Flipz

While you get a shiny new flail to sell to someone. Well, hey, at least if you manage to hit anything, you've got the battle survivable. If any of us take Damage this Round, we're down permanently. As I recall, you mentioned Chimaera Guards at the Observatory and Pongcanis with Triad. You said nothing about Guffington Manor, other than Wren's cryptic hint about Chaos Beasts. Well, at least Arthur's got a 75% chance of being the lone survivor of the battle! (I fully expect the Lucky effect to apply to the Staff roll!) Yeah, I get that the stuff is all pre-set prior to the party coming into contact with it. It's the numbers that are screwing us over. Still, you have to admit it's more than a little frustrating to be guaranteed a KO by exactly your max HP.

Zeph, that's just mean, you made it so the smallest possible number of Free Hits is guaranteed to take out Dyric--by exactly the right amount of HP. (16+20+20)/2 (Back Row) = 28 Damage. We absolutely NEED my SHIELD to survive. Time to Rules Lawyer, I guess...

"Sir Cronk, for this Round only, I need you to put me last in the Battle Order. If I can manage to pull off a Mojo that is, IF my abilities still work as a mamber of the Court, then I'll have Stunned most of our enemies AND left the rest Stunned for next Round; if we manage to keep doing that, attacking the un-Stunned enemies every Round, we can alternate attacks until everything is dead. Also, Sir Cronk, please take an archer, since Dyric and I have the lowest Defense we should take on the clerics. Scratch that, Dyric should take a Cleric, but the other should remain untargetted so you can absorb its Free Hit." "This Round, let's focus on the Pongcanae, they'll deal more damage with their Free Hits than the chimaera guards. I don't think I need to remind everyone to strike from the Back Row, even if you deal melee damage; that will be a rule for the ENTIRE fight, even if it looks like we're winning. A Skeleton Decoy would be a waste of effort, it'd only take two Free Hits before breaking and we'd have to invoke one extra Free Hit for Dyric to activate it--and our best shot is for him to successfully Assassinate some of these things anyway." Arthur physically attacks Pongcanis Archer D from the Back Row with the Staff of the Cultist Battlemage. Suggested Battle Order and Actions (Guffington Manor): >Sir Cronk (Zoot's Bane) vs. Pongcanis Archer B (Back Row) >Skrall (Hunter's Crossbow) vs. Pongcanis Archer A (Back Row) >Haldor (Zoot er Isen) vs. Pongcanis Archer C (Back Row) >Arthur (Staff of the Cultist Battlemage, Physical Attack) vs. Pongcanis Archer D (Back Row) >Dyric (Cat O' Nine Tails) vs. Pongcanis Cleric A (Back Row) Free Hits from plan (Guffington Manor): (this list assumes no Stunning or Assasinations) Pongcanis Cleric B + Advanced Chimaera Guard C + Advanced Chimaera Guard E vs. Cronk ( (16 + 20 + 20)/2 - 17 = 11 damage) Advanced Chimaera Guard A + Advanced Chimaera Guard C + Advanced Chimaera Guard F vs. Skrall ( (20 + 20 + 20)/2 - 8 = 22 damage) Advanced Chimaera Guard A + Advanced Chimaera Guard D + Advanced Chimaera Guard F vs. Haldor ( (20 + 20 + 20)/2 - 7 = 23 damage) Advanced Chimaera Guard B + Advanced Chimaera Guard D + Advanced Chimaera Guard H vs. Arthur ( (20 + 20 + 20)/2 - 3 = 27 damage) Advanced Chimaera Guard B + Advanced Chimaera Guard E + Advanced Chimaera Guard H vs. Dyric ( (20 + 20+ 20)/2 = 30 damage)

This coming from the QM who said the undead fight would be winnable. But seriously, where is the loot from these fights?!

OK, it's official: "general policy" should be that if there is a Warden in the party and someone has Counterstrike Gloves, the Warden gets the Counterstrike Gloves. Seriously, Harkenshire has ninja'd, what, five or six perfect Counterstrike opportunities in this battle alone? Aura gives 'em the strength to take the Free Hits, they should wear the gloves instead of wasting the ability on another character.

I like my spelling better, it makes him sound like he's a dinosaur.

"Good point, Skrall. Alexis, mind if I drink one of those Grand Tonics?"

Music for Quest 48: I unofficially rename this theme to "Eilodon Appears"

Poor KO'd Quest 50 Heroes, having to miss out on experience because Xut is going to kill the Hawk.

Oops, I keep forgetting you're not Level 20 yet. If you'd rather use the gloves, then hand the hat over to Felton or Gray, but I think the hat is a smarter move for now.

I actually have a new Theatre post in the works (waiting on a specific minifig part) that will cover exactly this topic.

EDIT: This post removed so Zepher doesn't absolutely massacre us with one tiny change.

"Oh, I believe I have that in here somewhere..." Arthur returns the Monkey Bar to Nyx.

So in other words, you expected us all to powerlevel to Level 50 in between the end of Quest 38 and the start of 53, instead of sitting around in the Hall doing nothing. I think Haldor does, none of the rest of us seem to have eaten any souls lately.

I can't speak to D&D specifically (I've been looking for a good group in my area for years), but when I played the Star Wars Roleplaying Game (Saga Edition), I used the maps I had on hand from the miniatures sets, and LEGO figures. The campaign fell apart pretty quickly, but mechanically it seemed to work well. If you really want to build sets, I personally would recommend just building the "major" locations, like the bar everyone meets in and always comes back to to trawl for rumors, or the palace of the king who regularly hires the party for new assignments, the sort of recurring locations that you'll keep coming back to. For everything else, there's MasterCard I'd just use sketched paper maps as one of the previous posters mentioned, and just use the minifigs as regular minis. Hey hey hey, if you're going to mention Heroica and RPGs, do it right. (You HAVE seen us in the Games forum, right? )

I swear, this Quest is going to be a TOTAL fustercluck at the end when we try to get everyone's inventory sorted out.

"Understood, Sir Cronk. I would recommend lending that Scroll of Frailty to Lady Nyx, so that we have one Scroll of Frailty in each group." "Dyric, catch!" Arthur lends Dyric the Jester's Hat. "Hoke, Lady Nyx, you should borrow these." Arthur Lends Hoke a Topaz and Lends Nyx an Opal. Hey, we went a LONG time without a party roster, at one point I thought Phil was with us for some reason. Stat-wise, Alexis also handed Arthur her Healing Staff and the Staff of Ennon, and as much as we'd both like her gems to spontaneously duplicate in the transfer...they should't have. And as to the ownership...well, it IS a loan; after all, back at the Hall she can imbue those gems... "Triad, Atramor is coming to you. It will be a difficult battle, but I believe together you can succeed." "Mallelio, try to remain calm. Look for anything in the structure you can collapse on top of those things, they're strong but delicate. Also, have you seen sign of any more of XX's minions?" "Skrall, I'm thinking you ought to swap places with Hoke. Hoke will be able to use Lightning against the Chimaera Guards, while you will do better with the Chaos Beasts Wren promised would be waiting for us at Guffington Manor."

Probably would have to wait for the next battle...which incidentally means that if all of the rest of us screw up and die, SOMEONE will be around to continue the Quest. (Granted by that point, we're all screwed anyway, but still...)

Relax, we're only losing one person if Atramor fails, plus he can Flee if the situation gets too hopeless. On the other hand, do we really want this thing to have more power? I mean, the Q38 boss was Level 50, how much more than that can we possibly handle??

"Ah, I see. In that case, I'd prefer Zander stayed with the Lord of Liars, as he is best equipped to protect us if Zander behaves...unfortunately. You, I think, might do well in finding Hans and remaining with him. Vipera, have you had any success in contacting Hans, or Bennetton, or Mallelio or Triad?"

True, but they're also quite rare, and aside from the Banana Bladerang (which has the retrieval issue to work with), they also deal only half damage from the Back Row.

"The Prince of the Lost ought to go defend Mallelio, I feel; perhaps your previous acquaintance with him in Dastan will inspire your performance in battle. Zane, Zander, what specific skills do you have in battle?"

As I see it, envenomed weapons of any kind deal their poison effect any time they deal damage to enemies. Thus, an envenomed dual-strike weapon deals venom to all four enemies it hits, the Cat O' Nine Tails, the Banana Bladerang, and the Explosive Staff all deal venom to all enemies. Cursed is the only one I'm not 100% sure about, but I feel that dealing Cursed to all foes is within the spirit of the artifact.

"With that staff and a bit of Luck, Atramor could hold off an army. Triad will be with him as well. If he does not succeed, only they will be lost. It is a minimal and worthwhile risk."

"Here are my personal recommendations, Lord of Liars. If anything, I would prefer we better defend the Spire at the Manor, as Luck on the creature's side would be FAR worse for us than even added strength...on the other hand, any of us falling would be a dramatic loss. I suggest we spread out Smoke Bombs among the members of the Observatory party; after all, if Guffington's Spire falls, we're all screwed anyway, so there's no real need to attempt to escape." Guffington Manor: Scarecrow of Sorrow (Arthur) Royal Retainer of the Banished (Dyric) Apprentice Hoke Vipera Master of Loathing (Haldor) Lord of Liars (Cronk) Observatory (Mallelio): Mistress of Lost Lust (Alexis) Felton Apprentice Nyx Sir Poletad Magister of Misery (Skrall) Gray Wizard Southern Tower (Triad): Apprentice Atramor