Zepher

"Good," says Merei as she returns to the room. She gives Viper a cool stare. She had meant what she said: she was uncomfortable leaving him here, but trust needed to be earned. "Now what do we do with you? Can you fight? Or will you go hide with the crew?" "I would if I were you." Dispensing of her normal efforts, Merei finally allows her idle imagined thoughts, which have percolated subconsciously the entire time they've been on the ship, to bubble to the surface. "Wouldn't you like to know if Hart was purposefully shipping this somewhere? I will admit I don't trust that it was aboard the ship. Or one of the company's clients was doing the same? What if the Space Police were shipping it? If so, was intended for research, or as a weapon against someone? Are there more of them, perhaps under corporate control? Or if it instead hails from the port we just left? What if there are more of it, lurking in the vents there, waiting to strike? Or if it is a product of this Forbidden Sector. Is in one of a kind? One of ten? One of thousands? How was it awoken? None of this strikes you as something you'd like answered?" Merei's composure remains calm and gentle as she reels off her questions. "Those are some of the things I'd like to know, among many." She goes to the final part of the Beta container they haven't checked, the Main Cargo Compartment.

"Not everything has been solved yet, Zaria." Merei cautions her. "We know very little of the Hydra, or its origins, or its purpose. These would be things worth discovering." "I believe so." Merei looks over Kirwin's shoulder at the read-outs. "Minor damage to the ventilation. Worth noting. Perhaps a way for the Hydra to move or spread."

Merei looks around for someway to free Viper, as well as if there is an easy way to see the interior of the Beta and the other containers. She also, as always, identifies the dead bodies. "No Hydra in here, as far as I can see so far!" she calls back to the others.

I'm not opposed to 0 spirit spells, but I'll again point out I've been purposefully playing Mission 7 as a test case for my "no meditate no recharge" proposal, and even without rests I, who am going for a spell-caster build, have felt like I've had to make some tough choices but never that I've been ineffectual.

Again, I think we’d want this to be at a rest and not at the end of combat, but this sounds good to me.

OoC: yes, sorry, just couldn’t tell which room had the controls I needed. See now “security console” which should have been a good hint.

“In that case, assuming no one objects, let’s free him.” Merei goes to Container Beta, carefully and alertly.

"They're alive. The alternative to freeing them is leaving them on this ship, which we cannot do." Merei shrugs. "Trust is earned. Hopefully they will earn it." Merei looks at the pad on the door, seeing if there is any way to tell how it works.

Heyo! Very nice to see the old faces popping in!

"That would be the police. I am trying to not allow my imagination to be my master, but I truly don't like that they're here." Merei slyly looks at Viper, trying to gauge if the story is true, as she inputs data onto her list. "If we get you off this ship, it'll be in a Hart vehicle. We are, at the moment, hired by Hart. The head of the company doesn't seem wise, and doesn't seem kind. But the people we are with are good. Is any of that a problem?" Merei glances over at Zaria and Kirwin, but can't think of any reason to whisper. "The dead in the hallway are from another ship. One of the search parties, I fear. It may do us good to find their ship, if it's still here, or commandeer the police's vehicle. I'm hopeful we'll have more survivors than we'll have room."

Absolutely superb! As others have said, it impressive for both its scale AND it's detail. Each small image is packed full of beautiful textures and designs and colors!

This seems like the most elegant and easy solution to me, and truly doesn’t add all that much to track for anyone. It means using spells in and out of combat is equally risky, which means spellcasters gotta make some tough choices. Which is good!

Merei joins the other, catching the name. “I’ve promised to collect you, but the ship you’re on is very dangerous right now. We already have two problems running around with the police and the Hydra. Can you ensure me you will not make it three?”

“This is upsetting.” Merei says coldly, her fire burning low. No matter her curiosity in the Hydra, she is earnest in her intention of saving lives, and the massacre is disconcerting. She checks the bodies for names or IDs, moving carefully and quietly, more out of respect for the dead and a stifling of her anger than out of fear for the Hydra. “And still no police. Or Greenlaw. Or bomb.”

It resets after battles according to the current rules. So if you don’t spam meditate, it only restores if combat is triggered. Though you’re right, we haven’t been running it that way - it might be hold overs from previous rules that are still on the cards in the first post.

"Are we all ready? Varen, would it be possible for me to take an Aetherbrew from you? I'm out myself, and I don't want to be stuck in combat without it, should the situation become especially dire." Merei walks to the airlock, scooping 10 credits off the ground as she goes. She stands at the ready. "Kirwin, whenever you are prepared, I am as well." And, if you could add it before I fully forget, this should be in my inventory, but not equipped at the moment.

This'll be my last response - I've made my complaint, and I don't feel the need to go on about it forever back and forth. They already do, by virtue of starting a fight to restore spirit or not. In fact, in the current situation, players with spirit are punished for solving things either diplomatically, stealthily, or cleverly, since none of those restore spirit! This argument, I have to say, is especially strange to me. Why can someone only call for meditate once a post? Why not just post "I meditate, which is a cost-free action, over and over again". What's the difference if it is done then, or over many posts? That just makes things longer. "Oh, I logged on today, but my meditate roll didn't go well. Okay, everyone hold up, I gotta try again. We can go to the next section tomorrow, unless I don't roll well, in which case I'll meditate again!" Yes, that is what I'm proposing (though it took me a second to understand what you were talking about). To be honest, I think you're overly nervous about it. 8 points is still a lot. It gets them ONE casting of a high level spell. They're probably not good at much else, and that's their big move for the battle. No one, no one, in 8 months of this game, would be able to cast even one top line spell per combat yet. But if you're very afraid, even a 1-2-4-5 split might make it more safe. EDIT: But, you're right, they're very powerful. With a sort of MM triggered rest mechanic, I think we could still leave them at their current levels. I still think we're potentially a good nine months away from seeing them used at all, and then it'll still be a massive drain on the person, but if that's a real sticking point, it's fine as is. That isn't actually the exact crux I'm thinking of - it's that if we leave things as they stand, there are two games you're playing. Either a party has a spellcaster with a healing spell, and they're playing Game A: full vitality and spirit returned after each combat, or they don't, and they're playing Game B: vitality is very precious, because it is extremely difficult to restore. In one, the results of each battle have no impact on the next. In the other, they very much do. The fact that I personally prefer Game B isn't really my point (though, it is the one I prefer, because why have a battle if there are no consequences what-so-ever?), but rather that those are wildly different games! Which one should this game be? But, again, I've said my piece.

A lot of things are MM dependent! I think that'd be fine, and it allows the MM to craft the story they want. Legonator, for example, would probably NOT want to include that mechanic a lot in Mission #7 for the reason they said. Mission 5 would also probably not have a lot of restores. Meanwhile, I could see Kinto offering it in #8 where it makes sense! But the rolls actually don't matter, because if I don't get back all my spirit, and I'm out of combat, I just immediately meditate again. I think the solution, if anything, is to buff Aetherbrew, or make it a bit cheaper. It allows the players the autonomy to not be fully reliant on their MM! This would work fine too, but is basically the same as a Aetherbrew. Again, I frankly think it's fine to say Aetherbrew is just expected to be carried by heavy spell users, especially because, again, you can pick up just a bit of spirit if that's the vibe you're going for. People who are heavy casters will have to dump some points into having high spirit reserves. That's okay! Alternatively/additionally, we could lower the cost of the "upcasting" if we're super concerned with this, so that it's just 1, 2, 3, and 4. I don't think that'd be game breaking - even a year in I think only one or two characters could pull off a highest level cast, and it would deplete them!

Merei updates her logs accordingly. "Worley, most of your surviving crew members, I am sorry to tell you that bluntly, have taken refuge in the Captain's Quarters. You'd do wise to do the same, but we must continue on the containers you were hauling. I have to believe that it has been longer than a few minutes that you've been out, but in truth I don't know. What is the last thing you remember? Do you have any warnings for us? Was the Hydra particularly bad there? Others concocted a scheme to plant a bomb that was instead a functional signal booster somewhere back there. Were you aware of such plans?" Merei looks at her companions. "Kirwin, as always your incredible knowledge is appreciated. Do you know anything about the Aether? You and I might have to have a long talk once we've returned to the Hall. If we return to the Hall. No assumptions. Are we all prepared?"

This was going to be my suggestion. I think there are a LOT of benefits to it, and I think it's the obvious fix. As opposed to an RPG where the players can attempt to call for it, I think it should be purely MM based, not based off of "rests" but instead moments where spirit restores (milestone, essentially). It's just the same as declaring "now there is a battle!" and "now there is a social challenge" etc. I think it'd take maybe an extra five minutes of planning at the top of a mission from the MM, frankly. The reason I suggest this solution is because of all the downsides the other methods you suggested have. The reason this strikes me as a major issue is this: either you are playing with a spellcaster who has a healing spell, and EVERYONE returns to full vitality and spirit between every combat, or no one in the party has it, and you're playing a game where people NEVER return to full vitality after combat. Those are VERY different games. I think it's more fun to have it be the latter, since it makes each combat count - even just a scratch could have an impact down the line. And hoarding spirit I don't think would be too worrisome, especially as the reserves get a bit higher. If you want to be a SPELLCASTER, you really up your spirit. Otherwise, you select spells that work with the rest of your kit, and use only one spell per combat. This is a well-built game because people can also always rally or defend, if they've invested a little. Additionally, spell-casters might just be expected to carry an Aetherbrew or two with them - that wouldn't be a wild spell-casting tax. And, to back up the claim that it is doable, I've purposefully played all of Mission 7 without meditating once, as a test case. It is the LONGEST mission to date, and has (obviously) not utilized the suggested "rest" mechanic. I think that our dwindling Vitality and Spirit has made for a more fun game. I don't know if my other players and MM agree - if they don't, I'll happily just boost everyone up to full right now, and meditate my spirit right back up too!

"What were you doing here, Worley?" asks Merei. "And who is that?" Feeling a little silly seeming the person's condition, Merei leans close to Zaria. "Are they dead? Or can anything be done for them?" Merei paces towards the airlock, glancing back at Kirwin. "Can we do anything about this? If we must, we can accompany everyone back to the Actaeon and prepare for another spacewalk. I'm still concerned that we haven't seen the Space Police. Could they have crossed into the containers already?" As she speaks Merei chugs an Aetherbrew, and then heals Varen and Kirwin.

Am I right in saying spirit doesn’t come back after a combat any more? That rule changed a long time ago right? One rule change I’d suggest is that we remove the meditate action, or else healers can basically heal everyone back up to full health after each combat.

“Wake the dwarf, Zaria.” Merei drinks an Aetherbrew and heals Varen and Kirwin.

Oh I’m still having a blast! Been a busy few days, but I’m still all in!

“I’m with Zaria. We should gain as much information as we can before turning the ship back on. There may be a reason it is off. We still haven’t found Greenlaw. And where have our two new arrivals disappeared to?”