Kintobor

Your quests for Heroica: Fantasy were a direct inspiration for some of the plotlines I'm working on, so I know I'd be more than happy to have you back to tell some new stories in this system. I will say this: one of the things I and others stressed when designing Heroica 2.0 was a desire to drastically scale back the number crunch of Heroica: Fantasy. Sandy's gone on record saying Final Fantasy was an inspiration in the creation of the game, and it shows in both good and less than good ways. No offence intended towards Sandy, but at later levels the numbers got into the thousands for damage at times, and running combat could take hours as a Quest Master typed away on a calculator doing math. I hope the combat system that was developed makes combat more dynamic, deadly, engaging, and quicker to run.

Insight Check (DC: 1): (3,3,4,5) 2 Successes Based on Antony's reaction, Merei feels confident that Antony's telling the truth in regards to the space speeder. As Merei replies to Antony, a look of relief washes over him. "I appreciate this a lot. Thank you, you four are life savers! The Red Comet is about twenty minutes from here if you take bus route forty-two. It's a few stops away, but most of the public transit around here's free, besides the cabs, so you don't need to worry about paying a fare. When you find the speeder, I'll be waiting for you at the parking lot under the overpass by the Yndrari Frontier Miner's Guild." Antony points to a large, spire like building on the skyline behind him. "Oh, and I guess you'll also need these." Antony fishes through his coat pockets, revealing a dangling key and small device on a ring. "The thieves must've hot wired the speeder, but I still have the keys on me, and the speeder's horn can be activated by pushing this button here." He thumbs a large red button on small device. "This device will only register with the stolen Dragoon V4's horn, so if you begin to hear it after pushing it, it should be close by." Haast Dragoon V4 Speeder Key Ring- The keys to Antony's stolen Dragoon V4. Needed to start the speeder without the use of hot wiring the vehicle. A button on a device attached to the key ring can activate the speeder's horn. Who will take the speeder's keys? The smell of grease and meat wafts from the food cart as the vendor keeps an eye on his rotating sausages. He notices Merei's interest. "Interested in some sausage on a bun? 2 credits for one. I've got condiments here as well. Guaranteed to fill you up."

"Quite unnecessary? Well, fine by me, stranger." Nondos returns to his liquor as he takes a seat at the bar, next to the two heroes. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the organization. I'll be honest, I'm not used to quiet bars. Before joining up on the board of directors for this guild, I was a famous gravipod racer, you know? I mean, I still technically am, I'm just diversifying my portfolio a little bit. You ever heard of the Calliope Cup, or the Urizi 500, friend?"

"Edible glitter? Hang on, let me see if we have anything like that in the back." Thorvald steps away from the bar and into the kitchen, pushing the door into it with a loud creak. The sound of shuffling items echoes into the hall as Thorvald, out of view, seemingly scours the kitchen for Aysu's requested item. After a few moments go by, Thorvald returns with a glass jar with a label reading "edible glitter", it's contents gleaming in the bright lights of the hall as it catches the light. "This can just stay up here, I guess. I doubt we'll be needing it for cakes or confections anytime soon. That and I trust you all enough not to throw this stuff around. You'll be dealing with Mr. Grumble if you do." Thorvald prepares Aysu's requested drink and hands it to her.

OOG: That's quite alright. Glad to have you aboard! Antony takes a step back as Bers grabs the handle of his Chain-Greatsword, laughing sheepishly. "Okay, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but let's not eviscerate anyone around me, please. It's hard enough getting stains out of my white dress shirts, I cannot imagine getting blood and guts out of it. You are going to have to ask people about this speeder. I don't mind you giving out details about it, just try and keep me and my family's name out of it, okay?"

Again, I don't think there was anything happening initially that would warrant the purchasing of items in the market, but once you've posted in the quest it's considered being there and present for it in case a situation comes up very early on that might benefit from having a certain type of item. It's not a huge deal in this scenario, but it might be down the line.

OOG: I'm going to give Dutch Thriceman another 24 hours to confirm. If they do not, I'll see if anyone else wishes to join, and if there's no takers, we'll continue with the group we have.

I noticed and wasn't going to comment on it until the mission was over, but generally speaking it's best to shop before posting in the mission thread. It's not the biggest offence, but it's generally good practice to do so beforehand. Nothing too severe, but something to keep in mind for next time.

"Listen, I know you don't mean harm, Yissam♥, but I'd appreciate it if you kept this a little discreet." Antony smiles at Yissam♥. "No offence, but I hired your guild since you're new to the scene and the more entrenched mercenary guild's job listings are a little easier to get a hold of in case something about my- er... my missing speeder gets out." Antony grits his teeth and pauses, clearly in thought. He goes silent for a moment, stewing on something before speaking up again. "Alright, let's just get this out of the way. When I wrote the job listing, I may have lied a little bit. Not a serious lie, I promise! There is a missing space speeder involved, and I do need you to find it. The thing is... well, the space speeder is my old man's. A couple of nights ago I invited my boyfriend, Graham, to go on a bit of a joyride with me. We both were looking to spend some time together and my parents are currently off planet, so taking pop's new speeder for a spin around Prosperity Fields, a commercial hub, seemed like the right call. So, we both drive around, get a little flirty, grab something to eat, and then hit a hotel for the evening: it was late, and neither of us wanted to drive back to my parent's place. We rent a room, get a little playful, and then fall asleep. I’ve got no need to recall the events in the hotel room, I’m certain you can imagine the details. So, anyways, Graham and I wake up the next day, get ready to head back to my parent’s place, and then voom, the speeder’s gone. Vanished into thin air, vamoosed. My dad works at Haast as a project lead. He got the speeder, a Haast Dragoon V4, as a gift from the company for his work designing their commercial city speeders, the kind you see being piloted out the terminal windows. The Dragoon V4 is one of three currently out in the lanes: it won’t hit mass production until another rotation. If my dad finds out I took his speeder out on a joyride and lost it on him... oh, gods, I don’t want to think about it. That vehicle's been his pride and joy ever since he got it. I unfortunately don't have a picture of the speeder, but it's predominantly blue. The seats are not leather, but a more durable faux leather, and it has an open top: no roof. It should fit all of you once you find it. Thankfully for you, the vehicle has a tracker installed, and the last place it was located at was the Red Comet, a diner that Graham and I stopped at during our speeder trip. I don't know why the thieves took it back there, but it's been there for the last while. Look, I know I lied, and it was wrong to, but I did because I don't want my dad to find out about this. I... I hope you'll still take my job offering?" Antony frowns, looking guilty as he puts his hands in his pockets.

"Don't drink?" Nondos raises an eyebrow, side eyeing Ronin as he drinks from the bottle of alcohol. "If you must, barkeep, a glass of water for our friend here. Hall's pretty quiet, so I guess whoever is here has my full attention. Name's Nondos Aghonzath. Hope the hall's been homely and accommodating."

Stepping into the hall comes a tall, well built Menahi, making his way to the bar. "Oi! Barkeep! A round for the house!" "...Nondos, the drinks are free so long as you have membership, and everyone here is a member of this guild." "Oh. Right. BWAHAHAHA!! Well, pour one out for everyone anyways! It is a glorious day!" Nondos grabs a bottle of alcohol off the bar and uncorks it with his sharp teeth. "Cheers, folks!"

I think this should be a fun adventure! I'm excited to see where this group goes and I'm excited to show off a sliver of what Cosmopoli has to offer.

Antony looks like a deer in headlights as he is initially bombarded by Yissam♥'s AV rig, eventually giving a smile and waving slightly. "Uh... hey! Yeah, you are helping me look for a missing vehicle. You're not streaming right now, are you?" Insight Check (DC 1,2): (1,2,3,5) 1 Success Merei takes a moment to examine Antony's mood and body language. She gets a general feeling that Antony seems impressed being around someone with a profile like Yissam♥. Considering his clothes and accessories, it is not hard to imagine Antony's used to being around high-profile individuals, potentially even other streamers. OOG: Your stats have been fixed. Kirwin waits in the back, watching the advertisements for various new space speeders, home cooking appliances, promotional material for currently running operas, high profile cabaret clubs, and all assortment of other products and services.

--- The heroes step out of the transport shuttle’s docking bay and into the packed and humid terminal of Docking Terminal 12. Gaudy, brightly lit screens advertise a variety of products and services; seemingly at every turn of one’s head a barrage of advertisements awaited. A busker band’s lively performance of old-timey music echoes throughout the mezzanine, just audible over the sound of constant chatter and moving feet. The enticing smells of food vendor’s stalls mixes with the humidity of such a mass of people, from ytaaxi, to humans, to dwarves, to chimerans: it seems no one individual looks alike in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Beyond the dirty terminal windows the party can see a never-ending skyline of high rise skyscrapers and speeders zipping about, as well as incoming and outgoing passenger spacecraft. Like a twinkling star, orbiting the planet the heroes can make out the shape of the Queen of Harts Casino and Resort, the station’s glitter and gleam twinkling in the purple evening sky as the sun sets over the horizon. Even though it’s late, the city planet of Cosmopoli does not sleep. Over the intercom, a shrill, raspy voice broadcasts departure times of commercial space cruisers and the arrival of privately owned transport shuttles. Moving their way through the crowded mezzanine, the party eventually finds a figure matching the description of their patron. Leaning back on a bench, a young, well dressed human man sits as his shoes are shined by a scruffy looking dwarf. The human’s tailored suit and styled hair exuded playful fashion. Noticing the heroes approach, the man tips the shoe shiner and stands up, brushing his suit down of any potential wrinkles and double checking his haircut in the reflection of the grimy windows before turning back to greet the heroes. “Ey, Heroica I take it? Thank goodness you guys showed up. The name’s Antony Bardeu, I’m your client. How’s it going? Better than I’m doing, I expect?” -Heroes- Designation: B3R5 - 3rk (Dutch Thriceman) Age: Unknown, Gender: Mechanical, Race: Adamite Character Points: 0 / 10 Vitality: 6 / 6 Velocity: 2 Strength: 3 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Intimidation 1, Athletics 1 Known Spells: None Credits: 10 Equipment: Chain-Greatsword (Standard Kinetic Weapon) Mecha-Plate (Standard Kinetic Armour), Shield Booster Kirwin (karmajay)Age: Unknown, Gender: Unknown , Species: AdamiteCharacter Points: 1/10Vitality: 5/5Velocity: 1Strength: 1Skill: 1Smarts: 3Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 1, Engineering 2, Explosives 1, Technology 2 Credits: 0Equipment: Drone (Standard Long Range Elemental Weapon), Utility BeltInventory: (2) Hampering, Contained Elemental Grenades, Plasma Potion Yissam♥ (CMP) 141-year-old feminine Stratitarian Character Points: 0/10 Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 1 Strength: 1 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 3/3 Proficiencies: Coding 1, Culture 2, Occult 1, Performance 1 Known Spells: Entropic Mending, Spirit Ally, Tongues Credits: 10 Equipment: Prism Gauntlet (Standard long-range elemental weapon), AV Rig Inventory: Essence of Glibness, Essence of Intellect Merei Teo Age 24 Female, Helioi-Touched Celestial (Born Menahi) Character Points: 0/10Vitality: 5/5Velocity: 2Strength: 1Skill: 2Smarts: 2Spirit: 3Proficiencies: Occult 1, Religion 1, Coding 1, Insight 1Known Spells: Healing Light, Solar Flare, Gravity SinkCredits: 0Equipment: Teo Family Pocket-Watch (Kinetic Weapon), Utility Belt (Grants +1 Engineering or Medicine Check Success) Inventory: Æther Brew, Essence of Intellect MM Note: Welcome to Mission #4! Feel free to finish up any last minute shopping before confirming. I hope you're all as excited as I am! If there's any questions feel free to ask, otherwise, let's get this show on the road! Also, I have no idea where these two images of Bers below this came from, I've been trying to edit them out but they keep coming back. I'll try and delete them later, but for now ignore them.

"Alright, listen up, call just came in from the client for the missing space speeder! Kirwin, Bers, Yissam♥, Merei Teo, pack your bags, you're heading to Cosmopoli. The client, Antony, will meet you at Docking Terminal 12 when you reach the Endless City. Best of luck out there." -Chosen Heroes for Mission #4: Dude, Where's My Space Speeder?- -Kirwin (karmajay) -Bers (Dutch Thriceman) -Yissam♥ (CMP) -Merei Teo (Zepher) MM Note: You have 24 hours to get any last minute shopping done. Other than that, welcome aboard.

Last Call for Mission #4: Dude, Where's My Space Speeder? -Kirwin (karmajay) -Bers (Dutch Thriceman) -Yissam (CMP) -Merei Teo (Zepher) -Ronin (Yzalirk) -Sign Ups End Tomorrow-

Zaria turned to look back at the dwarf, thinking on the issue. "I am the most athletic person out of the three of us, no insult intended. If our friend tries to run, I will follow him. You two investigate the car, your skills are better suited to the task. Is there any issue between the two of you with this plan?"

"It could." Zaria shifted her eyes towards the dwarf. "And if there is a quarm in the business car, what is he, the dwarf, doing here? One would expect the two to be together if they were travelling, would you not? My initial thought was perhaps the quarm had made off to use some sort of facility, but they're not here after our fight in the baggage car. I think together as a group we move to the business car and do some investigating, and then move to the car attached to it. It would not hurt to familiarize ourselves with the trains layout."

Zaria crossed her arms, speaking in a hushed tone. "Nothing concrete yet. However, this is beneficial for us to know. If the cars do not have any security detection onboard the train, as the stowaways prove as they slipped in and were not caught, we have more going for us than I initially thought. I would have expected someone to hear the racket we made in the baggage car, and yet," Zaria motions to the crowd in the economy car, "everyone here is none the wiser of the fight we participated in. If the cars are soundproof, it means no one outside of the car will notice if we make a bit of noise as we move towards our target."

Zaria took her seat, relaxing for a moment as she stretched her legs out. She knew this couldn't last, as there was work to do, but the previous fight was more harrowing than she wanted to admit. "You two heard what I heard the attendant say, right?" Zaria said softly, grinning to herself. "The cars are soundproof. Interesting..."

It won't be for awhile, but I've got a few ideas for how to present the ideas I want to explore.

Honestly, no. The quest didn't manage to go into what might've allowed Hugo to have a connection with the rats, but... there is one, it's weird, you'll have to wait and see when, and if it comes up. I didn't have much of an idea where Hugo was going to go when I finished the quest, but now- like, I wish I could talk about it, but it's so bizarre and weird that I honestly don't want to spoil what I have planned for Hugo, because it is just that weird and out there.

"Then I believe majority rules." Zaria replies. "Bloeberis, I will take a moment to handle the remains of one of the heads and we will be out of your way." Zaria takes a moment place Maba's head in a sack, ties it, and then places it at the end of a luggage aisle where she would remember it being. She then takes her respective plasma potion and bows in thanks. "Thank you for the offering. It is your commendable service that allows a priest like I to carry on down the trail." "Yes, lets. We can continue our conversations elsewhere."

With a more free form system than 1.0, I'm just making sure we're not seeing characters do things that make spell casting pointless. I'm fine with Yelana going translucent and Duvors' statement on the matter.

I was going to say, I believe there's a spell for that, but we actually do not have a spell that covers invisibility.