Flipz

Arthur walks back into the Hall, oblivious to Caroline's previous entrance. "Well, I am prepared as I shall ever be. Now," he says, looking at Thothwick, "Are you sure you want to hear this? Truths, once spoken, cannot be un-heard."

Arthur sweeps into the Marketplace, tossing his Blunt Dagger to Anwyl for 5 gold, then picks up a Magnifying Glass from Gnomeo for 30 Gold before heading to Portia's. "Let's see...a few Nostrums, a few Remedies...no, maybe not, let's see, hmm..." before long, he finds his coin purse a total of 295 gold lighter, but his pack much fuller. Sell WP:1 Dagger = +5 Gold, new total 300 Gold 7x Nostrum= 35 x 7 = 245 2x Remedy= 10 x 2 = 20 1x Magnifying Glass = 30 Total purchase: 245 + 20 + 30 = 295 300 - 295 = 5 Gold left

For those who wish to imagine Caroline's lines spoken aloud: imagine her speaking in a drippingly over-sweet voice, but without even the slightest hint of sarcasm. Both the embarassed pause and the sudden fit of rage come out of nowhere with almost bipolar suddenness. Also, I have to thank Endgame for introducing me to Gooper-Blooper's song, it is an AMAZING study aid! Who would have thought? Anyway, now that finals are over I can try to get caught up on the enormous pile of projects I've built up over the semester! Which means...more time for Heroica stuff!

"Well, I..." "Yes, I..." Arthur paused, seeing everyone looking on. He closes his eyes for a moment, and forces himself to speak. "My tale is one of dark portent, that will challenge the thoughts you may have...about me, about the universe, about everything. It is not a tale I would tell lightly, nor one I would wish to tell while unprepared, especially on the eve of such pressing crisis." Arthur nods to the Quest board. "If you truly wish to know the story of my past, then it shall be shared with you when I return." Arthur gets up off an exceptionally opulent (if somewhat stained) chaise lounge chair and heads for the Marketplace. ----- A few moments after Arthur leaves, a green-hatted figure enters the Hall. "Hello, Heroes, I just wanted to stop by and wish you all a merry...um..." *looks at card* "...Grogmas." She pauses, the Heroes staring at her awkwardly. She pulls out a red envelope with fancy white trim and hands it to Thothwick. "Um, right, so anyway, I just wanted to leave something with you for Artie, be a dear and make sure he gets it, OK, Mr. Metasimian? OK, thanks, bye-bye now!" Caroline waltzes meanderingly to the door does a little ballerina twirl once she's outside it, and in a sudden burst of wrathful rage slams it savagely shut.

And megablokin' cobblestones! (Although now that I think of it, that was the same Shovel... ) I seriously would have tried digging on the ship if I thought I could get away with it. Pie's response to the cobblestone street digging showed me that I couldn't. Although now I think of it, I believe that fishing rods should become a purchaseable tool; it's ended up having use in several Quests now... Speaking of which, Pie, what WERE the other options for using the fishing rod? I know I got the best result, but what were the others? In any event, I'd recomment all new players purchase a Bedroll before anything else, and possibly spend the last 5 Gold on a Potion or a Smoke Bomb for their own protection.

Om nom nom--ohai, didn't see you there...

Do what I did constantly in Quest 38: Current Quest Archive Binge! I'm pretty sure that Etzel's given you all the clues you need, now you just have to scour the topic for each and every one of them and piece them together to find the murderer. If all else fails, play through a Phoenix Wright game and/or a Professor Layton game over the weekend and see if that gets your investigative juices flowing. Of course, I have my suspicions...

I actually have a complete Quest concept I ended up writing for one of my finals. It's the sort of thing that's right up Sandy's alley, though (i.e. the way he takes literary and mythological classics and twists and subverts them to make something new and fresh), so I may just send the concept to him and see if he's interested.

That's what I'm saying...the Assassins couldn't whittle down his health by any means, they'd HAVE to Assassinate him. The high number of assassins is to increase the odds that one of them pulls off the kill...and even so, it'd be likely (depending on the enemy Level) that at least a few Assassins would be taken out before the end. Like I said, it'd be a cheap fight, and only MARGINALLY fair. Oh, that's right, I always forget him and Henry Sicarul as Wren Questers. They're two of the few Heroes who have met Wren in person but been pretty much totally unaffected by her. (Docken's another one, but he's pretty much totally unaffected by ANYTHING. )

I look at it this way: an Assassin still gets a chance at an Assassination on a Lethal Aim even if their WP is less than the enemy's SP. (Actually, that'd be a cheap but in a weird way sort of cool enemy: SP 250 or something, but not immune to Assassination. Actually, now that I think about it, that's a BAD BAD BAD idea, unless the Quest has a party of 8 Assassins, which would end up in a somewhat fair but still extremely cheap fight.) ...and now that I'm thinking this way, I would LOVE to see a party with one of every Rogue AC. ...which could actually be Quest 53: Hybros (Assassin), Thothwick (Black Knight), Arthur (Sorcerer), Atramor (Witch)...the only class we lack is Raider, since none of our Raiders are elligable for the Quest.

Agreed.

I've never been a huge fan of Miniland scale, but I that blaster! Also, a few days late, but... Really? Nobody noticed this but me? I find your lack of pointing out semi-unintentional Empire references disturbing. In all seriousness, if your brick-built version starts to bug you, just remind yourself that you're being accurate to the Star Wars universe.

Seriously? The words "space marines" are copyrighted? Sheesh, first Apple patents the rectangle, now this...

No, they said it should clear up by the end of the weekend.

I kind of like that if people want to know things about other Quests, they either have to ask another character about them or else put in the effort to read the Quests; it discourages the sort of "TL;DR gamers" who would want to just play for their own gains rather than helping to build the world they play in. If someone doesn't care enough about the game to put in at least a little research, then maybe Heroica RPG isn't for them. That said, over the holidays I plan to test-drive some of my ideas about writing Heroica into more of a "story" format, so we'll see how it goes.

Great guide, Zeph, but I'd disagree about the Act I placement. If we try to force the "main" plot into a single arc, think Act I ends with Quests 44 and 50, which properly introduce the Veterans and the Ji Pei; prior to this, there were still a large number of important players who still had not been introduced. Really, though, I think each House has its own three-act structure, and the interaction between different plotlines is what keeps things interesting. For example: Quest 2: Hinckwells Act I Quest 34: Shadeaux Act I Quest 43: Hinckwells/Shadeaux Act II (Part 1) Quest ??: Hinckwells/Shadeaux Act II (Part 2) Act III will likely play out intermingled with the rest of the "main" plotlines, as I'm sure Sandy will try to synchronize the events a little more. Likewise: Quest 6: Wolfgang/Town Watch Act I Quest 33: Wolfgang/Town Watch Act II (Part 1) Quest 44: Wolfgang/Town Watch Act II (Part 2)/Veterans Act I (I believe Sandy's already stated that the Wolfgang is THE main storyline of Heroica, so the other Act III's will likely be timed around them--also note that this is by far the hardest plotline to pin down this way, in part BECAUSE it is linked to so many others on such a large scale.) Thus, a look at the six main Houses and the current point in their timelines: Hinckwells: end of Act II (the secondary plotlines were actually the Lion Knights saga and Lyren, the first of which is pretty much wrapped up with regards to the Hinckwells and the second of which will likely be touched upon in the end of Act II or early Act III) Shadeaux: end of Act II (the secondary plotlines were the Malheur/Charis, which will likely be invoked again, and Nuitan, whose storyline is obviously tied to that of Lyren and Bellanotte) Zeigfrieds: Act II (in which the rivalry with the Guild of Invision is actually explained and secondary plotlines [bluto, necromancy, Chesterine, the other children] are expanded upon) Guild of Invision: Act I (in which the Guild's secondary plotlines continue to become better established) Bonapartes: Act II (in which the rivalry with the Ji Pei is better explained and secondary plotlines [Reno, Hestia] are expanded upon) Ji Pei: Quest 50 should flesh out and finish Act I (which was started with Quest 15)

Hells yeah!

I swear, if Pie and Endgame ever teamed up on a Quest, I think I might pass out from the sheer awesomeness the battles would be.

He'd have to take a turn to do it, and the Free Hits from the suddenly un-Afraid rabbits would have been unbearable.

We already have one Romeo and Juliet storyline, and it's part of Sandy's "main" storyline; see Quest 43.

Like I said, it's a general guide--in your situation, it doesn't really apply. However, Paladins ARE the ideal Free Hit magnet, as they have both SP AND a very high HP bonus (from being a Cleric), meaning they can take FAR more hits than even other Knights (with the possible exception of Wardens). No, GA has always waited until the next Round to go into effect; it's another one of those "slow-acting" Effects I mentioned. True, but it honestly depends on how large the party is and how sadistic the QM is; a QM who's balancing for plot and party generally means that the Warden should be able to handle an early-Round Aura, whereas versus a Killer QM and/or an intentionally hard battle (or even just a majorly huge party, i.e. Quest 44), we'll see Fields Syndrome unless the Warden goes last.

OK, since I have time (not really, but we'll pretend I do), I'll compose a sort of "universal Battle Order" that will be suitable for most purposes, based primarily off of class features, with some notes on optimal use of special effects along the way. (Note that only Basic and Advanced classes will be included, as the Expert Classes will need testing in combat before I can strategize properly for them.) Battle Order: Paladins Knights Sorcerers Assassins Berserkers (if party is not yet Encouraged) Rogues Witches Raiders Mystic Knights Black Knights Berserkers (if party is already Encouraged) Hunters Barbarians Evokers Mages Battle Mages Rangers Shamans Sages Clerics Druids Wardens *critically injured party members* At the top, we have three of the four non-damaging, non-healing SHIELD effects, two of which also come with SP so as to defend against Free Hits, one of which gains Gold, and all of which protect the party as a whole. Next we have Assassins; as a Gold-gaining class, they should always be near the top of the Order, especially since they have a shot at instant assassination, which is almost always a good thing for the party. As a Barbarian-hybrid, Berserkers would normally be lower in the list (and if the party is already Encouraged, then indeed they are lower), but their SP and ability to Encourage the party bump them up a lot. (They could even be put above Assassin, but Assassins don't benefeit much from Encouragement and it's common courtesy to put gold-gaining classes above the damage-dealers to give them an optimal chance to gain Gold anyway.) Next come basic Rogues, since their Gold earnings depend on damage output, followed by Witches, who occupy a strange mix of roles. As the only Cleric class besides Paladin that does not heal the party on a Shield, they make ideal early-order healers, but their ability to inflict effects that don't take effect until the end of the Round/beginning of the next Round would normally put them a LOT lower (to minimize the risk that these "slow-acting" effects will be placed on enemies that end up KO'd before they take effect); it's only due to the potential usefulness of Special Mirror that they take an early spot. In fact, really, Witches don't occupy any one spot in the Battle Order at all, their placement depends solely on how useful their Special Mirror would be at that point in the Round. (More on this later when I discuss Effects.) Anyway, after basic Rogues come Raiders, the only Rogue class to both gain Gold AND do area damage on a Shield; the former ability puts them ahead of all Barbarians except Berserker, while the latter ability puts them at the bottom of the Gold-earning Rogue classes. Next come Mystic Knights and Black Knights; both come below the Gold-earning classes (and thus, the other Knight classes) because they are primarily damage-dealers rather than party defenders, and the Black Knight comes below the Mystic Knight thanks to Special Dodge--if a Black Knight is the only Knight in the party, then obviously you want them up front to take Free Hits, but if you've got another strong sourse of SP, you want them at the bottom of the Battle Order so that their Special Dodge will hit no one. (The exception to this is Warden, since their Shield renders the chance of Special Dodge somewhat moot.) Next up are the heavy-hitters: Berserkers live here once the party is Encouraged for area-of-effect aid and SP defense, Hunters have an all-around high damage output, and Barbarians, Evokers, and Mages deal area damage, bringing them ahead of some of the other classes despite their somewhat diminished ability to handle Damage. Battle Mages live below these thanks to their Counter (Berserkers can live just ahead of Battle Mages if their SP is low for the same reason; no sense to risk killing an enemy with a Counter when another ally has a chance to kill the enemy normally instead), and basic Rangers below them so as to focus the potential of Tripleshot. Lastly we have the block of Cleric classes; as the heaviest damage-dealer, the Shaman naturally goes first, followed closely by Sage. Basic Clerics are the next-to-last, while Druids are around to revive KO'd party members (including any basic Clerics who managed to get themselves killed instead of dropping a Miracle). Wardens come very last, to minimize potential Damage taken from Aura to only Free Hits. (Critically injured party members come below Clerics, obviously so that the Clerics have a chance to heal them before they have to face damage, and they come below Wardens just in case the Clerics fail.) Effects can change up the order, but only slightly; there are two types of Effects: fast-acting Effects (i.e. Blinded, Sealed, Asleep, Stunned, etc.) that take effect as soon as they're inflicted, and slow-acting Effects (i.e. Hexed, Cursed, all variations of Poisoned) that don't take effect until the end of the current Round or until the start of the next. Heroes who deal fast-acting Effects should generally be placed early in the Order (so that the rest of the party can immediately benefeit from them), while those that deal slow-acting Effects should go later (so there's less of a risk of, say, Deadly Poisoning an enemy right before another party member kills it). This is why the Witch's position is so variable; if they are attacking an enemy whose Special is fast-acting, then they should go early on in the Round in case of a Special Mirror, whereas if they are attacking an enemy with a slow-acting special (or if they are healing an ally), they should go late in the Round so as to make better use of the Special Mirror, Hex, and/or Poisoning.

Yes, but since I actually own that baseplate (well, that MOLD of baseplate but with different colors and printing), it helps me get a sense of scale; it makes the prospect of building physical sets much less intimidating. Also, can I request in advance that, at the end of the Quest, we get a complete listing of the 108 stars from 1 to 108?