Flipz

Nice title drop, you two. Though I thought Ella was the daughter of Emperor Septrine, one of the two still-reigning Emperors? Unless something's happened that we haven't heard about back in Eubric...

And holy hand grenades, I've been over 3,000 posts for a WHILE now and didn't even notice. Gotta love how an active Quest will boost post counts like nothing else.

It depends on what you're playing for and where you're at. If you're playing for story, that sort of thing isn't a huge deal; Level is just icing on the cake that lets you get in to different Quests and, when combined with the Advanced, Expert, and Master Class rules, provide a framework for planning character development. Likewise, 1/3 of a level will be really crucial closer to Level 30, just like 1/2 of a level is huge for characters who want to get to Level 15.

That's all I was worried about. Count me in!

"All right, no one attack Henry, let's focus on Morgan. Thalion, De'kra, stay in the Back Row, no sense in risking unnecessary damage. Try not to kill them, they're arrogant bastards but they're just doing their jobs. Barur, stand by to heal Thalion or De'kra if either of them get hit." Arthur uses his Scroll of Frailty on Morgan from the Back Row; if he's successful, he casts a Darkness spell on her from the Back Row, if not he tries his Scroll of Frailty on her again. Battle Order: Arthur Thalion De'kra Barur

That's what I meant, Meditate still works as-is for Sage/Paladin, it just doesn't quite fit with Shaman. Witch, like Sorcerer, gets positive effects on 5/6 rolls. While poison could definitely use a buff, it's still at least somewhat useful. Anyway, there's another strength to both Witch and Sorcerer that I neglected to mention: the component classes share little in terms of equippable gear and weapons, which gives a huge array of flexibility in potential equipment. I think I brought that up as well. I agree, it is indeed a fascination class to study. While I appreciate the concept of this, I must say I'm not really a fan of the idea. The whole reason I like going on Wren Quests is the chance to interact with other characters and roleplay through the hard discussions; the potential of losing that opportunity would be quite daunting. Perhaps players who are KO'd at the end of a battle would become "disabled" in some way (like how the Gray Wizard was too injured to attack but not too injured to heal), and if they manage to get themselves KO'd to the end of battle again THEN they'd be "REMOVED"? Gives the Heroes a bit of protection against bad rolls and killer dice, which can happen to anyone even with good planning... I guess I don't really understand the concept.

"All right, this isn't working. Let's do this." Arthur unfurls his Scroll of Sleep and, from the safety of the alleyway, casts a sleep spell on the armored guard before leading the others into battle against the guards.

Dang, 49ers, you finally get a battle and you just can't catch a break!

"On second thought, let's let De'kra or Thalion chat up the guards we saw before."

Really, there's a "natural" AC for each basic Class if you want to keep basically the same party role you've been having all along: Knight --> Paladin Cleric --> Druid Rogue --> Assassin Ranger --> Evoker/Warden Mage --> Sage Barbarian --> Raider Rangers are a little harder to characterize; on the one hand, they can be incredibly offensively powerful, in which case they'll likely take Evoker, but on the other they can be incredibly defensive, in which case Warden is the better option for them. I, personally, took Sorcerer for flexibility. (Yes, roleplaying was involved too, but stats are what helped me eliminate some of the other possibilities for Arthur.) Sorcererers can deal full damage from the Back Row, whether with spells or with throwing weapons (and unlike Sages, they CAN attack physically to use special weapon effects), and they can also Flee and dish out status effects, both from normal class rolls and with Scrolls. One of the big plusses for me is that 5 out of the 6 Sorcerer rolls have some sort of advantage--1, 2, and 3 are obvious success rolls, but 4 Confuses the enemy and 5 is a counter-strike skill that somewhat makes up for taking damage in the first place--and unlike the Battle Mage, it takes place on the Damage roll (where you'd be damaged anyway) rather than being a roll that makes the Hero take damage on what would normally have been a Miss. Special Damage is the only roll a Sorcerer can't gain an advantage from, and since their Shield gains Gold they'll want to Nostrum up anyway. The only thing a Sorcerer can't really do on their own is healing, and my Healing Staff simulates that reasonably well. On the party role scale, Sorcerers are just as awesome; they're simultaneously offensive (elemental spells, status effects) AND defensive (Back Row fighting, SHIELD roll that stuns the enemies). I, personally, have customized my build to take advantage of this; defensively, Arthur's robe provides decent (for a non-Knight) SP AND Sealed-immunity, and added the Healing Staff, which lets Arthur heal himself in a pinch (and act as a secondary healer if the party Clerics are indisposed), while offensively the Ancient Crown and the Lens of Speed-Reading allow Arthur more options and chances to spread devastating statuses to the enemy. (It's interesting that, aside from Free Hit issues, Arthur would stand a fair chance against those two guards in Quest 51 all on his own.) In my opinion, Sorcerers in general and Arthur in particular are ideally suited for side-quests, as their flexibility allows the QM to really mix up the fights in those missions. And of course, RP-wise Sorcerer was the best choice; when I tried angling him for Mystic Knight, it just didn't work out, so Sorcerer it had to be. Mystic Knights are really weird--devastating fireballs and Diplomacy are a VERY odd combo. It'll be interesting to see how Cinna develops, since Hoke has been MIA for a few months now. One thing I will say is this: MKs are designed to rely on physical weaponry, since their Enchantment drains their Ether so quickly. They are indeed one of two truly offensively-oriented Knight ACs, and that's why they and Black Knights are strange--Knights are, and have been since the beginning, primarily defensive support classes. That's why Warden and Berserker are a little weird--they take offensive classes (Ranger and Barbarian) and transform them into Knight-like defensive tanks. Paladin is, as many have noted, the true Knight experience--mostly support and defense, little offense. That said, Zeph, Boomers could make some interesting battle choices if he used Scrolls a bit more, and/or if he invested more in weapons that deal effects to enemies. (That Frozen Saber is sadly underused by Boomers, unfortunately, even though it's sort of his trademark. )

"Hold on, let's try the front, that will likely be less suspicious."

"Well, we could send Thalion, but he can't Flee if things get hairy." Arthur pauses, considering. "Very well, then, let's go back through the alley and try the other side of the building, and if that's not possible, Thalion can try his luck with the guards."

Psst, Xander took damage from the Adder, not Dyric. You have it right in the stats, but not in the battle description.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: I really loved the look of the Hovels, too. (Quest 44 was just awesome in general. ) OK, I've been thinking on it, and here's what I've found: *Barbarian ACs in general have Shield abilities that are of VERY limited usefulness. These range from mild chance of failure (both Ravage and Spellblade are useful enough unless there's a problem with elements) to "only works once per battle" (War Cry and, to an extent, Marking the Favored, though the latter is MUCH more accommodating since a hit is included with it) to downright dangerous (Blood Ritual, I'm looking at you). *Of the Shield rolls of Cleric ACs, Blood Ritual is absolutely the least helpful; Roots of Life and Magical Vortex heal the whole party, Magical Vortex and Hex cause harm to the enemy, and Roots of Life and Guardian Angel help protect the party from negative effects (and Guardian Angel protects the party from regular damage, too). Blood Ritual harms ONE enemy for a small amount of damage, and heals exactly ONE member of the party, plus it has limitations that render it extremely dangerous in extremely common situations (poison and undead). By far the worst Shield. *Shamans don't have anything unique going for them ASIDE from the Shield roll: Meditate is a common Miss roll among Cleric classes and isn't overly useful anyway (as opposed to, say, Counter or Aim or Steal), Extra Critical Hit is common to pretty much all of the Barbarian ACs (as is Natural Respite), and none of the other rolls are anything special. *The entire point of a Barbarian is to hit hard. Shamans don't; even taking Extra Critical Hit into account, Sages hit harder and are generally more functional than Shamans thanks to elemental advantages and a better Shield. At the same time, they fail as a healing class thanks to the Blood Ritual issue. *Natural Respite is rather unhelpful to a Shaman, since it doesn't replenish Ether and, if the Shaman is following a more Clerical strategy, they shouldn't be taking too much damage anyway. (Yes, Meditate should theoretically help this, but realistically it doesn't ever seem to kick in when it should and is thematically inappropriate to the hard-hitting Barbarian nature of a Shaman anyway.) My suggestions for Shaman: *Allow Natural Respite to restore Ether, and retool Meditate into some sort of offensive ability. (Pros: the class will feel MUCH more fitting for a Barbarian, the benefeits MIGHT outweigh the cons of Blood Ritual as-is; Cons: this might OP Battle Mage, Blood Ritual would still be a major turn-off for potential Shamans) *Re-tool Blood Ritual to have some sort of area-of-effect on enemies. (Pros: again, more Barbarian-like, damage output mostly outweighs the risk to party; Cons: while this balances the poison disadvantage, it makes the issue with undead worse, in a big way) *Simply make Blood Ritual completely ineffective on undead. (Pros: least amount of change to the class as-is, preserving the flavor while at the same time making the class viable for players again. Cons: Blood Ritual is still the worst of the Cleric AC Shield rolls, Meditate is still somewhat contrary to the idea of a Barbarian.) *Re-tool Blood Ritual in some other way (my mind keeps coming up with the idea of TRANSFERRING all effects, but I can't figure out why, perhaps I'm too tired right now ) *some combination of the above. My advice to Haldor: Weigh the benefeits of the roleplaying of Shaman against the disadvantages of the class mechanics. Sage is the next-best fit for Haldor, both role-playing wise and mechanically (and it somewhat fits the outfit you showed me), but Shaman Haldor will always have a special place in my heart. Yes, but it's still transferring health. Health damages undead. Or at least, that's how I see it. (And if Blood Ritual really is intended to increase the health of the undead enemy, why on earth did Sandy do that? That would make the whole "undead clause" completely useless except to screw over the party... ) In any case, I'd think that Guardian Angel would indeed protect from Blood Ritual damage. EDIT: To clarify, the "poison clause" is a limitation--it fits thematically, and I like the idea of some drawback to the class, but only if there's enough advantages to warrant it. Right now, Shaman doesn't have enough advantages, and Blood Ritual has too many drawbacks. Also, added another suggestion to ways that Shaman can be tweaked.

Sorry about vanishing suddenly, I had to make an unexpected drive to a city two and a half hours away. Also, Etzel, I think that, since the Blood Ritual is a form of healing, the undead monster should have been harmed, just as it would have if Haldor had performed a "heal" or a "heal more". I picture the Hall as one of the biggest indicators of Eubrician architecture, so you'll likely want to start there. (Unless, you know, you've already built it so that it can be destroyed in the "Final Battle". ) Obviously, WBD's two Quests are great places to look for architecture, and I daresay you'll want to include Triad Park, as well as at least one of the homes of the main Houses--and even if you don't, in my personal headcanon the other buildings around the main House homes tend to take on characteristics of the huge House mansions nearby anyway. Here's a list of links to my favorite buildings, in no particular order: Give me a bit.

"Eh, they aren't too bad. I could put the one in armor to Sleep before we started the battle, and then I could make the other one Fragile and potentially take out half her Health in a single strike; besides, if we attack from the Back Row, she's not that dangerous, and anyway that staff'll give you a good chance of getting away from an otherwise-fatal hit." "...That said, I'd prefer not to have people chasing after us everywhere so early in our Quest. De'kra, would you mind going over to speak to them alone? Raise your right hand if they turn out to be hostile (or just Flee), and I'll cast a Sleep spell on the armored guard before leading the others to join the fight, but if they seem cooperative, just nod and we'll come join you." "Try not to give them any explanation of why you want to look through the records unless you have to--you're a Hero of Heroica, you have every right to examine them if you want to in pursuit of a Quest goal. If they ask why you're using this particular entrance--hmm. Wait...you and Thalion helped save the Bonaparte leaders from the riots, right? Try to use that Reputation to your advantage; explain you saw their uniforms and thought they could help. That'd be a good time to signal us over." To Barur and Thalion, he added, "Once De'kra signals us, pretend like we were just traveling through and got separated from De'kra. You know, say something like, 'oh, there you are De'kra, we were starting to get worried.' Something to make it look like we were in the alley looking for him instead of meeting with our employer." Arthur knew he would remember every detail of the conversation, but he hoped the others would make special effort to remember the details of their lies; there were few quicker ways to ruin a scheme than to contradict one's own falsehoods, after all.

The first idea sounds awfully similar to "Princess Panic", just without the Croise/Fantome storyline. I will admit, the second idea sounds rather interesting, though.

Arthur smirks. "Sorry to ruin your misconceptions, Barur, Thalion, but both De'kra and I are Rogues. De'kra here even started off as one--and in fact, I believe he has just the artifact for this task." Arthur winks at the pair, then turns to De'kra. "What do you say, De'kra? Are you up to using your Robe of the Elven Spy on those guards?"

"Yes, excellent point, we'll say that we spotted someone wearing Wolfgang livery fleeing into the forest. When we returned to Eubric, we spotted the same individual disappearing into the bustle of the dockyard." Arthur listened to Chalvo's explanation. "Very well. Barur, it appears it will be even more important that Thalion borrows your Topaz now. If no one else has any more questions, I think we are ready to move on."

I've been using the font size option on the rich-text editor (mostly to indicate whispering in Heroica), but many times clicking on the drop-down arrow will crash the tab I'm using. It's rather annoying, not to mention the amount of re-typing I have to do each time it happens. Is there anything that can be done to remedy this? (I'm using IE--yes, I know--on Windows 7, if that helps.)

Arthur smiles at his fellow Rogue. "That makes two of us, then," he says with a wink. Leaning closer, he adds in a whisper, "I have to ask, though, is it just me, or is there an echo to your words now? It seems faint and indiscernable, but somehow it seems familiar." Arthur then turns to Chalvo with a frown. "Knowing the way the universe treats Heroes, it's likely that the device will be turned against us at some point. Do you posess any sort of means to disable or override the device, so we do not have to risk fighting and damaging it? Also, would it be possible for you to describe this Avina character? If we encounter her during our search, I assume it is safe to let her know the true circumstances of our employment?"

"Hmm...I was thinking we could say we are under the employ of Admiral Mathias Thraune of the Lion Knights, I have served with him and know he and Lord Knyghton would forgive our involving them in this business. The Wolfgang angle may be beneficial as well, however..." Arthur considers. "All right, how about this: we were hired by Admiral Thraune to investigate the disappearance of on of the Lion Knights' vessels on a trip from Bric'bay to Eubric. During our investigation at Bric'bay, we discovered an emblem belonging to the Wolfgang, and suspect that they may be capturing vessels for some unknown, devious purpose. Agreed? Also, if we are separated for some reason, or if I simply am not online seem preoccupied, De'kra will be the party second-in-command." Arthur nods in agreement with De'kra's questions, though there is a quiet echo following them that he can't quite understand. He makes a mental note to ask the Assassin about it later. "Yes, good thinking, De'kra. Also--and I understand if you cannot answer this, Master Erith--who is the customer? Is there anything in particular about him that might make this particular shipment a target? Actually, now that I think of it--is this the first time one of your shipments has gone missing? If so, is there anything about the item itself that would make it a target, or if not, what can you tell us about the previous thefts?"

Hmm...interestingly enough, Namyrra, and Tensi were both on that Quest as well...and so was Cinna, sort of. ( )

Once Barur responds, Arthur leads the party out of the alleyway. He looks around, still keeping an eye out for windows on the building that might let him get a glimpse of what is to come.

"Ah, that attitude. I know and loathe it well. Very well, then, after some minor preparations, we'll be off." Arthur turns to the rest of the party. "All right, Barur, now that you're here, I'll lend you my Staff of the Cultist Battlemage for the rest of the Quest. It should suit your fighting style quite well, I think. Also, if you could let Thalion borrow your Topaz and me borrow your Ruby for the rest of the Quest, that would be helpful as well, I think." While he waits for Barur's response, Arthur tries to find a window of the office that he can look through.