Endgame

"Clan Matar, eh? An arcanist, then. Had a cousin in that clan once upon a time, if the ol' memory isn't failing me. Name's Draeyb Rayfo. Clan Alriza." The alchemist's clan... Draeyb gives a small bow back. "Certain circumstances made me take an early leave of absence, so to speak." "Hell, boy, who told you that?! Antimatter is class nine contraband! Any government would execute you on the spot for possesin' that kind of thing, let alone these damn Cydonians. Buncha of the good stuff we were supposed to auction off got caught by them in security." "Attaboy." says the dwarf, not the least bit intimidated, but it didn't matter in this case... he just wanted straightforward action, and that is what Igaz gave him. The dwarf calls off Samba and steps aside. "Huh, well well, ain't that something. Jek and I were in the middle of a card game, so why don't we head down and I could get back to it." The party descends down, beneath the surface of Gnorra into old maintenance tunnels. Once upon a time these were bustling with life as workers toiled away under the watchful eyes of their supervisors. Now, the tunnels had gone vacant and unused, the ship building facilities they had connected moved northward towards the Gnorran capital. Since then, they had fallen into relative disrepair, becoming the den of shady dealing such as the auction... The agents can smell all sorts of strange scents, belonging to drinks and drugs they might not even heard of. In hushed whispers humans and aliens alike communicate with each other, discussing what was for sale, and for how much, and why was attendance so low, was it the Cydonians? One corner of the dark den stood out... There was that card game. Four figures sat around the table, with a fifth delivering a lady with a particularly interesting arm a platter of all sorts of beverages.

Right you are... It's fixed. But here he is for posterity. It amazes me how long its been since I hosted 138...

"Skorgghh." "Yep, she's a beaut, ain't she?" "I am, but Samba here is the one that lays down the law if things get messy, so to speak, har har." "Rrrrmmm." "Purebred Prayfole, ain't that right, lady?" "Skol!" "Anyway, since you lot keep asking, I might know him... Might not." "Well then, Ensonvilterayquis," he says, the first person on the planet thus far able to manage the tongue twister, "you all keep saying you're looking for Jek this, Jek that. Well, people don't come here to talk. Not here, not now, certainly not today. So are you folks here for the auction or are we gonna have a problem on our hands?"

I don't actually recall anything about extra arms, but I can comb through the topic. i don't think the rules were that strict... I remember in the early days of Heroica as someone theoretically playing as a Lego bat, and that got ruled out for a few reasons. The mech idea sounds cool - you'd just have to make sure all of its abilities tie into something in your build and stat sheet, I suppose, but the way that character building works in Heroica 2.0 I don't see that as an issue. A lot of this stuff translates really well to robot characters. I've actually been thinking about how Large and Giant enemies would work (who would take 2x2 and 3x3 spaces respectively), but I am not sure how to handle that, nor if we really need it.... worth a consideration. The idea of having to stagger a large creature by taking out its legs would make a cool boss battle. No, you won't be fighting this brick built character, unless you as a party decides you'd like to be written out of continuity for good. He's currently 602 pieces... and for reference, this fellow was only a little over 200. D-O would be this polite little guy from Rise of Skywalker. Who got his own piece, much like BB-8 before him. I will be shocked if we go more than about a dozen missions without a space dragon of some variety. That being said, if Heroica 2.0 gets off the ground, I would urge everyone to start with stakes and missions that are very, very small. Mission Zero is about halfway done and I still feel it might be a little too big, despite us being only about 2.5 weeks in? If you want a fun exercise, go back and read the earlier quests from Heroica, and see how far we've come... and how dang big and convoluted quests got in our later years. A new game gives us a chance to step back into the realm of pure, refreshing, simplicity.

Hey, if D-O got a new mold, I think our good friend IG-88 could pull it off! Damn shame it'd never find its way to LDD. I think brick-built characters would be pretty great. I know the general rule for character creation was 2 arms, 2 legs, 1 head, no extra mobility from anatomy. That being said, we had characters like Skrall (a big ogre) and Petaldan (a literal child) running around, so that captures the size range pretty well. I have a brick built character that I'm not sure will make the cut into Mission Zero, but he violates those constraints, to say the least.

"I was always partial to Zorballa's Tavern, but the Cydonians shut it down for health reasons, go figure." MM Note: Only one piece of armor is wearable at a time, if that is what you are asking. And yes, isn't option paralysis great? The man boxes up another visor and slides it across the counter, accepting the credits with a quiet nod. A glance at the entrance of the alley, and the turf ahead of it, showed that there were no traps, thanks in part to a succesful use of perception. One left, one right, a second left, and against the right side wall, the party trots along, the buildings of Haurbo blotting out the midday sun and leaving them in the shade. Sure enough, they just phase through one portion of the wall, leading to another, small chamber. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. ... ... Knock. There's a moment of silence. And then the ground hisses, and drops down in partitions, each step falling into place with a loud clang. The pistons driving the device emit a screen of steam, and before it clears, they can hear something slithering, skittering, crawling against the wall. And as it dissipates, they are face to face with... "SKREEEEEEEEEAAAARRGH!" "Samba, Samba, calm down, calm down, they did the knock correct." says the elderly dwarf in a voice that suggested that maybe he ought to switch to e-cigs. "Skrrr..."

The merchant hemms and hawws, but finally, despite the difficulty of the persuasion, Kleeck succeeds against all odds. "...You know what? Times like these, we ought to show generosity to our fellow man. 30 credits it is." "Mmm, I wouldn't, no. We don't use much of any holo-technologies around these parts. Almost all the holo crystals we got go to the shipyards to build holograph projectors. Not really a consumer product... Unless you know a guy." "I only saw them just the once." He pauses at the mention of the auction. "Umbra Auction? You watch yourselves. I attended one many many many cycles ago... I imagine the event is unrecognizable now, so I don't have anything to offer you. But really. Do mind yourself if that is the rabbit hole you're going down." The party may proceed down the alley whenever they see fit, or continue to purchase things. Was the party ready to proceed?

"Hm, you uphold the law around here? Classify them... couldn't get a real good look at 'em. Cloaks and hoods and all that good stuff." The man shakes his head. It was a tough act of persuasion, and unfortunately the argument about fashion failed to sway the shopkeep. "Can't meet you there. That would be selling at a loss. I'll counter with 42 credits." "If they saw anything I'm sure it wasn't the caliber of the kind of heat they just showed a few minutes ago. I know I'm a member of it. Can't say we've ever dealt with any four-chevron group. Like I said, hooded, but one of the gentleman certainly had blue hands. Stood out. Didn't look like gloves, either." The salesman takes the credits, nods, and dutifully boxes up a tinted visor. "How long you been here, friend? Next eclipse should be in a couple of weeks. We get them every two or three months." The potion-headed man seems elated to sell one of his favorites, but then concerned to see the vial. "If I may see it for a moment?" He unscrews the top and inserts a blank white strip. When it emerges, the strip is covered in little azure dots. "Hmm... Must just be a typo on the bottle! The tester is saying that is a 100% bona-fide feel-good nanite filter, yes indeed." MM Note: The difference between the two is up to MM interpretation for now. As far as my personal interpretation would go, Insight is for inspecting something you can see, Perception is for something you can't (e.g. checking for traps and the like). The merchant boxes up another tinted visor and slides it over. "Smart. I hope I don't have to see another one of those ever again... the hairs on my neck are still standing up, agh."

I didn't know we were playing a Heroica version of Jeopardy!

"Ah, that's what I thought. Excellent product, shame about the recall. Turns out the light that passed through the UV filtering lens could give you some really nasty sunburns somehow. However... hardly a problem for you and I. I've been trying to get a hold of a crate of Mk. IIs for ages, but the shipping costs to get them here are just too high." "No better or worse than they used to before. The Merchants' union is still just humming along." "I'm not expecting more for another week or so. And the stock I was handling, well, ah. The beam startled me into dropping it." He gestures down at the floor of his booth, bits of glass still littered around. "Part of the business... Ah, and if you bought the visor, having both armors might get a little bulky." MM Note: Enson's EXP has been corrected, good catch. You can only wear one piece of armor at a time, so having both Tester-Three's exoskeleton and the visor is a negatory. As for how you folks want to spend your hard earned EXP: You can spend 2 points to increase your Strength, Vitality, Skill, Smarts, or Spirits attribute by 1. So, you can all do this. Alternatively, you can upgrade a proficiency. You can buy a brand new proficiency for 1 EXP, starting it at a value of 1 (e.g. Acrobatics 1). To upgrade it further, you need to spend EXP equal to the level of the proficiency you're trying to reach; so going from Acrobatics 1 to 2 takes 2 EXP, from 2 to 3 takes 3 EXP, from 3 to 4 to 4 EXP, and so on. That about sums it up! You all have 2 EXP now, so you can invest if you wish. MM Note: The gazerbeam is a weapon, while the other is a piece of armor - sorry if that was unclear. "You got that right. The beam practically burned itself onto the faceplate. Just looking at you I see a red streak going down the middle of my vision, it was so bright. Oh well. At least it scared those hooligans back into that alley back there..." "In all honesty, usually not, but I can't imagine having too much business today after what those clangers just did... so I don't see the harm. Only on the Gazerbeam, though. The other one happens to be on sale already." Meanwhile, the strange potion-headed gentleman claps his hands, seeming almost... Giddy? "I am SO glad you asked! This blue concoction right here is a Nanite Filter... sip it down, and all of a sudden a malady of yours fades away. Nauseous? Gone. Dazed? Not any more. Bleeding? I dunno how but it still works! Plus, its mint flavored. That's honestly the best part if you ask me. Next up is the ruby red Energy Cell. Everyone likes this one different. Some people drink it, chew it, smoke it, snort it, heaven forbid inject it, at the end of the day it amps you up and lets you hit harder. They happen to be banned in almost all sports leagues, whether recreational or professional, so please, don't use them for that. Winners don't use Energy Cells, you know what they say. This green one is my absolute favorite, if you couldn't tell. A Plasma Potion! Gets you feeling nice, refreshed, and ready to go, even if you woke up in the wrong side of the bed... Or the wrong side of the solar system. Long story. So, will you be having anything?" MM Note: The official rules descriptions: Plasma Potion: Each restores 1d6 of health on use. Nanite Filter: Can be used to remove 1 status effect from an agent. Energy Cell: Can be used in conjunction with an Attack action. Doubles the Weapon Mod of that attack.

The masked man looks up and clasps his hands together. "Welcome. Surprised I have customers right now, to be honest. Stock is a little limited at the moment, but please, do peruse." Gazerbeam Headset: +2 Elemental Short-Range Weapon. Effective? Sure. Fashionable? Debatable! Costs 45 credits. Tinted Visor: +1 Energy Armor. Originally developed for gazing at Gnorra's frequent eclipses. Costs 15 credits. Many of the shops were temporarily closed down or not of particular use to the party, but one other little stall stood out, amongst the big box retailers and the food peddlers: An eccentric and brightly colored stall, staffed by a man who appeared to have... a stylized potion for a head? "Hey, hello, welcome, and greetings! And how can I help you on this fine, fine, hopefully-no-more-smiting-please day?" Plasma Potion: Costs 5 credits. Nanite Filter: Costs 5 credits. Energy Cell: Costs 5 credits. "Welcome. Do you know what model visor that is you are wearing, sir? I haven't seen that particular product in a while, if my hunch is right..." "Hmmm, the bells. I've asked around a little about it myself. These aren't the city bells, mind you, at least they weren't a little while ago. This is a new addition. Some sort of productivity aid? They ring from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset, so it seems. Keeps people up and working. I think there might be a spiritual aspect too. Something with their beloved Sovereign... Not that any of us have ever seen him. Or her." It was hard to read the salesman's face, based on the odd opaque helmet he had, but his tone sounded like he was legitimately a bit curious himself. "What? The beam? No, absolutely not. First time I've ever seen it, and I imagine I couldn't have missed a previous one. Suddenly I empathize with the royal families just a smidge more." Agent Party: Igaz (Goliath) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 300 Cycle, Male Undead Vitality: 6/7 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1/1 Proficiencies: Athletics 1, Intimidation 1, Melee Weapons 2, Short Range Weapons 1 Credits: 20 Equipment: Standard Vibrolance (+1, Melee Kinetic Weapon), Standard Plate Armor (+1 Kinetic 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: 70 Equipment: Standard Plasma Blaster (+1, Short Range Energy Weapon), Translator Cube, Summon Spirit Ally (Spell) Inventory: Nanite Filter Ensonvilterayquis (Enson) (Lord Duvors) 2 EXP / 2 EXP Career 60 cycle old, Male Quo’ri Vitality: 6/6 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 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: 20 Equipment: Standard Flame Thrower (+1, Short Range Elemental Weapon), Holo-Scroll, 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) 2 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 Credits: 20 Equipment: Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle E (+1, Long-Range Energy Weapon), Dual-Mode Sniper Rifle K (+1, Long-Range Kinetic Weapon), Obfuscate (Spell) Inventory: Cloaking Generator, Hacking Chip, Nanite Filter

I have no issue with the idea of there being a tremor or shockwave! The beam itself doesn't have any large scale ecological ramifications, but some combination of a mild tremor, temporary deafness, and atmospheric tomfoolery could definitely make someone stagger. It's a roleplay game, so little touches like that are fun. The exact nature of the weapon doesn't matter... for this quest.

I don't see what you could be possibly afraid of.

Faeja just shrugs, looking defeated. "They're called clangers because of those silly bells they ring every hour. Yelana, Yelana, look, just - listen. I don't know how many ships they have. I don't know why their security is they way it is. I don't know where they came from or why they're here. I just know the reality of it. They are the ones in control now. The Royal Family always boasted about our fleet of fifteen dreadnoughts. It was a source of pride for us.... we're a planet known for ship building, after all. But that's different now. It's their planet. And they haven't gotten in the way of my livelihood yet, so I'm just going to hold on and hope things don't get change anymore than they already have. I'm just gonna do my job because it's all I can do." Dunola uses her skills in engineering to pop open a cover on the incubator, where a small little interfacing unit was found, likely for manufacturing purposes. It was a stock interface, and through it, Dunola learns that tCommerce Row was up in arms he unit had been used recently, set to the "egg" setting and kept on a temperature of 102 degrees for about 24 hours. Another smoking gun pointing to Jek's guilt. One last glance over the ship reveals the tracker that GLESP managed to implant on the bottom of the fuselage. Perhaps Jek had missed it. Tracker: A large tracking dart shot into Jek's ship by GLESP. Currently seems to be out of battery, and therefore is giving off no signal. With a solid lead and a way of getting into the mysterious Umbra auction, the party backtracks and goes to leave the Citizen Shiplot, en route to Commerce Row. "Best of luck, you guys." The path back was almost scenic. The tall, clustered buildings of Haurbo fell away for a brief moment in the party's jaunt from the shiplot to the commercial center. Looking out into the distance, into the bold green sky and the sprawling red trees, it was almost easy to forget that the planet was no longer autonomous. It was surreal, the way it happened. For a second, it would've been easy to think that they imagined it. Clear skies and brisk winds one moment. The next, the sky crackling, as if an invisible storm was brewing. The next moment, a haze, as if Gnorra was scorching desert, distorting vision and causing things to blur. The sky turned an ominous gold, and a red column of light burst from the atmosphere, so bright everything else went dark, so loud everything else went silent. And not an instant later, it was gone, and Gnorra returned to normal... part of it now obliterated by the blast. There was no apparent source, but perhaps some had a hunch. Commerce Row was up in arms over the event, when the party got there, perhaps some still processing what they had witnessed. Everyday folk speaking in hushed but frantic whispers, grouping together as Cydonian personnel herded them out of the way of foot traffic. All throughout the commotion, the sound of tolling bells called out, each chime perhaps signifying the destruction of the Cydonians' target. "What in blazes was that?! Explain yourselves!" "Sir, remain clam." "This was done in the name of public safety." "You are in no danger. Cause no trouble..." And when the bells stopped tolling, a calm man's voice rose above the crowd, projected by the speakers lining the buldings of Commerce Row. Everyone quiets down even more to hear the message. << Hello, denizens of Gnorra. This is your governor, Venn Impalo, speaking. Some of you have surely noticed the atmospheric disturbance that occurred a few minutes ago. We will make no attempt to deny responsibility for it, but rest assured that you are safe. We learned of a rebel cell deep in the wilderness planning to attack the upcoming inauguration ceremony. Seeing as it is a public event, we could not tolerate this threat to the safety of our citizens. We have exercised swift and appropriate force, and do not expect to have to do so again. Your safety has been assured. Thank you. >> The party reaches the visor kiosk they heard of from the data pad, an alley indeed behind it. The salesman was still there, bound by his work hours, but much of the rest of the people were either going home to check on their families, or being corralled by Cydonian troops, it seemed. In the distance, bells still tolled. What would the party do?

Great figs! It makes me happy to see even more oldbies sticking around and having interest in the new game. I think droids in general will make excellent cannon fodder in this game... anyone with the money and buy them and direct them, after all. War Bots being Super Battle Droids only makes that easier. It takes time for everyone to learn. I was way worse back when I started. Two points of advice would be: Heroica, whether its medieval or in space, is a team game - so work with your team to get stuff done. And: Sometimes, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its a duck. Sometimes it isn't, but more often than not, it is. (What I'm saying is, you should exercise a healthy fear of your MM, but not everything is a trap out to get you. Sometimes I'm just worldbuilding. )

"In all honesty, no. I never got a very good look at them, and the one remaining is cloaked. They seemed longer than they were wide? That's all I got for you. I dunno why you want to learn so much about those damn clangers anyway..."

"You can sit on the one next to that box, that cargo is fragile," she explains, wiping some sweat off her brow, a bit winded from moving boxes around in the cramped space. "Full of questions, huh? I'm running out of answers for the most part, but I can tell you a little more about the occupation... Wasn't a fun time. Yes, five ships came, cannons pointed at us. The remaining dreadnought here right now was one of the smaller ones, but the big one, well. I think it belonged to one of the Knights of Cydonia. There was a standoff, but nobody fired. On day three, The Gnorran Royal Family went up to the big dreadnought to talk to their "Great Sovereign" or whatever his title is, and... that was that. Gnorra was theirs. Whatever kind of threat they promised, they must've shown they could deliver, and that we couldn't stop them." Faeja hangs her head. The memories clearly hurt. The party was free to move to Commerce Row, and chase whatever leads they had, if they were all set in the shiplot. MM Note: Which is MM speak that I will take you there tomorrow, but there is still a little bit more details to poke around at here if you want to find them.

Enson pops open the trunk of the old Dart, and finds a machine in two pieces. The apparatus occupied the entirety of the back storage compartment. Hoisting them out and sticking them back together, an odd device was formed... The yellow dome was still a bit warm to the touch, and several heating elements were located within the glass half-sphere. Written on the side of the base was the phrase "Model 9 Incubator." Faeja was wrapped up in checking and labelling her cargo. "Yes?"

The warbot gives a quick karate chop to the pack of the ship, the residue sparking and sending Tester-Three hurtling backwards with a resounding thud. A second thud soon follows, as a small chunk of the outer fuselage, rusted and rotten, finally detaches and hits the ground, scraping off some of the garish yellow paint with it. Somewhere, KR-88 felt oddly happy, although he didn't know why. Yelana goes to the cockpit, and sees that it was unlocked, a green light on the side signifying as much. It seemed that the ship droid was programmed to act as something as a key fob as well. Convenient, if you were the ship owner. A bit dour, if you were having your ship looked at illegally. Disastrous, if you yourself were a felon and a smuggler. The agent had access to the cockpit, and found that it was a rather dated system. A simple red leather seat, a bit worn and stained from food. Seems that Jek was particularly fond of Plenticon (TM) Stim-Cola, judging by the three empty cups gathering beneath the seat. The computer itself was incredibly simplistic, and only contained flight data from the most recent journey he had taken... a breakneck jaunt from the GLESP headquarters to the very docking spot they were in now. Inside the glove was a data tablet, apparently used for some sort of conversation between Jek and the recipient... known only in the contact list as 567086. If you were going to try to stay incognito, then numbers seemed as good a bet as any... I'm here. I made it. Can you finally tell me where to show? 567086: Yes. Couldn't do a long range transmission. Easier to intercept. I know. Out with it. You're wasting our time. It's been 15 minutes, are you going to tell me or not? I can't just loiter in my ship forever. 567086: Sorry, sorry, so sorry. Business came up. You know how it is. Commerce Row. Behind the visor kiosk, there's an alley. A left, a right, a left, and against the righthand side wall part of it merely a hologram. Step through, knock on the left four times. Wait a minute. Knock again. Follow these instructions precisely, Jek. See, that wasn't so hard. Why the wait before the fifth knock? 567086: Don't question that. Just show up as you promised. Destroy this data pad. But it's brand new. 567086: Sorry, sorry, so sorry, Jek. But you will be able to afford a new one shortly, yes? Fine. A glance at the ship showed two green lights, signifying the cockpit and the back cargo hold were both open. Using a little insight, the ornithun could tell that the bright yellow paint was obscuring a much older and more dinged up ship. Not even a new paint job could disguise the toll of time on this craft. Additionally, tapping into his own knowledge of culture, Kleek notices a four tiny red chevrons inscribed into one of the ship's engines, the texture of the paint made to mimic rust. Kleek knew that the rust chevrons were a popular symbol of a worker's rights movement that spanned a quarter of the galaxy about three deca-cycles ago. Some people still used it as a symbol of awareness, and sometimes, protest.

I hope you guys know I am not rolling for one PC reprogramming another.

Enson shows the shipyard droid one design in particular... The droid, scared, confused, and conflicted, heaves an electronic sigh of relief when it sees the pattern. Something known, something certain. A firm anchor in reality. "...Pattern recognized. Ship dock open, ship unlocked. Have a sufficient day." The party each gains 1 EXP for making it in! The gate hisses as the magnetic lock unlatches, and swings open. The party steps inside, finally on the other side of the metal fence, the shipyarrd bot now happily un-hassled. Jek's E-11 Dart was much like Kayarr described. Two major points were of interest, now unlocked by the shiplot security... The cockpit, and... A very, very small (practically a trunk) cargo hold in the back.

The three ring circus unfolds, and Faeja decides now would be an excellent time to sort out some cargo. The Red Droid looks on, darting between the colorful cast of characters, in abject confusion. Yelana's deception confused the shipyard bot long enough where it forgot about the previous failed try, earning the party another attempt. MM Note: You guys have 8 unknown squares at most, and I believe 8 tries... If you do this systematically you have a 100% chance of getting it right. If someone describes said system/process (don't overthink it), I can punch it all in and get things rolling on without the need of going back and forth for 8 attempts. Suffice to say, your initial guess, RPing, and proficiency checks have basically bought you the puzzle solution... Just gotta tell me how you use what you have, now, and then we can keep on rolling.

Igaz's next attempt at intimidation is another partial success, with his threat of imbuing the droid with something as terribly painful as "emotions" somehow instilling some sense of dread into the bot. "...Negative, negative, negative, negative..." In its momentary panic, it lets the information leak that rows two and four of the very first pattern submitted were entirely correct. Seems that was all the information that could be wrung out from intimidation. Other pressure could be applied to make the Droid inadvertently spill more, but with plenty of info and a multitude of guesses to go, successfully spoofing the ID card was now an even more valid option. How would the party proceed? Faeja looks at the circus through the plume of smoke from Dunola's pipe, just shaking her head. "Good grief."

The attempt at such an elaborate attempt of intimidation fails to work as Igaz hopes, his menacing aura not meaning much to a shipyard bot, apparently. It seems that without tightening up the disguise somehow, just becoming Jek was not sufficient. Intimidation could be useful for getting out other info, though... "Negative... I was not designed to fear termination." MM Note: Don't worry about it, sometimes this editor can be a real pain to deal with. The party takes something of a step back, with the new pattern yielding only nine correct. Likewise, this pattern only yielded nine. The party had seven more attempts to riddle this out.

Hmmm... I will think of ways to implement "abilities." Part of me is tempted to make Spirit a more generic stat (Stamina?) and have Spells rebranded into abilities, where some of them are, from a lore perspective, still spells - others are physical feats and abilities, such as a Rushdown ability that allows you to make an Athletics check to charge at an opponent, for example. That's my first thought, anyway. That'd be a major upheaval though, so it needs ample thought to be put into it. Also, we now have our first example of a "nested" proficiency check, with Igaz's, ah, "disguise."