Waterbrick Down

What do you know, another old familiar faces. :D Thanks for checking in.

Point taken. I'm not necessarily opposed to a rest mechanic and maybe it's something that MM meet players halfway, i.e. the players ask to rest and the MM grants it based on the current situation. Traveling on a cruise ship and you're between a bar fight and the next day? Sure. In the middle of a space wreck where there is limited oxygen and you're constantly be chased by alien space slugs? No, there is no time to rest. Yeah this and the meditation formula from earlier might be a little too crunchy for my liking. It's a solution, but maybe a little too finicky for my taste and something I feel MM and players would constantly have to reference and keep track of. @Classic_Spaceman Duvors is correct. You still need Spirit to access spells (even 0 cost ones), or at least a Holo-scroll.

Hey a familiar face, you'd be more than welcome!

Wow, that's a lot of work @Duvors thanks for running it though. Sheesh Battle Mage is strong when fighting Martial Artist and Meditate essentially gives a free heal to the class (Eldritch Vigor), so we may want to adjust that. I think this does show how in an even fight, how Meditate can certainly extend a battle. On the other hand it was cool to see that many spells being flung around. One of my main concerns originally was that starting casters would only get 1-3 spell casts per mission and even then they weren't guaranteed to do anything. Compare that to another player who invested in weapon proficiencies or Skill, and it felt like a lot of the time casters would have the short end of the stick and generally an unfun time playing for the first few months. Makes sense, thanks for clarifying. I personally prefer Game B as well, but I'd also rather not let the character concept of a spellcaster not be attainable till a player has 5+ Spirit. Ok, new thought. We get rid of the Meditate action, Spirit refreshes at the end of every combat, and then we introduce new 0 Spirit cost spell levels for example: Alter Form - Suspicious Visage - Costs 0 Spirit - The Target may change their visual appearance while remaining still. Enhanced Vision - Dim Sight - Costs 0 Spirit - Target may make a Lucky Perception Check to see in the dark with the aid of light Entropic Mending - Theoretical Reversal - Costs 0 Spirit - Target may make a Lucky Engineering Check Gain Entry - Cursory Knock - Costs 0 Spirit - Target may make a Lucky Athletic/Technology/Sleight of Hand Check to open a lock. Gravimetric Propulsion - Propelled Positioning - Costs 0 Spirit - Target may make a lucky Acrobatics Check Gravity Sink - Pulling Particle - Costs 0 Spirit - Reduces Target’s Velocity by 1 Healing Light - Abating Healing - Costs 0 Spirit - 1 Unstable Target Illusory Clone - Irking Duplicate - Costs 0 Spirit - Duplicates disappear on the next turn Mystic Binding - Sacrificial Hold - Costs 0 Spirit - 1 Target and Caster Purging Font - Transferring Purge - Costs 0 Spirit - 1 Target, transfers condition to Caster Quantum Transposition - Micro Transport - Costs 0 Spirit - Ally Target or Self is moved to a square up to the Target’s velocity away. Restful Sleep - Contagious Slumber - Costs 0 Spirit - 1 Minute (Round of Combat), affects an equal number of allies. Securing - Trick Lock - Costs 0 Spirit - Athletic/Technology/Sleight of Hand checks made to open an existing lock are Unlucky Solar Flare - Startling Flare - Costs 0 Spirit - Adjacent Target Perception Checks are Unlucky for 1 Combat Round Sonic Sweep - Annoying Frequency - Costs 0 Spirit - Adjacent Target Performance Checks are Unlucky for 1 Combat Round Spirit Ally - Minor Familiar - Costs 0 Spirit - Stats: Vitality 1, Skill 0, Standard Kinetic Weapon Tongues - Speak with Thought - Costs 0 Spirit - A message can be sent and replied to by one Target within sight. Only they can hear the message. Transmute Matter - Composite Transmutation - Costs 1 Spirit - Object becomes a plastic composite Velocity Amplification - Accelerated Slash - Costs 0 Spirit - Adjacent Target Athletic Checks are Unlucky for 1 Combat Round Warding Bond - Sacrificial Ward - Costs 0 Spirit - For next Lucky attack Additionally we shift some existing spells down 1 cost tier with the current 1 Spirit Costs becoming 0 and then we add a new 7 Spirit Cost version. For example: Charm - Command Crowd - Costs 7 Spirit - All humanoid Targets that can directly see and hear the caster follow a single word command that is not directly harmful to themselves. Afterwards they know a spell has been cast. Elemental Evocation - Elemental Barrage - Costs 7 Spirit - Hits 7 Unconnected squares Obfuscate - Overwhelming Illusion - Costs 7 Spirit - 5 effects Photonic Manipulation - Obscuring Blackhole - Costs 7 Spirit - An area is covered in light absorbing darkness (Ranged attacks and Perception skill checks fail) Sickening Radiance - Destructive Dose - Costs 7 Spirit - Does 9 damage By having 0 Spirit cost Spells, we allow casters to still feel relevant even when they don't have Spirit available, but the 0 cost spells aren't so overpowered as to create the current issue of each battle having no stakes in future battles. Correct it does, adding to the new rule book, which is almost done by the way.

This will be an issue due to differing lengths of missions though. I get what you're going for with wanting to give MM the ability to create a sense of scarcity to up the tension of a given scenario. Currently they don't have that particular lever of control to keep it from being abused. I get your point about Ætherbrews and agree that as characters get more advanced they'll have more Spirit reserves, but I also feel like they'll probably feel more required to spend more Spirit because the challenges will be more difficult to accommodate the higher "level" of play. I'd prefer to keep Spirit costs as they currently stand because they're balanced to have some advantages at casting at a higher level, but it not be outright the default choice in any given scenario. Something to stew on though. To be fair they'd only have control if the player had used up all their Spirit and didn't have any Ætherbrews. Plus in a sense MM have control over a player's access to abilities if they reduce the player's Vitality to 0, throw a monster at the party with enough armor that makes one hero's weapon ineffective, etc. This is simply a more direct case of being able to gate certain abilities. In the missions I've run and to some extent been on, the precedent seems to have been that casters implicitly Meditate to full Spirit, no matter if they say it once or multiple times. As a MM, I want something simple outside of combat, I don't want to have a player have to wait for each result on restoring Spirit as it slows down the pacing. How about you can only Meditate once between Combats and then as many times as you want during Combat? Would that be a fair compromise? It allows for some casting between combats, but allows casters to be useful throughout a battle. I'm in agreement here, I'd like to hold off on any major changes to the way Spirit works so as not to unduly cause issue with these classes. So the crux of the problem is: We want MM to have the ability to increase tension on players via Vitality and Spirit scarcity, but we also want players to have ready access to the features of their build which by their very nature have a limited number of uses to balance for their potential power. (We'd also prefer it to be a simple mechanic and not impact existing mechanics too much. )

My only reservation about giving MM control over when Spirit refreshes (outside of Ætherbrews) is it then makes the feel of the game to a spell caster much more heavily dependent upon the MM. Are they the type that is stingy on refreshes or generous? Will the MM be tempted to throw more challenges at the party to intentionally deplete their Æther so that the caster can't simply use a spell to solve a solution. Alternatively will the MM pull their punches because a caster is out of Spirit due to bad rolls? I think veteran MM will have an easier time managing the balance, I just worry about it being a barrier to entry for new MM who might feel overwhelmed having to manage how much Spirit is available to the casters.

A few options: Scrap meditate, Restore Spirit at the end of Combat - Downside: Hesitancy to use Spirit outside of Combat Scrap meditate, Restore Spirit at the beginning of Combat - Downside: Hesitancy to use Spirit outside of Combat Scrap meditate, Restore Spirit at the beginning and end of Combat - Downside: Less spell usage total (spells need to feel equivalent to features that are "always on" that other characters invest their points into) Make Meditate a combat only action - Downside: Combat may be artificially lengthened to allow casters to refresh Spirit Allow Meditate as an action at any time - Downside: More spell usage total (i.e. unlimited healing) Make Meditate a spell - Downside: Spell tax (i.e. all casters will feel the need to take it, power disparity between those with it vs. those without) Create a rest mechanic that refreshes Vitality and Spirit - Downside: New mechanic for MM to have to manage Increase available Spirit, but limit how much can be spent on a single Spell equal to Casting Proficiency - Downside: New mechanic needs to be tested

And then you still get full Spirit at the beginning of combat?

We had this exact conversation a couple months ago about introducing the meditate action. Yes it does mean that everyone starts at full health after each combat. Meditate was originally a spell to help casters stay relevant, but it started becoming a "spell tax" as those casters without it were seriously outclassed by those with it. The issue with getting full Spirit after combat means casters are less likely to use spells in non-combat situations because they'll be afraid they won't have enough for combat. If you have Spirit refresh at the start of combat, you end up with the same issue except in reverse. Other systems typically balance the spell resource issue with a rest mechanic, but since we don't have one, the current system is in favor of the players since the MM have a plethora of options at their disposal to adjust for difficulty.

Currently the intention is for the Scope to simply ignore Obscurement regardless of its source, however the effects are limited only to the penalty applied to weapons, so it couldn't be used as a tool.

The point of the NPC's in the Hall is to give players not on a quest something to interact with, Duvors, Kintobor, and myself are essentially acting as MM for the Hall. One of Kintobor's NPC's has been in the Hall earlier, the others are major NPC's for the overall Heroica: GATS story. The point of NPC's in the Hall is to provide fun for other players either in short term (immediate interactions) or long term (setups for upcoming missions). If your NPC's fit one of those criteria let's discuss.

All NPC's introduced thus far are critical NPC's for future missions. Feel free to PM me what you have in mind and we can discuss.

So if it depends on the nature of the content: Important NPC for upcoming mission that will interact with other players - Hall (Suggested that they be an NPC for multiple missions as I'd hate to clutter the Hall with one-off characters) Information to be added about a location/organization/technology - Library Extra RP for your character that you think other people might be interested in reading - TBD (Heroica is intended to be a game for person to person interactions, not necessarily fan fiction about your character. If it's a full MOC perhaps the sci-fi Topic might be an appropriate place to post it and then have a link either in your statistics post, your signature, or in general discussion.

Depends on the purpose, currently the NPC's are either involved in missions or future missions. What did you have in mind?

There'll be more for next year. Concerning the hub, yes feel free to populate with links, though consider they're more likely to be used if people can just see them on EB as opposed to following to an off-site. Regarding usage, no permission required, if you're making an important NPC for one of your mission it might be good to let the person know so that the same picture doesn't get used for another important NPC though.

You may.

I’m glad they’re enjoyed. Regarding the Hub, my plan was to upload NPC’s I don’t mind other MM stealing for their own missions. However if folks want to include their major NPC’s plus slight description that’s fine with me. I figured folks would simply go directly to the missions themselves to borrow.

Happy New Year Everyone! The Resource Hub and Yul'Yom giveaway posts are up, more to come soon.

"Happy Yul'Yom, Agents! Thanks for taking part in our little celebration, here's to a great new year!" The agents open their gifts and find a plethora of new equipment hidden within the inconspicuous gifts. Aysu Gravimetric Bipod - Weapon Attachment (The first Offensive Combat check with this weapon is Lucky) Decker Telescopic Stock - Weapon Attachment (Spend an action to change this weapon's optimal range by 1 category) Maximilian Bandolier - Armor Attachment (Increases the number of Grenades that can be carried by 3 when wearing this armor) Soren Reaction Dilator - Tool (+1 to Piloting and Insight Checks) Zaria Repulsor - Armor Attachment (+1 to Defend Rolls when wearing this armor) Ronin Rocketpack - Armor Attachment (+1 to Velocity when wearing this armor) Enson Plasma Splicer - Tool (As an action, transfer Vitality with an adjacent Ally) Kirwin Skeleton Key-Card - Tool (Unlocks 1 lock per mission) Bers Bioreactor - Tool (Converts a consumable to a Plasma Potion) Polaris/Merei Holo-Tome - Tool (+1 to non-Spell Arcana, Nature, Religion, and Occult Checks) Yelana/Varen Ion Scope - Weapon Attachment (This weapon ignores Obscurement) MM Note: Thanks to everyone for participating! Feel free to add your item to your inventory. Weapon and Armor Attachments may be added to your chosen weapon or armor as [Weapon/Armor] w/[Attachment]. A weapon or piece of armor may only have one attachment at a time.

NPC's

"Fizzling Gummy Bear? Hear there should be a new mission be postin' sometime soon."

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! Here's what to look forward to in the upcoming new year: Rules Set 2.0 - An official updated Rules Set with a searchable PDF and Glossary! Resource Hub - A repository for free to edit photos, battle maps, and templates to help those who want to get into Mission Mastering! Yul'Yom Celebration Giveaway - Time to unwrap those unassuming gifts! Mission #10 - The official 10th mission of Heroica: Glory Amongst the Stars!

Thanks again for hosting @Endgame! It was good seeing you flex your MM muscles again and your digital builds are getting better and better. Some of my thoughts: The beginning was a little dragged, but not annoyingly. I know we were waiting on our 4th so I'm generally a little more lenient as I'd rather play with more people than rush things along. I wasn't sure how much more info we could have gotten from Glenn as everyone seemed pretty in the dark concerning the scenario, so in a way it seemed like we just waiting to set off into the wasteland and everything beforehand was just prolog and introductions. Jumping right into the storm scenario was a really good plan and I loved the skill challenge and ability to contribute in a multitude of ways. I really liked that Soren's piloting skills finally got a chance to shine. The freedom of choice in direction I felt struck a good balance between railroad and sandbox. We had options, but the mission wasn't one where it really needed for their to be complete freedom to the approach. I do like that there was a fully pacifist route that could have been taken. I loved the medbay scene and this mission as a whole in that it gave me creative space to expand on at least how Valesia (maybe Cladrasith's) view spell casting. The bits you included about the chaos and discord caused by Invictus really made it for me and is something I absolutely enjoyed. I would have liked to see a little more of Vurenia as I feel like we sort of rushed out of there. Maybe a shop or bar where further info about the impact of the war and Invictus could have been shared would have been a good addition. You are right we sided more with the Wastelanders, but I think that's more due to our characters themselves. I'd say of the group, Max might be the most lawful, but even then it didn't seem a very forward part of his personality. Soren and Valesia tend toward the more neutral or chaotic alignment, so the gray portrayal of the wastelanders plight was more sympathetic. The other locations (submarine and bunker) felt more balanced in terms of scene length. I liked the inclusion of Agron, but again you can see the more neutral/chaotic alignment of the party coming out with their willingness to save him, but not necessarily work with him or ask him to come along. What was with the background of the sinking of the submarine? Was that tied into the Invictus storyline, or was that another red herring? The fights were all fairly balanced and I never felt they were beyond our capabilities or too much of a cakewalk. I liked that each had a few strategic layers and I'm interested to see what other mechanics your trademark style is able to invent with the new combat system. That being said, the one thing I found myself missing was an interactable setting during combat. While we had the pipe in the second battle, it was a little on the nose as something that could be used to our advantage and even then it was something intended to be targetable, not something we could come up with on our own. Apart from Glenn's tinkering with the antennae, there didn't seem like a lot of room for improvisation in the combat. The loot is indeed something that is taking some getting used to. I'm sure we'll figure out the sweet spot eventually. Consumables are tempered slightly by the fact that the bonuses are not as extreme and you can't stack them most of the time, but they are expensive so it can seem like you're giving away an overabundance of loot in terms of raw credits. That being said, I think the loot was sufficient to maybe a little on the light side. As a villain, I like Invictus's arc and as a player I probably believe him that he would have passed his days in isolation if we had left him alone, but he's got enough edge and an evil background to have good characters to latch onto and have a hard time letting go. Valesia has a hard time with artificial life and I'm not even sure yet what her perspective is on Adamites, but as soon as it became clear how personal this all was to Glenn, that was all she needed to side with him as "undeath" is certainly a condition she grieves over. I'm excited to see Invictus again in the future and know you do well with multi-mission villains. I really appreciate that you let us hash out our differences in opinions before the final boss fight as it really gave time for us to develop those relationships between the characters and how we view each other's perspectives. You struck the balance between letting us come to some conclusions without rushing us into a fight, but also not letting the argument just go around in circles. @The Legonater It was great playing with Soren as a fellow player. You continue to shape him well into a chaotic neutral type character and I loved seeing him have his time to shine with his skill proficiencies. His disdain for authority I'm sure probably comes from his background and I'll be super interested to see it revealed over time. He's really a solid character at this point and I'm glad he was able to go toe-to-toe with some of Valesia's more strongly held convictions. I'm also liking the little bit of magic you're giving him as an option to grow over time, it helps him come across as more than just a rogue and I like that he has that variety. As a whole, well done! @Alix Your first foray with Maximilian I'd consider a success. While not as outspoken as his companions, I still thought Max's presence was certainly felt in the group. He seemed the most level headed and potentially lawfully inclined of the trio. Mechanically you play him as a pretty good tank and I'll be intrigued where you take him with his kit and character points. The fact that he's one of only two elves we have in the game currently also makes him interesting and I'll be intrigued to see how he interacts with Zaria in the future. All in all, a solid start and I look forward to playing with you again!

~Note: This is a collection of resources for those who want to host their own missions for Heroica: Glory Amongst the Stars RPG. In this thread you'll find pictures of settings, characters, monsters, battle maps, and other resources that are free for others to manipulate and use for their own missions.~ Instructions: Please ensure pictures posted conform to Eurobricks posting policy in terms of size. Feel free to leave links in your post to higher resolution versions if you want. I'll add a link in this general index below over time for each post. Please ensure your photos are generic and not mission specific (i.e. don't include NPC's or locations that you do not want modified for the purpose of canon continuity). Both real creations and digital models are encouraged, however please aim for quality over quantity. The goal is to provide a repository of helpful resources to lower the bar of entry into Mission Mastering. Location Photos Thumbnails (NPC's, Monsters, etc.) Waterbrick Down NPC's Battlemaps Other Resources

Should be launching soon.