Endgame

MM Note: Enson's position is fixed, and moving does indeed consume an action. "So this was Vannoy's work... damn him, and damn the rest of you, too. The Sabrillo egg is getting exactly what it deserved; served up on a dinner plate like the rest of its kind!" Round Three of the Umbra Rumble Agent Turn: >Kleeck versus Kibosh Drone B: (0/1 proficiency successes + 2 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Kibosh Drone B >Igaz versus Trips: (2/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3 - 0) = 3 damage to Trips - Trips dips! >Enson pops a Plasma Potion: 3 HP restored! >Yelana moves to C4 >Dunola casts Elemental Evocation (Bolt) on Kibosh Drone B: (2/3 arcane successes) - (DC 1 + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Kibosh Drone B >Tester-Three moves to D3 Enemy Turn: >Kibosh Drone B versus Yelana: (1/1 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Yelana >Jek versus Enson: (0/0 proficiency successes + 3 weapon mod) - (2/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3-2) = 1 damage to Enson Igaz rushes forward and buries the tip of his lance right into Trips' shoulder. The blade withdraws, and the cubeheaded gentleman surveys the battlefield. "Right, well then. I see where we all stand - if there is one thing to be learned as a card dealer, it is when to fold. Sorry, sorry, so sorry!" In the middle of the chaos, the shady auctioneer flees, dropping something on the floor as he hurries off. "Bastard! Get back here! We can still... Argh! megabluck!" The Battle Grid: The conflict continues! MM Note: There's still two enemies, so I'll hold off on autorunning, but if I get in a few actions I can run a second round today, I hope. @samurai-turtle@Kintobor@Classic_Spaceman@KotZ@Lord Duvors@Goliath Enemy Party: "Grraaaahhhh!" Jek Flakko Vitality: 3/6 Strength: 5 Skill: 0 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Athletics 2 Equipment: Broken Blaster (+3 Short-Range Melee Kinetic weapon... -1 skill.) Drops: 20 credits, Energy Cell "Processing damage." Kibosh Drone B Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Kleeck (KotZ) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 3 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 40 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon) Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 4/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 15 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 1 EXP / 2 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion

Will round up all these thoughts and post a more detailed post when I get back home at my main set-up, but if I want to comment on one thing, I would be reluctant to make melee weapons required to hit enemies a space away... Because then short range and long range weapons just become crappier versions of artillery weapons. One thought I had was to make it easier for melee weapons to hit. Normally, when you roll the "proficiency" part of the damage calculation, a 1-3 is a fail and a 4-6 is a success. What if: Melee weapons had a 2/3 chance of Success per roll (e.g. a 3-6 becomes a success) Short range weapons had the normal 1/2 chance (4-6 is a success) And long range/artillery got a 1.3 chance (5-6 is a success) It's a touch unintuitive, but it is a way to make melee weapons intrinsically hit harder without having to go to the nasty realm that is multipliers.

I really like that - my only fear is that it makes running battles hard for a MM to manage... plus, now melee weapons are even worse.

Every single square pictured in the second example can be targeted using the "any angle" rule, yes. The first example features blind spots, so to speak, because of the fact that you could only fire in 8 directions. And yes, it is a smidge unrealistic, being a square attack radius - alas, we are living in a square world. From a player perspective, I feel like the second option just feels better, because an enemy 2 spaces directly above you being able to walk out of range by walking a square to the left would feel bad. They're out of range all of a sudden, despite being no further away from you. This is especially bad, because moving and attacking are different actions, and all of a sudden you spend turns chasing an enemy just to get it back in your line of fire That being said, I like how the 8-directional rule works, because it makes heroes think about their positioning more and gives them safe spots. But I think what this debate, and those example pictures, also reveals is - and something I've been gnawing on for a long time - why would you ever want to use a melee weapon? One last edit in regard to Elemental weapons having status effects attached: mulled it over, but I think that would just make them straight up better than the other damage types... Plus, simplicity is nice. There's enough mechanics in place right now before we even layer on an Elemental system.

Of course! Weapons that sun, burn, lacerate, poison, blind, defenestrate, those will all eventually exist in the game. But you gotta fight battles and clear missions and get your hands on one first. Let's talk about attacking diagonally, actually, because I think there are two different possible interpretations. In the following graphics, blue is the max range of melee, green is the max range of short range, and red is the max range of long range. White is a space you can't hit. The two possible interpretations are 45 degree angles only: And any diagonal works: I've personally been using the latter interpretation - does anyone have any sort of opinion on this? I will have to sit down and consider the pros and cons of both...

MM Note: Enson's position is fixed, and moving does indeed consume an action. "Magician tricks? SImple instructions? Taking me in alive? Like I did anything wrong! Those people at GLESP worked me to the goddamn bone, and they deserve far more than what I did!" "Simple instructions, hmmm..." muses Trips, almost knowingly. Round Two of the Umbra Rumble Agent Turn: >Kleeck versus Kibosh Drone A: (0/1 proficiency successes + 2 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 0) = 2 damage to Kibosh Drone A >Igaz moves to B2 >Enson versus Jek: (0/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/0 skill successes + 0 armor) (1 - 0) = 1 damage to Jek >Yelana versus Trips: (0/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (1 - 0) = 1 damage to Trips >Dunola chugs a Plasma Potion: 4 HP restored! >Tester-Three versus Kibosh Drone A: (1/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (1 - 0) = 1 damage to Kibosh Drone A - the drone is junked! Enemy Turn: >Trips casts Elemental Evocation (Bolt) on Tester-Three: (2/3 Arcane successes) - (DC 1 + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Tester-Three >Kibosh Drone B versus Dunola: (1/1 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Dunola >Jek versus Enson: (0/0 proficiency successes + 3 weapon mod) - (1/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3-1) = 2 damage to Enson Tester-Three guns down one of his robotic not-quite-peers as the rest of the party regroups and continues to wear down on their opposition. Seeing another one of his allies fall, Trips continues to avenge fallen enemies, hurling one last bolt of lightning at Tester-Three before his arcane reserves are expended. He takes the safety off his gun, realizing he would have to rely on good old fashioned lead from now on. Jek continues to wail on Enson. The Battle Grid: The conflict continues! @samurai-turtle@Kintobor@Classic_Spaceman@KotZ@Lord Duvors@Goliath Enemy Party: "Getting tired, four-arms?" Triple Pips "Trips" McGalloway Vitality: 5/10 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 0/2 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Arcana 3 Equipment: Old Revolver (+1, Short Range Kinetic weapon), Elemental Evocation (Spell) Drops: Vault Key A Note: Trips will flee the scene if he ever finds himself at 1 or 2 HP. He will still leave his Drops behind in his haste. "Out! Get out!" Jek Flakko Vitality: 3/6 Strength: 5 Skill: 0 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Athletics 2 Equipment: Broken Blaster (+3 Short-Range Melee Kinetic weapon... -1 skill.) Drops: 20 credits, Energy Cell "Still unscathed." Kibosh Drone B Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Kleeck (KotZ) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 3 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 40 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon) Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 2/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 15 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 5/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 1 EXP / 2 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion

In my defense, it was in a spoiler tag. In all seriousness, although I don't mind you guys using it for OoC interaction between each other, it is REALLY easy for me to miss stuff in spoiler tags, ESPECIALLY because I can't do Ctrl + F to find it on the page. I think I missed a stat upgrade because of it at the start of the battle, although that has been rectified... Bottom line is, if there is something you really want me to see, tag me here or put it in a not-spoiler tag. Both are pretty surefire ways to make sure I don't accidentally miss it. But, yes. Moving and targetting on diagonals is perfectly fine. I apologize again for missing the question so many damn times... your MM is a person too, I'm not perfect. This is another case of the fact that the stat sheet governs the game, and not necessarily the setting. You can't assume your weapons have certain properties or abilities if they are not explicitly there. Yes, other sci-fi settings have weapons that can be dialed to stun, but Heroica 2.0 isn't other sci-fi settings. (In fact, because this whole mission might be non-canon at the end of the day, one could argue it doesn't even have a setting yet. ) I totally accept the fact that I goofed because I missed the action - I was making the battle post in something of a rush, because I only had a 90 minute span to update that day, and I wanted to get the battle out. But in the future, that specific property of energy weapons is not implied. I know there have been some clerical hiccups, but I hope everyone is still having a good time.

Sorry for the missed update, guys, but now we're underway. This new battle system is pretty cool. Talk about a high drama round already.

MM Note: Full honesty, I forgot to roll the stun action. That being said, you have no weapons that specifically inflict the Stun effect, so the DC would've been too high - plus, I don't want to set a precedent of being able to take out enemies b posting a bunch of actions before the MM can get online to start the battle. Round One of the Umbra Rumble Agent Turn: >Kleeck versus Samba: (1/1 proficiency successes + 2 weapon mod) - (1/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3 - 1) = 2 damage to Samba >Igaz versus Kibosh Drone A: (1/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Kibosh Drone A >Enson versus Trips: (0/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) (1 - 0) = 1 damage to Trips >Yelana versus Trips: (2/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (0/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3 - 0) = 3 damage to Trips >Dunola casts Elemental Evocation (Bolt) on Samba: (3/3 Arcane successes) - (DC 1 + 0 armor) = (3 - 1) = 2 damage: Samba goes up in flames! >Tester-Three versus Kibosh Drone A: (1/2 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = 1 damage to Kibosh Drone A Enemy Turn: >Samba: continues to smolder. >Trips casts Elemental Evocation (Bolt) on Dunola: (3/3 Arcane successes) - (DC 1 + 0 armor) = (3 - 1) = 2 damage to Dunola >Kibosh Drone B versus Dunola: (0/1 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/1 skill successes + 0 armor) = (1 - 1) = 0 damage to Dunola >Kibosh Drone A versus Kleeck: (1/1 proficiency successes + 1 weapon mod) - (1/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (2 - 1) = 1 damage to Enson >Jek versus Enson: (0/0 proficiency successes + 3 weapon mod) - (1/2 skill successes + 0 armor) = (3-1) = 2 damage to Enson The battle was on! Kleeck dons his hard-bartered hlem and zaps at Samba, its thick hide not good enough to defend against blasts of energy. Dunola proceeds to exploit the other hole in the creature's defense, lobbing a ball of fire from downtown to combust the creature. It falls down, deceased, before it gets the chance to lash out at the party. Igaz and Tester-Three ding up one of the Kibosh Drones as Enson and Yelana batter Trips, the dealer not agile enough to dodge both attacks. He ends up taking a bullet to his left shoulder. "Two can play at this game!" Trips raises his right arm, and from his finger, shoots an arc of electricity at Dunola. The bolt nearly knocks her out, and a Kibosh Drone tries to finish the job, but the dwarf has enough sense to dodge the blaster bullet. Jek takes revenge on Enson, pistol-whipping the poor Quo'ri with all of his might. Trips wrings out his sparking hand while Jek snarls. "Still not fully used to that..." "Serves you right! How did you people find this place?!" The Battle Grid: The conflict continues! @samurai-turtle@Kintobor@Classic_Spaceman@KotZ@Lord Duvors@Goliath Enemy Party: "Little sore..." Triple Pips "Trips" McGalloway Vitality: 6/10 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/2 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Arcana 3 Equipment: Old Revolver (+1, Short Range Kinetic weapon), Elemental Evocation (Spell) Drops: Vault Key A Note: Trips will flee the scene if he ever finds himself at 1 or 2 HP. He will still leave his Drops behind in his haste. "Grrrngh!" Jek Flakko Vitality: 4/6 Strength: 5 Skill: 0 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Athletics 2 Equipment: Broken Blaster (+3 Short-Range Melee Kinetic weapon... -1 skill.) Drops: 20 credits, Energy Cell "Error." Kibosh Drone A Vitality: 3/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits "Unscathed." Kibosh Drone B Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Kleeck (KotZ) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 4/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 3 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 40 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon) Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 4/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 15 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 1/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell, Plasma Potion Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 1 EXP / 2 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion

MM Note: Enson's Smarts have been fixed. D3 is 3 spaces away from Samba, and the Gazerbeam is a short range weapon (range of 2), so that wouldn't work... you'd have to move closer, @KotZ. Boosting an atribute like Skill always takes 2 EXP, its proficiencies where the cost scales. That being said, I did goof on the stats, so now Smarts/Spirit is fixed.

A bit more complicated this time! I encourage everyone to pay attention to ranges, armor, and damage types for this one.

Enson fails to hide his arms, and in an act of caution, Jek simply points and fires off a shot behind him. Luckily, Enson's medical knowledge is enough to find a weakpoint - the Fangreak's eyes looked rather vulnerable - and delivers a solid punch to the face. The Fangreak stumbles back, quickly slamming a balled up fist on some panel on the door, before falling backwards and landing on his own gun. There's a crunch as his cheap equipment malfunctions, but as he howls out, the gateway he was guarding slides open, whatever he hit on the panel apparently alerting a certain cube-headed indivudal. That, and an entourage of guards, some mechanical, some not so much. The Fangreak staggers back up and draws his (now busted) weapon. "Hhhrrrngh! Xje vak tuu KRUOL! Dirty shot, holy man!" "There's no need for such vulgarity. Gather yourself, and we will dispose of them." Agents, prepare for combat! Round Zero of the Umbra Rumble The Battle Grid: Agent Turn Order: Kleeck Igaz Enson Yelana Dunola Tester-Three Enemy Turn Order: Samba Trips Kibosh Drone B Kibosh Drone A Jek MM Note: Welcome back to round zero! This is your chance to tell me what you want to equipment, and which available white space you wish to occupy to start bottle. @KotZ, congrats on being the proud owner of Heroica 2.0's first +2 weapon! I was reading the rules, and a +2 Energy Weapon requires 3 Skill to weild... luckily, Kleeck has 2 skill and 2 EXP, so he can hit 3 right now if you want to invest. (You may do that during Round Zero if you wish.) So this hopefully won't be another "spell flat out fails" scenario. Let me know if any stats look wrong, any enemy stats are unclear, or if you have any questions at all. Battle time! Enemy Party: "Sorry, sorry, so sorry." Triple Pips "Trips" McGalloway Vitality: 10/10 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Arcana 3 Equipment: Old Revolver (+1, Short Range Kinetic weapon), Elemental Evocation (Spell) Drops: Vault Key A Note: Trips will flee the scene if he ever finds himself at 1 or 2 HP. He will still leave his Drops behind in his haste. "Bastards! What's the hell?! Who sent you!" Jek Flakko Vitality: 4/6 Strength: 5 Skill: 0 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Athletics 2 Equipment: Broken Blaster (+3 Short-Range Melee Kinetic weapon... -1 skill.) Drops: 20 credits, Energy Cell "Skorgh! Skorgh! Skorgh!" Samba Vitality: 4/4 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 1 Equipment: Barbed Claws (+1 Melee Kinetic Weapon), Red Hide (+1 Kinetic Armor) Drops: Samba-Stalk "Intruder." Kibosh Drone A Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits "Interloper." Kibosh Drone B Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Long Range Weapons 1 Equipment: Standard-Issue Intruder Buster (+1 Long-Range Energy Weapon) Drops: 40 credits Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 2, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 5 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic Armor), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor), Warding Bond (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Kleeck (KotZ) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 35 cycle old, male Ornithun Vitality: 5/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Spells: Proficiencies: Persuasion 2, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 2, Deception 1 Credits: 40 Equipment: Gazerbeam (+2, Short Range Energy Weapon) Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 0 EXP / 2 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 2/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Medicine 1, Religion 2 Credits: 15 Equipment: Standard Void Star Hammer (+1, Melee Elemental Weapon), Healing Light (Spell), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion, Energy Cell Dunola (Kintobor) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 125 cycle old, Female Dwarf Vitality: 3/5 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Arcana 3, Culture 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Engineering 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Elemental Evocation (Spell), Obfuscate (Spell), Transmutate Matter (Spell) Inventory: Energy Cell, Plasma Potion Tester-Three (samurai-turtle) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career One Cycle Old, Genderless, War Bot {Robotic} Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Technology 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Piloting 1, Perception 1, Engineering 1, Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Arm Cannon (+1, Long Range Energy Weapon), Standard Metallic Exoskeleton (+1 Kinetic Armor), Purging Font (Spell) Inventory: Shield Booster, Plasma Potion Yelana Fennix (Classic_Spaceman) 1 EXP / 2 EXP Career Unknown Age Human Female Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Deception 2, Long Range Weapons 2, Technology 2, Perception 1 Credits: 0 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Tinted Visor (+1 Energy Armor) Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter, Plasma Potion

I hope you know that I am going to roll this as if someone with two hands was trying to disguise themselves as a one-armed person, to not make four-armed people have an unfair advantage - so the DC will be relatively high. I also hope you know I respect the hell out of it, and couldn't even remember Enson had 4 arms.

I don't have any firm lore on demons at the moment, and I am not convinced a type system is necessary. That being said, creature design in Heroica 1.0 was whacky (I remind you that the second to last boss in one of the most popular sages in the game's history was a set of floorboards... ), and I'm sure 2.0 will match. Also, the dice completely and utterly betrayed you there. I'm sorry.

Despite Kleek's conversation, Enson finds that sneaking past the Fangreak was a task just a bit too difficult. His attempt at deception fails entirely. Jek turns on his heel and unholsters a blaster, pointing it at Enson. "What are you trying to pull here?"

"If the authorities get tipped off we scamper. We got two more tunnels, one from the storage room and one from the main hall, that we can escape from. You really wanna try messing with the guys who have that massive "fuck-you" laser? And yeah, it's all soundproof, every room. Signal jammers too. People are gonna be screaming their heads off for the Sabrillo egg soon, after all." Jek chuckles, his blue fangs gnashing as he did so. "You and your pals gonna go to the auction or what?"

"It's tasty, not a drug. Besides, why would they scan for something that went extinct years and years ago anyway?" With that, he walks off to Trips. The two discuss, and Yelena can't discern much of sound nor sight, although judging by their body language they weren't really feeling any nervousness or urgency. Trips enters the door and Jek takes point outside it, standing with a hand on his hip. Kleeck walks up to the door, having to bow his long avian neck to get under a few of the underground tavern's archways. Jek was still there, regarding the ornithun with an icy stare. "What? What's up?"

A bit late, but I happen to quite like the name Saturn Family for demons... when I was throwing around lore ideas, other names I had included: Eclipse Entities The Rot The Scourge The Rot Progeny The Scourge Progeny The Nebulous ...so I will have to add Saturn Family to that list!

"Pyrutus Rum, best anyone can ask for." "Me n' Trips here are... auction hands, so to speak. A couple of many. The other two people here happen to be acquaintances." "Yes, carrying on the legacy of our dearest, and, unfortunately departed, Madam Umbra. Shame, shame, such a crying shame." "Not out, mate. Evaded. Cydonians didn't even care that I smuggled an egg in - they scanned it and it didn't match with their database of invasive or harmful creatures, and so I was through. Not bad eh?" "Yeah yeah yeah. You and your perfect crime." "You won't have to wait much longer at all, things will get underway very shortly. As for registering... No. That is not a practice we do here." Myra lifts her glass for a cheery toast. Whatever she had, just a whiff of it let Igaz knew it was strong. "Myra! Nice to meet ya. Hopefully you and I don't get into a bidding war, haha. Might just have to kill you if we did!" Was that... a joke...? The hand concludes, and Jek chuckles, apparently victorious. "Yes, yes, very good. We may resume at a later time. For now... We have an auction to attend to." "See ya on the showroom floor!" Draeyb nods, and heads out towards the main doors with Myra. The butler droid follows suit, clanging behind them with plenty of refreshments. behind the doors, the murmur of a crowd and the shuffling of seats was evident. Trips and Jek forego the main doors, and instead go to the side door. They chat in hushed tones as Trips reaches into his suit pocket for something. What would the party do?

"We're a small bunch. And we don't advertise much, what with us trying to keep our little recipes so secret. I was never happy with the wole set-up, to be honest... whole lotta this and that, very backwards. So me and the Alriza folks are on somethin' of an extended vacation." The woman in green beams. "Oh! Another dwarf, ol' Rayfo might actually make a *hic* friend for once! You can call me Myra, nice ta meetcha. And you are?" "Closest we have is 557083, I believe. I shall check." The butler ambles off with his tipsy-topply platter in hand. "Who says I am drinking?" he says, motioning to the lack of beverages on his side of the table. "Furthermore, who says this is a mask?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that now, we got that stuff locked up reeaaaal tight. Samba's gonna be keeping a good eye on all of it..." "Yep!" says the woman, gesturing with her odd half-cybernetic arm towards the smaller side door. "We got this stuff-" "..." The silence is enough to encourage the lady to lower her arm and return to her cards. "I know you humans experience flavor in such a bland way - using scent to taste, so damn primitive - but something that every species, everywhere, found to be delicious? That there is only one more in the galaxy? That's a huge status symbol? You better believe that's gonna go for a shipload of credits." "Prior data suggests that is the case, yes." "Does aaaannnyyyybody here even know what that Cydonian doohickey is? Honest question for you, Trips." "Trips" sighs. "You people. All of these events attended and still so impatient. It is related to their oh-so-beloved Sovereign. And I will say no more. Sorry, sorry, so sorry." Hearing it spoken, the verbal tic sounded more condescending than nervous.

"Doesn't help that those imperialistic weirdos bagged half of us at security and threw us in a cell." "Still nicked their idol, or whatever the hell that thing was." The dealer hands out a few more cards. "As for the blaster... Sorry, sorry, so sorry, friend. Loose lips sink ships. You'll have to wait and see." If three dots could smile, they would right now. "Awh, and rob the rest of us a chance of getting a taste? That would be cruel, after all the hell I went through to get it. But hey. It's an auction. It'll be yours if you got the credits..." "Do we got time for one more hand, Trips?" "One more, yes. And one more round of drinks, I suppose?" "On it!" With the last hand being dealt, the party would have to make a course of action. Would they try to get the egg the old fashioned way, attempt some trickery, heist it from storage, or some other plan? With the last hand being dealt, there was just a bit more time before they would have to put their plot into action.

MM Note: Got sick, recovered, watched Kyle Shanahan blow another Super Bowl lead, and now we are back to regularly scheduled questing! Besides the card table and the wait staff, the room was largely empty... there were two other figures chatting in hushed tones on the opposite side of the room, but they too went off with the rest of the crowd, huddling up and proceeding through a set of large doors leading into, according to the label, "Event Hall". There was another door besides the main door, leading to parts unknown. MM Note: Upgrade noted. The droid initially rebuffs Igaz. The way he carred the platter, the bottles were constantly shaking and clinking together, and yet somehow they did not fall. "These drinks are for that table over there, and..." "Oh, hush, do you know where you are, tin man? Put the visor man on my tab, let them be merry. I don't believe we've met before!" The players look at the war bot. "Listen, mate, if you still want your anti-matter..." "Now now, Rafo. Who wouldn't want such an item. There are a number of items up for auction, some of which have been disclosed, some of which have not. There's a Cydonian artifact everyone has been wanting, a peculiar blaster, and Jek here-" "Haha, my thing is of no use to this one. War bots don't eat, now, do they?" "Always banging on about that damn egg, Jek. Why not just eat it yourself?" "Trust me, I wanted to, but I've been assured it'll be plenty lucrative." The Fangreak gnases his fangs in happiness. Enson recognizes a bottle of Gamma-Belt Ale, a relatively inoffensive and light drink compared to the rest of the spread. "A fine choice. Although I would not overindulge. Sobriety is a valuable tool in bidding wars, and the auction will be starting before long."

Hey, Mission Zero-ers, feeling pretty under the weather today... I'll try my best to update, but right now I need my rest.

2.0 is currently in a closed testing phase - you can read Mission Zero for now. No set main story as of yet, but we'll get there.