Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

well, i don't post on sunday. is it my turn?
it was rusty, but still a good post.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

I'd forgotten about that. Yeah, I think it's your turn.

Probably want to make sure your tetanus shots are up to date before you work off my post too much. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

oh, poor pitiful you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Better than some of the stuff I've typed up for it...

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

turkey...
at least, that's my excuse.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

aww, you've ruined my sneak attack. oh well.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Narf, it's your turn. I think this could be another Narp-centered battle, although the amulets probably could be overloaded. If they were well designed, though, they would simply redirect/vent the excess energy harmlessly.

We also need to start thinking about a motive. I can see why someone might want to keep the signet ring separated, and why someone might want to control the court wizard and borrow his skills, and even why someone would try to attack the baron's residence; but we kind of need a single explanation/motive for all three. Sounds a little overachieving for your typical baddie. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Maybe they were selling their services to another villain...?

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

or dispelled. but i'm to tired right now to do a battle. to tired to even think of a good joke. or a bad one.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">All armor has chinks - otherwise, the armored person couldn't move. I'm sure Narp's very good at placing his blows, but we might do better with a hasty retreat, as we are sorely outnumbered. Then again, castle keeps were designed with room-to-room, pay-for-every-inch defense in mind.

And of course they need amulets - they can't exactly teleport in with dust....
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Suppose, for a moment, that the psi is the Baron's sister, and feels that she rightly deserves the position. However, if she just takes it, the people above the baron will bring their recources to bear against her, which she wouldn't be able to stand against (they would hire the psionics guild, if need be). However, if she proves to them that the Baron isn't fit, they may interceed in her favor. To do this, she needs to be careful not to leave too terribly much in the way of traces - no long-term direct control on major players, no hiring of mercenaries, et cetera.

Oh, and narf - it is still a bit of a surprise; had we been prepared, the door would have been barred.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

but the 'fued' between arther and his brother has been going on for what? 1500 years? i think something like that was stated. and that 'fued' was the Psi's doing. maybe it's the ring that's important. hired by somebody to keep the ring from being reasembled sounds most likely right now. except why the bandit attacks? maybe mr X decided to just grab the peice of the ring.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

True, but not everything has to be directly related to everything else - the ring feud and the psi's manipulations of the Barony could be totally unrelated, especially seeing as how, if the psi wanted the ring from someone she could manipulate readily (John), she would have just gotten him to hand it over more directly. There could be multiple schemers running around.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

so, if we have another Psi keeping the ring fued going, why havn't they done anything by now? waiting to see if the first one would kill us off? maybe there's three players - the first one, the one we're fighting, just wants the barony, no clue about the ring. second one, wants the ring. or at least, doesn't want anybody else from having it. third one, either the same or nobler motives. and two and three have been keeping each other from doing anything overt. the only problem i see, although i'm tired and there could be more, is that it's complex.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

True, maybe three schemers would cause a bit of a problem.

All right, how's this sound:

The psi is the Baron's sister, and feels that she rightly deserves the position. However, if she just takes it, the people above the baron will bring their recources to bear against her, which she wouldn't be able to stand against (they would hire the psionics guild, if need be). However, if she proves to them that the Baron isn't fit, they may interceed in her favor. To do this, she needs to be careful not to leave too terribly much in the way of traces - no long-term direct control on major players, no hiring of mercenaries, et cetera (Same as before), and is unaware of or uninterested in the ring.

The ring feud is unrelated, and is simply caused by John being sore at Arthur about something, which has now been tempered by time and events - perhaps it is jealosy, as Arthur was always the better mage; or John has recently realized he can't do anything with the ring, and is thus willing to part with it; or, perhaps, he wants to see what happens if/when Aurther tries to probe it (having tried it himself, and not fared too well).

Ring-side motivations will probably need to wait for Krsqk's input, as they most directly involve his character.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

and she's attacking out of desperation. works.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

It's not necessarily an attack out of desparation - she saw a reasonable reason to get the baron and army away from the manor (chasing our party) and then sent mere bandits (not a regular army) to loot/capture the place. A manor falling to a better-equipped, more expensive army is one thing, and doesn't say too terribly much about the competence of it's leader. However, if a manor falls to ill-equipped bandits while the baron is out, then the baron "obviously" can't make reasonable decisions, and thus is a bad candidate for managing the recourses present in the barony. Under such circumstances, those above the baron could reasonably see fit to hand the barony over to a candidate that is qualified (with qualifications including descent from whoever the barony was awarded to): the psi. The only real kink in her plans came when we disabled her and went back to the manor to defend it.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

John and Arthur's disagreement is ~1500 years old, I believe. That makes it unlikely to be originated by the psi in question, but it would be a good tool for the psi to use. The baron's Master Wizard would be the one most likely to detect her/spoil her plans, so she probed his memory for something to distract him. This feud stood out, so she influenced him to obsess about it lately. This coincided with Arthur's recent attempts to persuade John to surrender it, which could explain why the psi chose such an "old" memory to use. With the wizard safely distracted, she could proceed with her dastardly deeds against the baron.

The appearance of the party seemed at first to fall right in with her plans. The telekenesis attack in the tower could have been an attempt to kill John, or perhaps it was just done to force the party's hand. Jack responded with some fairly spectacular (by the standards of the peasantry) magic, then spirited everyone away. The baron, and especially his men, were fairly easy to persuade to chase after them, given things such as the wall floating above the tower.

The psi didn't count on 1) the link with John being broken in the process, or 2) the party being able to track her down so quickly, relying mostly on Arthur's previous hunches about her location. She wouldn't have been overly concerned, though; she had the mantis and shelves full of damping flour, not to mention guards well-equipped with it. Few mages in this plane seem to be well-acquainted with time-space bending, let alone versed in it, and no one had any knowledge of capacitors or Harnessed Uncertainty Gems (Jewels?); so it was quite reasonable to assume that a party primarily consisting of mages would be easily defeated. The mages would be nearly harmless once hit with the flour, and the lone fighter should be easily dispatched by her pet. Jack's access to the extra-planar technologies proved to be the hidden flaw in her plans. The rest, as they say, is history. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

The previously given reasons for the psi to attack the baron seem solid to me; perhaps she is an older sibling, or even was originally the heir (some noble families did permit titles to devolve on the oldest heir, whether male or female) but was passed over for some reason.

Sound good so far?

[edit]
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The armor would have chinks, but it's difficult to place a bow shot there in close quarters (thus my examples of point-blank crossbow/ballistic-fired longbow). I wasn't negating the effectiveness of Narp's sword work; I just didn't think he'd like to take on the twenty-to-one odds, especially when several of the enemy have polearms or longer two-handed swords.

You know, it might be possible to end the speed/strength enhancement by faking our deaths. Jack stated in the first mage cave that the spell runs until it stops detecting a threat, and even Arthur's Version burnt out almost as soon as the need for the spell ended. If the detection portion of the spell can be spoofed, the massive hangovers would kick in, making the fight a lot easier. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Of course, that's up to you two to work out. Another means might be just as fun. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ October 16, 2003, 21:30: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

well, the psi could always be insane. nice, neat reason for her to be passed up. i think we have our explanation.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That would be tricky, wouldn't it?

Some other possibilities:
There is still all that flour lying around in John's workroom. Jack could bring it back the same way he sent it in, which could null the magic on the bandits, leaving them near-collapsing from the weight of armor they don't wear when not using strength enhancements. He'd want to levitate the casters in the party out of the way first, however.

Also, there should still be some dust sticking to Narp's shield (Jack's been careful not to disturb it when teleporting the party around) - a shield bash could be devastating to the first bandit or two, couldn't it?

Alternately, it should be possible to teleport the bandits - they were teleported in, after all. There might be some hoops to jump through (aligning spell frequencies or some such to convince the amulets it is a friendly teleport) but it should be possible.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

unless, like your gems, the enchantment is buried. but it still wouldn't be able to function. on the other hand, the strength and speed could be a potion. we've seen a fair amount of alchemy.

harking back to previous stuff, mages can cast spells and enchant. if we let psionics store activatable energy patterns in items, then they'd have a personal power and an item power. but alchemists only have an item power, so as a proposal, how about alchemists being able to take on characteristics from there environment?

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Quite possible. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Possibly - perhaps they could also produce adreneline activated potions that hang around as an inert substance until activated - drink one, and then next month when some drunk throws a punch at you, the potion activates, and grants a temporary strength boost, speed boost, or whatever, all under the nose of any watching mages. They could possibly be made to run on other triggers as well - massive injury (shock triggered), illness (elavated white-blood cell count), strenuous exertion (lactic acid buildup), et cetera. Then an alchemist could store potions inside the alchemist's own body, where they can't be readily removed. They'd just need to make sure it wouldn't react with anything else they ingest....

Also, don't forget about alchemically modified pets! Who wouldn't want to be the master of a 2-ton dog, trained to be totally loyal to its master, saturated with anti-magic dust and below the intelligence threshold needed for telepathic influence to operate? Or a cat, or a bug, or a bird, or a _________(fill in blank)? Sure, it might be expensive to maintain (how much would a 2-ton dog/cat/bird/bug/______ eat every day?), but it would be quite an impressive war-beast.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">true, but a mage can provide effect-activated spells. what alchemists don't have is a personal power. and mages and psionics could create a 2-ton bug to, by manipulating glands and things like that.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

There is that.

What mechanism though? How does an alchemist go about aquiring personal abilities that are an aspect of their domain?

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

well, if an alchemists manipulates and enhances alchemical qualities, an alchemist could enhance and apply the air around him to float, or a rock to harden his skin. beyond that, i'm not to sure.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

That could work - the air could be thickened, slowing a combatent down, or even locking one in place; not to mention what they could do to the armor a person is wearing - enhance the oxidizing properties of oxygen and all that steel turns into so much rust.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

*catch the lightning bolt*

just poppod into my head. alchemist with a jar in a thunderstorm.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

posted.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That would be tricky, wouldn't it?
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It would all depend on the complexity of the spell's threat routine. A spell optimized for use in a group setting could easily reduce the level of monitoring, relying instead on the individual's sense of threat (which would likely be accurate, since it would interact with that of his companions). For that sort of spell, something such as teleporting the party but leaving illusions behind to be killed could be enough. The illusions would be reasonably complex; they would need to provide resistance to weapons (not just thin air) and realistic death effects. Once the bandits "finished" their job, they should relax, ending the spell.

I realize it's somewhat complex and bordering on gamey, if that term can be applied to a roleplay. I just thought it was unique after a few rounds of Posts in a more traditional battle style. You know, flying golems and falling trees and exploding force walls. This would be something new and exciting. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

We still don't know if they have a signal to be teleported back when they win, and there really is no way to tell what flavor of enhancement spell they have. We do know that they are down to 19 now, thanks to Narp's head jab. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif If we make them chase us down into the tower, they may split up (especially if they see us--or illusions of us--splitting up). Divide and conquer?

[ October 17, 2003, 21:36: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

they'd provide more of a challenge if the enhancements where alchemical, as it is, Jack would probably figure out some way to counter them.

as for divide and conquer...sounds like a plan.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">ditto.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Ooooh! Me too! Me too!

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

i'll be busy most of today; expect me back monday.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

I'll be gone Sun. PM through Tues. late PM.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

ok, here's a theory of mine: any character so powerfull that they cannot be taken out by either an angry mob or a skilled team of professonals makes itself redundant. for example: spiderman is not to powerfull. either a mob or a team could kill him. the silver surfer is to powerfull. i only saw the cartoon and read a book, but he can take out an entire defence system. why are silver surfer type character's bad? because they tend to generate ever more powerfull character's, since the easiest way to make a nemisis is to make a more powerfull character.

so, if a character is superpowerfull, it should be because of the support system of their civilization - the effort of many.

yep, Jack, i'm wondering how you feel about a limit on your character's powers, since your's is the closest to transforming to a silver surfer. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

as always, the above is up for debat.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Actually, a team of professionals could take him down - he'd be back, given time, but he could be taken down - it would take something/someone putting a damp on energy conduits; a 'circle breaker' of some kind. Arthur or D would scarecly notice - they are used to drawing on their own energies. Jack, on the other hand, would suddenly find himself a spectator.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

so, your limit on the jems is Jack not having much of a personal power pool?

wouldn't be nessasary, if using more than a certain number of them required equipment that required a technical base - large number's of people needed to equip a character to deal with large number's of people. plus, it would eleminate 'monolithic' character's.

that's just my opinion, though.

didn't Krsqk say he'd be back yesterday?

[ October 23, 2003, 04:20: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Oh, he's got a normal personal power pool (not normal for a mage - it hasn't been exercised - but normal for a person) - it's just that he isn't used to power conservation. Someone who has all the power production of the Hoover Dam available to play with, from a society where a great many people have comperable supplies, won't even know what a flourescent bulb is, much less how to build/use it. If such a person is suddenly reduced to a generator hooked up to a bicycle, they are going to have problems.

As to limits on how many can be accessed at one time, Jack has already hinted at it a few times - he called his second ring a "spare" when he lent it to Arthur; the implication being that it isn't in active use. He mentioned that he maintains a connection to his Master's gem - a connection isn't necessarily an active conduit, just the possibility of one. He mentioned a safety mechanisim to prevent overloading the conduit; a single mage is limited to however much energy that mage can safely channel. More than that, and they go boom, much as a modern electrical transformer will when overloaded (there is one near my house - I've heard it go boom on a few occasions). More mages can channel more power, but they can't send it through one mage to shape; instead, they must turn it seperately to the same task. For burning the lead, Jack is actually planning on going boom, building a spare body to inhabit beforehand. In the short interum till he returns to the new one, he won't be able to channel much; it's difficult to affect the physical world when one is dead.

Yes, Krsqk did mention he'd be back yesterday, didn't he? It could simply be timzone differences combined with very tired after getting home late. Nothing to worry about for a few days.

[ October 23, 2003, 05:27: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

looks like you have a better handle on it than i do. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

i guess my problem is i don't think about these things untill there staring me in the face.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Actually, I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it; it's just that the seeds of the fix were already there. Had I not specifically mentioned the hints, they could have meant anything, and been safely ignored. For example, "spare" only means that it isn't in use, not that it can't be in use at the same time. Likewise, maintaining a connection doesn't imply that the connection isn't being used any more than it implies the connection is being used. Jack had mentioned the safety on the conduit, but it could be any kind of conduit as stated in the thread, including an external energy conduit that doesn't cause much of a problem when overloaded. Hints can go in multiple directions quite easily. Jack had been planning on losing the flesh to burn the lead, but that was initially due to energy capture efficency problems discussed earlier in this thread.

In short, keep mentioning them when you see them. I don't actually have too terribly tight of a grip on things - I'm just good at grabbing them whenever the need arises. Untill that need surfaces, I just let them float in case anyone else would like to grab one.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

I is back. I is "tarred." I is bizzy tonight entering about four weeks' worth of grades which I has been procrastinidating fer a while. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif *smacks self* Bad me. *smack smack*

However, I am sure I'll find some excuse to take a break and...uh..."refresh my mental energies" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif and get a post done. Kind of like I'm procrastinidating right now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Okay, so the only mental exercise I had Last night was patting my wife's head and telling her she'll be feeling better soon and pretending to be able to fix headaches. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif ( <-- That's for both her and me.) I'll try again tonight.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

well, sunday will hit this forum soon, so i should probably get going.

oh, ok, hour and half left.

gotta go. cya.

[ October 26, 2003, 00:07: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Krsqk - you okay? Your post in the MOTMA thread is about 16 hours old and still lists "in progress"

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Nope. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif The first chance I get to post in days, and the power goes out as I'm wrapping up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif I'm going to have to start posting first and proofreading second. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif I'm headed there now to finish my "progress."

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Okay, I've posted. Not much action; just narrative and description. I'm in more of a Monet mood tonight, rather than a Jackie Chan mood. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

who's Monet?

i just read it. my responce: *clap* *clap* *clap*

very good writing.

[ October 31, 2003, 04:58: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

Monet's an Impressionistic artist. Not usually my cup of tea, but at times, it's nice to take in the mood rather than the details.

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

definitly my cup of tea.

did i mention i don't like tea?

my post coming sometime today.

[ October 31, 2003, 17:39: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

ok, i posted. not much and not as good as Krsqk's. didn't seem like there was much for Narp to do but slump against a wall and be releived he's out of the rest of the battle.

you know, i need to come up with more for Narp to do. i need to get more discriptive. i mean, he's a scholar and a fighter. he's got to have some interesting thought's.

and i havn't gone to sleep yet, so it can't be tommorrow. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ November 01, 2003, 07:29: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It's hard to follow a masterpiece. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif j/k http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I think that's a reasonable reaction. After all, he'd already fought whole battle when he suddenly had to jump right back into things with those nasty teleporting bandits. The speed/strength spell is probably about due to wear off, too.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I'd be thinking about food and sleep right now, if I were in his shoes.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Oh, one of those nights. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">not really. it wasn't that late and i went to sleep right after. gotta get up in time to watch the interesting cartoons. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif