Waterbrick Down

And to think I was going to give you that Zoot's Plaything.

And how much are you paying Skrall not to kill enemies before you? Zepher, you will need to charge Pie 25 gold per battle to put him early in the battle orders.

If it helps Skrall was referring to Cinna as I believe Caroline had only been mentioned in Arthur's personal thoughts. I've really got to start making a spread sheet like Zepher suggested.

Skrall noted Arthur's mutterings toward him, "Ya mutterin' about that female mage yer were talkin' about ealier Master Regulus? Have ya not caught up with her since? Take it from me, ya never feel right askin' about them, how they're doin' and such. Just clear yer head, set yerself to the task, I'm sure yer Master could give ya a few pointers as well or so I've heard."

Skrall took a draw on his pipe, "I'm afraid my own frog is a bit rusty, due to lack of practice. There's only so much ya can stick in an old Ogre's head at a time. Sir Poletad could barely understand me last time we met. But I can give ya some of the basics." Skrall spent a few minutes instructing the young mage on the customary greetings and some of the more necessary phrases for combat and diplomacy as well as a few choice insults he had picked up from his Ranger days. "Do what ya can with 'em. Take care Master Regulus especially when it comes to that witch Wren. Look fer guidance from Haldor the Nord, he's had his fair share of dealin's with her and I trust him the most when it comes to such things as her madness."

The Ogre listened to his friend, "Nay, she felt the Chimera was an actual threat to her and her 'god' and wanted us to stop it fer her. An' I'll have ya know 80 years is a bit old even fer a human not to mention a greenskin, but I'll raise a toast with ya." Skrall lifted his tankard and cheerily drained his draft. "Now then I've got a wee bit of business to attend to in the market place before some of these next quests get goin'. As fer the plaything, I think I'll hold on to it fer a bit longer. Sooner or later it will find a master, but I'll be doin' my best to make sure it don't come to blows this time round like last 'tween Tensi and Hoke. Fare thee well Haldor, should yer path lead ya back to Haddon always keep yer wits about ya and remember that witch Wren will give just about anythin' fer a good deal." Skrall left the hall for a good 2 hours before returning with his purchases from the market place. Reading through the quest board he noticed the Party had been selected for traveling south to Strivvni. Atramor he had just been with in Dastan and had a sharp mind, Nyx had been able to hold her own and seemed to enjoy the grimmer parts of combat, he was not very familiar with either Elliara or Rufindel but figured the more the merrier on this trip. Skrall intrest piqued as he noted Boomingham as Party leader, the Paladin had made a name for himself as boisterous, rude, a racist, and a windbag to boot, and could often be seen frequenting the bar for drinks or the ladies for company. "Well 'twas bound to happen at some point," he muttered. Skrall gathered his equipment and trudged up the stairs. Finding that most of his Party had assembled, he lit his pipe and joined the group. "So 'twould seem we're all about set to pay the Town watch another visit. Atramor, Nyx." Skrall nodded to the witch and battle mage respectively, "I take it ya've all had some run-in's of yer own with 'em as of late?"

Sorry Scorpiox, Skrall is going to hold onto it until a good role-playing bit pops up. I wouldn't be opposed to Haldor having it, there just needs to be more incentive than I'll pay you X amount of gold for the item.

Skrall wandered amongst the vendors of the marketplace pausing for a moment in front of the newest shop, as the elf made his way to greet his newest customer he took a few steps back in surprise at the size of the Ogre that stood outside his shop. Having run out of bolts in his last quest, Skrall decided it was time for a newer quiver and thus picked out a Hunter's Quiver (249-240=9) as he continued to purouse the wares his eyes caught the glint of white feathers. Picking up the Winged Sandles, Skrall recognized the intricate coloring of what appeared to be Rito feathers, "Hmm... poached or traded I wonder?" Skrall thought to himself. Reaching into his satchel he felt the Zoot's Cookie slowly shape itself into 75 gold pieces with these he paid the elf (75+9-80=4), laced the sandles to his ankles as they were definately not his shoe size, and made his way back to the hall.

Definately go with the Exo-force hair, anime Cronk all the way! On another note I didn't know fantesy orc heads were supposed to be so expensive, I'd think they'd be pretty easy to obtain if you're trying to make Cronk, Flipz.

Skrall raised himself from his bench and took a seat closer to the Nord, "My apologies Haldor, it's been a long trip. Yes Wren was there, could we have expected anythin' else? With such chaos and destruction being wrought by an empire in turmoil it is little wonder that she had a front row seat for the event. Nay though, I had very little dealin's with her except to do her bidding which it would seem we are always forced to do no matter how hard we try. A group of rogue lion knights tried resurrectin' a Chimera, sod ugly beast if ya ask me, and Wren wasn't too much fer lettin' the creature live so she gave us heroes a choice. Let the Chimera decimate the empire or do her biddin' and kill it fer her. Not much of choice was there? She wasn't at the final battle, but she sent enough of her beasts in to do her dirty work. Seems she was after a seer child or some sort, Tarn the barbarian over there could probably tell ya more about her." The Ogre let out a long sigh, "I'm gettin' old Haldor, most Ogres barely reach their 30's before they're killed for either doin' something stupid or because they're the unfair target of people's prejudices. Point is, I've tried followin' after everything I thought would bring me some closure, some satisfaction and it all seemed for naught. Love, family, riches, glory, noble causes, revenge against Wren, nothin'. My hopes is a quest down south will give me some time to think and straighten things out."

Well I knew, so how about that Embassy?

If we're concerned with people abusing the system then I think you would need to implement the 1st take on the rule, if we were only to apply the rule to free hits, then we would need to ban Paralyzing Venoms as well as ensure that QM's don't make enemies who cannot deliver free-hits like in the Shadeaux battle. I still say we wait and see what the QM's can come up with to combat the situation utilizing the existing rules and then come and address this issue afterwards (now that we've had several ideas presented on how to solve the problem utilizing the rules as they stand now).

I agree, the ALOD rule would gaurantee this doesn't happen, but I think a complete balance issue is more what a lot of people want to solve, not just a quick fix to people's invincability.

Careful Knight, a shield can only take so much from a base 123 damage unencouraged hit. Speaking of which, now that we've seen some of the advanced classes in action, are we going to get a Arena Rules update anytime soon? And Zepher how's that next set of quest recaps coming?

Did I mention Skrall has an unclaimed Zoot's Cookie and Zoot's Plaything.

After thinking about it, why make it a minimum of 1 damage? Why not go for 2, 3, or even 5. Even with the rule implemented it would still take 41 free hits to take a character like Docken out. So if you want to make things balanced you should really up that number. For the moment, now that the issue has been brought up and we've had to discuss it, I want to see QM's take a chance to creatively solve this solution, if we can't do that (especially after all these ideas have been brought up) after a few quests then we should consider nerfing. So I vote NAY for the time being.

"Aye, I know they be lookin' fer someone in Haddon, but honestly Arthur, it never satisfied. I've been traipsin' after Wren too many times and each time I come up short. No, if we're to ever meet again I'll let the fates handle that, fer the meantime I've got a hunkerin' for a little adventure in the south."

The plaything rolled on the table finding its way like a long lost puppy back to in front of the Ogre. Skrall quickly pocketed the orb, "Sounds like ya took half the hall down with ya in yer trainin'. Better make yerself scarce before Scheherazade puts the damages on yer tab."

Sorry JimB, I was just trying to make it simpler by giving a single number multiplier.

I am not saying you do not deserve your reward, I am saying that if there is balance needed then it should be implemented. Having invincible players is not balanced, it is not a complaint against you but against the system. Again I would like to find the middle ground.

"Be my guest, ya just make sure to call either myself, Cronk, or Haldor over ther if ya have any trouble. We've all had dealin's with those things before and we wouldn't want any harm comin' to ya." Skrall tossed the plaything on Arthur's swathed hand side.

I'm fine with players being tanks and defensive based (I for one am against the minimum 1 damage rule for the time being) but there is a difference between a tank player and an invincable player. Knights should be able to soak up more damage than other classes but they shouldn't be able to take zero damage in the majority of circumstances. Perhaps knights can only use shields with SP 3/4's of their level rounded up? It would be nice to find a happy medium where knights are neither useless nor invincable.

Alright I'm trying to take a step back and look at this as a whole, I agree that players need not be penalized for having improved their character's stats and that QM's need to be a little more creative, I also think we need to look at the QM's side of things as well. QM's spend hours getting their stories/characters/battles all straightend, often before a Party has even been selected. I personally do not like denying anyone entry to a quest just because they belong to a certain class or have a certain item, (Look at me, I took both Docken and Nur on the same quest ), but I also do not like having to revamp all of the battles just because a player is of a certain class or has a certain item. I won't be implementing the one point minimum damage rule any longer and will strive for some more creative solutions, but I would encourage us to consider the QMs' perspective as well as the hard time they put into making the game enjoyable for all of us.

But the rules have yet to be stated, so perhaps we may be allowed to play the game outside the generally assumed designated threads.

Question do effects take effect during the same round they are implemented or on the following round?