Endgame

Speaking of which, I'm likely going to be borrowing an idea from 53, Zepher. Expect a PM.

Sandy, if the parties with damaged doors do nothing for a round, do the damaged doors recover at all?

To be perfectly fair, though, not even capes fit right on mnifigs in LDD - you'd almost have to do it physically if you want accurate results.

It's armor.

Most of what you said would either warrant a response of "You're right" or "Fair enough", Zepher (which you most deifnitely are!) , so to prevent us from creating a practical fortress of text , I've decided to respond to two things: (Assume everything else gets the two responses above. ) -The Bookmark is more or less as you described. He liked stories, yes. And for him, Nevermore just ran out. He sdapped its literature dry. It'd be a little boneheaded for him not to take the offer to get what he wants - sure, he hated Nevermore, but that doesn't neccasarily mean he's a good guy. He's still fully willing to brainwash people into someone or something they're simply not. In fact, I didn't even plan for the Bookmark to exit Nevermore! Arthur initiated it, and it was pretty much a win-win for him. An escape from Nevermore and new reading material? Why wouldn't he take it? He even breached his contract with Arthur to immerse Lynne. Did he mean well? Probably. But then again, he recognized the problems that would happen if a traumatized Lynne made it topside, and they made the connection between him and her. -Lynne was saveable because I knew Monolith wouldn't be. I wanted to provide some sense of the fact that it's not all futile. -This quest did have some pretty good outcomes, and for two reasons: 81 had the Progg colony trampled and sent into endangerment, and in the finale, there isn't going to be much of saving anyone besides your own skin. There should be something of a variance of how much heroes win and gain throughout an arc, and 99 was the highpoint. What comes next isn't going to be pretty. I agree, I really should've had more distinction and clarity about when the phase was going to start, and perhaps a little bit more variety in phase. This time, it wa sjust a simple "Turns Red", so to speak - a new free hit system and new specials. No crazy freefall section. ALSO: As a footnote: I'm not the one who plans on using the Minoid's "brother."

Also, this may be purely coincidental, but: The Metal gear that Psyclone's craft looks like, Metal Gear Ray, was being used by a man named Solidus - who also piloted helicopters, had an eye with an eyepatch, and had mechanical tentacles coming out of his back.

Further proof that Hurricane Heist is inspired by Metal Gear: Those reception/noise level bars in the bottom right sure look like the MGS1 codec... Which was used to communicate with people. Additionally, the number below it even has the same format as the codec does: ###.## . Additionally, the number showed it an actual codec frequency in the Metal Gear games: The Number is 140.15, which is Meryl's frequency in the MGS games. Can you tell I'm a Metal Gear Solid Fan? The designer is too, apparently.

In order to not horribly murder the quote system: -In regards to pacing you, are mostly right - although I would say there definitely needs to be certain amount of peaks and valleys in pacing (if the pacing were to be graphed), you are right that the entrance into Nevermore was a bit too deep of a valley, continuing the graph metaphor. I've noticed I have a bizzare habit to reset quests in terms of pacing a lot: 48 did it 3 times or so, while 70 did it once. -You are correct about the battles - I still think living in the moment is fun in a battle, especially a boss, if you have choices on how to approach it. It's the big difference between a Monolith and an Aureole. -I intentionally didn't give you a map - it would've broken the mirror puzzle pretty badly. I gave you one when you explored everything, and sure enough, it broke the mirror puzzle. I'll make a note of this in the finale, but just to say it here first: If you have made a map of the current area and want to get it checked, present it to any of my NPCs. They'll happily verify it for you, and points out what's right and wrong. -The Regret's journals were supposed to provide a little bit of insight to his mindset/disorders, not necessarily his origin. Take into account this tidbit: "He can feign any emotion and lie effortlessly due to his rampant sociopathy." With: "He almost always has a reason for doing what he does." And you'll begin to realize that maybe The Regret isn't what he seems. -You're a jerk because of that geology lesson.

Quest 99 Overall I felt 99 was a solid job, and fitting for a penultimate request. Not my best, but I felt that it was an overall solid quest. To be a little bit more detailed... Speed/Pacing After the slugfest of illness and delays that was Quest 81, It was definitely nice to be able to crank out a 30 page quest in 3 months - with only 3 PCs, no less. I don't believe I ver breached the 24 hour window by more than an hour or two, so I hope that the steady stream of updates was enjoyable. Pacing suffered a bit; The quest was divided into 3 major segments, with two battles each: Upper Mine (Rats/Scafflord and Bouldlord) Lower Mine (Oculouds/Dauntlets) Nevermore(Devils/Monolith) I was hoping the segmentation would help the heroes feel as if they were progressing, but I feel as if the lack of major aesthetic change from Upper to Lower mine made progress feel it was going a bit slow. Nevermore got updated a little slower too near the second half of the basement, so that probably didn't help either. Loot There really wasn't much unique around here! I felt as if I gave out enough (maybe too much gold, but that can be chalked up to overkill), but i felt the loot was suitable. Battles These were typical Endgame battles with a major flaw. Varied? Yes. Tough? Definitely. Chatty enemies? Yes. However, although the party as a whole had choices to approach each battle, I had neglected to provide much choice to Grimwald; his only options were only scroll and attack lower level enemies. Grimwald did have a few shining moments; Cutting the puppetstring controlling Arthur comes to mind, but overall, I apologize again for making the battles such a chore for you, LordOfTheNoobs. While I still maintain my stance that Monolith was not too tough (You had a lucky druid, lets be realistic here. ), I did approach his second phase wrong. What I should have done is set the heart at a higher hP, and told you the exact number when Monolith would go berserk - instead, I did it in a extremely uninuititive way, and it looks like I just willed Monolith back to life because you killed him too fast. The second phase was always planned, and I did have a passive special to somewhat signal it (Endgame Syndrome: ???), but I should not have been as cryptic about it - and for that, I'm sorry. I hope the double EXP made up for my blunder. Puzzles This one ended up more puzzle centric than expected! I felt these were definitely some of my better puzzles in riddles - the Minoid's repair style is something I'd definitely like to make a tougher version of. The Nevermore basement was pretty much one giant puzzles, and you did well solving it - you had to use the environment, your NPC smoothtalking skills, solve riddles... Looking back, the Nevermore basement was 3 different puzzles wrapped up in one big puzzle. Choice/Railroading After WBD's remarks about 86, I tried to provide more choice of where to go and what to do. The "floors" were self contained, but each had their own choices: Upper Mine: Which way around the loop you should go Lower Mine: Which puzzle you wished to tackle, either enslaving the miners or fighting the Oculoids Nevermore: Where to go in the Basement, saving Lynne, Getting Immersed However, the transitions between each of these "floors" was (from my perspective, as a QM) a bit too rail-roady. Characters/Story I felt my cast of characters was pretty strong this time around! The Minoid had a pretty good evolution as he watched the events unfold, and I thought all of the party members had good chemistry and conversations with him. Cobb was a little flat, but I felt like he got enough personality as an NPC who pretty much existed to pin up the quest notice. The miners that you saved didn't get much screen time, but I tried to portray them as fairly mundane individuals to counterbalance the excess of quirkiness. I have to thank you 99ers for helping me characterize Lynne and the Bookmark, though. You took one setpiece and one enemy and helped them blossom into characters - characters I quite like, now. Your personalities bounced off each other fairly well, too - and the Bookmark set into motion my personal favorite RP moments of the quest. The_Customizer and LordofTheNoobs, I have to thank you again for getting immersed - you did excellent with the new personalities you were given. Monolith. Monolith was my second shot at Doppel, more or less - from The Regret's far away or recent past, there are always a few beings in the world that are trapped in this bizzare purgatory; a no man's land between freedom and complete slavery to The Regret. I felt Monolith did a better job of that then Doppel, though I do wish I had a few more hints about his friendly disposition near the beginning - just a miner pondering why the Giant didn't outright kill them would've been enough. Now, the narrative itself started out fairly simple. Save the miners, save the Minoid, ad gather information about The Giant. However, it quickly spiraled into the Oculoid's territory, figuring out why they're in the mine and rooting them out - and I felt the revelation of Nevermore tied up the "why is the island like this?" threads nicely. In Nevermore, you essentially got to read a retelling of Prometheus's death and The Regret's beginning. I realize that The Regret is super evil right now. It's something I've done intentionally, and relates back to my life experiences. I'll elaborate on this a little more later, but there are a few things that may have become clear about The regret this quest if you read between the lines. I'll leave this with a question: What would you be like if you lived for three thousand years, alone, unable to obtain peace or even sleep? Some people are sick of the world after observing it for 30 years, let alone 3,000... Hero Analysis I'll save this for later - expect lots of compliments.

Of course - the system is designed so that you can.

Nah, I need time and concentration, and at this hour I have neither.

I'll break the ice tomorrow, then, and watch the flood come rushing in.

The Minoid gives a small bow, accepting the card key. "...STATEMENT: Thank you, Arthur. Without you heroes, I'd still be a machine and not... whatever I am now. But with all due respect..." The Minoid shreds the card key. "Having something that could reset my polish is... Not a risk I'm willing to take. But... thank you heroes. QUOTE: "Very, very much." END QUOTE." "I don't know what you heroes did down there, but I do know that you've advanced my creation more than I could've - so thanks for that. I'll see you around Eubric, maybe?" "Well... Thanks to you heroes, the mine can continue. If that giant beast continued rampaging in my mine, well... A whole lot of people would be out a job - and jewelry, huh. You've earned you reward. Here, take it." For all of the struggles the party had overcome, each hero reiceves 130 gold - and a glittering Mythril Shard! "Captain Armstrong is waiting for you down at the dock. Remember where to go, right?" With a nod, the party pockets their reward, and walks through the mining settlement once again. There, they see smiling faces staring out at them from windows - the people they had saved. Night had fallen as the party walked through Goland. The party realizes that without their efforts, this settlement would be a practical ghost town. Indeed, they had practically saved the enitre island, considering Cobb's business dominated Goland. However, it had cost Olegaia the life of a noble giant... The party arrives at the docks, meeting Captain Armstrong. "More of you to haul across the sea again? Eh, hop on, we have enough provisions." At his gruff command, the party boards Excelsus once more. Once situated, the sail droops from the mast, catching the wind. Slowly but surely, the boat gains speed, drifting off from Goland. The island's distorted silhouette fades off in the distance, it's outline glowing from the moonlight. The party still couldn't believe that, despite all of the good people that inhabited it, the island was made by someone who was nothing short of a monster. As the salty sweetness of the sea breeze caresses Lynne's hair, the kiss of sunlight on her pale cheek reminds her of her ironic position: after two thousand years of darkness, it was up here in the light of day where the path before her was most hidden. A melody floats in on the breeze, perhaps played by a passing Minstrel a few ships away. After listening to their rehearsal enough times, Lynne's softly sings along with them. "Feeling my way through the darkness, Guided by a beating heart, I can't tell where the journey will end, But I know where to start." Perhaps hearing the music himself, or perhaps merely drawn in by the woman's singing, Arthur joins in. " They tell me I'm too young to understand, They say I'm caught up in a dream. Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes... Well that's fine by me. So wake me up when it's all over, When I'm wiser and I'm older, " "All this time I was finding myself, and I... didn't know I was lost." "So wake me up when it's all over, When I'm wiser and I'm older," "All this time I was finding myself, And I..." "...didn't know I was lost." The music stops, the minsterls ceasing their rehearsal. The moment passes. Life goes on. The two singers are jolted back to reality by Captain Armstrong. "If you're duet is finished, we've docked at Eubric." The two singers reutrn to their senses, and the party steps off the boat. Lynne looks around the city in awe. "So... This is home now..." "You know what? I like it. Lead the way, heroes!" With their quest completed, and many lives saved, the party forges their way back into the hustle and bustle of Eubric. Night had fallen, but the criminals had not yet came out - it was one of the nicest times to be out and about in Eubric. As the party returned to the hall, they knew that... ~The Quest Was Successful!~ The Party: Arthur Justus Regulus VII, a Hero Who Is Actually Worth Something (played by Flipz), Level 32.75 Skirmisher, 22-year-old male Human *Immune to Fragile and all Poisons* *Only Receives One Negative Effect At A Time* [ Currently in: Six Thousand Feet Under] *Party Leader!* Power: 42 (31 + WP:11) Health: 54/54 (Basic Health: 5 + Level Bonus: 30 + Class Boost: 15 + Permanent Boost: 4*) Ether: 36/36 (Basic Ether: 5 + Level Bonus: 30) Defense: 20 (Arm Shield: 14 + Duke's Coat-of-Arms: 5 + Unicorn Helmet: 1) Gold: 659 (Owed 128 gold by Boomingham) Equipment: Gladiator Trident (WP: 11, Spear, causes bleeding effect), Arm Shield (SP:14, shield), Duke's Coat-of-Arms (SP: 5, Protects against Fragile and all Poisons; bodywear, suitable for knights, dragoons, skirmishers and regulators), Unicorn Helmet (SP:1; the wearer can only receive one negative effect at a time, with a new effect replacing the old one; headwear, usable by barbarians, knights, dragoons, infiltrators, regulators, skirmishers, and winged warriors), Cloak of Deception (Free hits against the wearer have a 1/6 chance to be redirected to a random opponent; Backwear, suitable for anyone), Scarf of Misfortune (Wearer deals the Jinxed effect on every third round; Accessory, suitable for anyone) Inventory: Weapons: Zoot's Rebel (WP:20 halberd, suitable to Arthur only), Sir Roderick's Sword (WP:12, Longsword), Sword of the Vampir (WP:17, user is Jinxed), Duplovian Swift Halberd (WP:3, halberd, stuns on successful hits, Hollow [nothing]), Spider Leg (WP:8, doubled against flying enemies; spear), Dauntlet Index (WP: 8, doubled against humanoids; spear) (Unsuitable weapons: Unlucky Horseshoe (WP:13, retrievable throwing weapon, causes Jinxed-effect), Staff of the Cultist Battlemage (WP: 7, staff, 50% chance of Fleeing upon being KO'd), Ammit (WP:6, Greatsword gains 5 Ether for each kill), Hollow Blade Dagger (WP:6, dagger, hollow-blade [nothing]), Staff of Ennon - (WP: 5, Light-Elemental, staff, Restores 2 ether on a roll of 2, 3, or 4), Healing Staff A (WP: 5, staff, heals instead of damaging), Healing Staff B (WP: 5, staff, heals instead of damaging) ) Artifacts: Noble Mask (Wearer gains gold equal to the number of enemies after each victorious battle; headwear), Duplovian Helmet of the Guard (SP:2, Immune to Magic and Healing; headwear, suitable for anyone), Jester's Hat (Wearer may choose to gain one immunity from targeted enemy; Headwear, suitable for anyone), Heavy Armor (SP: 5, immune to Fragile; bodywear, suitable for barbarians, knights, dragoons, skirmishers and regulators), Stingy Gloves (Prevents enemies from ever stealing gold from you; handwear, wearable by everybody), Overkill Gloves (Gives the wearer 1 gold for every point of damage they do extra when they defeat an enemy (example: Enemy has 50 HP left, you do 75 damage, you earn 25 gold); handwear, suitable for anyone), Shackles of War (Prevents anyone from fleeing battles; Accessory, suitable for anyone), Zap-Tap Badge (Has a 1/2 chance to deal Electric damage to an opponent who has dealt damage to a hero, equal to the hero's level; Accessory, suitable for anyone), (Unsuitable Artifacts: Lens of Speed Reading (allows a scroll to be read in addition to a normal action; accessory, suitable for scroll users), Sticky Gloves (Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up); handwear, suitable for rogues and beast warriors) (sent to Isaac Shawe) ) Gems: Opal (Ice), Amethyst (Darkness), Topaz (Lightning), Diamond (Light), Garnet (Earth), Tools: Bedroll, Telescope, Shovel, Magnifying Glass, Pickaxe, Magic Compass Scrolls: 2x Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Sealing (Lent to De'kra), 2x Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Armor Sundering (Reduces target’s SP by 5 and has a 50/50 chance of success), Scroll of Poisoning (Grants target’s weapon the Poisoned 10 effect for one battle at the cost of 5 ether), Scroll of Luck (Grants target the Lucky-effect for one battle. Costs 10 ether.), Scroll of Weakening, Consumables: *Healing: Potion, Grand Potion x2, Tonic, Grand Tonic, Ether Core, Remedy x8, Elixir x3, Phoenix Essence *Status: Nostrum x2, Hurricane, Mead x2, Ambrosia, Jinxy Juice, Tiger Balm *Venoms: Exterlate, Noxious Venom (When used on a weapon, the weapon deals the Poisoned-by-10 effect for the duration of the battle and the Confused effect for the next three rounds, for the duration of one battle.), Crumbling Venom (-3 HP/-1 SP per round), Blind Fury, Love Potion, *Permanent Improvement: Bright Polish x2, Grating Stone, Ella's Pie (Permanently boosts max. ether by 5 but permanently decreases max. health by 5 when consumed.), *Bombs: Smoke Bomb x5, 3 Bones, Chaotic Bomb (Causes 100 random elemental damage to all opponents), Pumpkin Bomb (Causes stunned-, poisoned-, asleep-, blinded-, sealed- and confused-effects to all opponents when used.), *Currency: Scrap Metal x2, Silver Ore x2, Mythril Shard Quest Items: Minoid Card Key Bookmark is hitching a ride. Erdathcath Madilinas, 199 years old, Level 22.66 Druid Power: 37 Health: 36/36 Ether: 6/25 Gold: 750 Equipped: Tritech Handcannon (WP:15, Fire-elemental), Satchel of Awesomeness (Permanent Lucky-effect; bodywear, suitable for anyone), Amulet of Optimism (Adds the confused-effect to all attacks; accessory, suitable to Erdathcath only), Inventory: *Qlice (WP: 8, club, permanent Poison 4), Longbow (WP:7), Quick bow (WP: 6, bow, provides hastened effect for one round each battle) *Mage's muffler (protects from sealing; accessory, suitable for anyone), Helmet (+1 max. health; headwear, suitable for anyone), Snake Eye Charm (protects from petrified; accessory, suitable for anyone), Machine's Heart (The hollowed out heart of Monolith, after being defeated, halves all damage from Earth, Electrical, and Mechanical type enemies; bodywear, suitable for anyone) *Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, *Scroll of Weakening *6 Potions, Grand Potion, 6 Mead, Smelling Salts, 15 Venoms, 2 Deadly Venoms, 2 Floral Bombs, 2 Ice Bombs, 2 Lightning Bombs, 1 Fire Bomb, 3 Smoke Bombs, 2 Water Bombs, 2 Holy Bomb, 2 Dirt Bombs, 2 Air Bombs, Bone, Skeleton Decoy, Saber teeth, Jinxy Juice, Grand Tonic x2, Love Potion, Blind Fury[/color], Grating Stone, Jinxy Juice, Mythril Shard x2, Silver Ore, Elixir, Emergency Essence x2, Agni Bomb, Sushi (restores 5 HP and 5 Ether), Neutralizer Grimwald Gjinko 69 year old male gnome Cleric Level: 16 Power: 24 (15 + 8 + 2 Pugilist's Gloves + permanent boost of 1) SP: 3 Health: 24/24 Ether: 11/20 Gold: 718 Equipment: Splinter Broom (WP: 8, broomstick, defies SP), Tricorne (SP: 3; headwear, suitable for anyone), Pugilist's Gloves (+2 power, immune to Weakened; handwear, suitable for anyone) Inventory: *Knotted Broom (WP: 6, broomstick), *Shovel, Pickaxe, Bedroll, *Opal, Amethyst, Diamond, Topaz *Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Sleep, *Mead, Remedy x3, Potion x2, Bone x2, Grand Potion, Bunch of Cherries (10/10 cherries that each restore 1 ether when eaten), Ice Bomb, Root beer (Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against Undead enemies for 20 damage (Does not affect non-Undead enemies)), Ambrosia, Smoke Bomb, Plague Venom, Grand Tonic x2, Nostrum, Sushi (restores 5 HP and 5 Ether) x2, Smelling Salts, Mythril Shard QM Note: Thank you all for being great questees! Please leave any comments you may have in the QM's lounge - I'll be there in a bit, as well.

I repeat as well, as does Hugin.

"Your definition of fun is... very odd, dearest druid." QM Note: When LordoftheNoobs confirms he's ready to ship out, I'll put up the conclusion.

We're all tired.

Yeah, but in this point in time, our only real interest is busting down the door and slaying whatever boss monster lurks within.

"I'll be heading back soon. Arthur, if you want to catch up, I'm sure that Octavyn could slip you a pint or two at the Albatorss. Me, I just drink water..." "Whatever happens in Eubric, its gotta be fifty times better than Nevermore." "Tell me, are the bookshelfs there oak? The Regre used this horrible stone, tears up the pages and everything..." Lynne grimaces. "Hey, try being underground for two milleniums... I'm blinded, boiling, and sunburned right now, but it's still somehow better than the alaternative."

It is now your duty to make a massive rat battle, with a rat of every color on that list.

"Excellent, considering you've tackled more than what I orginally intended, I'll make sure you get the reputation. When you're ready to leave, I'll give you your actual reward, too." "Understood. I don't think that'll be neccasary... She's already partially moved in, to the point where we're spending our nights together under the same roof now. There is still plenty of our things left to be moved, but we're pretty much in the new house. Thank you for returning the catalog, though." "You're not making me any less nervous. You know that, right?"

"No... It's been decent enough. They shovel some work on us weekly, and tell us to do it. We run around like hooded loons for the first half of the week, and handle our own business for the second half. Honestly, if it means my coworks, friends, and girlfriend won't get arrested, it's a good arrangement." "Wait, you used him for combat purposes? That's an... interesting devlopment, to say the least. I don't feel comfortable militarizing them too much, although I can build them more versatile in the future..." Cobb double takes. "An... abomination?! I built my business - my life's income, my pride and joy - on the palace of some crazy archdemon?! I don't believe it... Fantastic, simply megablocking fantastic... But if it's buried, hopefully the past will be buried with it. We can work around it, supposing that monster's plans don't come to fruition... Yes, the shipment! You retrieved it - good. I'll have it delivered, and I'll be sure to put in good word for you folks. Fair?"

Nah, Masson embarasses himself. He's just more prone to do it when Karie is around.

"To be honest, I have no idea what your job here was - all I know is that the Minoid may have been endgangered, and that I may have had to perform repairs. It's a pretty expensive piece of equipment - Though I hesitate to call it "equipment." Equipment implies a certain level of... nonsentience, after all. When I was first testing out the Minoid, I figured out that its powers of analysis allows it to actively learn things. Who knows what Minoids will eventually be able to grasp? And yes, I say Minoids - I actually have another built, right now." Masson chuckles. "You have a little brother, Minoid." "STATEMENT: ...I can hope we can perhaps rendezvous in the future, me and my "brother.""

If a door is only partially defeated, it doesn't regenarate any HP. If doors are fully destroyed, and there is at least one door remaining, all defeated doors are resurrected with full HP.