swils

Nice set of data you've got there, Fred. Though, you may want to lay low for awhile. There's a certain giant in the midst who's a bit sensitive about his height, and feels like he may have been unfairly lumped in with those scrawny humans. Rumor has it he's out for blood!

Mmm, college life! Seeing as how I need to really do well this semester, I figured I could stand to take a big portion of my booze-funds and put it towards something that'll last a bit longer... got the perfect opportunity when I caught a near-50% off sale at Fred Meyers a week or so ago. This is by no means an impressive army (and in fact, it looks even less impressive in the picture than it does sitting next to me... bummer!), but it's the first chance I've had to really get my hands on more than a handful of cannon-fodder figs in a long time. Most of these should be fairly obvious, so I won't list it all out. The bulk of my clone forces came from the 4x BPs I picked up the other week. On the CIS side, I've got 24 BDs, though 8 of them (the ones on the near-side transport, with megaphone guns) are well aged, and are in need of some glue to keep them standing up (as I'll be using them for tabletop wargames in the near future.. heh). I've got a couple BL orders coming in, and the BDs will all have molded blasters in a week's time, and, probably the bit I'm most looking forward to, each fig/droid will have their own 4x4 round plate stand! I wasn't able to bring my entire LEGO collection with me from MD to AK, so I only have as many plates as I could fit/find at the time, so I feel like all my figs are cramped (I'm not a fan of rigid formations for a display this small). This'll also give me the ability to field all my droids, rather than have them curled up on transports due to lack of standing-room. And, once the transports are empty, I'll probably break them down and MOC up some small combat vehicles or platforms or something, since my CIS is lacking in that department right now. Maybe I'll use some spare parts to show the gungans some love, too. Some items of interest: 1) The Scout Troopers piloting the BARC speeders are from the '99 Speeder Bikes. I know they don't fit in this skirmish canonically, but hey, they've got white armor and black visors, and my friends downstairs, who I'll be TTWG'ing with, aren't huge on the SW universe, so they likely won't think twice about it, AND, anyone else who sees my little LEGO SW display probably won't quickly point out the glaring error that is Scout Troopers in a CW setting (more along the lines of "You're 22.. in college... and have legos... uh. Cool.." haha :D) 2) General Grievous, modded the same way as DutchRebel's, though I need to get around to making a cape for him and the MagnaGuards (and teach them how to hit the power-button on their staves!) 3) The four troopers near the middle of the battle are from the 2002 RGS. Oh, man I love these guys. I want, no, I need, more. I just can't justify shelling out $7+ per fig. It's the helmets.. it really is. I don't need fancy CW faces.. give me a cut-out in the helmet and a black fig head, and I don't care how fancy the rest of the printing is. I dislike that I have so many Bomb Squad Troopers, would much rather those be even just the plain CW-style clones, but that's what the battlepacks have. Alas. Someday, I'll have more normal clones... someday :D Not pictured: I've got a whole slew of Named-figs from the earlier releases, yellow-faced jedi and such. For wargame purposes, they'll probably get put on stands and used, just to add some bulk to the game, though most don't fit in this skirmish canonically. I've also got two metallic-blue SBDs (also from the '02 RGS), one which will need to be glued in place. I'm probably going to look into getting some more dark-pearl-gray SBDs to add to the variety on the CIS side, too. So, that's it, for now. I've got some BL orders coming in, and will be adding *a little* weight to each side, but nothing drastic. I'll probably post an updated photo once I get all my 4x4 round plates, and get the figures on them, just so I can put everything out on display, without crowding up the plates I have available. ------ I've got a question for you all. I'm looking to add a bit more vehicular bulk to each side. For the clones, this means probably a walker or two. I've got 2 STAPs and a Tank-droid on the way for the CIS, but I'm looking for suggestions. I wanted to get a Hailfire in the fray, but there is simply no cost-effective way to do that right now. MOCs or official builds, I'm open to ideas. What sorts of small (read: no AT-TEs) vehicles would you recommend I add to this to spice things up? Thanks!

Thanks very much for the list! Since special effects are likely to be far more common than *weapons with* special effects, this is even more useful than the list of unique weapons I'd asked for, heh.

Thormanil ponders for a moment at the quest board, then begins talking to himself, obviously unaware that normal folk tend to turn a wary eye towards those who converse with themselves Thormanil: "Well, hrm. I ain't much of one for tip-toe'ing around, so 'infiltrating' might have to take a backseat to 'barreling through anyone who tries to keep me out'... but I could sure as heck do with a fancy new set of axes... and those Shadeaux sure do pay well! On the other hand, the Hinckwells sound like they've got a lot of something-or-others that need a good bashing, and who would I be to deny 'em that?! Ha ha! I'd sure like to help out with the bandit issue, but in the interest of having *something* to do, I'll sign up for both, just in case!" He scribbles "THORM" in big letters on the lists of both Quest #4: Taming the Lions and Quest #5: Cave Sounds, then sidles over to the crowded tables to listen to the tales of adventure now being tossed around jovially.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I was planning on making any drastic changes or additions. Far from it. Aside from the splitting of the party, as I asked about earlier in the thread, which would be a significant change from the static party setting in all 3 so far, I didn't have anything revolutionary. Ideas such as providing questers some creature comforts, at the expense of gold (an Inn, for example). Or a general store, that might sell various items that could have unique uses as the quest advances, should the players buy them *and* recognize an opportunity to use them creatively, but serve little to no purpose outside of the quest. That sort of thing. Stuff that hasn't been seen yet, and that I would want to run past you before implementing, so as not to break away from the game you've put together for us. And on that note, I won't claim to be well-experienced in playing the game, though I have been following the three quests fairly actively, and don't believe I'm planning with my eyes closed, so to speak. But of course, I'm more than willing to wait until you're comfortable with my level of experience to consider such things. :) Perhaps I should have clarified there, I didn't mean that I expected players to keep their "Rusty Short Sword of +0 Stats" listed in their inventory while wielding their "Glowing Excalibur of One-Hit Killing", I was only talking about the effect text for the weapons, again quoting the "Lullaby Wand (WP:X), on-hit sleep effect". Although, upon re-reading the quest's thread, it appears I was overcomplicating my memory of the actual effect, and it is simply a constant thing, not requiring any further description than that it is on-hit. Oops! My main concern was just with combat, not so much the leveling system, as I imagine it will begin to prove difficult to balance encounters between higher and lower leveled characters without making it too easy for the higher characters to steamroll, or the lower characters to feel ineffective. While I haven't seen any issues in Q3 with Nyx so far, I'm curious to see how it will work out as the parties get more varied in level. As you said, we'll see! I had plans in mind to, for each possible encounter, have various versions ready beforehand, or at least predetermined adjustments, to account for which class, and how many people, entered into combat, so I was prepared to have dynamic encounters, only finalized when combat began. It was, in particular, the bit about "how many successful hits it will take for the party to beat the monster" that I was unsure of, and still am (hence, I plan on seeking input if/when the time comes, heh)

Okay, so a few questions: 1) May I PM you a pitch/intro for the quest I had in mind, as well as some of the included ideas/mechanics, if you're interested in the initial pitch? (Yes, I know that you'll want me to have some questing experience under my belt, and I don't plan on having this ready until at least the next batch of quests are through anyway, so hopefully I manage to hop into one of them, else I'll just have more time to flesh out this idea, heh) 2) With the addition of the "Lullaby Wand" from the Missing Matriarch quest (and other unique weapons that I may not have seen from the other two), are you going to keep a publicly accessible table/database of all such unique weapons, for reference when hosting? Just so that the signatures don't get cluttered with weapon text, and QMs don't have to dig through old quests' threads to find weapon info (or blindly trust the members to recall the stats/effects correctly) 3) What balancing plans do you have for parties of mixed level ranges? We now have at least one level 10 player, several in the 5+ range, and yet plenty that are still Lv1. If the plan, from here on out, is to limit quests to players of similar level, then we will effectively create lock-outs on players, or at least run into an issue of waves of quests, where it may eventually boil down to alternating between Group A&B(&C), to avoid excluding any players multiple "waves" in a row (say you sign up for Quest #4, then after the wave of Q4,5,6 are done, you are 5+ levels ahead of "the pack" again, but then Q7 comes out and it *really* appeals to you, but because "the pack" didn't get to participate in the last round of quests, AND are significantly lower level than you, you stand virtually no chance of getting into Q7, and will likely have to wait until Q10,11,12 are released, assuming two "groups" of players). That, or there will have to be some interesting dynamic scaling in effect for combat... or someone's going to have a cakewalk while others will hit a brickwall, in a mixed-level party. **The idea I'm trying to present above, with the "waves" may not be clear, so if you need me to explain it better, I'd be happy to try 4) For quest planning, in terms of balancing combat and monsters (barring my third question, for the moment), will you (or others) be available to help create monsters that are both challenging, but fair, if someone is preparing a quest, and has the idea for the monster(/encounter) and its abilities? I have more questions, but most of them are more directly tied to the plotline I'm preparing, so I'll ask them as the need arises.

Thormanil accepts the sword, and tucks it into his pack, which he seemingly conjured out of nowhere. As he slings the pack over his shoulder (and it mysteriously vanishes from view, again...), he thanks Cinna, with a big grin on his face... Thormanil, to Cinna: "Heh, many thanks. You've no idea how many cavities and tooth decay you've just spared my clan from! Though, our uh.. 'dentist,' may want to have a word with you... He's been doing well for himself in the business of knocking, err, 'surgically removing' those rotten teeth outta the youngsters' mouths! Ha ha!" Thormanil walks to the bar to get another drink. As he waits, he checks the Quest board, but to his disappointment, the land and its people seem to be doing just fine without adventuring folk meddling around in everything. The bartender gives him a shout, and Thormanil returns to the bar. Appreciating the quality pour, the fullbodied head without any overflow, he tips the bartender kindly, and heads back to the table.

Thormanil gasps, taking note of the sword Cinna is displaying Thormanil: "M'lady... What you're holding... that be the infamous Excalibust! That sword, or, rather, as it is known amongst my people," Thormanil holds back a chuckle "*Toothpick of the Ages*, has maintained the highest bartering value for generations! Why, it was rumored that a piece of craftsmanship as fine as that would never splinter! And, as worse-for-wear as it may be, I can see no truly rough edges! One man's trash, if you will, m'lady... Might you part with it for the cost of your next round? It's got a hint of sentimentality... or some such, to it, y'know..."

I've got a quest in mind, one that's a fair bit more freeform than the three hosted so far. The storyboard, if you will, likely wouldn't be ready until at least a second wave of quests are hosted and completed, and that's not including figuring out the mechanics/how to work it, and building the scenes/enemies. On that note, I have a few questions: 1) As I mentioned a while back in the R&D thread (and as several members were quick to help with), I recently moved, and, aside from my SW 'figs, I have virtually none of my LEGO collection at my disposal, and likely won't for the foreseeable future. I've been playing with LDD, though, and have toyed around with some scenes/structures that would fit with the quest. Given that I wouldn't be ready to host this for a while (and thus, time isn't really a factor), would anyone be willing to recreate, in physical form, and photograph, various LDD creations for me, to use in the quest? Likely wouldn't be anything too demanding. I think the most parts-intensive/detailed scene I have in mind so far is the interior of a pub/tavern. Anyway, not expecting any definite yes's, but if there's an interest/willingness, that'd be awesome. 2) Are there mechanics in place/are the mechanics&rules adaptable to having the party split up, and temporarily having multiple decision makers? IE, early in the quest, the goal is to gather information. Player A, the main party leader, divides the 6-man group into 3 smaller groups, and each smaller group goes off to a separate area, with their own mini-mission, possibly even getting into battles without the whole group? ***Sorry, have to run. I'll edit this with another question or two later today***

Reading through the Hall thread, I'm starting to wonder about the shape of The Hall itself. In your MOC of The Hall, Sandy, I can count 11 interior corners, and that's being generous (assuming some folks have resigned themselves to sitting midway up the stairs, heh). Surely, by now, the unpictured area of The Hall must be a few curves short of a circle? That, or it must have plenty of recessed booths surrounding the main chamber, since most everyone and their mother (I think even I might be guilty of this, haha!) has managed to find an open table in a lonely corner of the Hall!

As he recovers from his journey, sitting off to the side of the Hall, Thormanil observes the activity around him. The mage with his mirror tricks is of particular interest to him. Thormanil, thinking to himself: 'Hrmm.. that illusionist seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve. Wonder if he's got anything that'll "add a few inches"..' Thormanil chuckles at his little joke, remembering the countless street vendors and self-proclaimed shamen he has seen, trying to pawn off "Growth Potions" on the gullible masses. As he revels in his own wit, he hears something that amuses him more than himself: A young man, sporting a dark hooded cape, who has been creeping around The Hall, thinking himself quite sneaky, finally steps out into the light. This individual enters into a loud introduction, as though the attention of the entire Hall has suddenly settled upon him. To be fair, he did turn a few heads, though all but a few turned their attention elsewhere by the time he had finished announcing his lineage. Young Man: "...son of Ayric Rone." The man pauses to take a breath, then continues with his introduction. Thormanil, thus far entertained by the young man's enthusiasm, listens as his monologue draws to a close. Moments after finishing his speech, the young man mentions that he is quite hungry. Thormanil takes this opportunity to hail the young man. Thormanil, bellowing to the young man: "~YOU THERE! ALPHABET BOY!" The young man glances over, unsure of whether or not he was this "Alphabet Boy" Thormanil, still loud: "~YES, LADDY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Thormanil beckons the young man over to his table, and greets him with a heavy-handed pat on the back Thormanil, after a hearty laugh: "Welcome to the Hall, uh, Doric, was it? No, that's a dwarven name if I've ever heard one.. Derrick? No..." He pauses for a second, trying to remember what exactly the man had said his name was... Thormanil: "AH! Dyric! That's it! Welcome to the Hall, Dyric! To be honest, I only just arrived here myself a short while ago. Bloody imps... but that's a story for another day. Now, you said you were hungry, aye?" Before Dyric can even reply, Thormanil has already flagged down a barmaid and ordered, what sounded like, enough food to feed a banquet. The barmaid returns shortly with two large flagons of ale, and places them in front of Thormanil, assuring him that the food will be ready shortly. Thormanil, to Dyric: "Quite the looker, eh?" He nods towards the orcish barmaid that had brought the drinks over. Thormanil: "Those greenskins are a sight for sore eyes, for sure!" Dyric, at this point, has something of a wide-eyed stare, and blank look on his face, not quite sure what to think of this man's so-far strange conversational choices. Thormanil notices this, and after letting out another booming laugh, continues, with Dyric having yet to get a word in edgewise... Thormanil: "I'M KIDDING, LADDY! Ha Ha Ha, you noble types are always so up tight! You are nobility, aintcha? Never met a commoner with a family tree like yours, at's for sure." Thormanil takes a large swig of ale, and remembers that the barmaid brought over *two* ales. He slides one across the table to Dyric Thormanil: "ACH! But where are my manners?! Drink up, Dyric!" He lifts his mug for cheers Thormanil: "The name's Thormanil, but you can feel free to call me Thorm. Now, I'm still not sure about you, but I'm for sure no sort of royalty nor nobility. My clan's a bit too.. rural, for that sort of thing. They're much more content to just swing entire trees around at each other, or anyone who gets too close to our village, or tries to make a joke about any darned blue oxen... I'm a giant, y'see. Well, I come from a line of giants. The fates decided to play a twisted joke on me, though, so here I stand no higher than my pop's knee. Heh, my pop had a grand sense of humor, too, what with giving me a surname all my own, Nihai.. Do y'get it? Say it with me... 'Nihai... Ni-hai..' Hear it yet? It sounds like 'Knee High'! Ha Ha Ha!" Laughing at his own story, Thormanil takes a pause to catch his breath and have another drink. Thormanil: "Cripes, where is that food? I'm about starving over here! So, Dyric, tell me about yerself! You said yer a (chuckling), rouge, eh? Or maybe I heard ya wrong. Though, if you fancy yourself a rogue, you'd be well advised to keep your hands outta my pockets. See, first off, I aint got no pockets on me, and secondly, I can assure you that that's *not* a purse of coins you'll be finding. Har Har Har!" Thormanil continues laughing, obviously very amused by his latest joke. After he laughs himself out of breath, he recomposes himself, and awaits Dyric's reply. OOC: Hope you don't mind, Legonater, that I took the liberty of puppeting your character around a little bit. I felt that it was integral enough to my narration, and minor enough, that it could be excused, and it really lent itself to my character's personality, how I would envision him greeting someone such as your character for the first time. If it didn't sit well with you, then I apologize and will refrain from such in the future.

A tall, shirtless man saunters into The Hall, with a large axe slung over his shoulder, muttering to himself. Most folks who notice him ask themselves the obvious questions, such as "Why doesn't he have a shirt on?", "Is he looney? Why is he muttering to himself so much?" and, of course, "With an axe that large, surely, he must be overcompensating for something..?" He makes his way towards the notice board, grumbles and mumbles some more, and finds himself a seat at an empty table. Those with a keen sense of hearing manage to pick up on a few select phrases: something about some "wretched imp" that had cast a slowing-curse upon him while he was en route to The Hall, and the fact he had missed the first round of employment opportunities as a result.

/wide-eyed stare It's great, thank you *very* much! I guess the only thing I could ask you to do is give yourself a hi-five for me, haha

Ah, I should have figured that's what it was. Thank ya kindly Very sleek! I'll rearrange mine in a similar fashion, thanks for the idea.

@Masked and Doctor, thank you both so much! I was about ready to kick myself for not bringing any of the three custom castle-era figs up with me (I had them individually bagged and everything, heh). You guys have been a huge help, and for a new member of the boards, no less! I'll put together my sig, and work on getting a reasonable backstory compiled in my head, in the event that my poor Barbarian falls victim to a spanish inquisition over at the Hall. edit: Hrm, I keep getting told that I am only allowed two lines in my signature. I've tried several formatting options, but am at a loss. Any suggestions?

@Masked, I wouldn't dare to dream of asking you to buy/order the head, haha! Light gray would be just fine for the hammer axe (darn, and here I was hoping I had constructed something that was distinctly axe-y)

Sorry for the delay, I had to leave the office, and haven't had much of a chance to get online since. @Masked, When you say you have the helmet (beneath second quote), are you referring to the Samurai (in D.Bley) or the Dwarf helmet? If it's the Samurai one, then I'm not looking to use the related armor. I'm really fond of the expression on that particular head, and feel like it is the only head that fits the character I have in mind. I'm looking into the option of getting my own fig mailed up (and then improving it with some bricklinking, heh), but if you wouldn't mind still assembling a temporary fig that at least resembles my idea, I'd greatly appreciate it. Here's an image from LDD of *about* what the fig would look like, if I were to order the parts from BL today. I've made a few changes from my original design, most notably ditching the armor. My internet is running really slowly (I mean *really* slowly), and loading the catalog on BL is painful, so for now, I'm only going to list parts/description. Maybe tomorrow, when I have access to high-speed again, I'll get a proper list made. /sigh. Helmet: Ideally, metallic silver Dwarf Warrior helmet. Alternatively, Dragon-knight helmet with clip on front (black), or Samurai warrior helmet with clip on front (whichever color available) Head: Ideally, the smirking face from sports figs (notably, a basketball player). Alternatively, any fig with a smirking/smug face, in yellow (unless you have a skin-tone torso to match the head, as opposed to the yellow) Neck: None Torso: Yellow or Skin-tone, shirtless, muscle-pattern, the yellow at least comes from the Series 2 Surfer Legs: Undecided. Either a martial pattern (pants/tied martial belt) if you use the Samurai helm, or whichever legs with armor patterns you feel look best, if you use the dwarf helmet. Color of legs up to you, though white is preferred for the martial pattern Weapon: 2x Dark Gray (alt. Dark Blay) 1x1 Bricks w/ 5 studs 1x Brown 4x Dark Gray (alt. Dark Blay?) Ice Picks 4x White 1x1 Round Plate When assembled, the lower 1x1 w/5 studs should have its top stud resting against the stopper on the bar, and the upper brick should be connected to the top of the lower brick, covering the stopper in the process. Though not shown exactly in the picture, the two bricks will fit snugly together, and the short ends of the Ice Picks will be slightly pushing against each other, but will not be noticeably bent. Hope this is enough to go on. I'll check back tomorrow. Thanks a *ton*, guys <3

Helmet: Head: Still working on the rest of the list. May not use the breastplate in the end, as I rather like the torso piece I'd used, but in a practical setting, having chainmail under a full plate doesn't make much sense (and you can't see the torso design anyway, heh) Edit: read your reply wrong, didn't need to link to samurai helm Any chance you have http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=60748&in=M in metallic silver? I really like the expression on the 'fig head, but most of the castle helmets obscure or entirely cover it

/gasp, the Doctor replied to my first post, I'm honored! (Love your work!) Sorry, drifted off-topic. If you, or anyone else, depending on parts, could do that, that would be great :D I'll go pull together a list of parts for the one fig I had in mind. Off the top of my head, he had... *Black samurai helmet *Chrome-silver breastplate *Brown, pattern-less cape *(Yellow) Minifig Head with chin-stubble, curvy-smirk, and flat eyebrows that almost appear to be a monobrow I'll update/expand that list shortly with actual parts/BL-catalog numbers

Congratulations, this was the final push for me to register on EB! I just (literally, within the last week) moved across the country and then some, and had to leave most of my LEGO behind, for now at least. I'd just inventoried/sorted/bagged all my minifigs and accessories, too. I'd been planning on trying some tabletop wars with them, but opted to just bring my SW related figs with me on the move. It would figure, then, that I only just now see this, and have none of my medieval/fantasy themed figures/accessories. Gah, I had even assembled a few custom figs to use as "hero" type units in a tabletop! They would have been perfect :( That said, would I be able to perhaps use LDD to create my character? I'd hate to miss out on this sort of fun, simply because I only brought along a bunch of Lucas' spacemen, heh.