Brickdoctor

"Master Thothwick, Master Hoptet! It's been too long since I last spoke with you. How was the Foundation Day ball?"

No, Poisoned is an internal effect, taking place inside the Poisoned hero/enemy. It is unaffected by Encouraged since once it enters the body it is in no way affected by attacks. Inspired doesn't do anything to reduce any Damage, Poisoned or otherwise; it just doubles HP. Poisoned is not affected by Weakened for the same reason that it is no affected by Encouraged: it has no connection to attacks once it has been inflicted. And Poisoned is not affected by SP because being an effect taking place inside the body of the afflicted, it's already past the defenses. Whether or not Poisoned is affected by Fragile depends on how you interpret the method by which Fragile causes its effect: does it weaken the man-made defenses, making armor, shields, artifacts more prone to being pierced, or does it affect the way the body itself responds to being damaged. I think the latter makes more sense, since Fragile also affects heroes and enemies with 0 SP, so that would make Fragile an effect that works inside the body of the combatant just like Poisoned does, therefore Poisoned would be affected by Fragile. Even though they modify the calculation in similar ways, Encouraged and Weakened cannot be considered the same way as Fragile when dealing with Poisoned because Fragile affects the combatant taking Damage, not the one dealing it. Fragile and Poisoned are both constants, always affecting the combatant, while Encouraged and Weakened can't take effect unless the combatant successfully lands an attack. And again, since Encouraged and Weakened affect Damage dealt, they only affect successful attacks, something Poisoned has no connection to once inflicted. Not so for Fragile which affects Damage taken.

Definitely. Otherwise the artifact becomes more powerful and work in more situations than Counterstrike Gloves and the Counter that some classes already have.

"When do we eat Teuthisal soldier?"Wait, that's actually the right punctuation.

PM Sandy with the concept. (You might need to have examples of your builds to show; I never did that but I think some other QMs did.)

Somewhere around...Quest 14, I believe, I tried to roleplay a little more and realized that I couldn't do it. In the beginning I tried to roleplay probably as much as the average player, but it wasn't something I really enjoyed developing and trying to think about while posting. So I think by the time Quest 14 ended I'd decided to play Docken the way I am now. I don't really know when other players started commenting on my roleplaying not roleplaying.

Nah, I can handle it. Should be pretty straightforward. Rich guy us to a dinner party at his manor, if something goes wrong, we lynch the butler. Simple.

It is roleplaying if your reason for it is not understanding or caring about economics, since you (I assume ) in real life would care about that. *cough*240HPAura*cough* And if Pandora gets in too, it's never a bad thing to buff the HP of the fragile healer/caster. Yes, I know Boomingham is fighting an alligator and Steve is wrestling a crocodile and that they're not the same thing.

Speaking of which, JimB only has five Meads right now, and you don't have any Mulled Wines.

Now if you prioritized stats over roleplaying, you wouldn't have that problem. Outside of battle that's entirely up to the QM to decide how much time you have and how many actions you can perform at a time during that time.

Yeah, I don't think we want to see players charging whenever they heal someone else or use a consumable on them. On the other hand, I do like to see Rogues sharing the Gold if other players heal them, use a consumable on them, take a hit for them, do well in a battle, etc. (But doing this as their decision, not because other players are forcing them to, of course.)

I'm pretty sure it was Leo Aragon (JediAnakin/TheBoyWonder) that introduced the shuriken-throwing crusader. John Paul was responsible for Signor Bacari's swinging from a chandelier and shooting a poisoned crossbow quarrel into a whole roasted cow that Elgar (Jedi master brick) was eating.

I do actually remember reports of TRUs having modulars before. I have no idea why or how they had them or where this was or if they had any other sets that would normally be exclusive to S@H and Brand Stores, but there have been cases of some D2C sets appearing at another store. Does anyone else remember where that was mentioned?

I like the way Guts treats other heroes. Like seemingly everything he does (Maybe except for preferring wine to ale.), it's the typical Rogue behavior, but it doesn't seem like he's actually trying to be that stereotypical badass rogue roleplayed as unrealistically tougher than he should be. (And it helps that Guts is powerful enough that the stuff he does that perhaps would normally be stereotypical tough badass rogue behavior isn't ridiculous or unrealistic.)

You should've waited and tried to get into Quest 72 instead. (No seriously, you're a great fit for the versatile support role that I want for the fourth hero.) No it's not. I have no life outside of EB. I am Brickdoctor, and I am not anything else beyond that.

I'm not sure if true non-roleplaying is possible... even if I said absolutely nothing, then I'd be roleplaying a character that didn't talk. And once I say something, even if I only say what is absolutely necessary stats-wise, I'm roleplaying a character that only says what's absolutely necessary. So not roleplaying is roleplaying and roleplaying cannot be not roleplaying and roleplaying not roleplaying is possible but not roleplaying is not possible. ( ) And if roleplaying is required of me to move the quest along, then I'll definitely do it, even it it's roleplaying not roleplaying while not truly roleplaying because I'm roleplaying to accomplish a goal that isn't just roleplaying. I think I typed the word 'roleplaying' too many times, because now it doesn't look like a word to me anymore.

I don't really mind it. I'm aware that technically everything I do in-character is roleplaying, so I'm technically roleplaying not roleplaying. And I know I roleplay the way most of us think of it here and there even if it isn't obvious, because, even if I don't differentiate between out-of-character and in-character knowledge, I do still draw a line beyond which it's completely ridiculously unrealistic for Docken to know stuff. You just have to remember that if you think I'm roleplaying the way other players do, then that's a case that probably isn't subtle enough to be one of the little things I do (have to) roleplay, and there probably actually is a stats- or loot-based reason behind all of that. And if you don't think so, I don't mind explaining it. I know that there're also some things that originally were roleplaying when I really tried to do it, which have now become roleplaying even though I don't try to roleplay just because they've become habits. (Like, for example, addressing everyone as 'Master' when speaking but using the name most players refer to them with when thinking about them in italics.) And sometimes they become roleplaying because I keep doing them to keep things consistent for the sake of realism. (For example, Docken started as a Lawful Good character, and there's been no reason for that to change so to change that would be one of those ridiculously unrealistic things, so I keep playing him as Lawful Good.) It's sort of roleplaying a little bit in a way that isn't obvious because I don't want to truly roleplay as would be required if I changed anything. Told you, Scuba.

The Quest 4 heroes, on the other hand... (Okay, to be fair, I designed the quest to trick them into doing what they did, with extra reward if they caught the Shadeaux - either extra Gold from the Hinckwells or they could've defeated Shawe and forced the Shadeaux to pay them more to keep quiet - depending on which reputation they wanted.)

Arkham Asylum, Constitution Train Chase, some Super Heroes sets, couple polybags, and that incredibly creative Port Royal alternate build (Pirates of the Caribbean). He has pictures of all the sets he's done on his flickr, I believe.

"I do. Healing is definitely a perk, and having a summon is like having a tank to soak up a hit or target an enemy for a Round or two. Master Sorrow might be more powerful if we need to take down a lot of enemies quickly, but I think Miss Nyx will be more versatile, which I would prefer considering that we already have Master Hybros to fill the Assassin's role."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Nyx. It appears that in addition to your Damage-dealing capabilities, you carry a Healing Staff. That could come in useful considering that healing outside of consumables is a talent that neither Master Holla nor Master Hybros nor myself have, even if Master Guffington believes that a healer won't be necessary."I whisper to Guts. "Battle Mage, Level 25.67. Defense is a little weak, otherwise a good mix of bonuses from equipment. Adequate variety of consumables and it appears that she carries all nine gems. In addition to the Healing Staff, she also has that tome and that explosive staff - if my memory of the Treasury serves me correctly, that means she can also summon a minion or deal Damage to multiple enemies at a time, respectively."

The reasons for my argument and choice are not roleplaying, as I told John Paul before and as I hinted to in my own post. I give priority to stats and loot, and that means continuing to be hired by others who see that Heroica is based out of a city with a stable government and isn't known to be working with a faction that can't be trusted. And seven powers are likely to pitch a lot more quests and offer a lot more options for heroes than one criminal organization can. And those two factions, the Bonapartes and the Town Watch, are probably the closest there is among the eight main factions to a Lawful Good power that you would want in power. The Hinckwells are probably Chaotic Good, the Shadeaux Chaotic Neutral, the Zeigfrieds...uh...Neutral Good, I guess, the Guild of Invision doesn't even seem to care, so true Neutral, and the Wolfgang are Chaotic Evil.

I sigh in exasperation. "So, you don't think Ulric is right ruler for Eubric, and you don't agree with the Wolfgang's goals, and you still want to help them?!?! What do you really expect to happen after you put the criminals in power and then tell them that you want them to do things your way? If you want to help the people of Eubric, then go and help the people of Eubric; don't try to do it with the Wolfgang. "Yours is a roundabout plan where you help someone because you think that they're helping someone else who are the ones whom you actually want to help, and you want to do it with a faction comprised of thieves, assassins, and terrorists! Heroica cannot take command; we do not have the manpower to maintain order. You can't just hand the power over to the people. You still need a strong government, respected by the people, with the power to enforce basic laws, to prevent the city from entering a vicious cycle of democracy, tyranny, aristocracy, and oligarchy. The Wolfgang will not command that respect and they won't try to improve the system of government once they are in power."

"Ah, so instead of eight corrupt powers, you want to replace them all with one corrupt power, lead by one man, never sharing that power, controlling the largest criminal organization in the Free Islands. You would have Eubric ruled by gangs, stealing from the rich to make themselves even richer. You speak of members of the Veterans, of the Guild of Invision, of the Hinckwells, and of the Shadeaux who are all trying to fix the problems in the city, yet at the same time you want to replace them with an entirely different ruler. You cannot have freedom if you hand all the power to one man, one tyrant - Ulric is a criminal lord first and foremost, no matter what he says, he cannot be trusted, and he will not accept anyone else's laws governing the extent of his rule and power while he is the most powerful figure in Eubric. Even if the six houses and the Town Watch are corrupt, they are the lesser of the two evils compared to the Wolfgang. "Perhaps one day the time will come for Heroica to take matters into its own hands, to overthrow the rulers of Eubric, and to establish a democracy. But working with a criminal organization is certainly not the way to do it. You speak of sinking down to the level of the Wolfgang, to play the game their way, and instead of being a sellsword, to fall even lower and become a criminal yourself. Your plan shows no consideration for the future of Heroica itself. The Wolfgang have never shown any willingness to join anyone else, only to assimilate others into their ranks or to keep others quiet so they can escape or finish their unlawful work. If the Wolfgang succeed in completely taking over Eubric, Heroica will cease to exist as anything more than a pawn. "If you want to help the poor, teach them to help themselves, or they will never have any reason to do anything for themselves. If your goal is truly to help the people of Eubric, then just do that. Don't turn them over into the hands of the Wolfgang, and don't be so hasty as to take down the Houses and bring the city to anarchy; you need people like the Bonapartes and the Town Watch to keep the pirates and the thieves out. I don't believe Heroica has ever attempted to show the current government its flaws and actively help them fix it as a long-term project. To assume that the Wolfgang is the solution is both impulsive and imprudent."

"Wait, are you one of those heroes who wants to be a Beast Warrior and thinks the Wolfgang are good?"