Waterbrick Down

"Let's get it over with then. Couldn't ask for a better view at least. If anyone has any words, now's the time to say 'em." Skrall nodded for Arthur to commence digging.

Skrall sucked in the clean air, it revived his spirits a little. "Anyone got a shovel?"

"That is fer you to decide young Regulus. What you "stood" fer, I wouldn't suggest goin' back to. Young Gnash died fulfilling his duty. The blade he carried made him no more or no less of the hero that he was."

OoC: Skrall lay Hans down on the board, nodding acknowledgingly to the Nord's request for assistance. He reholstered his crossbow from Nyx and looked over the group. Arthur was slowly recovering and helping Thothwick with the body of Gnash; Cronk sobbed to one side being encouraged by Hoke, Atramor, and Alexis; McColt still stood surveying the carnage; Vipera was no where to be seen; and Poletad nestled in the arms of Nyx. Yes there was victory, but it felt shallow, empty as the temple they now stood in. Misery and emptiness, that is all he had ever known and would know. "Cronk, we're movin' out, pull yerself together. McColt, gather any of the stuff they dropped, we'll redistribute topside." Skrall looked around for a way back to the surface.

Not bad, seems along the line of what we used in the unofficial Heroica, though I personally would have allowed a roll of 1 to allowed Karie to go unnoticed.

She was gone, the blasted witch could not even give them the satisfaction of perishing before them. She had fled to die in a corner like a coward, leaving him. Why were they always leaving him? Skrall slung his bow over his shoulder, digging the Book of a Thousand Creatures from his satchel he passed the tome to Nyx as he walked over to Haldor and the body of Hans. "Saved? No. Just pushed its destruction back a little further. Wren may be gone, but I have no doubt there will always be others like her. Now then friend Haldor, there is nothing to be done for the man, check up on Dyric, Atramor, and even Regulus, there might still be hope for them." Skrall gently picked up the body of the Wren Hunter, "Cronk, we should spend as little time as possible in this hole of Hel."

Felton rose to his feet, shaking his head at all the fallen around him and unsheathing his saber he attacked Wren from the back row.

Ah, now I understand. I agree that there should be consequences, Nerwen not giving Eric any loot from the battle is an example, and perhaps it should be taken into account should Sandy ever QM with Hestia being the quest sponsor. I can see how choosing your own party would kind of solve this problem, however then we might run into the RL issue of cliquishness (not to say there is any currently). Perhaps the balance could be found simply in some quests being individual based signups and some party based signups. I also agree that we don't really have a problem with people trying to be outright mean through their character choices, quest 58 and those who participated is an excellent example of party conflict done correctly.

I think I see what you're getting at, you're frustrated because characters with different ideologies than yours can seriously mess up their party by making inopportune decisions and there really isn't any sort of mechanism in place to stop that. Unfortunately that's how real life works. We're going to get into situations with people that have different motives than ours and whose actions might really hurt us or anyone else working with them. Of your examples each had a different reason for initially signing up for the quest (with the exception of Romulus), that differed from the party as a majority. However each of those reasons have been character based and not (I believe) game play based. Eric's refusal to fight, Arthur worshiping Wren, Romulus selling out his own party, these were all decisions based upon their character. The solution to this would of course be allowing people to choose their own party, however we have the issue of "character knowledge" versus "player knowledge". If you had been allowed to pick your party, do you think Guts would have realistically been able to discern Eric's true intentions? Maybe, but if anything all the players have to do is act more sneakily to get into a party whose convictions might be different from theirs. Now of course, we as players also need to make sure that we aren't writing our character in such a direction that they are constantly screwing over their own party. Also we need to remember that this game isn't so much about our characters stealing the spotlight by making rebellious decisions, it's about being part of the story that the QM is telling. Yes we'll influence the outcome in some way (generally), but it shouldn't be at the cost of trampling everyone else down and hiding behind the explanation of "I was just be true to my character". Not to say that you can't do that sometimes, the key is balance between being a good role-player, true to your character, and a good game-player, true and respectful to those playing the game with you.

"Go ahead and get Atramor or Arthur up."

I thought Benji would make a great Beast Warrior. Also, looking at the current reputations, the only expert classes that we could see in action right now are Minstrel, Necromancer, Skirmisher, Beast warrior, and Cannoneer. I really think we should try the expert classes out before judging if we need more. Plus you may not think you (or your character) will like a class, until you actually try it out. It's like the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover". The way I see it, is that new classes shouldn't merely be straight upgrades of earlier ones, they should be advancements that allow for more varied strategy. Would a more powerful ranger be appealing to Skrall? You bet, but would a more powerful ranger really add anything to the game? Not really in my opinion.

Careful, it's like playing with fire remember. As much as we hate it, now might be our best chance. If we don't start dealing with the summoned chaos beasts we're soon going to be outnumbered and we won't be able to do anything then.

"Cronk, here's how I see it, we've got enough essences to revive at least 5 of us this round. You can heal Ms. Nyx with a health core to make sure she stays up. Those revived will make sure we survive the free hits. You can put Haldor's Jinn first, he'll have to take the free hit from Wren."

If the stats are correct, we have 5 Phoenix Essences available to us currently (4 can be used this round, or alternatively we can revive Mallelio and have 1 more available to us) there are currently 4 PC heroes knocked out, thus we should be able to revive everyone this turn. Currently there are 6 essences in the party collectively, thus only 2 of the NPC's could be revived if we are putting PC at the top of the priority list (unfortunately Mallelio would have to be one of them). Take into account we do have Vipera, so she might bring someone back as well. Why didn't we bring any druids on this quest.

Actually reviving Alexis would work, technically we could revive almost everyone PC wise this turn and have everything still be managable. The only one I think we'd lose this turn is Nyx, but she could easily be revived next round (if there is one) it would be sad to see the NPC's go though.

By my calculations, if we don't revive anyone we'll only lose the jiin and one other person due to Wren's free hit.

By my count we could ensure all of the PC's are revived and at least Mallelio using Phoenix Essences, however we'd have to stall Wren for a few rounds.

The blast of dark energy resounded from Atramor as members of the Party fell, Skrall got back to his knees. "Well this isn't good. I'll cover Wren, but we don't have a lot of options left for us."

OoC: Didn't you do mirror special damage? Also, pic attached for the Emerald Jinn. "So that's what one of those things does."

OoC: I don't think Wren's specials have been updated for the next round. Also, Skrall is currently enraged which means that he would have taken more damage from Atramor's roll of special damage. "I second the motion Felton," Skrall drew another arrow and fired again at Wren as Felton and Hans likewise advanced on her from the front row.

Skrall smiled as the arrow finally hit its mark. Wren was true to her nature... chaotic, darting this way and that as she tried in vain to pierce the defenses of Cronk's guardian angel. It was true though, she had not quite ascended yet, even amid her seemingly random actions that devastated the party, fleeting bits and pieces of her mortality remained in contrast to the ancient evil that did her bidding. Skrall focused in on the blips and patterns that emerged, until the web of her intentions lay before his mind's eye. Knocking another arrow to his bow from the back row, the ogre slowly drew back and marked one of the intersections of the intricate web of the goddess Wren's madness. "Haldor, what's that lamp thing of yours do?" Hans and Felton, swords swinging, continued their back and forth assault on Wren from the back row.

"It's all or nothin' now Regulus, let her have it."

"'Fraid not Atramor, haven't had enough time to study the soddin' villains methods yet, too chaotic if you know what I mean. I should be set for anything remotely humanoid or ancient though."

Can't we just assume that everyone attacks Wren with their most powerful weapon and get this over with?

Skrall shook his head annoyed as Nyx's book appeared in his hands. The ogre stored the tome in his satchel before knocking an arrow to his composite bow and firing from the back row at Wren. "Here we go boys, all at once now! Cronk, make sure Hans and Felton are leading the charge so as to do the most damage." Hans and Felton advanced on Wren from the front row.