Flipz

Guilt. Hardcore guilt.

Actually, Masked approached me about the relationship. I admit I've been the one pushing it since then, though. --- I was really glad it happened the way it did; if Nyx hadn't suggested Arthur take the Free Hit, I would have been in a really weird spot with Arthur. That Free Hit finally gave Arthur the betrayal that virtually every other character in the group had experienced from her--recall that Arthur had expected a Wren Victory from the start of 38, so it didn't really affect him that way. That's what's allowed him to relate to other Heroes again, and why he's able to put things in (relative) perspective now. I'm really interested to see where he goes now. As to the stats...I fully expect my item-trading antics to be avenged when I step into the QM's shoes...(oh gosh, I JUST NOW got the joke of those boots Thormy has requiring QMship. Good one, Jebs. ) --- We could have had a Lion Knight?! Would he have been a Skirmisher?!? Now I wish I'd gone to the Embassy... --- ...and holy crap that Hollow Blade upgrade is expensive. I know 50 gold is kind of cheap for it, but that seems a tad excessive--maybe he's charging extra for the rush? In any event, I'm glad I didn't go there, I could NOT have afforded that one. Wait, the Guild of Invision had a Spire? Or is that another remnant from the pre-38 plans? --- You know, that is a REALLY creative way to do an enemy-summoning Special. Thank goodness you never rolled anything from 48, we would have been screwed so hard it's not even funny. Also, I wonder what would have happened had Arthur gotten Wren Swapped...

Indeed, welcome back! Be sure to check out your gift in the Grogmas Gifts topic--you got one of the better ones.

I'm hoping to get a lot of building done over Spring Break, if all goes well I should be ready to run in May. If I'm exceptionally lucky, though, it may be sooner.

I'm not going to lie, I was about this close to, when Thothwick checked Arthur's pulse, telling him there was none. There's a reason it took me two whole days to finally post. The thing that finally tipped the scales was that I could never recreate Arthur's family tie to the Zeigfrieds or his relationships with Dyric, De'kra, and Knyghton, and that I did not have a new character I could use at the time (though I have taken the time to flesh out a replacement now should I ever need one).

I know Skrall (WBD) did, since he's stated many times that he's got backup characters. I also came VERY close to opting-in for Arthur (several times, actually), but ultimately decided not to. As for my own speculation: I'm pretty sure Cronk (CM), Nyx (Pandora), and possibly Haldor (Scorpiox) also opted-in. I know for certain that Alexis (Masked Builder), Dyric (The Legonater), and Atramor (CallMePie) did not.

You could spend a turn (and your teammate's turn) handing your ineffective gem to another party member, but you can't just "drop" it.

And after the Battle of Drakencourt? ...although, that one was kind of expressed by all three of you.

I'm normally pretty chill about people knowing my affection for LEGO. That said, I've gotten a few dirty looks from both shoppers and staff when I'm looking through the Friends sets at Walmart or other retail stores. That's alright, since I normally shop at the LEGO store anyway. The staff there understand when I browse through Friends (heck, I've talked them point-by-point why Olivia's House is one of the absolute best sets/parts packs for beginning MOCers of any gender), but I generally get one or two really nasty looks from parents whose children make some comment about me looking at sets for girls. I'm usually forgiven once I've found three or four CMFs their kids wanted while I'm digging through them on the hunt for my own targets, though. As for the safety of my LEGO, I'm pretty relaxed with them, too (far more than I should be, given the rarity of a few key sets), but there are a few parts I am desperately paranoid about--mainly because, aside from the archival copy kept at LEGO HQ, they are the only parts of that type in existence. I am, of course, talking about the unique parts in this: Pod 7 and minifig pilot by The Bradford Rant Institute, on Flickr I keep the set itself in a safe place, and if I'm going away for a long period of time, I always take it with me, just in case.

I think I must have officially gone insane over the course of this Quest. I actually have the urge to try and re-write all of the battles from the enemy party perspectives now.

Hot damn, Zepher, Pandora, that Nyx sidequest is awesome. I would actually be very interested in seeing some sort of short story featuring XX's past. Of course I want to meet XX again in Quests, but I wouldn't necessarily want to dive directly into his backstory the way we've done with Wren. A short story sounds like just the ticket (and as an added bonus, no players means you can do as many or as few pictures as you want and no one will complain! ).

Arthur entered the Library with the same stealth with which he had entered the Hall, and a great deal more trepidation. "Byblos? It's me. We...we need to talk." He approached the large desk, pausing to take a few records of recent Quests off the shelves. There were more of them than he had expected. "Byblos...I screwed up. I'm sorry. Your life is your own, your decisions your own. It's not my place to interfere in them. Can you forgive me?"

Arthur stole back into the Hall, as quiet as a shadow. It was strange...to him, just days ago he had left its safety, but from what Schezerade and the Copper Fox had told them, over three months had passed since that fateful day. The dark winter had passed into a pleasant spring, but Arthur hardly noticed, so focused was he on the past... He had been a completely different person than he was now...or perhaps it had been everything else that had changed? Arthur didn't know. All he knew was, he had to move forward. He had debts, and not the kind that could be paid in Gold. It was time to turn over a new leaf...and for that he needed to see a certain Metasimian. Keeping hidden lest the others from his former party saw him, he hurried past a muscled Raider with a respectful nod and a murmured apology and entered the Library.

I like it, somehow seems like a good class for Karie, actually! NO. Yeah, no healing is a good idea. Keep it simple. I do like the flavor a lot. Yeah, definitely make it a no-physical class, it really changes how weapons are effective for that character. I think that'd make it balanced, but you could always crank up the Ether costs and/or reduce the number of Rounds per enthrallment. One question I have about the SHIELD: Are the thralls insta-killed by it, or are they merely damaged and freed from enthrallment? I'd kind of like the latter a bit better, actually, it would be more balanced than direct insta-KO.

De'kra has to fight from the Back Row, which means his effective power is 13, which is less than the Golem's SP. Of course, he COULD cast a spell instead, but De'kra isn't used to spellcasting.

I have to disagree. Look at the Q38 roleplay sequence. Not a scrap of photography (well, aside from the universal character portraits), but still one of the best moments in both your Quests and in Heroica in general. Don't sell yourself short, Zeph.

Agreed. Self-analysis: I feel like my griping, both in-character and out, really took their toll on the Quest. I don't think I could have suppressed Arthur TOO much without being untrue to who he was and what he wanted, but at the same time I know that was even more counterproductive to the Quest itself than my OOC complaining. I did feel a little betrayed that Felton was always scripted to die. I picked him over Hans because he was the one I'd miss most, but if I had seen foreshadowing that Felton was plot-essential, I would have saved Hans instead. The ending was also a lot "quieter" than I had expected--this isn't a good or bad thing, but I've learned again not to make ANY predictions around you. Overall, I feel like, aside from Arthur's interaction with Skrall, Dyric, Zane, and later Wren (in our PM side-Quests), I've been a detriment to the Quest experience. I sincerely apologize for this, and rest assured I am taking a long, hard look at both my character's and my own actions before I sign up for anything else in Heroica. Some quick thoughts for Zeph: I liked the idea of the Spire concept, and I think it could have been improved further with differing "rewards" for each one, i.e. immunity to more individual effects being up for grabs. I also VERY MUCH would like to see exactly how each Spire affected Chaos and Wren's stats; a tad more transparency in that department could have gone a long way (another reason why more "specific effect" options would have been nice--they're mechanically transparent in purpose without breaking immersion and/or spoiling just how strong the final boss will be). I may just be stupid and missing stuff, but was there any foreshadowing for this? (Aside from him living after being KO'd in the Observatory fight--I'm kicking myself for not noticing that before.) Phil's frustrating because he doesn't listen to orders until he's nearly killed himself, but overall I like him. Mallelio, on the other hand, I can't stand. Like, at all. Which is unfortunate, because our characters could really benefit from knowing each other. Mallelio definitely needs a Quest in which he actually does something useful for the Heroes, rather than being saved by them--he reminds me a lot of Princess Peach, and I loathe her as a character in most of the Mario games. At the very least, it'd be nice to see Mallelio score a few kills before he's kidnapped by Bowser again. In general, I think I prefer NPCs when we don't have to constantly make sure they're not going to die on us. That may just be my own pet peeve, though. Is Hans supposed to be on that list? Or do you mean we'll get to meet people who knew Hans...? This is the only categorical advice I will give you, Zeph: You. EXCEL. At improvisation. The best parts of EVERY Quest you have EVER run are all parts where neither you nor your players knew exactly what they were doing, but you ran with it anyway (CM's side-Quest in 7 and its effect on the main team, Wren's odd love for Cronk, Wren herself (gender-wise), the side-Quests in 30, the character RP in 38, Zane, XX, and Everyman in 53, and the side-Quests with me and, from the sound of it, Pandora in 53). This is where you shine as a QM. Show me more of that, and I will always dive right in with you. I may have more to say later, of course, but I wanted to get this (especially that last bit) out there for you.

You don't know my back-room deals...

"This gem? If it were mine, I would give it to you in a moment, brother. But this belongs to Alexis, I'm merely holding on to it temporarily. It is hers to lend or sell, not mine."

I'm holding them, remember? I can hand them back once we get back to the Hall, it'll be easier that way. Arthur dimly returned the smile, or at least tried to. I will be there for her, as long as she wants me. Every ounce of joy I get from her will be returned a dozenfold. That I swear. "I love you, Alexis. You're always good to me, even when I don't deserve it. Thank you." Seeing Alexis passing Nyx Gold, Arthur accompanied the gesture. He had no words. None were needed. His demeanor told all. One look at Hoke's face told Arthur everything; it betrayed the weariness they all felt. "Much has changed over the course of this single day. It will be months before we recover physically, and mentally, emotionally..." The unsaid portion of Arthur's statement was plain: ...mentally, emotionally, we will never recover. "I do not know where I will go, or how I will recover..how I may find redemption...but wherever I go, I want to be with you, Alexis." Arthur looks to the others. "I do not know how I will repay the debts I have incurred of all of you this day. But I pledge everything I am that I will find a way. I owe you. And I always pay my debts." Arthur turned his face, heavy-lidded eyes downcast. He caught his reflection again in Sir Roderick's sword, carelessly tossed to the ground beside him, and his brow furrowed, but he could not bring himself to lift his shame-filled eyes to the others. His self-hatred, skillfully buried for the vast majority of his adult life, had never been more evident than it was now.

No, Etzel did, he mentioned it in the Grogmas Gifts topic.

Yeah! Just give everything to Arthur! If it's really being a pain, I guess I'd be OK taking some gems, but if that's the case I really would prefer gemS plural. Priority to the Aquamarine and Topaz, and Arthur won't want the Emerald (he won't complain, especially now, but he won't like it). Like I said before, though, I'd prefer a healthy dose of Gold. I have purchases to make soon.

Suggested music choice: Arthur stood stoically, too emotional to speak. He quietly reached for Alexis' hand, expecting her to pull away, but desperately hoping she wouldn't.

Sweet. Speaking of loot and loot division, I've adjusted the summarized stats; peoples' Defense and immunities should be back to normal. I'm a little unsure on some peoples' Power and max Health and Ether, so again, check me. If I find I have extra time on my hands, I may go back through and add color back in to everyone's stat blocks (you can see I fixed mine both in the summary and, finally, in the Hero Stats topic), unless some people don't want that.