alone will not be any easier than fighting a full-strength Intruder and a helpless Light Water. Going after Light Water separately means we will be fighting ponies with blades and guns as well as whatever he can do. That will use up all our healing supplies and might take several NPCs out of action, and then we have to go back down, fight more summons, and still deal with the Intruder somehow.
It's far more advantageous tactically to attack the Fellow Traveler at full strength. Then, so long as we win, it doesn't matter if we're weakened as we can subdue Light Water anyway. Our reward is also potentially greater because we have a better chance of capturing him alive.
>If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.
Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportation.
>>195690
That's a third option....
>>195687
I have no illusions that the Intruder is going to be a difficult fight. However, I think it's going to be a hard fight regardless and "blinding" it will not help us much, or will merely exchange one challenge for another. The way I see it, fighting Light Water first and then the "weakened" Intruder alone will not be any easier than fighting a full-strength Intruder and a helpless Light Water. Going after Light Water separately means we will be fighting ponies with blades and guns as well as whatever he can do. That will use up all our healing supplies and might take several NPCs out of action, and then we have to go back down, fight more summons, and still deal with the Intruder somehow.
It's far more advantageous tactically to attack the Fellow Traveler at full strength. Then, so long as we win, it doesn't matter if we're weakened as we can subdue Light Water anyway. Our reward is also potentially greater because we have a better chance of capturing him alive.
>If we attack the Intruder first, there would be nothing stopping Light Water from teleporting into the room so that we have to fight them both at once.
Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportation.
>>195690
That's a third option....
>>195692
>Do we know if he can teleport?
Considering his profession, he has to be a spellcaster if some kind. If he is capable of lvl 3 spells he could use Dimensional Rift to teleport anywhere in this ship.
>Do we know if he can teleport?
Considering his profession, he has to be a spellcaster if some kind. If he is capable of lvl 3 spells he could use Dimensional Rift to teleport anywhere in this ship.
>>195692
>Our reward is also potentially greater
We already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.
>we have a better chance of capturing him alive.
I wasn't intending to keep him alive. I want his head. I'm going to hang it on my mantle in my new lair.
>Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportation
If he is a mage, you should assume that he has teleportation spells until proven otherwise.
Summoning isn't that different from teleportation either.
>Our reward is also potentially greater
We already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.
>we have a better chance of capturing him alive.
I wasn't intending to keep him alive. I want his head. I'm going to hang it on my mantle in my new lair.
>Do we know if he can teleport? That's a specific spell not all unicorns know. And I don't think the Fellow Traveler's abilities it can bestow include teleportation
If he is a mage, you should assume that he has teleportation spells until proven otherwise.
Summoning isn't that different from teleportation either.
I really do want to rearrange my feats once I level you so that I can swap Magical Aptitude for Magical Heritage and be able to cast Prestidigitation, mostly for mane care.
>>195693
It's possible but we can't assume either way. My point still stands.
>>195694
>We already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.
Yes but they are observers whereas only Light Water has clear knowledge of what the Fellow Traveler is. His live knowledge is infinitely more valuable. Also from a lawful standpoint he needs to be brought back to be judged for his crimes.
It's possible but we can't assume either way. My point still stands.
>>195694
>We already have the airponies to testify and confirm all of the shit we've been through.
Yes but they are observers whereas only Light Water has clear knowledge of what the Fellow Traveler is. His live knowledge is infinitely more valuable. Also from a lawful standpoint he needs to be brought back to be judged for his crimes.
>>195697
I can cast speak with dead and force his severed head to confess his crimes.
Light Water can move.
The Intruder cannot.
We should eliminate the one that can move.
I can cast speak with dead and force his severed head to confess his crimes.
Light Water can move.
The Intruder cannot.
We should eliminate the one that can move.
>>195684
>>195687
As per the current way the quest line has been structured, yes, Light Water is to be taken first, but that's because the assumption is Light Water would be taken first. The main reason I wanted it that way was so that the structure of the ship could be used and explored. But that might just be tedious without that much reward.
>>195687
As per the current way the quest line has been structured, yes, Light Water is to be taken first, but that's because the assumption is Light Water would be taken first. The main reason I wanted it that way was so that the structure of the ship could be used and explored. But that might just be tedious without that much reward.
>>195701
You can definitely try to take him alive. This should be relatively easy if his health doesn't go below -9 or if he is Kira'd. You'd just need to keep Posey and Blackheel from delivering a killing blow. Assuming he is not at any risk of being eaten by Our Fellow Traveler
You can definitely try to take him alive. This should be relatively easy if his health doesn't go below -9 or if he is Kira'd. You'd just need to keep Posey and Blackheel from delivering a killing blow. Assuming he is not at any risk of being eaten by Our Fellow Traveler
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