Kintobor

"Yes, they're both where they should be. I'm ashamed to admit it, but stuff from the storage room is bleeding into the cellar. That fez was actually my husbands. I have no use for it any more, so take it if like." Sally ponders for a moment, thinking over some things. "Gods... I'd say there's at least one valuable object in each of the rooms of this manor. My husband's family had a hoarder's personality." Taking extra precaution of the ceiling, the only thing Thormanil can find are cobwebs and dust bunnies. "I ask you not to touch anything in the trophy room, since it's filled with antique weapons and armour, but there's certain to be something in the kitchen that could potentially help. Help yourself to anything in there." Checking the torches, Hoke fiddles with them, trying to find a potential hidden passageway. However, he accidentally snaps one of the torches he was inspecting! "Find something, sir?" Looking over some of the wine, Guts can see dates going back to one hundred and fifty years ago. Newer bottles seem to have the Shadeux logo stamped near the bottom and on the cork, while older ones seem to be in a variety of different shapes in terms of the bottle. "My husband's family enjoyed experimenting with different bottles, and of course as time progressed, the ability to create better labels increased." QM Note: You'll get your map tomorrow, guys! Sorry for the delay, I've got some last minute things to prepare!

QM Note: Flipz was generous to run the round for you guys, so here it is! Thanks once again! Round 7 Against the Murkwood Mother! Battle Order: Hoang Anh vs. Lolth- Crit. (4*2=8+5=13-1=12 damage, poison +1) >Deus vs. Caustic Crawler A- Shield (3+3=6 damage to Caustic Crawler A, Caustic Crawler B, and 3+3=6-1=5 damage to Lolth) >Darksten vs. Itsier-Bitsier Spider- Damage (5/2=3-2=1 damage) >Kianu vs. Caustic Spider B- Special Damage (Caustic Crawler B's poison increased by 1) Hoang Anh and Deus both charge the spiders as the severely weaken their hold over the battle. Darksten and Kianu aren't as lucky, as Darksten takes a small scratch from the Itsier Bitsier Spider while Kianu's inability to damage her opponent allows it to increase it's poison potency. The battle continues! "<We seek to serve our queen.>" Caustic Crawler A Level 5 Vermin *Deals Poison 2* HP: 8/20 Special: Potent Poison- The amount of poison Caustic Crawler A deals is increased by 1. Passive Special: Poisonous Attacks- Caustic Crawler B's attacks deal the poison 1 effect. If increased, the poison resets to one once Caustic Crawler rolls Damage. Drops: Smelling Salts "<We... urk... seek to please our queen>" Caustic Crawler B Level 5 Vermin *Deals Poison 2* HP: 1/20 Special: Potent Poison- The amount of poison Caustic Crawler A deals is increased by 1. Passive Special: Poisonous Attacks- Caustic Crawler B's attacks deal the poison 1 effect. If increased, the poison resets to one once Caustic Crawler rolls Damage. Drops: Smelling Salts "GAK! No, no, NO!!" Lolth, Queen of Murkwood *Poisoned by 3* Level 12 Dark Beast HP: 9/70 SP: 1 Special 1: Mother of Spiders- Lays 1 Spider Egg Special 2: Injection- Lolth Deals 5 damage and poison by 3. *Specials Alternate Drops: Rangers Quiver, Spider String Bow (WP: 4, Dark elemental Bow), Phoenix Essence x2, Mythrill Shard "<Ouch!>" Itsier-Bitsier Spider Level 5 Vermin HP: 2/15 Specials: Sloth Snare- The target is slowed. Drops: Floral Bomb The Party Deus Spiranius (Lego Spy) *Poisoned -1!* 23 year old male human Ranger Level: 3 Power: 6 Defense: 1 Health: 7/8 Ether: 0 Gold: 25 Equipment: Bow (WP: 3), Tricorne Hat (Artefact: headwear, SP:+1) Inventory: Potion, Smoke Bomb, , Bedroll, venom Darksten (Comrade Commander) *Party Leader* *Poisoned -2* 35 year old Male Human Ranger Level 7 Power: 12 Health: 10/13 SP: 2 Gold: 15 Equipment: Crossbow (WP: 6); Sand-Worn Hide (SP: 2) Inventory: Potion x3, Remedy, Smoke bomb, Bedroll, Utility Knife (roleplay item), Grand Potion x2, Phoenix Essence, Ambrosia, Mead, Fang of Kos (roleplay item), Soma, Safety Blanket (SP: 1, protects from Afraid, backwear), Root Beer (Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against undead enemies for 20 damage. The Root Beer does not affect non-undead enemies), Hint Coin(Gives the user a hint about a puzzle or tricky situation. Usable only once. Has no monetary value.) Hoang Anh (hoanganhbeo) *Inactive* *Deals Poison +1* 20 years old Male Human Knight Level: 5 Power: 9 Defense: 3 6 Health: 14/14 Gold: 105 Equipment: Steel Sword *Poison +1*(WP:4); Shield (SP: 2); Safety Blanket( SP:1, immune to Afraid, backwear) Inventory: Remedy x4, Bedroll, Grand Potion, Poison, Sword(WP:3), Smoke Bomb, Soma "We've almost got this!" Kianu Level 5 Female Satyr Cleric *Immune to Poison up to 1* *Listens to Darksten* HP: 10/10 (6+3) Ether: 7/13 (6+3+3) Gold: 30 Equipment: Elderwood Branch (WP: 4, Wood Staff, suitable for Kianu), Woodland Gown (Ether: +3, grants immunity to Poison up to 1 damage, Body wear, suitable for Kianu), Satyr's Pipe (Grants the user animal talk, accessory, suitable for taurians) Inventory: Tonic x2, Potion, Venom Party Leader, please determine Battle Order. Everyone else, please choose an action.

Karie began thinking about everything the little Progg said, trying to piece her information together. It had been six months since she'd last shown her face in Eubric, yet it only felt like a day. What other things had changed? "I see. And your friend here is going on a quest to stop this "Regret" and put an end to these "inky squid thingies"?" As Em sits down, Karie gives him a pat on the back. "It's good to see you, again. I've been doing okay. Fought off a bunch of demons in the Academy. Still..." Karie felt uncomfortable talking about the additional events surrounding the academy, but... "Em, there's something I need to tell you. Me and Masson, we're... well, we're getting married."

I'll second the motion!

"Oh really? Then why did me, Sorrow, and Erik have to save your sorry megablocks from that music demon after you got knocked out?" She grins, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "Let's see him weasel his way out of this one," she thought. While waiting for response from both Heckz and the monk, Karie notices a familiar creature at her feet. "Well, look who it is! I'm doing alright, but please, don't call me "Miss", I've had enough students calling me that for a lifetime! What have you and your brothers been doing? They are all brothers, right?" Karie hoped she had that right, she wasn't quite sure about progg anatomy. She notices Em and smiles. She hadn't seen him in ages. She tries to make eye contact, motioning him to sit next to her.

QM Note: This is the finale, so after this not a whole lot. You're almost done!

Karie doesn't respond to the monk's comment on her make up, but does to the comment on her last name. "Beats me, he was from Dastan. I was told it originated from an old story involving... well, a flask." Karie feels uncomfortable as the monk began speaking about demons. Their strategies... she'd seen them all... experienced some of them. "I have experience fighting demons myself. I just recently saved the faculty and students from the Academy of Enlightenment, as Heckz here can vouch for. We vanquished everything in that place. However, that's not what I was wanting to ask about. What do you know about demons possessing people? I've seen it before, and it worries me." Karie decides not to mention the fact she was not only possessed, but had two demonic tattoos on her, one which turned into a whip. Noticing the Progg kids enter, she smiles and waves to them.

The party follows Sally up to the manor proper, looking through the rows of posts and bushes for anything out of the ordinary. Sally unlocks the door and ushers the party into her house and immediately leads them to the cellar door, located under the stairs in the foyer. Going down the spiral staircase, the party sees how much liquor is stored beneath the house. Kegs of various shapes and sizes, crates full to the brim, racks with individual bottles; all holding the nectar of the gods. Nicole leads them to the back of the room and stops in a particular section, pointing to a section. "This is the wine he'll be after. All of it in this section. If Alfendi makes off with these, my reputation is over with. As you can see, there's a lot of space, but I thought it best to start here. Now then, we'll head-" "Hurry up! We don't have all day!" Perin's voice echoes through the cellar, Nicole looking agitated as it registers with her. "That woman has no patience... I'm going to have to cut this short. You can explore the manor for a short while still, since it's not yet sun down, but it appears my bodyguard is incredibly impatient, as always. Do you have any final questions before I leave?"

"I'll... I'll try to heal you all. Give me a moment." Kianu begins to kneel, speaking under her breath. She seemed to be praying. "You dare pray to a false idol, satyr?! You're kind are sickening!! When I have this forest in my grasp, I will leech onto everything; I will rule this place! No more being squished by the ones who think us as vermin! I will finally show them that we arachnids are more than just pests!" Battle Order: Hoang Anh vs. Lolth- Miss >Deus vs. Caustic Crawler A- Hit- (3+3=6 damage) >Darksten vs. Itsier-Bitsier Spider- Shield (6+7=13 damage to Itsier Bitsier Spider, Lolth, and Caustic Spider B) >Kianu vs. Caustic Spider B- Shield (4x2+5=13 health to all allies. -1 ether) The party, feeling fatigued, begins to fear the worst. However, Kianu's chanting begins to have an effect on the party; a positive energy. Despite Hoang missing his swing on the vile Queen, Deus fires a shot and finally lands a blow on the Caustic Crawler. Darksten manages to do even better, firing three successive shots onto the Itsier Bitsier Spider, the other Caustic Crawler, and Lolth! Kianu's prayer's become louder and audible. "Sylvania, spirit of nature and life, we ask for your aid during our time of need. We ask you assist us against one who would put the balance of the Murkwood at risk. Give us the energy to press on." The party suddenly feels rejuvenated, their wounds begin to heal, and they feel a spirit of good will wash over them. The spiders begin to hiss in dismay. "What are you doing! STOP! Stop that chanting at once!! ENOUGH!!!" With one strike, Lolth brings a rotting stump down, intending to hit Kianu and end her chanting for good! She leaps out of the way at the last minute, the impact kicking up dirt and sending debris flying. Kianu gets back up quickly. "Damn it, that smarts! I mean, er... crud! I've lost the connection! I'm going to have to hit that state again if I'm going to do a full party heal." The battle continues! Round 6 Against the Murkwood Mother! "<We seek to serve our queen.>" Caustic Crawler A Level 5 Vermin *Deals Poison 2* HP: 14/20 Special: Potent Poison- The amount of poison Caustic Crawler A deals is increased by 1. Passive Special: Poisonous Attacks- Caustic Crawler B's attacks deal the poison 1 effect. If increased, the poison resets to one once Caustic Crawler rolls Damage. Drops: Smelling Salts "<We... urk... seek to please our queen>" Caustic Crawler B Level 5 Vermin *Deals Poison 1* HP: 7/20 Special: Potent Poison- The amount of poison Caustic Crawler A deals is increased by 1. Passive Special: Poisonous Attacks- Caustic Crawler B's attacks deal the poison 1 effect. If increased, the poison resets to one once Caustic Crawler rolls Damage. Drops: Smelling Salts "This has gone on far enough!!" Lolth, Queen of Murkwood *Poisoned by 2* Level 12 Dark Beast HP: 29/70 SP: 1 Special 1: Mother of Spiders- Lays 1 Spider Egg Special 2: Injection- Lolth Deals 5 damage and poison by 3. *Specials Alternate Drops: Rangers Quiver, Spider String Bow (WP: 4, Dark elemental Bow), Phoenix Essence x2, Mythrill Shard "<Ouch!>" Itsier-Bitsier Spider Level 5 Vermin HP: 2/15 Specials: Sloth Snare- The target is slowed. Drops: Floral Bomb The Party Deus Spiranius (Lego Spy) *Poisoned -1!* 23 year old male human Ranger Level: 3 Power: 6 Defense: 1 Health: 7/8 Ether: 0 Gold: 25 Equipment: Bow (WP: 3), Tricorne Hat (Artefact: headwear, SP:+1) Inventory: Potion, Smoke Bomb, , Bedroll, venom Darksten (Comrade Commander) *Party Leader* *Poisoned -2* 35 year old Male Human Ranger Level 7 Power: 12 Health: 11/13 SP: 2 Gold: 15 Equipment: Crossbow (WP: 6); Sand-Worn Hide (SP: 2) Inventory: Potion x3, Remedy, Smoke bomb, Bedroll, Utility Knife (roleplay item), Grand Potion x2, Phoenix Essence, Ambrosia, Mead, Fang of Kos (roleplay item), Soma, Safety Blanket (SP: 1, protects from Afraid, backwear), Root Beer (Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against undead enemies for 20 damage. The Root Beer does not affect non-undead enemies), Hint Coin (Gives the user a hint about a puzzle or tricky situation. Usable only once. Has no monetary value.) Hoang Anh (hoanganhbeo) *Inactive* *Deals Poison +1* 20 years old Male Human Knight Level: 5 Power: 9 Defense: 3 6 Health: 14/14 Gold: 105 Equipment: Steel Sword *Poison +1*(WP:4); Shield (SP: 2); Safety Blanket( SP:1, immune to Afraid, backwear) Inventory: Remedy x4, Bedroll, Grand Potion, Poison, Sword(WP:3), Smoke Bomb, Soma "Come on, state of nirvana, come to me..." Kianu Level 5 Female Satyr Cleric *Immune to Poison up to 1* *Listens to Darksten* HP: 10/10 (6+3) Ether: 7/13 (6+3+3) Gold: 30 Equipment: Elderwood Branch (WP: 4, Wood Staff, suitable for Kianu), Woodland Gown (Ether: +3, grants immunity to Poison up to 1 damage, Body wear, suitable for Kianu), Satyr's Pipe (Grants the user animal talk, accessory, suitable for taurians) Inventory: Tonic x2, Potion, Venom Party Leader, please determine Battle Order. Everyone else, please choose an action. QM Note: You're health's been fixed, Darksten, or at least it would have if Kianu didn't roll shield, thus resetting your HP to maximum. Also, change in boss song!

I've got up to Quest 50 on the list of quests.

Karie frowns at the monk, trying to stay somewhat positive. She smudges some of the makeup off her cheek, revealing her pasty skin underneath. "It's makeup. No need to be rude about it." Karie giggles as the monk attempts to figure out her last name. "No, not to my knowledge. He's a business, but a carpenter by trade. You say you... fight demons?" Karie looks around before leaning in. "How good are you at fighting demons? Can you, um... give me some pointers?" She didn't know whether to mention her new title, since it wasn't anything remarkable. "School Inspector". That would strike something in her opponents; their funny bones.

Sorry 101-103, I've been away all day today at Canada's largest amusement park, and I'm exhausted. You'll get updates tomorrow. Sorry guys.

I'm going to comment a few more times, but I'll leave it here. I don't want 93 to drag on into the community, so I'll finish off with responding to your response. That's forcing the PCs to care about NPCs. Honestly, Karie didn't know who Nuitan and Lyren were, and despite us players knowing who they were, the characters didn't. We've never met them before, so why should we feel attachment to them? They're just like every other annoyingly suicidal student. There's a difference between the character's being frustrated, and the players being frustrated. The mechanic was annoying for the players as much as it was for the characters to the point the players were willing to leave the school with kids inside just to end the quest earlier. You can't run a quest on "frustration" because it's exactly that; frustrating. It's fine if you make the party frustrated every now and then, perhaps they're dealing with a stuck up guard who's being a prick for the sake of being a prick. That's fine, and an excellent roleplaying scenario. When the quest runs on "frustrating", it bleeds into everything. When I say tacked on, perhaps the better word is "poorly executed". Why wouldn't loved ones be sending the heroes messages? Why wouldn't someone eventually call the operation a major incident and send in reinforcements? It felt lazy is what it was. Same with the Void Eater. Have the party see something outside the windows, shapes, movement, anything to hint to something being on the outside! It would've made the elephant in the East wing less of an elephant and more of a reveal. Refer back to my previous statement on the students, but an NPC doesn't need to be relatable to be likeable. The Apprentice from 54 is a sociopath who uses his weapon to torture innocents and enthral people. You can't relate to him (or at least I hope you can't relate to him ), but he's still likeable as a character because he's compelling and an a$$hole, and you want to see his comeuppance. Game of Thrones runs on this. No one in that show is truly perfect, and a lot of characters are despicable human beings, yet we watch what happens because we still like them as characters. We find something compelling about them. That to me is the difference here. I remember multiple times students of rivalling cliques got into the box together. Or maybe my memories gone fuzzy, I don't know... My stance on why Karie was blabbering was because it was basically the only thing keeping me going. I stopped really caring about the plot of the quest, and I need something to do besides "Karie does this", or "Karie does that", because by the end of the quest that was basically all I was doing and like Endgame I hate not doing anything. Looking back, yes, it was a little grating, but it was the only interesting thing going on. However, the feedback is helpful, so thank you.

Thank you for the response, Sandy! I'm going to give a few last comments based on what you said, but I'll make it quick, I promise! If you ever need help designing a fight, or getting a second opinion on something, you can always ask the other QMs, Sandy! You may be the foremost authority on the game, but there is no shame in asking for a little help with something. We'd be more than willing to give you a hand. No one's asking you to stop trying new things, because that's what makes the game interesting. However, keep it in smaller doses. When every fight was more or less you trying something new, we got the feeling we were acting as guinea pigs. However, there were a few of those fights I enjoyed, like the Rafflesia! When you experiment, you sometimes get something good, just remember not to go overboard. I wouldn't say I lost full trust in you. I lost trust as you in your QMing abilities, but I still think you can run this game, and I still think you can run a quest. I would love to give one of your quests another go in the future, for all its worth, because I still really want to get that Sandy Quest experience. Sorry, JimB, I have to disagree with you here. I'm fine with a tough fight, and I found Endgame's Amalgam battle to be rather enjoyable. It was tough, yes, but it was beatable. I could find a way to exploit it. There have been battles where I haven't been as effective, I'm fine with that too. Everyone is going to be better in certain scenarios due to their weapons, their class skills, or their items in their inventory. Certain enemies in 93 had no weaknesses, period. No elemental or status effect weakness. There was no real way to beat them besides bashing it and praying no one rolled special. We spent more time talking about a potential strategy than we did fighting certain enemies. When a battle makes everyone in the party ineffective, something's not right.

Karie sits down, taking her cloak off and setting it on the back of the chair. "Monk? So you're a man of the cloth? My name's Karie, Karie Alderflask. Yourself?" She tries to give a smile, although she doesn't know how sincere it is.

Karie, bored an longing for company, trudges lazily to the table Heckz and the robed gentleman were sitting at, and points at one of the chairs, her drink in the other hand. "Mind if I take a seat, boys?"

I hate to say this, but 93 was my least enjoyable experience in Heroica to date. I don't say this trying to be harsh, but I'm saying this as honestly as I can. 93 was plagued with issues that made it hard for me to really enjoy. So, here I go. Instead of a few paragraphs I'm going to take some space to talk about each issue I had with the quest separately. Core Mechanics/ Railroading This quest felt like a glorified, six-plus month escort mission. Trying to keep all these characters alive was a chore It became a hassle trying to ensure all the low level NPC kids stayed alive, particularly with them having perm-KO on them and a dwindling supply of phoenix essences. I also would have thought after 15 and 50 you would have realized that dungeon crawler quests don't work well on Heroica. And it still doesn't. The amount of stuff to do was insane. I worried we'd be here longer than 48, with half the pages it took to complete it, and I was right. Six months is an insane amount of time for both a QM and players to commit to, and I felt I was missing out on opportunities in the hall and on other quests. That and I felt we were railroaded. Perhaps it had to do with the fact we had to get Drucilla to get the lamp to light the hallway, maybe it has to do with the surplus of uncooperative NPCs, I felt as if we were being railroaded through an open world quest. It was really awkward. Also, I'm going to take a moment to talk about Djinnifer. I really enjoyed her at first, and thought her character believable: a genie looking for companionship. Awesome! With Thailon and Heckz's first offers, I really enjoyed the idea of Djinnifer looking to find someone to talk to after years stuck in her lamp. However... something slipped. She went from "companion seeking genie" to "genie with silly trickster-esque wishes". Why would Karie agree to dye her hair when Heckz's offer was so much simpler? Same goes for Sorrow. Was their any real reason for it besides "trickster archetype"? Perhaps doing some character background checks could've resulted in better offers. Imagine Djinnifer offering Karie to have her be her "sister". Or Sorrow being offered another one hundred years of life, if only to be with Djinnifer longer. She went from interesting to rather silly, which is why she never got used, which is a shame because I really enjoyed her for those few moments we saw her during the Aureole fight. Difficulty Curve/ Combat Now, before I go on an all out rant, allow me to make something very clear: the first three fights, the one in the Storage Room, the one against the Reaper, and the one against the Rafflesia, were well thought out, fun, and still challenging. I liked them! I'm going to ignore those three since in all honesty they were fun fights. It's just about everything else I'm going to complain about. Each and every other fight just to get my point across that this quest's difficulty curve was all over the place. There were too many fights that drew the quest out exponentially, and they often felt disjointed and unimportant to the quest. We were fighting demons for the sake of fighting demons and extending the length of the quest. So, here's my take on every fight this quest, excluding the ones above, to get my point across. Saga: This fight was so infuriating. Don't penalize players for using items in their inventory to get an advantage by adding in a passive special at the last minute. I've had enemies curbstomped in the past by players using items they rightfully acquired, and was fine by it. If I was hosting you how would you feel if I decided to pull a passive special out to prolong a fight and nullify the valuable consumable you just wasted? It's why we didn't toss the other pumpkin bomb: we as a party were under the impression you'd simply nullify it's effects again. Apparitions: This one was... okay. It was a little cheap that they were all immune to just about everything besides healing, but it wasn't as maddening as other fights were, and it was nice to finally see someone kill an undead through healing, so this one was alright. Wyrd-Fyre: The gimmick was rather pointless. I don't hate the concept, it's just I felt like it was adding an extra day onto the quest as half the party had to split up. As well, the changes in the passive specials just to ramp the difficulty up were unnecessary and infuriating! Why was it needed to be thrown in? To add more drama? To extend the fight? The threat was eliminated, so why suddenly pull something out of thin air? It's cheap, and infuriating to the players, especially when it happens twice. Aureole: This is the moment the quest stopped being bearable and became a chore. No weaknesses whatsoever. No elemental weakness, immune to Negative Effects and sudden death: you rendered each member of the party's special abilities useless, and that is the last thing you want to do. It's like this enemy wasn't even looked over, he was made and then never double checked to ensure he was beatable. It should've been stated if Pleiades could've been affected by Sudden Death, which it wasn't and completely screwed us over. This fight was just wrong. It's a textbook example of an encounter that should not be made. This is the point where we finally got together in PM and decided we were having problems with the quest. You at least listened to us, so I'll give you that much in that you understood the position we as players were in. However, the fight was one of many low points for the quest. Rusulka: I didn't hate this fight, really. When you compare it to the rest of the fights that were either stupidly difficult or rather easy, this one was in the middle in terms of difficulty. It was actually pretty good. I liked it. Suits of Armour: You changed stats, but before the first round, so I won't complain because it was in the middle of combat. Other than that, this fight was way too easy. Even with all the specials I rolled, we ploughed throw that fight like it was nothing. Cacaphonia: After myself, Endgame, and many players protested the insanity of Aureole: Cacaphonia comes along and brickwalls the party again. The passives were insane. There was no way to really get at any of the demons without reviving one or healing another, or taking massive amounts of free hits, or the fact it was immune to magic and negative effects, or the that the chances of us rolling our actual attacks was little to none. This infuriated me even more after you said that you'd lighten up on the fights so long as we split up. Well, we did, and you tossed another insanely tough, nigh invincible fight on our hands. There's a difference between a tough fight, and this. A tough fight allows players to strategize and come up with ways to exploit the enemy. The Cacaphonia fight shut the party down again due to the immunities, and positive effects. We could do literally nothing but smash away and pray, the exact same tactic we had to us for Aureole. We spent more time talking and strategizing in that fight than we did actually fighting the demon! In the end we decided we'd just smack it and if we TPKO'd, oh well, we'd get the quest over sooner. You listened to us again when we complained... but the problem wasn't solved. We still couldn't attack the enemy, and we were still getting kicked around. You effectively created another brick wall. I get the gimmick, it's just not a very fair one. Each enemy buffing each other was fine until you gave on of them Lucky. Then it became almost untouchable. If you simply dropped the Lucky granting enemy, this could've been a fun fight, and it would've been perfectly suited for the split parties. This one along with Aureole had no real exploitative advantage. The Darkness: I really didn't like this fight. You took the core mechanic of the Heroica battle system and tossed it out the window. If the party could talk to one another, this would be a different story, because the basic mechanic is decent. I like the idea of the party having to figure out who's in the darkness and who's friend or foe. I don't like the fact that you wouldn't allow for party interaction. It basically made Heckz run the fight with everyone else running about like chickens with their heads cut off. Forculus: Another relatively pointless battle, and largely a waste of time. Why not just have the party open the doors? It was also rather infuriating when we'd all get it with the exception of one group, having to force us to start over again. Also, the levels were an issue. The fight was easily exploitable with the regenerating door. If we so choose so, we could've just stayed their and built levels, grinding away at the door, but we'd been on the quest for so long we decided against it. This was annoying, if anything, since success or failure really could've been screwed over by a few cruddy die rolls. And the time it took to actually defeat the door was tedious. The battle literally ground the quest to a halt. It felt like we had better chances of winning the lottery than beating this door. Final Fight: This one was actually pretty darn good at first glance. I don't know if it's because you listened to us or not, but the final fight had potential. I'm kind of reminded of the Changeling from 91, and I don't know if that was intentional or not. However, we get to Drucilla and the "Special Free Hits". Mirror Drucilla was insane. Her Special and by extension her Free Hits basically TPKO'd the party if we got an unlucky roll. You know how I feel about this. The "Special Free Hits" more or less bent the rules. The rules were made and overseen by you to ensure the game doesn't get derailed. You've enforced the rules on occasion, which is fine, but when you, the Heroica Master, the individual who runs this game, begins to bend the rules, it's not a good sign. You're supposed to be an example to other QMs on what the game should look like. When you bend the rules, it's a free invite for others to bend the rules. It was around this time I was actually starting to enjoy the quest once again. I felt like something was getting done, but instead we went back to issues that were drudged up four months ago. The point I was trying to get across was that this quest had no progression of difficulty. It was all over the place, and a mess. Some fights were a reasonable challenge, others were overly easy, and some were so hard I don't even think some of our Expert Classes could deal with them. Also, look at the length of this list. The list has a total of thirteen combats. Was there really a need for this many encounters? Also, it's weird, but it's also not a case of all the gimmicky fights were bad, as much as certain fights irritated me either because of sudden changes you made or insanely hard enemies. NPCs/ Player Knowledge vs. Character Knowledge Sandy, you're generally really good with NPCs, but this quest suffered with the overabundance of them. I never really latched onto any of the staff or students, maybe with the exception of Noel, Drucilla and Hawke. I'm not sure why Sorcha was really even needed. I eventually grew to really like her, but she could of easily been omitted from the quest and nothing would have changed. Same goes for Nuitan and Lyren. I know people like the two, but with so many NPCs, no one really got fleshed out enough for me to really care. I felt forced to care for the minor NPCs. The major NPCs were fine, it's just all these students just felt superfluous. That and the fact that none of them listened to a word we said. I felt as if none of the NPCs could be influenced. We couldn't do anything because "he's a fonzie and she's a goth". The mechanic made for rather unrealistic characters. We straight up told kids their going to die, and they'd run off because we had a goth in the group. Omitting the ability that students would get into Noel's box but wouldn't follow him sort of riled me. It was a key mechanic that was omitted for whatever reason and probably would've helped us in the long run if you had mentioned it earlier. Karie getting mad at Noel was more myself getting mad at the quest in general, but I'll get to that later. Also, your intention was to obviously split the group up. You made that clear after we as a whole PM'd you. If that was your intent, you should've made it more clear. Perhaps hinting at the Void Eater early on as an incentive to split up the party and speed the process up. I'm going to take a moment to talk about Sorsha, actually. For me, she sort of helps redeem the quest. Not fully, but partially. When she was interacting with characters and PCs, I found myself getting invested in her character, something I eventually lost in Noel. She felt genuine. She felt real. I really freaking adore Sorsha to the point where I'm willing to forgive some of the quests faults. I love her CANTERLOCK VOICE, I love her naivety, I love the fact she's very emotional: just like a teenage girl! You really did an excellent job with Sorcha, to the point where she was one of the highlights for me. I enjoyed talking to Sorcha. The problem with her stems from the fact that no one talked to her for awhile. Maybe that was the intent, but those moments of Karie talking to Sorcha were really enjoyable, and maybe that's why you rewarded me with that moment before the final boss. Also, you clearly had no intention to do anything with her or the Sheep Tribe for that matter, so what was her purpose to the plot besides extra baggage? Her as a plot and combat mechanic is disappointing, but her as a character I found enjoyable. I didn't care for the side-quests. I've told you about this before back during my analysis of Marketplace Mystery: there's a difference between what the player knows, and what the character knows. I felt as if the idea was interesting, but having them based of stories that the players knew was... weird. I had to force Karie to know the story of the Wizard of Oz, and it felt really wrong. Length/ Focus/ Plot The length killed the quest. Six-plus months is way too long for any quest. In general the pacing was killed by the length. Sometimes I felt we made progress. Other times I felt two weeks would go by with us just going through rooms, getting people out, and then repeating. Also, the length made me forget all the little things everyone wanted us to do. I forgot about the rogues, I forgot about most of the faculty, I forgot about the encounter with Bohring, I forgot about the stranger, I forgot about Abbot wanting the artifact from the history classroom: there was no real focus, no real plot, and nothing for us to truly want to see defeated. In terms of long term villains there was nothing to want to see beaten. I guess the door demon was always around, but we couldn't fight him until the very end, and that still felt unsatisfying. The lack of focus killed this quest. We didn't have any clear goals, just things that we knew we needed to do in order to get to the end. At times it felt like we were babysitting for a bunch of NPCs who were the real protagonists of the quest. The NPCs went through the most change and the most emotions. I never felt like the heroes were really very important to the story. I'll also note that things just seemed to happen because of Deus Ex Machina. The Void Eater showing up out of nowhere was random and jarring, and the "twist ending" was really confusing. If it was hinted at, maybe I'd buy it, but there was no moment when the party was away from Noel. Perhaps this twist would've felt better in a shorter quest. Also, did the ending really need to be a week? Now we get down to the things that ruined this quest for me. About halfway during the quest, right after the Wyrde-fire fight, I lost my trust in you as a QM. Not respect, that's something completely different. I couldn't trust you in the sense that I felt whatever we did, you'd somehow manage to set us back. From nullifying Endgame's Pumpkin Bomb during the Saga fight, to adding the passive special during Wyrde-Fire, I no longer could trust you during combat, and eventually out of combat. Nothing we did seemed to affect the students. We could use Promiscuity, Intimidation, Diplomacy: it seemed anything we did would do nothing to the NPCs. And the worst part: I felt coming on and posting in 93 was a chore, something I had an obligation to do. I stopped having fun portraying Karie and I felt I was stuck in this school dealing with kids and demons, not Karie. Karie and the roleplaying in general took a back seat as I took over, causing my feelings towards the quest to bleed into her character. Karie was frustrated because I was frustrated, and she was exhausted and bored because I was exhausted and bored. This just wasn't a fun experience. I don't want to come off as if I hated the entire quest, but I came really close to. You're character designs and sets were great, as always, the first three battles were incredibly enjoyable, and I really enjoyed some of your NPCs. You managed to make me change my mind on an NPC I originally didn't like, and the NPCs that stuck around were all good characters. However, everything else didn't fall into place. I appreciate you putting the effort into this quest Sandy, but I don't believe it was worth six-plus months to slog through. It was boring, drawn out, there were too many battles, and your interferences with the battles made the quest often times very infuriating. I could keep going with things I didn't like, but I don't want this to be completely full of negativity. The worst part is I know you can create a great quest. I've seen them before, and I love to watch them. I'm not angry with you Sandy, more disappointed. I still have faith in you with 100 and whatever else you decide to create. I really just wish this quest had some actually meat in it besides a six month testing facility of nothing really happening except the very beginning and the very end.

Karie closed her mirror and took a drink of her wine, continuing to ear the conversation going on near her. Just where was this Strivvi, and what happened to cause them to return empty handed? Lawrence probably had something to do with it. "Arrogant, hypocritical idiot." Karie mumbles under her breath.

Karie meanders back into the hall, feeling awkward that although six months had gone by, she felt like she was only here yesterday. She pulls up a chair at the bar and sits down. "Falana wine, please." Looking back, Karie notices the perky girl wander into the hall and sit next to Lawrence and two other individuals, looking ready for combat, yet brimming with joy. She felt about warning her about being in the wrong crowd, but she didn't feel like confronting Lawrence and the possibility of looking like a hypocrite. Taking out her small cosmetic mirror, she opens it up and begins to reapply white makeup, all the while keeping the mirror pointed in the direction of the table Lawrence and the girl were sitting at.

I don't see the issue either, and I'm hosting the first alchemist it seems. It's better than what Sandy was planning to do, which was make double sixes another Explosion, punishing alchemists for being "too lucky". You don't even know if it's fun yet or not. Why don't we run some rounds in 103 and see how it goes? You're still more or less going to get Shields with a lucky alchemists, now it's just a little less reliant on being lucky 24/7, an issue that's still prevalent in the game.

Sally grimaces. "None. The full moon is tonight, which is why your timing was of the essence." "It's not very easy to spot a changeling. Often they'll study a particular individual before they take their identity, taking in mannerisms and other factors. Changelings also tend to have a "normal form", one they use in day to day use to make themselves fit in. No one's quite sure what happened to create the race, but they're often cold and calculating. Sixty four years ago was when the business switched hands from my late father in law to my husband. It was also a very good year. It's simply more valuable for that reason." Sally's face turns pale. "I seriously hope you jest. Why would Alfendi want me, of all people?" Lady Perin growls. "Besides, no mutt of a burglar is going to get past me. There's been a reason I've been assigned to escort Miss Akrone to Luosh, because I'm efficient and I don't screw around like what you guys are doing right now." "Think of the psychological impact stealing the face of manor, the one thing this place is renowned for. I'm more than certain he's after the wine to tarnish my reputation. In order to replenish our stock of vintage wine would take years." Sally looks down at her boots, admiring them. "Oh, you like them? Thank you! They're designer made by a woman in Eubric. The armour you wear is quite stunning, yourself." Sally grins. "I'm glad we can agree on something, Mr. Holla. As for whether this is the Alfendi Lupine, we'll have to wait and see. I'm taking every precaution to ensure that my winery is protected, and some of my associates recommended your organization." Lady Perin's agitation clearly rises as she taps her foot on the ground. "Are you done yet, miss? We need to get moving before nightfall." "Of course. Are you heroes ready to head inside? I'll give you a quick tour and then I must be off. I fear staying here would not only force you to protect my cellar but I as well."

Karie leaves the site, hoping to find something to get her mind off of losing six months of her life. As she leaves, she whistles "Happy Birthday" to herself.

No, there isn't but considering you started as a rogue, your five choices in Advanced classes are Witch, Black Knight, Assassin, Sorcerer, and Raider.

Yup. Whatever Thailon handed out, Karie returns.

Sorry, I meant Thormanil and Guts. If Guts doesn't post by a bit later today, I'll move this along.