Waterbrick Down

The Cladrasith twirls her knife and quickly sheathes it, wincing from the sound of steel on rusted metal. "I'll try to keep him pinned down for just a bit longer." Valesia rushes over to F4 and continues humming picking up the tempo as she weaves another hampering hold spell targeting Invictus. "Glenn I'd recommend keeping on Soren's six (D2) and aim for Antenna A."

Thorvald responds with his usual gruff exterior. "Hmph? Like drink specials? I mean it's all free, so if your tryin' to save money..." The Chimeran pauses, "Or were you thinkin' something more seasonal? It is getting close to some of those cultural festivities isn't it? Probably should stock up on the standards. I think I've probably got everything for brewin' a Peppermint Porter if you're interested."

The Chimeran pours a mug of hot cocoa for Aysu. "Sorry, Miss, been a bit busy. One hot chocolate. The cooktron keeps on going in and out, but I'm sure there still some cake from Grumbles' birthday a few days back if you interested. Too much frosting for my taste."

“A bit of a risk, but maybe one he can afford for now.” Valesia nodded in agreement. She spun her chef’s knife expertly, it got used so infrequently these days, she wondered whether she’d ever truly return to the cozy confines of a kitchen or whether this was her life now.

The Cladrasith coughs through the dust as she sees her team mates nearly toppling one of the antenna. "Nice work Glenn! See if you can disable Antenna C guys, Soren try and stay out of the bot's range for now." Valesia moves to F5 and attacks Antenna D. To Valesia's mind's ear, the discordant static threatened to flood the melodic harmony of life as she desperately tried to maintain the rhythm humming along at a barely audible level. "Glenn you'll get a better shot at Antenna C from my position (F3)" Battle Order: Valesia Glenn Soren Max

Fixed, yeah for some reason it resizes to 100x100 pixels on my desktop, but not the mobile. I swapped the link so everything should be good now.

"Alright Glen see what you can figure out about Antenna D."

“Soren, Max, you good with Glenn scoping out Antenna D?”

It would, though I tried to restrict it to more monster type enemies. It’s a key decision what weapon to use and having too many innate weapons end up making range kind of pointless outside of proficiencies.

Totally agree, I think Mission 5 could have functioned as some sort of Fields quest, or a much shorter mission if it kept things moving quickly (ala Quest 1 of Heroica 1.0), but 3 months of just monster hunting is a bit too much I think for at least my taste.

Valesia shudders a moment before steeling her resolve, "Glad he didn't bring reinforcements." "We'll need to take out those antennae, otherwise we risk getting dragged into their blast radius via spells. Take care where ever you position yourself that it's far enough away to avoid that, also if you have to choose between being up close or at long range from the bot, pick up close." Valesia moves to F4 and casts hampering hold on Invictus, "I'll try and lock him down, the rest of you focus either on upping your defenses or taking out one of those antennae. Glenn, do you think using your technological know-how you might be able to ground one of those antennae to keep it from discharging?" OoC: So under current rules, only one weapon can be equipped at a time by Invictus. Also, is it intended for Invictus to be immune to the Static Storm ability?

Don’t forget folks we have a point calculator that keeps track of your spent points for you: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q8ul1skWZEDzqRMRO7p-nVDEoWEZtcODYleuNC1Jloo/edit

Yeah in hindsight, that would have made things a whole lot clearer. This mission was definitely a proving ground for certain types of battles and I think I've got more to go on for future combats. The last fight was just about what I wanted balance wise. I can see your point though about swing and I think it'll be that way during these early battles when folks can sometimes do as much Skill as they have Vitality. Once Vitality starts getting higher than Skill, I think it'll balance out more. I do see your point though about the feeling of consistent damage. I think as the game evolves more folks will see the value in those proficiencies. Not that players can't make those types of checks without it, but I feel the weapon/magic/physical skill proficiencies are simply easier to grasp and come up with ideas for. This is an interesting point and one I haven't given a whole lot of thought about yet. I can certainly see what you mean especially on longer missions it can feel like your character isn't progressing. Because of the redistribution of points rule, I can see everyone investing their points into things like vitality and skill as the mission progresses and then swapping those back into proficiencies after the mission which would seem a little wonky to me. Perhaps allow character progression of attributes and existing proficiencies whenever there are points to spend in a mission, but you can only reassign points or add new skills between missions?

OoC: good point adjusted. Though Soren’s Strength attribute prevents him from using the armor.

OoC: Unless anyone objects: Golden Gel Hide - Soren Whip Tail - Max Nanite Elixer - Valesia Plasma Potion - Max (Best to spread out the healing)

So his only conviction is to have no convictions?

Two missions with interparty conflict at the end, Soren just can't seem to catch a break.

MILES is the straight man of the duo, even if Polaris is pretty even keeled. I think if you play that up, you'll have a dynamic relationship going. I'd say she may actually have the most "military" experience out of most of the character which is what sets her apart. You're free to dive into that if you want, but considering it's the reason she needs MILES it seems to be a natural part of her background and mentality. Probably a combination of things. Life is definitely more busy right now on my end with the twins being more active than sleepy, so that cuts into my time and I know we had a few players with personal issues come up (whether crazy work schedules, sickness, or other family matters). Some missions things just don't line up as you would have hoped. Plus if the mission isn't personally engaging for your character, i.e. it doesn't feel like they have a stake in what happens or if there's no bonding between NPC or PC to a degree it can make it difficult to find the motivation to keep posting. I can totally relate to wanting something different and I think Aysu is certainly coming into her own in that regard. You're right about needing the right scenario to draw out personal character development and admittedly there weren't a lot of opportunities for that in this mission. Glad you still had fun though and enjoyed Sigrun, my aim is always to provide at least memorable NPC's if possible.

"Yes, otherwise I'd be letting it go. What skin off of my back is it if the machine walks?" Valesia takes a moment to meditate in preparation for the upcoming combat before opening her eyes filled with resolve, "No point in having them if I ain't willing to defend them."

Oh most definitely. I know Valesia's disdain for Invictus seems a little out of left field with her sweet persona earlier, but as I've considered her personal philosophy on life the more I'm realizing she probably does not inherently trust machinery or desire to become proficient with it.

"Max, Dear, you forget the part about him wanting to eliminate any evidence of his survival." "Death and war come to us all..." Valesia pauses while glancing with sadness at Glen, "eventually, there is no avoiding that." A smile briefly plays across the Cladrasith's face, "Hun, all one can do is ensure that life and healing continue after the pain. The Empire and League have no warring fued in this machine's existence, if anything it would ease the suffering of those on both sides knowing that it was brought to justice." "Trite, you mock their pain, you do not get to dictate the terms of their mourning." Valesia winces at the rawness of Glenn's hurt, "Perhaps remorse, or are you not coded to feel that emotion? Regardless, I have no intention of letting you control the data, even if you say you won't destroy it." "Your consequentialism only extends to the point where you are not personally inconvenienced. I will not enable it." "You do not promise peace, only peace deferred. The death of the past shall not be at your whim. You'll either accompany us to Savior City, or have to deal with losing one of your doubles here. Soren, Max, I don't think Glenn and I can handle this machine ourselves, please we must look beyond the here and now." OoC: Because I hate interparty conflict and don't want to have a PvP combat, if you two want to just let him stay alive, as a player I can make that work. Valesia will simply be unhappy about it.

"Hun, please don't think me so fatalistic. People change, yes Soren, as much as their nature will allow. Machines... machines do not and to give one the semblance of such a will is to mock true life." Valesia pauses to consider Soren's reminder of Invictus's nature, "If it's a bot, then it gets taken out of commission. If it truly is sentient, then it should at least be restrained should it seek to destroy the bunker. The knowledge of its survival is not for it to decide what to do with." "Sweetie, we are part of this universe whether we like it or not. To stick our heads in the sand simply because the suffering caused by this machine did not directly impact us... I'm sorry Soren, but I can't let that stand. If it truly wished to make amends for its injustices, it would surrender to the proper authorities, not threaten to shed further blood."

"Does the fish decide to grow wings, does the predator decide to subsist on grass? There is no change, especially of its ilk." "It already confessed to having a back-up. It doesn't get to decide its own punishment, those whom it caused pain do and they won't get that if we let it destroy what evidence is still around."

"The way I see it, you don't have the right to decide that exile fits the punishment for your years of marauding and the pain you caused."

A new Mission has been added to the board! Mission #9: He's Dead, JimMission Master: DuvorsDescription: "Listen, one of my workers went missing a couple of days back inspecting the waste pipes under Blackcoin Arc, and I've got no idea what happened to him. I've tried to get the police to deal with it, but they're being no help at all, and those ITA goons just jabber on about 'jurisdiction', so it's kinda down to you. You think you can handle this?" - Arno Milver, Head of Level Three Maintenance.Party Requirements: "I guess I need a buncha detectives? Tough ones though, if one of our guys is missing there's probably something nasty down there."Reward: "60 credits each, and I'll see about getting you some spare tools if you bring the guy back alive."Sign-ups Close: December 8th