Kintobor

Okay, that I'd approve. If it's a fun little minigame, that's fine. Just don't make the plot dependent on them getting a specific die roll.

I don't find it distracting, but I don't like the idea. There is nothing worse than plot progression depending on a role of the die. Side quests or optional objectives are fine, just make sure they have relevance to the plot.

What, because you managed to post first suddenly makes mine "unnecessary"? Their completely different points! There are more than just humanoid enemies that can cast petrified, in particular the basilisk and the cockatrice. Do they cast magic that reverts heroes back? And if so, why? It doesn't add up in my mind.

Do we gain experience for solving said jigsaw puzzle? Why don't we just state that petrified makes the target unable to move, ala Harry Potter's Basilisk, and taking damage counts as a KO, due to the fact their left open to an attack? Turning heroes to stone just creates too many problems, in my mind.

I like all of them with the exception of Petrified. How are we going to explain in universe how a hero who's been shatter manages to revert back to flesh, along with somehow managing to return to their original shape after being shattered to pieces?

(raises hand, knowing the answer to the question despite it being directed towards Pyro) Third Anniversary?

Arthur snags the two books and stuffs them onto his person. Thormanil makes his way into the Upstairs Hallway. Looking around, he notices a painting of a man standing next to a bottle of wine covering one of the walls. A plaque on the painting reads "Master of the House, Percival Akrone" Looking around, Hoke takes note of the glistening sword, the headpiece, the statue over the fireplace, an old elvish shield, and a banner in the corner, all looking rather pricy. Looking the jewelry over, Lind can discern that there's value to all the jewelry, although some more than others. A few earring match, but for the most part, nothing seems to make a set. Looking under the bed, Lind finds dust bunnies and a rather skimpy night gown. Considering the dust on it, it appears to have been forgotten about for quite some time. Lind then decides to shove his arm up the chimney, in hopes of finding something. However, he only manages to get his arm stuck... Guts lifts up the shiny sword, and places it with the rest of his goodies, surprisingly not suffering any severe back pain from the amount of wares he has on his spine. Valuable Scimitar (WP: 3, worth a large sum, taken from the Akrone Trophy Room) The other items seem valuable, but not as much as the sword. Looking through the chest, Guts finds various drawing books depicting locations from around the world, including some sketches of Strivvi. The name Percival is signed on all of them. Hoke knocks on the door and waits patiently... there doesn't appear to be anyone using the loo. Alexandre devours the mushroom, feeling his power increase. The clock strikes again from the foyer, this time ringing in the half hour mark. It was six-thirty, as the house began to darken. Lit candles illuminated the house, but as the moon began to rise, shadows began to encroach the corners of the house. In the distance, a faint wolf's howl breaks the quiet. How long would the party have before the house would be set upon by Alfendi Lupine? The party continues to explore the manor. QM Note:

Let me see if I can answer some of your questions, emjajoas. 1. It really depends on the type of quest. It's usually good to have at least one decision that alters the quest in someway. It can be as simple as "does the party go left or right", but the party needs to have the feeling as if they're actions are meaningful. 2. Once again, this depends on the quest. Something like 70, while still having a lot of freedom, was linear. Eight to ten outcomes is a little too much, though. If your trying to make a quest that reflects party accomplishment (which isn't the way to go, honestly, character interaction with NPCs would be the better option), perhaps one for good, one for fair, and one for poor. 3. A balance of both is really required. If the party enters a building, let them look around and explore, but make sure they know what they're doing in a location. In other words, ensure they're goal is clear. 4. This is a tough one. It really depends on execution. It could be an interesting plot thread, or an annoying gimmick. I'd stray away from the idea. 5. I'd avoid doing this. It feels a little out of place, what with all the elemental affinities in the game. 6. If you want to know how to run a gauntlet, look at Endgame's quests. I'd avoid out of combat sabotage, unless it makes sense with the environment, and the players are being clever. However, building up enemies is what I'd recommend. Have people mention the character so when he or she shows up the party knows not to mess around. 7. Fourteen's a little bloated. It'd depend on how you incorporated them, honestly. If they were spread out, maybe, but not all at once. Perhaps tone it down to eight or nine 8. Foreshadowing an enemy is fine, and I'd even recommend it! Perhaps people mention how intense your villain gets when he enters a fight, and how he kills all his enemies with a single blow. The party knows that when they meet this guy, they better be ready. However, researching an enemy sounds really dull. I don't want to come off as mean, but it's not very intuitive in terms of the game's mechanics. 9. Cut the fat. You're planning way too much here. Start off simple for your first few quests, then make something more branching and difficult. Honestly, if the quest is about tracking a dangerous man down, you could cut it down to about a month and a half and still have build up, about five major NPCs, and a series of fun fights. In it's current form, it sounds way to complicated, and the last thing you want to do is complicate things for yourself and your players. 10. I wouldn't say no to the quest, but in it's current form, I'm not entirely sure what you have planned. You've got too many NPCs, for sure, and the mechanics you've suggested feel slightly unnecessary. I wouldn't say your inexperience would hinder your ability, but I would say that it would affect the quest. This looks like a long quest, and I for one am more interested in shorter quests. The thing you need is some experience. My suggestion to you is to host Dreamscape, and come back to this afterwards with some experience under your belt. You can always ask other QMs for help with quests, that's what we're here for. Hope this helps!

Zepher, you cut one of said petty thief's hands off. Lupine the Third is still out there, I just haven't thought of a place to use him, although he is missing a hand.

The rooms in the Master Bedroom do have proper locks, however, being windows, they could be broken. QM Note: How am I supposed to calculate 1/2 damage? Looking around, Lind can't find anything of value besides, well, personal valuables akin to jewelry and clothing. Looking the clothes over, they seem mundane enough, although very elegant and light. Looking up the fireplace, Lind can't really see how small it is or how if the flue is shut; it appears Sally has forgotten to clean the chimney's for quite some time. Hoke meanders about, trying to deduce which rooms he hasn't checked. QM Note: I'll give you a heads up that your going to need to be more specific for later on. Returning to the Library, Arthur can determine that globe must be worth something. Discovering a latch, he opens the globe up to reveal a hidden set of shot glasses and a bottle of wine, stamped with the Akrone Vineyard's seal. Arthur can determine that perhaps a few of the books are valuable, the entire set is worth a bit in gold. Would the thieves attempt to steal the entire library's collection?

Oh, pfft, so it is! Looks like someone here needs glasses, and it ain't you, Sandy.

Cool scene, Sandy! I didn't know Throlar had the same abilities as the Flash, though.

Although I disagree with your opinion, I can understand why perhaps the ending may have made you angry. I'm going to comment on some of your points, Bennemans, just to add to the discussion. I feel Will Ferrel as the Dad was more of a send up than anything. I though it was funny, and there wasn't a whole lot of hammy acting when he portrayed the father. I don't feel as if the story's narrative is overtly cohesive either. Who's to say it wasn't the father that glued Ma and Pa cop together when Jake was busy? That's the way I saw it. I also don't think Jake was being "bratty". I think Jake was feeling neglected by his dad. Here he is with all this stuff that he sits around "playing with", and Jake gets put to the sideline with his own bucket to do whatever he wants, so long as he doesn't muck around with dad's things. I'd feel a little shunned in such a scenario. My grandfather would often let me use his model trains, and honestly, those are some of the best times we shared. Jake, in my mind, was looking for some quality time with his dad. The song kind of foreshadows most of the movie, actually. When the gang escape Cloud Cuckoo Land, the submarine sinks because they had no clear goal. When they suddenly "worked in harmony" and worked as a team, suddenly they became a lot more efficient. The song's got some depth to it besides "conform to the system". It has a hidden meaning that suddenly makes more sense once the plot's through. "Everything is awesome when you're living our dream" can relate to sharing your creations, and by extension your creativity, with others. There's a bunch of double meanings throughout it, although I'm still trying to decipher the mentioning of hiking boots...

Sorry if the updates were a little slow today, I've started replaying Link's Awakening for the Gameboy Colour. It's got some sentimental value to me, seeing as how it was one of the first games I ever played. Never got past the second dungeon, though, seeing how I was either four or five.

Arthur rushes into the cellar, his worst fears rushing into his head. Moving to the vintage wine rack, everything seems to be the way the party left it. Looking it over, Guts uses his alchemical experience to deduce the item is in fact a... Growshroom Cap - Raises power by 1 permanently. What will Guts and Alexandre do with their newly found mushroom? A clock chimes from the foyer, once, twice, thrice, until it ends on the sixth chime. Night fall was closing in...

Congratulations WBD! I hope you have a good time on your honeymoon!

Karie makes her way into the marketplace, looking about. Even in six months, the place hadn't changed. She makes her way to Portia's. "Alright, I'm going to need four Phoenix Essences (200 gold), two nostrums (70 gold), two neutralizers (100 gold), two grand tonics (60 gold), and three remedies (30 gold). I'll also grab a Mulled Wine (55 gold)." Portia grabs all the items and places them in a small box, in which she begins to calculate everything. "Blimey, your looking at about 515 gold." (200+70+100+60+30+55=515) Karie counts her gold out before placing the hefty sum on the counter, leaving her with 760 gold. She nods to Portia as she leaves. 1275-515=760 She then heads over to Gnomeo's, looking through his wares. "I'll snag a Magic Compass, a Pickaxe, and a shovel off your hands. (80 gold)" She hands him the coin, leaving her with 680 gold (760-80=680). With that, Karie departs the Marketplace.

Karie watches as the creature whisks away in a cloud of smoke. She sits on his words for a moment before heading to the quest board to see if she had actually been chosen. She had. Scanning everyone else, Karie also notices Masson's name on the sheet, along with Em's and Jeaux. It had been a long time since she'd seen Jeaux. She notices Lawrence's name. She scowls. Now wasn't the time to worry about him. She heads out of the hall, and into the marketplace. She had more than one event to prepare for.

The plants potted in the room appear to be tropical in nature. Looking about, he can't find any concealed areas to sneak or break into from. The glass surrounding the Sun Room seems brittle and thin. A few cracks are already present in the windows. Looking the mushroom over, Alexandre isn't quite sure what to make of it. It may be helpful, it may not. He didn't have the credentials to determine what it was. Looking around the Library's bookshelves, Arthur comes across many varying titles: Among the Sheep Tribe, Love Amidst the Dragons, A Collection of Pyrian Tragedy and Comedy, How to Train Your Dragon, War and Bricks, 1001 Abran Nights, Loot Island... however, his magnifying glass pulls nothing up. Turning around, Lind comes face to face with huge, hulking werewolf! Arms raised above his head, the beast lets loose a horrible roar as the munchkin turned to face him. It really was a horrible roar. The werewolf doubled over, trying hard not to laugh but failing. "Hah! You shoulda seen the look on your face! Oh, this is gonna be a fun night." Looking the sword over, Guts can tell the weapon is worth over 400 gold easily. Their doesn't appear to be any traps around the sword.

I forgot to add some of the references to other media, since this quest has a ton. -Kianu's songs were all references to Tolkien. Tom Bombadil's song, and Down from the Door were the two big ones. Also, I freaking hate Tom Bombadil. -All the crook's names during the first fight were references. Honest John was a reference to Honest Tom from Gun, Richard Lionhart was a reference to the Richard the Lionheart, Sully the Stabber was a reference to a Borderlands 2 mission where Tiny Tina tells you to go and get an autograph from her third favourite serial killer Sully the Stabber, and Paula Madoka was a reference to Madoka Magica which is a great little anime that subverts the magical girl genre really well. -Also, the broken cart scenario is one of the oldest roleplaying scenarios in the book, that I swore you guys wouldn't fall for it, but you did! -The first Murkwood Mauler you fought was inspired by the oddball and random jabbering of the Psychos from the Borderlands franchise. -The Root Beer's shown up before, but for those of you who still don't quite understand why it only affects undead, go play The Secret of Monkey Island. -The Hint Coin is stolen directly from the Professor Layton franchise, but it's first appearance was 94. -Sir Bearrington is an actual meme. -Derpsy made her third appearance, for those of you keeping track. She is of course based off of everypony's favourite mailmare. -Lolth is named after the goddess of the same name from Dungeons and Dragons. Generally you don't mess with Lolth, because she will screw you up. That's all of them, I think!

I've always envisioned Eubric as being similar to how London is portrayed in the Professor Layton series, with narrow side alleys, multi-story buildings and apartments, and wide streets; albeit with a lot more grime and dirt. Future London from the Unwound Future is sort of the main inspiration for a couple of my buildings.

Don't Black Knights have the armour that nullifies stunned?

I'd personally like to know that, seeing as how I had an idea for a quest where the reward was the class upgrade artefact.

Quest 101 Overview I felt this quest had it's ups and downs, but mainly it's ups. I will agree that the pacing and the length were a drab, enough said. The plot I think was there. The inn scene was meant to introduce you to the going ons of Uland and learn about the world through NPC interactions. It was an idea I had that sparked somehow, and in order to keep things consistent, I stole Zepher's Weeping Inn (which later got me dragged into 103's plot, since Zepher thought it fun to try something out ). However I'll agree that the timer might have been annoying. I didn't want you in the inn or in the Thicket forever, so I tried to limit your time in their, but give you enough time to interact with people. The inn I felt conveyed this better, seeing as how you had to choose to sit and talk with, but in the end, what's done is done. I can understand your frustration, Commander, and it's these comments I take into account when I host quests. I hope Kianu was liked. I was aiming for young fangirl who wants to help but doubts her own abilities. She'll show up again, don't worry. I've got plans for her story which I don't want to delve into right away. Battles: I thought the fights were fair, despite the really cruddy rolls you guys would get. Don't blame me, blame my dice. Bandit Beatdown- A basic battle. This was meant to get you guys into the basics of battling. It was mainly meant for Deus to get a grasp on the battle system, but I wanted it to be challenging enough that it had some meat to it. Actually, I stole a lot of stuff from 56 for this fight, so if anyone was curious, yes, that was intentional. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!- Relatively standard fight. The enemies were higher levelled, their specials did more damage, and I introduced poison, because it really is a nasty effect. The Cymbalroot made it's glorious return, and you got an idea that all was not well in the woods. I liked it. Murkwood Queen- This battle was meant to be a test to see if you could apply what you'd learned before and use it to your advantage. I also introduced Free Hits and Passive Specials, something I wanted you guys to get accustomed to. I realized I made some mistakes with Kianu, but I want to make it clear that Kianu could've sat in the back row and only receive half damage. Ranger's aren't the only ones who can do that. I thought Lolth provided a fun challenge for you guys, and I could see you guys getting a little slowed down with all the bad rolls, so I kicked up the music once you two managed to get some impressive rolls to hopefully keep you motivated. It seems to have worked. Characters: Deus: You were active and you participated, which I will always commemorate first time heroes for. If you got those two things down, you should be good under most QMs. However, I'd like to see less OOC and more IC posts from you. There were moments during the Lolth fight where I wish you would speak for Deus, as in when he's hitting his target. Deus is also a bit of a blank slate, which is fine. It takes some time to find a solid grasp of a character sometimes. I'd love to host you again, Lego Spy, keep up the good work! Darksten: You surprised me in 97, and you were a joy here. I got no real qualms with Darksten's character. He's fun to watch, I get the feeling like the guy who's been there, done that. You're interactions with Kianu were fun to play off of, and I was just really enjoying your presence. He's a simple character, but there's nothing wrong with that. Inigo Montoya's a rather simplistic character, but he's honestly one of my favourite characters ever. I'd love to host you again! Hoang Anh: I decided against dropping him because it would feel really awkward for a PC to disappear and then suddenly a new one appears, despite the road trip taking three days. I had hoped he'd show up, so I decided to mark him as inactive and not reward him with experience, loot, or the quest reward, so take that as you will Sandy. I'd mark him as "failed", but that's just me. Perhaps replacing him would've been the better choice, but it would've been hard to explain narrative wise how a hero just appeared out of nowhere. I was hesitant to take you along after your absence in 97, but it seems I made a mistake taking you along. When you were active you were doing good, but simply disappearing without explanation is irritating to both your fellow players and your QM. I'd have to think long and hard before taking you again. I'm glad you appreciated the sets! You'd be surprised how much I recycle from old stuff. Thank you to those who stuck along, I hope you enjoyed it! ~Kintobor

Karie does not respond immediately, feeling slightly shamed that her back was covered by a thorny and contorted spiral. Her mind lingered on the dual pronged scar still embedded into her skin. How did he know of this, unless... "Yet unlike your creations, you have no control over me." Karie clenches her Paper Doll.