Classic_Spaceman

"Shit. <Run tactical analysis and cross-reference all artefacts with our database - Just keep it on the screen!> <TACTICAL ANALYSIS INCOMPLETE - INSUFFICIENT DATA AVAILABLE TO FORMULATE A STRATEGY. BLACKSTAR DATABASE ACCESSED.>" Muttering to herself, Yelana scrolls through her visor's readout. "OK - No, no, no, maybe, no, oooooh." Yelana cocks her head a bit, gesturing for the rest of the party to join her. "See, where I'm from, we recognise the only way to succeed is to work together towards common goals. That attitude right there - That's why you'll fail. You think you're the only person that matters, that only you can accomplish what you think's right, that you can tower over everyone else, or some shit like that. But you played yourself, MONAD, because I've got something you'll never have - Backup." Yelana turns to man in the green cloak. "I need - Um, I just realised I don't know your name. . . Never mind, we can chat later. Anyway, I can get us all out of here - I just need you to hold MONAD off long enough for my companions to back us up. Just hit him with your wand. . . uh. . . you know what I mean, and I'll hold tight and wait for the others. Got it?" OOC: Battle Order: - "???": Attack (Sonic Wand, Back Row) - Yelana: Nothing (Back Row)

Thus: Round 1: - "???": Attack (To avoid Free Hits) - Yelana: Nothing All other party members join the battle. Round 2: - Yelana: Smoke Bomb All party members escape. Am I understanding this correctly?

Same (which is why I have not posted yet). I am working on a few different strategies (hence my earlier questions), but what I choose is entirely dependent upon how the passive special works.

As I am not completely familiar with the 1.0 rules, I have a few questions. 1.) Can additional party members enter a battle once it has begun, and, if so, can they do so immediately or do they need to wait a certain number of rounds? 2.) The ‘Blinded’ status effect renders a target unable to perform physical attacks - Am I correct in assuming that this would not affect magical attacks? Edit: I think so, since the ‘Sealed’ effect prevents the use of magic. 3.) Do party members need to perform an action during each round, or can they simply do nothing? Also, @Lind Whisperer, would MONAD’s passive special affect all heroes if a Smoke Bomb were used (That is, would each player need to roll in order to escape the battle, or just the player who uses the Smoke Bomb? Additionally, if this is the case, would the rolls and escapes occur at the same time, or would it progress sequentially through the Battle Order (thereby making it increasingly difficult for heroes to escape)?)?

Is this what you are remembering?

“I’m on it - Get ready to run on my signal.” Slipping a chopstick out of her hair, Yelana confronted the necromancer. “Stand aside, deathpriest! Behold, for I am the dark sorceress Blackstar, and mine power far exceeds yours! I possess the ability to conjure flame hotter than any you've experienced, yet should I will it, you would only be rendered unconscious by its touch! My sight makes far-off objects near with but a single command, and my gaze would penetrate the hearts and minds of men! Know that I create illusory images from mere light, that my speech echos far beyond this world, and that my garments heal from any wound inflicted! Yet here I stand, wielding but a simple wand - Think upon this, mage, and decide if it is prudent that you challenge me!”

“So it’s cultural. OK.” “Not scared, Angor - Sensible. You ever hear the saying ‘Knowing’s half the battle’? We know basically nothing, so - and I say this in the spirit of intercultural understanding - charging into a fight right now is stupid, short-sighted, and possibly suicidal.” Yelana sighed. Rudeness was not generally her preferred means of communication, but she hoped that it was something that Angor would respect. Standing up from the injured man, Yelana addressed Sam directly. “I know, and I understand why you feel you need to fight him now, but you need to take a step back and assess the situation. We’re probably outmatched, up against someone we know nothing about, and we’ve already got one casualty - Let’s not cause any more. Some of us actually can die, you know - And besides, your people need you to lead them. If we die here, your people will lose both their leader and any chance of not starving to death. I get that you may not trust me, but you don’t need to - Just think about what’s best for your people overall. I have a plan to distract MONAD long enough for us to escape and regroup at the town. We heal this guy, get the intel we need on MONAD and his plan, and we come back and stop him - On our terms, not his.” Yelana turned to Mags. “There’s more to protection than just fighting, and with what’s at stake here, we simply can’t afford to take unnecessary risks.” Looking around, Yelana tapped her visor to see the progress on the medical scan. “Mags, Will you help me get the injured wizard to safety? I can’t, if I’m going to distract MONAD, and Angor doesn’t seem overly helpful.”

"I don't know - You brought it up, so I assumed there was a reason. I'm not familiar with Orcish customs, so I thought maybe it was a thing for you. Anyway, does this woman have a name?" "'Dummy'? Wow. Rude. Is the casual use of insults just a part of Orcish culture, or do you have an issue with me? You've been snarky since we met - And we only just met!" "'Odd colour streak'? You mean my visor?" "That's what I was talking about earlier - There's a saying, where I'm from, that any technology that's sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic." "Uh. . . I'm no expert on necromancers, but something tells me that's not a great strategy. . ." "It's more like an axe than a bayonet - Didn't you see it?" "Interesting. . . Could she control animals? There might be some kind of connection there. . ." "<Reconfigure the MedSpray system for external use. Run a medical scan - Can we stabilise him?>" "<MEDSPRAY SYSTEM RECONFIGURED. SCANNING. . .>" "<Hurry!>" "Hold on! Sam, this is a bad idea - We don't know who or what we're up against, and if Mags is right, we could end up facing an army of Undead. Our priority should be to get through here and to the town as quickly as possible, so we can find out what the hell's going on. We would stand a far better chance in a fight if we knew what we were dealing with. And yeah, I'm already on it - Angor, I might need you to carry this guy." Yelana turns to look at the rest of the party. "If no one else has a plan that won't get us killed, I've got an idea - You'll need to trust me, though. Orient yourselves towards that town, and get ready to run on my signal - You won't miss it!"

"Tweet tweet tweet, chirp chirp, tweeee. . . <Disengage translation matrix>" "<TRANSLATION MATRIX OFFLINE>" Oh, sorry - Forgot I still had that on. I'm Yelana Fennix, and this isn't magic, by the way. Or, well, it is, after a fashion, I guess, considering that old 'law' and all. . ." "Maybe it was just the way you said it, but usually when you make a point of saying that a person married someone from a different religion or species, it's because you don't approve of it." "So what, exactly, about me reminds you of her?" "Hardly. And I'm actually not a stabber at all - I'm a sniper, hence the rifle." Flipping the weapon off of her back and over her shoulder in a single, clean, motion, Yelana held the rifle out for Angor to see. "Check it out. I designed it myself: Dual-mode - energy and kinetic - Both toggle between lethal and non-lethal settings. Kinetic's kinda scuffed right now. . . I'm still working on that. The targeting system syncs with my visor, and the trigger's bio-locked, so only I can fire it - Well, either me or my sister. A blade along the barrel for close-quarters combat - And the whole thing's modular, so I can upgrade it as-needed." Yelana replaces the rifle in the same motion as before, smirking as she does. "Like I said: Not a stabber." "Mags, Sam: Does the word 'deathpriest' mean anything to you? I couldn't get much from the bird. It was definitely one of the animals that had been driven mad - mostly just repeating 'DEATH' over and over, and telling me things that I already knew, but that word came up a few times. When I asked what it meant, it said something about a 'bad, strange man'. I tried to clarify what was causing the 'death' it kept screaming about, and it said 'deathpriest' again - Then I think it told me to 'hunt priest'. Nothing about how the 'deathpriest' is causing all of this or how to stop him, but that bird was obviously terrified - We need to be careful." “Deathpriest. . . It’s him! Everyone: We need to stop and take a minute to come up with a plan - That wizard is the ‘deathpriest’ the bird told me about!” Seeing the party’s puzzled expressions, Yelana attempted to clarify. “What? Oh, sorry - My visor is designed to detect psychic fields, usually just small things like false identifications and psychically-concealed weapons, but it can occasionally pick up ambient thoughts, if calibrated properly. I had it scanning all known Humanoid brainwave frequencies for the word ‘deathpriest’ after I mentioned it, in case it jogged a passing memory. The wizard in blue. . . MONAD, thought of himself as the deathpriest immediately before killing the other wizard. If that bird was right, then we need to be careful, and we need a plan.”

“OK, I think I’m starting to get it - Are the ‘good men’ the ones with torches and pitchforks? Are you saying that they are trying to hunt you? That makes sense. . . And you seem to be saying that the ‘deathpriest’ is a bad and strange man - Answer this: Who or what is bringing death?”

An image of the mining mech just leaked. It looks like a mech-sized spacesuit, so unfortunately no classic theme or new transparent canopy. That said, I like the design from what I can see, it appears to have an interestingly-designed circular saw build (not a single-mould), and I think that it would work well repurposed as an underwater mech with a few modifications (given the deep-sea pressure-suit design). No Minifigs are visible in the image. ? As a side note, the largest City fire set appears to contain a new helmet mould that can accommodate a standard visor, so that may be useful for space MOCs (depending upon what the finished product looks like).

"Wow, rude. OK, I'm going to chalk that up to cultural differences and move on. But a word of advice about Humans: We don't exactly like being called 'bratty' and compared to a family outcast - Particularly by someone who doesn't even know us. Anyway. . ." "Thanks - And just so you know, I'm not really the 'stab-you-in-the-back' type, so you're safe." "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you! I have a feeling that whatever has you so scared is what we are trying to fight, so it's OK. My name's Yelana Fennix; I just wanted to ask you some questions about what's going on. What do you mean by 'men with torches and pitchforks'? Are you being hunted by someone? The 'deathpriest' you mentioned, perhaps? And who is that, anyway?"

OOC: I need to wait for a response to a PM that I sent to @Lind Whisperer before I can post. I apologise for the delay. ?

“Woah! Hey! Easy! I’m just trying to figure out what the hell’s going on. . . You know, animals going crazy, people starving, all that. I was told you were the people to talk to about that. Oh, and sorry if I sounded kinda weird a second ago - I’m not from around here, so I didn’t know how you normally talk.” “Not likely, but I do get that a lot. Do I remind you of someone?” “Hold on! I’m picking up another biosign, approaching quickly. . . Oh, just a bird. OK - Wait. . . My sister gave me a new translator before I left - I may be able to talk to that bird and get directions. It probably knows its way through this. . . maze, provided it isn’t one of the animals that turned feral.” Tapping the side of her visor, Yelana spoke in a language unintelligible to the rest of the party. “<Engage translation matrix>” “<TRANSLATION MATRIX ONLINE>” “Excuse me, uh, bird. . . Do you have time to talk? My companions and I wanted to know if you were familiar enough with this area to give us directions. We’re. . . kind of. . . lost. Also, what’s you name? I feel weird just calling you ‘bird’ - Unless that’s actually your name, of course.” OOC: I plan to - I just wanted to establish a general framework for Yelana, in order to avoid some of the confusion that occurred in Misision 0. Also, on that note, the reason that I specified that Yelana is speaking in another language when she talks to her visor, is that I had tried writing in that language during Mission 0, but it ended up being confusing and difficult to manage. ?

I recognise that - My perspective is that either Yelana is in an alternate universe (I have some ideas about that, tying into your ideas about Jump Gates, which I will post once I finish the writeup), or that this is a training simulation/test, depending upon what we choose to do for the final 2.0 game. I am not planning to reference Heroica (Yelana cannot, since it would blow her cover, and this is not even a Heroica mission anyway). The intro section of my first post (where the only reference is) takes place in the 2.0 universe, and I only included it to give the other players an idea of Yelana’s character and background (the characters themselves would not know about anything that occurred before Yelana joined the group).

Based upon that image, my guess is that he will look like a cross between Venom and an Outrider (I.E. Plain legs, no headgear, neck-bracket with tendril pieces attached). Probably not, but you can check the MCU Spoilers subreddit.

A few general lore notes/clarifications: - I am considering Mission 0 to be loosely canon, in order to give Yelana an actual backstory (as well as to tie into the final 2.0 game, depending upon which elements are included). - The "director" to whom Yannika refers is Syn'ara Adhira (The head of Blackstar's Intelligence branch and a member of the Quorum). - The reason that I specified that the control room's wall was black and neon orange, is that I am building the Blackstar Triad's headquarters in those colours (I will post images when I am finished). - Text that is in brackets represents Yelana interacting with her visor (normal text is Yelana and all-caps is the visor's response).

////Information Redacted: Blackstar Operational Clearance Required "Ugh! Yannika wasn't lying about the terrain! <Confirm coordinates, please>" "<COORDINATES CONFIRMED>" "<Thanks>" Yelana crouched down and surveyed the valley below her. "<Run biosign scan>" "<FOUR BIOSIGNS DETECTED>" Sliding down the shallow slope, Yelana approached the group. "Um. . . Greetings, fellow travellers! Is this the group who travels in search of answers? And you, the one with the sapphire blade, are you Magnhildr, by any chance? I was told that you may have the answers that I - we - seek." OOC Notes: How does this look? Since this quest is starting with the journey already underway (rather than having the party meet first), I included the long intro passage, as I wanted to give Yelana some background and characterisation. Also, I intentionally wrote Yelana's greeting as stilted and overly-archaic, in order to convey her awkwardness in the situation (she will start speaking normally, once she becomes more settled).

Thank you. ? I think that you may have misunderstood - My intention was for Yelana to be an offworld spy embedded with the tribe (posing as a "traveller", or something of that nature), in order to find out about the Spellplague. BTW, what is the name of the planet? Ah. Thank you. ?

How does this look? Name: Yelana Fennix (Player: Classic_Spaceman) Species: Human Gender: Female Age: Unknown Class: Ranger Job Trait: Animal Talk Level: 1 Power: 4 (WP 3 + Level 1) Defence: 0 Health: 6/6 Gold: 10 Equipment: Plasma Sniper-Rifle (Hand Cannon) (WP 3) Inventory: Potion (1x), Smoke Bomb (1x) Bio: Yelana Fennix is a young operative in the Blackstar Triad’s intelligence branch. Excelling in analysis and conceptual understanding, Yelana was recently promoted from technician to field agent. Though smart and observant, Yelana’s determination to prove herself to her more experienced twin sister often results in impulsiveness and a tendency to jump to conclusions that reveal her lack of practical expertise in espionage. Now, equipped with a prototype translation matrix that allows her to communicate with animals, Yelana Fennix is assigned to a remote icy world to determine the nature and cause of the mysterious “Spellplague” that blankets the planet. Intro Theme (sound, rather): http://www.trekcore.com/audio/aliensounds/romulan_transporter.mp3 Notes: I reworked Yelana’s background to better reflect her stats and my own inexperience with RPGs, as well as to explain why a primarily tech/espionage-based character’s job trait is “Animal Talk”.

@Lord Duvors This looks excellent! Do you/how do you plan to incorporate @Endgame’s Cydonian Collective? I found them to be very interesting in Mission 0, and I think that they would work in this universe as a small-but-quickly-expanding entity that could threaten to upset the balance of power among the major factions. In addition to basic structure of the universe and characteristics of various species, we need to agree on what technologies are used and what their limitations are (e.g. FTL travel, communications, cloaking, weapons, etc), in order to avoid making things up mid-quest. BTW, I reworked the Blacktron segment, since I have been trying to develop my own lore for it as part of Yelana’s backstory. Does this fit with what you have in mind? Changed To: Blackstar Triad At the opposite end of the scale, capitalising on the weaknesses of the ITA and the tenuous political dynamic of the Euripides Arm, lies the Blackstar Triad. The Triad is a major criminal syndicate involved in nearly every activity in the galactic underworld, and the bane of police and counterintelligence agencies. Controlled by a mysterious body called the Quorum, Blackstar originated as a minor information-trading and data-gathering organisation, but have since expanded their reach across known space, with only the Orcs and the Cydonian Collective remaining mostly free from their influence (though Blackstar has begun to gain a foothold amongst the former). Due to their remarkable power and rapid rise to prominence, conspiracies abound regarding the Triad’s origins and connections. Ranging from fantastical assertions that they are behind the IRIS Data Network (a legitimate corporate entity that has been remarkably free from scandal) and that they operate from a secret base beyond the Euripides Arm, to the more reliable claim that they may be involved with Blackguard Security (a semi-legitimate mercenary company who will take contracts from almost anyone, for a price), Blackstar is seen by all as a highly-interconnected web of galactic position and influence. Regardless of whether or not these connections hold true, the Blackstar Triad’s infamous three-triangle insignia strikes fear into the hearts of many. IRIS (Interstellar Research and Information Security) A trans-galactic data-sharing company that is committed to providing connectivity, reliable information, and secure communications among all nations, regardless of their respective political alignments. Nearly all citizens across the known galaxy make use of the IRIS network in some capacity. I changed the name of the mercenary company, since some of the character names that I had envisioned sound distinctly fantasy/sci-fi (Yelana Fennix, Su’un Yex, etc), so “Blackmore” stands out as oddly real-world/Earthlike as a result. “Blackguard”, conversely, suits an amoral mercenary organisation extremely well. The word “blackguard” (pronounced “blaggard”) means “a rude or unscrupulous person”, and if pronounced as “black-guard”, it sounds like the name of a shady security company. Also, I changed Black Sun to Blackstar, since the former is the name of a prominent criminal organisation in Star Wars, and I wanted the name in Heroica to be more unique. As for why I connected Blackstar to IRIS; I had always wanted the Blacktron group to have three main divisions (possibly with a common goal or ruling body in the ‘centre’, represented by the black triangle in their symbol), and to have a public face in the form of a data company (analogous to Google, social media, and other internet services). Additionally, I had actually already decided that they would have a three-part ruling council (comprised of the heads of the respective divisions), but I had intended to call it the “Quorum”, hence the name change. Also, I put that Blackstar engages in almost every kind of illegal activity in order to limit them to more “acceptable” crimes (such as theft, smuggling, hacking, etc), thereby allaying concerns about engagement in war crimes and other abhorrent actions, as expressed earlier in the thread.

Which one? Chloe plays Quake in both AoS and Marvel: Rising, but the latter costume is brighter and more comic-y, which makes it more likely to appear (should LEGO ever make a Quake Minifig).

Ventress also became an anti-hero and a more complex character, which disqualifies her as a "pure" (that is, completely evil/irredeemable) villain. Unlikely. The Nightsisters have chalky white skin, wear red, and have almost (if not completely) died out by the time of The Mandalorian. Sith Eternal makes more sense, as it would tie the show into the ST era (I already think that Moff Gideon is a member, and that he needs The Child as part of the cult's effort to resurrect Palpatine). Furthermore, the Sith's inclusion in some capacity seems to be hinted-at by the Armorer's line about "a race of enemy sorcerers" (referring to the Jedi, but since the audience knows that they are (now) not enemies, some kind of "enemy sorcerers" need to appear in order for the line to have payoff).

If Slave I can survive losing a wing, crashing, and exploding, I think that the Razor Crest can handle some damaged hull plating (especially since the ship just seemed to be adrift before it crashed, not completely destroyed).

IIRC, this was done in order to avoid falling into racial stereotypes, so there was actually a reason behind the decision - A reason that would not apply to Sabine. Agreed - Particularly since Filoni is producing the series. I find it highly unlikely that he would forget the race of a main character on a show that he created/produced, and one wherein her entire family is also depicted as Asian (Not to mention Ursa Wren's cameo in TCW, where she again is shown clearly to be Asian). I always saw Ezra as Middle Eastern and Kanan as racially-ambiguous, but I agree that Rebels had a very diverse cast.