Waterbrick Down

Skrall looked down from his study of the map to the young woman who was addressing him, "Glad to meet ya Ms. Nyx I'm sorry we couldn't meet under more pleasant circumstances." Before Skrall could comply with her request, the Elven cleric had healed the young mage. "Hmm..." he thought to himself before addressing the rest of the Party, "The way I see it, we have should have 4 main points of positioning, a group in the sourthern most corridor to gaurd the main entrance, Cronk I believe you and a team of 4 would be most suited to take that postion. The second party should position themselves in the corridor just outside of Alandri's quarters in order to deal with any intrusions from the rear of the fortress quickly. Another Party of 4 would do the trick, preferably with a cleric, my suggestion Luke. A third Party should take up a position in the corridor just outside of Ella's study, in case we're goin' to be dealin' with secret passage ways, I believe the Elven cleric and another 3 heroes or so would be most handy up there. A last group of 4 should deal with this rogue emperor I keep hearin' about, while a cleric would be handy I think those would be more useful in the defensive position. What's important is that we get in there and take 'em out fast, if someone's willin' to let me borrow a mead I'll head that group up preferably with a mage with a healin' staff. The final 4 of us should position themselves in strategic locations where they can quickly get to the other parties to help out, or deal with intruders from unexpected directions. Ms. Nyx, the gentleman with the Chicken, and the two individuals with wings I think should seperate themselves between the 1st and second floors. Also, important we should have a Pheonix Essence with each of the main groups just in case. I can go into more of who I think would be most suited fer which group, but I'll let you all digest that fer the time bein'."

I agree, even though I'm not a big fan of rail-roading the story is epic and I really appreciate all that you three have done to make it so great. It's 3am here, but I'm still up working on spread-sheets and strategies for the best tactical layout.

Skrall glanced down at the map. "Corridors just lovely," he thought to himself. "Tis true Barbarian but we must also ensure that we are not over-run by allowing the enemy to move freely about the castle while we wait for them to come to us. Luke could ya let Cronk use one of yer tonics and would ya mind healin' up that Barbarian with the axe, Tarn I think your name was right? If any of you have got a Nostrum handy, I would suggest givin' it to a Barbarian, they're goin' to need all the luck they can get goin' into a frenzy in close quarters like this. Likewise if you've any extra tonics to spare, make sure the clerics are all in fightin' order. What info do we have on this rogue emperor, how well is he guarded, so on and so forth."

OoC: Would it be possible to have the NPC's that need to be protected current locations marked on the map? Also are the enemies already in the fortress or will they be coming and if so can they come from anywhere or are there only specific entrances? Also Isabella, Alexandre, and myself should all have one more Fire Bomb I believe and I should have the blessed and lucky effects. Skrall surveyed the crowd, a few clerics, mages, a barbarian or two, and quite a few rogues. "Is anyone particularly familiar with the fortress's layout? I think however we choose to all split up, we should balance the skill sets available to us i.e. each of the main Parties should have a cleric with them, while smaller more self-sufficient individuals should be scattered among the smaller rooms just in case of ambushes. Luke I would suggest you consume one of yer tonics."

"If it turns out I won't be needin' it for any more fightin' here, I'll speak with him about it. Fer the mean time do we have any idea what's goin' on in the city, now that the problem out here has been dealt with?"

"I take it he woke up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin' then. By the way Sir Leofard, in all my hop skippin' about I haven't had a chance to speak with ya about yer ex-squire." Skrall unsheathed the Greatsword of Lion Nobles, "She was carryin' this and I figured it was pretty important to yer order. I have little trainin' with a blade, so if ya wish to have this fer a more distinguished bearer than a common-place Ogre tis yer's to decide."

OoC: Not a big deal, but Skrall should be back at 32/32 from his Natural Respite from Zepher's last battle. Skrall removed his cap, batting all the dust out of it. His breathing was heavy, his voice hoarse, and he his tunic was riddled with spear holes and smeared with dirt from the trebuchet artillary strikes. "Well now you two, it looks like ya made it out without any serious damage. Fer a while I thought ya weren't goin' to make it out of there Ms. Toboso, but it looks like yer Imperial troops stuck it through." Skrall tossed 20 gold to both Alexandre and Isabella and a fire bomb a piece, keeping the remainder for himself. "Count Lewis would either yerself or Alexandre like to clarify a little more of who was that soddin' chap that perched himself on that hill?"

OoC: Go ahead and auto-play, we'll role-play while we wait. "Bring it down Alexande, bring it down."

Welcome back Sandy can't wait to see what you'll unveil when August rolls around.

Scenario 1 requires both of them being scum and from all the above back and forth between them, York is definately not on the same page as Burbank so I doubt the validity of this setup. Scenario 3 uses the reasoning concerning York in Scenario 2, which stated that we don't know why a townie (York) would defend a scum (Burbank) with such certainty, I hardly see this as evidence. The rest of your scenario is based on judging Burbank's actions i.e. he would ignore York's defence of himself, however this is not the only option, if I was a townie and someone whom I've had no prior contact with before comes out and starts defending me I'd be pretty suspicious of them and may even vote for them. Now none of this disproves that Burbank is scum, however I think the reasoning behind the current lynch is rather flimsy. That saying, it is the only thing we currently have and I don't see us gaining any information from a no-lynch thus vote: Julius Burbank (Brickdoctor)

Could someone explain to me the benefits of lynching Burbank (aside from if he turns out to be a scum)? I know the theory is centeralized around his list of roles from the simulation, but is that it? Surely there are more profitable theories out there at the moment, also from observing the back and forth between Burbank and York I really don't think they're on the same scum team, but that is just my feeling.

"Imperial Troops move south east, Knight group A move in on that siege machine. Lion Crossbows and Pikes remain in your positions. Imperial Troops D finish off those crossbows." Battle Order: Skrall Alexandre Isabella

OoC: Dharkan, let me know when you're back and you can take over your group. Skrall felt the shift in the tide of battle, he halted his units of Imperial Pikes and had the unit of Lion Knights A move south east then north east around the enemy pikemen. "Archer Unit A commence firing at that blasted knight on top of that hill! Lion Pikes B hold your position. Archer Unit C move Northwest, Imperial Pikes D keep at those soddin' crossbows." Battle Order: Skrall Alexandre Isabella

From my understanding, poison is always 1 damage and deadly poison is always 10 damage. SP and row are not taken into effect. This kind of makes sense due to the fact that position and armor wouldn't help you against something that is attacking you from one's blood stream.

"Imperial Pikes A and B destroy that machine. Knights A move North and then Northwest. Crossbow group A keep up that volley on that chap on the hill. Ms. Toboso have yer Lion Pikemen pull southwest, your Imperial Pikemen continue their attack against those crossbows and your unit of Crossbows C move southwest as well." Battle Order: Skrall Alexandre Isabella

My reaction was more towards how you phrased the part about risky lynches. I know that all lynches have risks and that wrong ones can eventually lead to a town's downfall, but as we stand with what seems like little information, confirmation of whether these roles existed might have been a little bit of a step in the right direction. However I'm glad that you have explained the pro's and con's to this and I can agree with the point that was made ealier about how this info was revealed during when we worried about the vig being watched. If you were a scum and you had lied about the existence of a watcher in attempt to avoid Campbell's being vig killed because he was on the same team, I could see the benefit. As it stands however Campbell was not scum and thus you had no reason to lie about there being a watcher if you were scum and no cause to bring it up for that matter, so I guess it makes sense to me now.

Are the Dastan quests expected to be finished by then, because if so I think it would be a perfect opportunity for a comeback of team Nur, Haldor, and Skrall.

How in the world are we so certain of this. Rockford came forward with the case against Pewter, if he was scum I see no reason to bring up the case unless he was really offensive in leading the charge. Pass the wine, please. umm... considering that 18 of 21 voted against Pewter I'd say this was a surity and I can't see why you would say otherwise, enough wishy washy from you, your posts have come across as always sparse and merely showing up to either vote or comment on someone being dead. Surely you must have something to add. In the words of a Commander Gordon, you're flip-flopping and agreeing with everyone has been duly noted. Is this a masked threat, we have to lynch to confirm information in the leau of night action results. We currently stand at 18 strong, even a strong scum team would have somewhere around 6 members (assuming there is only 1, which I'll discuss later), if we eliminate another townie and assume worst comes to worst then we'll be at 15 which is 9 vs 6 still savable and I should hope by that time we would have something a little more concrete then just purported theories instead of night action results. Are you trying to lay low? A glance back at your comments as well yields only statements about how careful we must be and how we must analyze everything, yet we have yet to see any analysis at all from you. If you mean to help then please read through the things that have been said and formulate some suspicions instead of trying to appear rational minded and cautious. As to the entire Pewter scandal, I agree that he was probably trying to out Falcon as a scum and due to the fact that it would seem like none of the real scum did contact him, my guess is that we're up against 1 team composed of probably 6 or so members and that due to the size of the group they figured out that there couldn't be another faction. Alternatively, Pewter and Falcon could have been working together during the last few moments of the day in an attempt to get the scum's attention and Falcon blabbed his sting operation to someone he thought he could trust. I tend to lean more towards the first scenario as it seems the simplest given how the scenario worked itself out yesterday.

Skrall watched as the enemy trebuchet slaughtered the unit of Lion Pikemen. "Sod that devilish machinery. Imperial Pikes A move into the forrest, Pikes B finish off that siege engine. Lion Knights A trample those troops straight ahead. Lion Crossbows A move North East. Crossbows C fire at that lone Rogue Knight A. Lion Knights D attack Rogue Pikemen F while Imperial Pikes D move North."

OoC: Sorry folks brief travel over the weekend, I'm fine with taking over for Dharkan for now. Skrall noted the large structures that loomed on the horizon. He could see men milling about their base but he had no idea of their purpose. "Imperial Pikes B smash that machine. Imperial Pikes A move southwest, Knights A move northeast and then north. Crossbows A take out Rogue Pikemen A. Knights D move north and attack that other wierd looking structure. Imperial Pikes D charge those Rogue Pikemen F. Crossbow Division C fire a volley at that lone Rogue Knight A. Lion Pikemen B attack Rogue Knights B." Battle Order: Alexandre Isabella Skrall

Why did you give out the recipes, that isn't any fun.

Actually the third begger was the one sitting at the bar in the inn and yes if you had given the requested gold or even something worth that much like 2 potions to begger 5 you would have suceeded, the beggers requests were also dependent upon how much gold the hero had at the time as I wanted to make sure the amounts were worth consideration and not just chump change.

"If Isabella doesn't mind movin' those pikes..." Battle Order: Skrall Alexandre Isabella

All right so the first side quest was the Feeding the Poor, even though the requirements were never stated fufillment of them would have resulted in growing 1/2 a level. In order to suceed you had to give money to each of the true beggers. Scattered among the true poor were wolf gang pan handlers who wouldn't benefit you at all. There was an actual way of figuring out who was lying and who wasn't from the pictures in that the wolf gangers all utilized heads that came from official Lego Wolfpack minifigures. This side quest felt somewhat like a psychology experiment on my end watching how each of you responded to the requests for money. Here are each of your responses. Begger 1 (Town): Begger 2 (Wolfgang): Begger 3 (Wolfgang): This one was encountered inside the inn of the weeping gargoyle. Begger 4 (Town): Encountered at the Archery tournament. Begger 5 (Town): Encountered outside of Swisshopper's shop. The rest of the conversations were much along the same lines, but it was interesting observing how each of the characters reacted. Docken was always the sceptic and tried to help people out by other means rather than just gold, Nur always wanted information in exchange for food, Haldor was always generous, Boomingham was more of the happy go lucky type, and Jess was somewhat annoyed at always being asked for money. In the end the only players who completed the side quest and received the 1/2 level reward were Boomingham, Haldor, and Jess. The Archery Tournament was also a small side quest where the party had to locate the Druid, Raphael. Nur went on a side quest when he left during the gang battle to follow the wolf ganger and ended up in a fight of his own. Things that the Party missed or that were altered from the original plan of events: -The first battle was a straight forward fight, until Docken had the brilliant idea to weaken the machine ahead of time. This gave me a new idea. The more things the Party did to stop the fires/explosion the more rounds they would have to finish off the machine during the fight. -Jess could have avoided falling through the second floor of the Inn of the Weeping Gargoyle if the magnifying glass had been found in the room next door first. -If the Party had chosen not to fight Natnail, they would have had the opportunity to fight a Necromancer in the cemetary just across the street from the inn. -Gurnam was originally not supposed to be at the Archery Tournament, but to avoid traveling to an excessive amount of locations, I tried to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. -If the Party had not fought the Vampires, they would have had the opportunity to fight the gangs that later showed up. -Triple Magic was originally intended to be a stock market themed game but it was decided that that might be too complex. -The gang fight was originally not supposed to occur, but since you decided to investigate the docks, I decided to throw another battle in. -The party could have chosen to stop Swisshopper from abusing his workers and ended up fighting a bunch of foremen, however this would have required that the Party did not buy any of Swisshopper's products. As compensation, the freed rocklings would have rewarded the Party with 5 traveler's cloaks. Speaking of the archery contest, thanks to all of you who allowed me to utilize your NPC's.

Alrighty so some thoughts on Quest 28. First off, thank you so much for all the positive feedback thus far, especially from those who were only watching from the sidelines. Brickdoctor, thanks for heading up the Party. I know you're not into the role-playing aspect too much but you were the stable point of the Party always keeping them on task so well done. Sisco, I would have liked to see a little more interaction from Jess but her role-playing with Haldor was excellent. Scorpiox I really enjoyed how you played Haldor without making his dissolving relationship with Jess hinder the quest. Zepher, it was great to know that Boomingham could always be counted on to start up a fight and your interaction with Barty was priceless, my jaw dropped when you had him smite the little guy. Also thanks for allowing your role-playing to effect your mechanics in having Guardian Angel act as Sentinel. Jeb, Nur will always be one of my favorite characters and your propensity for turning battles into role-playing opportunities is always refreshing. All in all you were a fantastic group of players and I would love the chance to have you in another quest of mine down the road. About the quest, the only way you could have figured out Bluehood was the criminal was by pressing him more during your visit to his quarters. Quest 28 differed from Quest 11 in that it was more a story rather than a solvable mystery. Events were taking place all over Eubric whether the Party liked it or not and some events were missed due to the Party's particular decision to do something different. Part of this is due to me not being able to figure out a proper solution to the entire problem in the first place, I had backed myself into a corner and couldn't come up with a satisfying solution apart from having you confront Bluehood directly. However similar to real life there are always trivial facts and happenings that aren't related to the problem at hand, i.e. the cheating at the archery contest or the fact that Swisshopper had looked into investing in the technology prior to Szalinski. Some personal critiques: -I need to spend more time in bringing a satisfying ending, i.e. go back to the mystery style. -Balance battles better, it was kind of difficult with two players who could stun enemies, two that could protect the entire party essentially with their defensive shield rolls, 1 player who could assassinate nearly any enemy, and a Warden who couldn't be attacked by an enemy 1/2 their level and couldn't be damaged by an enemy with a level under 30 unless they neglected armor, but I should have tweaked the enemies more appropriately. -I planned for the quest to be much shorter (1/2 or so) but I guess that is still a hard thing to judge appropriately. -Better pictures, I figured out a better method later on in the quest but I was too apethetic to redo all of the pictures I had already taken. Memorable Moments: -Rug Battle, originally there was no battle for this stop only the riddles to get into Bluehood's quarters. -Archery Contest, I will always remember Nur's string of bad luck and losing to Jeb's NPC. -The entire Inn sequence was one of my favorites especially Boomingham's duel. -Vampire Fight, I wasn't expecting Haldor to step out but that was one of the most interesting turns in his character development. -Character development between Boomingham and Barty, and Haldor and Jess. -Feeding the Poor side quest, it was very interesting observing everybody's responses to the plights of the poor. If everyone is agreeable I'll post all of the little side quests.