StickFig

If you're interested in (medieval fantasy) role-playing games, you should check out Heroica! The RPG! Welcome to EB!

Who (over 25ish) doesn't have fond memories of those sets? My favorite was the Galactic Mediator from Space Police... SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE! Welcome to EB!

I can't imagine a better highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system.

Hahahaha I agreed when I first read your comment - especially since the Forestman's Hideout (1988) was my second set and remains one of my favorites, as does the Galactic Mediator (1992), but then again there is so much else out there! I'd say the Modular Buildings series is one of the best LEGO has ever made... but honestly, there are plenty of very cool sets out there right now, and if you like minifigures, there's no time like the present! P.S. - Welcome to EB!

Now I understand how you have so much time to minmax characters and write for the Library: college student and a starving artist!

I'd like to join and learn. Thanks!

From this point on, every grating stone is saving Guts at least 610 gold - so we should at least price accordingly....

Good gravy, people, quit selling Guts grating stones! That is one heck of a blade!

Matthias nods, acknowledging Dyric leaving the table.

Seated, Matthias bows his head at Nerwen. "No harm done, Lady Calmcacil," he replies. Matthias makes a wry face as Purpearl whispers, then realizes what she's talking about and gives a hearty snort of laughter. "No," he laughs to her, "You mentioned visiting family while we were parting from the circus, I think...." Matthias looks up at Benji's ad as he posts it. The Pugilist's gloves in the Marketplace looked pretty good to him, but he couldn't afford to make any purchases at the moment, not even at 'a cheaper price'.

Math blushes just a little, embarrassed that his feelings got the better of him earlier. "I just needed a little air, that's all," he says, hearing how lame it sounds. Eager to move the conversation away from his own sadness, Matthias adds raises his bass voice a notch so that all in the Hall can hear it. "Or anyone interested in a flaming sword?" he adds to Alexandre's solicitation.

Thanks! I wanted to do a lot more with billowing and whatnot, but that curvature was about the best I could manage. It's surprisingly hard to keep the little boat together - the brick-built sails are so top-heavy that the mast falls off at the slightest touch.

I wouldn't know where to begin to post a review/critique for Quest 90 (or the Baltarok Trilogy). I would like to say thank you to all who have posted their reviews here so far; reading other players' and the QMs' thoughts about the quest has opened my eyes to a huge number of things that I had no idea were going on - and has led me to understand a lot of the things I wondered about during the quest. I do agree with Dreyrugr that the "Three Trials" bit with Grisnod and Bastala was a bit ...contrived, maybe? for the sake of the plot, but I can't say we as players didn't force WBD into it - but that just tells me once again how much I was missing (and probably still am). The only thing that I want to bring up is this: players, please be active when you're on a quest. And that doesn't mean just posting "repeat" - it means reading what the other PCs have posted and reacting when appropriate. Matthias asked questions or made suggestions several times and was completely ignored, and he wasn't the only one. I don't think it was malice on the part of the more experienced PCs, or condescension on the post of the more experienced players; I just think people didn't take the time to read. I'm doing my best, and I really appreciate the encouragement (), but I have to admit that a lot of Matthias' "slowly and realistically finding out how to function in this new world of dragon slaying demigods" is actually just me (nstickney) "slowly and realistically finding out how to function" in this new world of (loosely) LEGO-based RP gaming. I'm glad that Matthias has turned out to be fun to host and interact with, and I had great fun on the quest.

Matthias notes Nerwen's ...presence, very formidable, as she moves towards himself and Purpearl. Thinking back to the final battle and the hot words between Nerwen and Guts - and between Purpearl and Guts - Matthias notes how fitting it is that the two Elven ...girls? He's not even sure how to tell Elves ages, he realizes... how fitting it is that the two of them get along. Purpearl may be a lot like Nerwen one day soon, he thinks to himself: formidable. Matthias is disappointed that the vampire didn't join himself and the elf mage, but knows that Dreyrugr prefers to be left to his own devices, so the gnome doesn't protest, merely meeting the black knight's eyes with a gesture of respect.

I just want to point out (from a character development perspective) how awesome @Waterbrick Down's parting gifts from Quest 90 were. I have no idea how common it is to give items like that at the end of a quest, but the Fireball Extraordinaire was exceptionally well done, I think. I have had Matthias complain throughout the quest (and even before) about his weapon, and apparently some of the NPCs (who later gave Matthias the cannon) heard and remembered. At one point in the quest, Matthias is awed by the idea of sky flowers (fireworks), setting him up to use explosive ordnance - like cannons. And while the Fireball Extraordinaire wasn't explicitly mentioned in the quest until Matthias received it, WBD gave the cannon a name that is 1) not generic, 2) doesn't try to be too "epic", and 3) provides Matthias with a link back to his very first quest experience - and one that he's likely to carry for a long time, given the extra powers of the cannon. Additionally, the "Slowed-" effect, which marginally reduces the value of the cannon, has made it pretty easy for me to characterize Matthias' movements since he got it: he's a tiny gnome, carrying (in his HANDS) a cannon big enough to fire a grumpkin out of. Kudos and gratitude to WBD for that, just one small part of a great quest.

Story of my LEGO life....

Matthias is glad to see Purpearl come into the Hall - he has a lot of respect for the way the Elven mage stood up to the other heroes in Baltarok. "Hi," he says as she sits down, "it's probably the beard and the hat that makes for the different look - I've been working on growing this beard in since I came to Heroica... after that unfortunate barbershop accident ruined my old beard," mumbling the last bit. "Anyway, the Fireball is a bit heavy but I'm learning the tricks to lugging it around. How about you? How was your visit home?" the gnome queries.

Wandering back into the Hall, Matthias does feel lighter, though it could be for any of several reasons: his lighter purse, the Winged Sandals, or even the prospect of a cold, dark cider. He orders the best on the list - a Low Kingdoms seidr - and decides that since retail therapy failed the best way to move on from Baradock's abrupt departure is to focus on the friends he has in the Hall and even maybe make some new ones. He looks around for Purpearl, Dreyrugr, or Cinna, but doesn't see any of his Carnival comrades. He notices Benji and Guts, but the former looks focused on making some coin and the latter is either passed out or overcome, so he takes a seat next to Dyric Rone, remembering the assassin's encouragement at their parting in Baltarok, and joins in contemplative silence.

Matthias wanders Freeport for several hours, trying to understand how his efforts to befriend Baradock went so wrong. As he pushes his oversized 'hand' cannon through the Marketplace, the tiny ranger catches Fabian's eye. "Say there, gnome," the shopkeeper remarks, "I bet these goggles would be great to keep you from going blind every time you fire that stovepipe!" "Maybe," Matthias responds, puffing, "but what I really need is something to help me carry it around. The Fireball Extraordinare is no lightweight." Fabian hesitates for only a split second, moving only his eyes to remind himself of his current stock (keep your focus on the customer!) before replying. "I have these excellent Winged Sandals - very reasonably priced and just the thing for a gnome with a cannon! I'll make you an excellent deal - only 80 gold, my friend." While Matthias fancies to himself that he knows every busker's trick in the book - he's just returned from six months with a circus, after all - he is still pretty naive when he's got coins in his pocket and so after a bit of bargaining and wrangling, he's proud to have talked Fabian down to 'only' 80 gold... which might or might not have been the original offer... for the Winged Sandals. 123 - 80 = 43 gold remaining As he walks out of Fabian's shop, Matthias is slightly stunned at how light his purse feels, though 43 gold is still more than he's used to. He stops by Anwyl's shop and sells his Tinker's Crossbow for 15g - good riddance to that touchy improvised pea shooter - but even then he can't afford to have Anwyl give the Fireball Extraordinaire a tune-up. 43 + 15 = 58 gold remaining Disheartened by the high prices and the way gold seems to just disappear from his pockets, Matthias decides to head back to the Hall where the drinks are free and at least the company isn't (usually) out to fleece him for all he's worth.

Thanks!

Matthias, intent on buying the hat from Alexandre, doesn't notice Baradock in the bustle of the Hall until the barbarian is already heading for the door. Something in the big man's demeanor tells Math that the hero he first thought of as a friend may not be back any time soon. After the fight with General Hamilton, Matthias had only hoped that he and the others would be able to mend fences with Baradock, but it seems it's too late. Awash in sorrow, Matthias quietly hands Alexandre 20 gold coins, takes the Dapper Hat, and leaves the Hall to be alone with his thoughts. 143 - 20 = 123 gold remaining

Whoops, could have sworn I did already. Fixed now - thanks!!!

Matthias comes down the stairs and into the Hall's common room looking freshly scrubbed and much revived overnight - a soft bed in a safe place work wonders after months on the road. He nods to Benji, checks the quest board for new goings-on and asks Scheherazade if there are any messages for him, but it's negative on both. As he's surveying the room and deciding his next move, his eyes alight on Alexandre, who's holding a fashionable top hat in his hands. Top hats had been all the fashion in Drandora when Matthias visited his family with the circus, and he's immediately attracted to the sheen of the one in Alexandre's hands. "How much for that hat?" the gnome queries.

It looks to me like fate was out to get you but luck did its job!!!

Matthias pushes through the door into the Hall, weary of travel and politics and spectacle but relief apparent on his face - he's glad to be "home," though in truth he's spent more days traipsing across Baltarok and the High and Low Kingdoms than at Heroica Hall itself. He simply looks travel-worn, and more so because of the giant hand cannon he's nudging along ahead of his tiny body. Across the ranger's back hangs his battered crossbow (unloaded, to be sure); under his arm is a thin parcel, longer than he is tall, wrapped in rags and radiating faint heat. He looks around to re-acquaint himself with the Hall and nods briefly to the other heroes assembled as he approaches the Quest Board. Thrusting the hand cannon aside and leaning his wrapped parcel gingerly against the wall, Math fishes some small parchments from his jerkin and unrolls them, then pulls a chair over to stand on, rubbing his beard as he searches for space on the board. Finally the gnome pins up a notice, and almost as a second thought signs up for quest 102 - it can't hurt, can it? Matthias pushes the chair back to a table, grabs his cannon and his bundle, and leaves wordlessly up the stairs, seeking solitude, a hot bath, and a soft bed. The parchment he's tacked to the edge of the Quest Board is some lettering on the back of a torn and discarded circus poster, but the lettering looks almost professional, like the lettering that would have been on the front of the poster. It even has a tiny colored drawing of a dragon in the center.