Flipz

Or I could auto-run and you could start building. *hint hint* :poke: Besides, me guest-running a Round or two of your boss battles is kind of a thing.

Protip: if you make a ginormous set that covers more than 6 32x32 baseplates, don't include moving objects, people, or other iterative features that will force you to render the set upwards of six times (at minimum). That said, it's a kick-megablocks set, and I'm really looking forward to you guys getting to see it--especially considering how bloody long it's taken me to build.

Also, Augustus Encourages anyone in the same row as him, provided there's 3 or more--just FYI.

Welp, Nizam's as dead as if he'd been given the Doomed-effect. Byblos' aunt should have known better than to reveal that he's got a wife and kids--he's pretty much guaranteed to die tragically now.

"Perhaps you and I should visit the Fields of Glory at some point, then. I've been meaning to go, and have heard that horses like the one I fought for this shoe have been sighted there from time to time. You'd be a strong companion, to be sure." Arthur looks wistfully off into the distance, pondering Ellaria's words. "I wonder if Shawe, too, will remember the aid we rendered him? Perhaps I will travel with the rest of you back to Eubric, in case he sends word to us in some way." Arthur also returns Nerwen's Sapphire and Emerald to her.

I really liked that Quest, CJP. As others have said, it ran a bit long (especially near the end), but you laid out the party's goal clearly from the get-go, the overall pacing and activity were great, AND the party got some fair loot for their effort. Great job. One final bit of critique: I feel like Julio could have made for a very comedic anti-climax boss battle--i.e. he has the stats of a regular enemy, but the party ends up boosted by oodles of noblemen to make it a two-Round curbstomp (or even better, you could have had Julius survive the stabbing for half a second and face the party (with a half-finished stat block and all) and then had one of the senators throw an elemental bomb to finish him off before the party could actually fight, as reference to the zombie fight in your first Quest ).

Arthur returns the Counterstrike Gloves and Scroll of Recklessness to Boomingham.

"Thank you, Lord Normorn. I am glad to have been of aid." Arthur turns to his fellow Heroes. "If I may have my equipment back, I will find my own way home. There are some friends I need to visit, and some counsel I must seek before I can face the future."

That was a dirty trick, Doc...

Arthur digs with his shovel, and then follows the party back to Brobric.

Well, I know the followers of Mercutio were active in Eubric even from the humblest beginnings.

No problem. Should I assume the Party Escort Submission Position?

Nope, the former. Tensi needs to buy that thing, if she stuck an Opal on Fàelàn and wore the Fire Amulet, she'd deal an astounding 32x damage (currently 1856 damage on a Hit) to Beasts and Plants, or 128x damage (7424 damage!!!) to Beast/Plants.

It seems I need to revise my "universal recommendations" a bit. IF you have an unimbued weapon, I still recommend Opal/Topaz. HOWEVER, Opal/Ruby synergizes SURPRISINGLY well. In fact, if your weapon comes pre-imbued with a Ruby, there is literally no reason NOT to imbue it with an Opal: you don't gain any additional ineffective types, but you do gain TWO 4x multipliers in exchange for Icy (a rather rare type) turning from a super-effective hit to a neutral hit. (Tensi take note: if you imbue an Opal into Fàelàn, you'll gain a whopping 16x multiplier on Beasts and Plants, and still be able to hit Icy enemies for 4x damage thanks to the weapon itself. ) Additionally, an Aquamarine may be freely used to swap the Fiery and Rock weaknesses of a Ruby for a single weakness to Aquatic. (Again, another good choice for Fàelàn, Tensi, especially since you have Mellt to handle Aquatic foes.) if you already have a Opal/Topaz weapon and a Garnet weapon, you might consider adding a Ruby and Sapphire (in that order) to the Opal/Topaz weapon. You gain a 4x multiplier on everything but Aquatic and Mechanic, and lose the ineffectiveness to Icy in exchange to ineffectiveness against Fire and Rock (which can be removed by adding an Aquamarine, in exchange for hitting neutral on Aquatic). The biggest drawback is that you hit Mechanic for neutral instead of super-effective damage, and given that Mechanic is still fairly common, it's definitely something to consider. If you go this route, be sure to slap an Emerald on your Garnet weapon at some point, since it'll give you an option for the semi-common Aquatic types you'll now be hitting for neutral.) Darkdragon, you overpaid Elphaba 40 Gold. Pumpkin Bombs are only 60 Gold apiece, not 80.

Both Witches, and magic shop owners to boot. I imagine they're either old friends or old enemies.

I seriously hope we'll be out of this Quest by the 30th--we just need our loot from the warehouse, and then we can go home. If not, though, Arthur needs Scrolls of Blindness, Sealing, and Confusion. Leave it until the last minute, though--I'd prefer to buy them myself, so I have a chance to ask Elphaba her opinion of Lady Dala.

Also, sometimes a "Big Drinker" gag is just a "Big Drinker" gag. (See the "pint" gag in Fellowship of the Ring.) Some people just have an absurdly high tolerance for alcohol. There's nothing morally wrong with that.

Honestly, I'd advise you not to change it. Just treat "fast as the speed of light" as hyperbole and go on about your day. Johon is trying to catch up to your character--that means you get to decide whether he is successful or not, and when (if ever) he does.

OOC: I'm honestly fine without, long as we get the loot.

Arthur expends Ether to light the room using his Diamond, and uses his magnifying glass to search for traps before Boomingham and Nerwen open the barrels.

Also? Rule of Cool is in full effect here. Mizuki is an archetypical ninja, so she gets flash-step and short-range teleportation as part of the overall skill set. Long as it's not used to break the rules in Quests, I have no problem with it. Sometimes things are because they are, no explanation needed. Re: drinking: drinking alcohol is an important social activity in many parts of the world. It primarily serves as a trivial thing to attend to so that the participants in the social interaction can fill the awkward silences. Also, the "Yes, and..." techniques and "ignore what you dislike" techniques are both excellent for use in roleplaying situations like we have here.

Takanuva would like a word with you. (Google if confused. )

Best post of the week.

This is why I generally try to send Arthur into another room and keep my NPCs interacting with other Heroes until it's absolutely necessary...though it hasn't always gone well, since I've yet to create one of those really special NPCs that everyone wants to interact with (a la Ratabor or Felton or Punii).

If someone wants to tote around a tin dog or a sexy ginger, that's fine by me. But don't just copy the same old thing that SO many people have done before. Has anyone actually brought along a girlfriend on a Quest that's not a fellow PC? Or introduced and traveled with their granddaughter? Or dealt with a pesky, overdevoted fanboy who's developed the unfortunate habit of stalking them, even to dangerous locations? Didn't think so--there's still plenty of options out there. And heck, if you really want to write someone different for a while, make up an NPC and pitch it to a couple of QMs--your NPC idea might be just the thing they need for their next Quest. We still have a few really good NPCs around, but the flow of new, truly engaging NPCs has slowed to a trickle compared to when the game was new--where are the Feltons and Ratibors, the Jensens and the Hlins and the Knyghtons? A fair few are still alive, but when was the last time an NPC has really, really caught on that way? For me, it would have to be Punii and/or Skuld--even Masson and Octavyn, as good as they are, haven't really captured that quality of possibility--which was still quite a while back. We can always use more--and you can't really know what'll stick without trying. Even if you do insist on playing for two as a player character (and I don't recommend doing it long-term, nor do I recommend doing it until you're VERY well-established already character-wise [see Boomingham with Barty or Karie with Hershey]), you don't have to limit yourself to a soap opera cliché that's been done to death. Like I said above, there are plenty of options if you think outside the box and turn the standard expectations on their head. Or even better, ask someone to make a character for you, or generate one randomly--that's what swils did with his dragon, and thus far it's turned out pretty well, I'd say.