Waterbrick Down

Polaris sees that the panel remains unchanged. "That would be Agent Oddsphere." "Actually..." The heroes watch as the corpse of the creature begins to fade away. "Don't forget, we're not really here, only our consciences. I'm sure wherever that thing was located, it's now having a really bad headache. Biting it in Ætherspace, can really mess you up back topside." Varen Persuasion Proficiency Check (DC 1,3,5) - (1, 5, 5, 5, 5, +1) 5 Successes The Thudaal pauses in thought before continuing. "You saved my life... you stopped a great evil... very well. What I share is not widely known about my kind, so I trust you keep it in confidence. The glow you witnessed is known among my species as the Uvem, through it we are able to glance at the life of an object or a person, to ascertain its use or whom has used it. The scientists here were studying this creature, it called itself the ਡਾਰਕ ਹੋਸਟ, or The Dark Host, thankfully they kept it mostly sedated. It was pulled from another sphere of reality... not unlike the one of my ancestors fled... perhaps the very one. Because of the creature's strong psionic tendencies they were attempting to mimic its biology... perhaps ascertain whether they could... could... transplant the consciousness from one Ætherdiving individual to another. I'm not sure of their motives or how they learned of the creature in the first place, but this is all very worrying. Interactions with other spheres of reality is dangerous enough, but to that purpose..."

You can either increase Smarts by two to gain a new rank one proficiency, or you can spend 1 point.

MM Note: You are always free to push either diplomatically or intimidatingly for more info if you want it.

“No problem. I’ll need to go get more hot water.” The steward leaves the car.

"Oh, that's mine. Lot of good it did me, feel free to hang on to it if you want though." The Thudaal removes one of his gloves and walks toward the controls console. "Alright this should only take a minute." The party watches as a faint purple spark seems to jump between the console and the Thudaal's hand. The Thudaal's expression changes a few times as if he is trying to remember something. A few minutes later Lars straightens up with a grave look of concern on his face as he walks back to the party. "I'm sorry, this is a lot to take in and I think it's information I should report to my senior officer first... if you're ready to depart that is."

Polaris Medicine Proficiency Check (DC 1,3) - (1,1,2,4 4,1,5,4) 3 Succcesses The Chimeran notes the similarity in symptoms to when Felix had blanked out interacting with the creature earlier and administers her Nanite Elixer. The Thudaal's breathing regulates and the possessed glow fades from his eyes. At last he speaks clearly. "Thank you... I mean it. Even though that thing was dead... it still had hooks in my mind... felt like it was trying to replace me in my own body." Felix Insight Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (1,5,1) 1 Success As the Thudaal answers questions, Felix is certain the effects of the creatures possession have worn off. "Agent Lars, White Knight Surveillance - Ebria Division. I'm supposing Agent Oddsphere sent you? How long have I been out?" Varen Nature Proficiency Check (DC 1,3) - (2,5,5) 2 Successes While Varen still isn't sure of it's origin, he does note the interior of the creature seems a mess of interconnected fibers and strands. "Not sure how much I can help. I was assigned guard duty of the warehouse. Every once in a while, I'd feel a tug on my consciousness. As if something else knew I was here. Eventually the tug became more of a compulsion and I found myself wandering the warehouse inspecting the data cubes. It was if something had burrowed its way into my mind and started steering me around. When I came across the tank, it felt terrifying and wonderful at the same time. It felt like... like... home. This was the creature that was calling out, the creature that desperately was trying to make contact. Next thing I know, I'm battling you lot... Sorry about that... and then after you defeat it, if tries to flee back to where it came from or at least to move its mind to a safer body. If you want to give me a few moments I can probably do a little more investigative work and tell you more. The presence of the creature though, makes me suspect that Lupin Biotechnologies is interested in much more than simply curing diseases."

Yelana Perception Proficiency Check (DC 1, 3) - (6,1,2,1,+1) 2 Successes Yelana spots the logo of the Imperial government sewn onto the man's jacket. Yelana Stealth Proficiency Check (DC 1, 3) - (6,1,1,1,+1) 2 Successes Yelana swipes the bottle opener and tries to make it back to her seat. Bleoberis notices her shifting, but doesn't seem aware of the bottle opener's disappearance. "Did you need anything Miss?" Soren Insight Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (2,5,3) 1 Success. Soren is fairly certain the Quarm is at least being genuine. "Well, the higher ups still haven't greenlit the project quite yet, but that's why I'm heading to Con'stop."

Round 9: Environmental Filters - Creature 50% Chance to be Stunned every round (1) - Creature not Stunned! Polaris Smarts vs. Tank Creature Smarts - (5, 1) 1 Success vs. (2, 5) 1 Success - Polaris not Feared Polaris vs. Tank Creature - (2, +1) 1 Success vs. (1) 0 Successes = 1 Damage Felix vs. Tank Creature - Polaris grits her teeth as the creature tries to conquer her mind one last time before she pierces the tank and the creatures carapace with one mighty thrust of her sword. THE BATTLE IS VICTORIOUS! (1 Character Point to each Player) "Naaoooo!!!" The creature squirms in agony before growing still, its corpse floating to the top of the tank. Agent Lars sinks to his knees grasping his head and writhes in pain shouting out between screams. "Ahhgg! Help... me... please..." The Party Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle) 15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 3/13 Vitality: 2/8 Velocity: 2 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Medicine 1, Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: none, Credits: 10 Equipment: Stun Sword (Standard Elemental Melee Range Weapon) Inventory: Nanite Elixer, Mecha Strike (standard, kinetic, melee weapon) Varen Nastayo (KotZ) 26, Male, Human Character Points: 3/13 Vitality: 1/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Culture 2, Deception 1, Insight 1, Persuasion 2, Long Range Weapon 1 Known Spells (if applicable): Credits: 55 Equipment: Lawyer's Rifle (Standard Long Range Energy weapon), Translator Cube Inventory: 1x Essence of Glibness, 1x Essence of Intellect, Ion Repeater (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Felix Mao (Khorne) *Mission Leader* 37 Cycles Old Male Chimeran Character Points: 4/13 Vitality: 1/5 Velocity: 3 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 1, Coding 1, Survival 1, Nature 1 Known Spells: Enhanced Vision Credits: 0 Equipment: 'Old Reliable' Plasma Handgun (Standard Short Range Energy Weapon), Hacking Chip Inventory: Plasma Potion (1x), Cloaking Generator Loot Standard Issue Peace Keeper (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon)

Zaria Perception Proficiency Check (DC 1, 3) - (5, 6, 3) 2 Successes Zaria spotted a corkscrew from a bottle opener on the stewards snack cart that could potentially serve as a lockpicking tool.

Considering it we don't have any other missions in the hopper and Quest 2 is almost complete, I figured we'd wait for those guys to finish so we don't have a lot of heroes waiting around in the hall. Thanks for your patience current hall heroes.

Sign Ups for Mission #5: Slay Ride have been extended till August 27th

Good point, I had a hard time figuring out which things to give the alchemist a few more ideas I had: Consumables take up half the space in inventory You may craft a consumable on a mission assuming you have the cost in credits You may use consumables on non-adjacent allies You may combine consumables ahead of time and use them as a single action You may store a spell as a consumable item and allow allies to trigger it independently of you You may recreate a free consumable a number of times equal to your smarts per mission You may cast the transmute matter spell a number of times equal to your smarts per mission Consumable effects are doubled You may use two consumables on a turn You may shift the damage type of an enemy's attack You may recreate a consumable carried by an enemy for free Consumables are priced at 50% less for you

@samurai-turtle Nice build, Hall post updated.

Round 8: Environmental Filters - Creature 50% Chance to be Stunned every round (2) - Creature not Stunned! Polaris Smarts vs. Tank Creature Smarts - (6, 4) 2 Successes vs. (6, 4) 2 Success - Polaris not Feared Polaris Athletics vs. Lars Athletics - (6,4,5) 3 Successes vs. (4,2,1) 1 Success = Lars Pushed to D5 Felix vs. Tank Creature - (5, +1) 2 Successes vs. (1) 0 Successes = 2 Damage Agent Lars moves to C5 Agent Lars vs. Felix - (2, 2, +1) 1 Success vs (1, 5) 1 Success = 0 Damage Tank Creature casts Gravity Sink on Felix - (5, 5,1) 2 Success = 2 Damage, Felix pulled to C3 Polaris shoves Lars back granting an opening for Felix to nearly off the creature. As the possessed Thudal rushes back to save his master, but his strike falls short as Felix dodges away. The creatures lets out another psionic blast yanking the Chimeran back towards the tank and nearly knocking him unconscious. "You shall not win. We know where you are now. We will come. You, the ਠੁੱਡਾਲ, we will come for you. All will be brought into the Collective!" The Party Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle) 15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 2/12 Vitality: 2/8 Velocity: 2 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Medicine 1, Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: none, Credits: 10 Equipment: Stun Sword (Standard Elemental Melee Range Weapon) Inventory: Nanite Elixer, Mecha Strike (standard, kinetic, melee weapon) Varen Nastayo (KotZ) *Stable* 26, Male, Human Character Points: 2/12 Vitality: 0/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Culture 2, Deception 1, Insight 1, Persuasion 2, Long Range Weapon 1 Known Spells (if applicable): Credits: 55 Equipment: Lawyer's Rifle (Standard Long Range Energy weapon), Translator Cube Inventory: 1x Essence of Glibness, 1x Essence of Intellect, Ion Repeater (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Felix Mao (Khorne) *Mission Leader* 37 Cycles Old Male Chimeran Character Points: 3/12 Vitality: 1/5 Velocity: 3 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 1, Coding 1, Survival 1, Nature 1 Known Spells: Enhanced Vision Credits: 0 Equipment: 'Old Reliable' Plasma Handgun (Standard Short Range Energy Weapon), Hacking Chip Inventory: Plasma Potion (1x), Cloaking Generator The Enemy Possessed Agent Lars Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 0/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Persuasion 1, Religion 1 Spells: Purging Font, Solar Flare Credits: 0 Equipment: Plasma Rapier (Standard Energy Melee Weapon), Blast Plating (Standard Energy Armor) Inventory: Standard Issue Peace Keeper (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon) Tank Creature *Large* *50% each to turn to be Stunned*† Vitality: 1/10 Velocity: 0 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/3 Proficiencies: Occult 3, Persuasion 1, Deception 1, Insight 1 Spells Known: Gravity Sink, Entropic Mending, Meditate Credits: 0 Equipment: Piercing Mandibles (Standard Kinetic Melee Weapon), Impenetrable Carapace (Padded Kinetic Armor), Terrifying Presence (Tool, On their turn enemies adjacent to the Tank Creature, must succeed on a Opposed Smarts Check or be Frightened for the remainder of their turn) Inventory: None †Large enemies take up multiple squares and their space may not be moved through. For purposes of optimum range they may be targeted at any of their points of occupancy.

Soren Persuasion Proficiency Check (DC 1,3) - (6,6,4) 3 Successes The Quarm drops their voice a little. "Well, M-Tek has recently come upon a new source of almost limitless energy, they've been spending years and millions of credits tracking this thing down and finally found it. It's still unrefined and we've got to figure out a way to safely harness it, but its radiation readings are off the charts. No one's ever seen anything like it, it's got enough juice to power an entire system."

I've given a stab at the Alchemist type classes, feel free to have a read through. Alchemist (Explosives, Nature, Sleight of Hand, or Technology min 5) - Proper Dosage (Trait) - ½ chance a healing consumable is not used up upon activation. - Well Stocked Lab (Trait) - Consumables do not take up inventory slots - Combine Reagents (Special Action) - You may use one consumable per turn Grenadier (Artillery, Explosives, Perception, or Sleight of Hand min 5) - Precision Charge (Trait) - Your Grenades only deal ½ damage to allies caught in the blast radius. - Jury Rigger (Trait) - You may craft Grenades on Missions as long as you have the credits. - Prime the Powder (Action) - You may upgrade one of a grenade’s attributes to the next tier

I like it. It still keeps the mobile feel that the original trait was aiming for.

Perhaps, we just say Spirit recharges by 1 every 10 minutes and leave it up to Mission Masters to hand wave how long a certain time has gone by?

"Of course, but that's just it, there'll be so much supply that it'll be dirt cheap."

MM Note: It'll be a contested Athletics Check, so Polaris's Athletics vs. Lars's.

Oh agreed, I don't think every enemy needs to have a Passive Special ability, just that Enemies shouldn't necessarily always be restricted to the same statistical mechanics as Heroes.

Soren Performance Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (2, 6, 6) 2 Successes The Quarm nods knowingly. "People can be so rude." "Yes and with this latest technology it'll revolutionize the power industry as we know it. Perhaps even free energy for all!" Zaria Stealth Proficiency Check (DC 1) - (4, 2, 6) 3 Successes The elf delicately removes the briefcase undetected and inspects the construction noting a simple key lock on the exterior.

Round 7: Environmental Filters - Creature 50% Chance to be Stunned every round (3) - Creature not Stunned! Polaris Smarts vs. Tank Creature Smarts - (3, 2) 0 Successes vs. (1, 4) 1 Success - Polaris Feared for remainder of Round Polaris Medicine Check (DC 1) - (3,6,3,3 3,2,5,1) 1 Success = Varen Stabilized Felix Defends Polaris - +2 to Polaris next Armor Check Agent Lars casts Searing Flare on Polaris - (2) 0 Success = 0 Elemental Damage, Polaris Blinded for next round (-1 Spirit) Tank Creature casts Meditate - (2, 2, 3, +1) 1 Success = 1 Spirit Restored The creature struggles against the dampening effects of its cage and manages to restore some of its spirit as Lars blinds Polaris with another holy blast of radiant energy. The Chimeran does manage however to escape damage and quickly stabilizes Varen to keep him from bleeding out. "Now I have you right where I want you!" The Party Polaris Ursaring [with M.I.L.E.S.] (samurai-turtle) *Blinded 1 Round Remaining* 15 cycle old female "Chimeran" Character Points: 2/12 Vitality: 2/8 Velocity: 2 Strength: 2 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Medicine 1, Melee Weapons 1, Nature 1, Short Range Weapons 1, Spells: none, Credits: 10 Equipment: Stun Sword (Standard Elemental Melee Range Weapon) Inventory: Nanite Elixer, Mecha Strike (standard, kinetic, melee weapon) Varen Nastayo (KotZ) *Stable* 26, Male, Human Character Points: 2/12 Vitality: 0/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 0 Proficiencies: Culture 2, Deception 1, Insight 1, Persuasion 2, Long Range Weapon 1 Known Spells (if applicable): Credits: 55 Equipment: Lawyer's Rifle (Standard Long Range Energy weapon), Translator Cube Inventory: 1x Essence of Glibness, 1x Essence of Intellect, Ion Repeater (Standard Energy Long Range Weapon) Felix Mao (Khorne) *Mission Leader* 37 Cycles Old Male Chimeran Character Points: 3/12 Vitality: 3/5 Velocity: 3 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1 Proficiencies: Short Range Weapons 1, Insight 1, Coding 1, Survival 1, Nature 1 Known Spells: Enhanced Vision Credits: 0 Equipment: 'Old Reliable' Plasma Handgun (Standard Short Range Energy Weapon), Hacking Chip Inventory: Plasma Potion (1x), Cloaking Generator The Enemy Possessed Agent Lars Vitality: 5/5 Velocity: 2 Strength: 1 Skill: 2 Smarts: 1 Spirit: 0/2 Proficiencies: Melee Weapons 2, Persuasion 1, Religion 1 Spells: Purging Font, Solar Flare Credits: 0 Equipment: Plasma Rapier (Standard Energy Melee Weapon), Blast Plating (Standard Energy Armor) Inventory: Standard Issue Peace Keeper (Standard Kinetic Short Range Weapon) Tank Creature *Large* *50% each to turn to be Stunned*† Vitality: 3/10 Velocity: 0 Strength: 2 Skill: 1 Smarts: 2 Spirit: 1/3 Proficiencies: Occult 3, Persuasion 1, Deception 1, Insight 1 Spells Known: Gravity Sink, Entropic Mending, Meditate Credits: 0 Equipment: Piercing Mandibles (Standard Kinetic Melee Weapon), Impenetrable Carapace (Padded Kinetic Armor), Terrifying Presence (Tool, On their turn enemies adjacent to the Tank Creature, must succeed on a Opposed Smarts Check or be Frightened for the remainder of their turn) Inventory: None †Large enemies take up multiple squares and their space may not be moved through. For purposes of optimum range they may be targeted at any of their points of occupancy.

In other systems its usually linked to a recharge system like resting, which we don't really have. One thought I had was having it recharge at the beginning of battle and the end of battle. Granted you may still run into issues with multiple situations arising between battles that might require spells, but I think those will be infrequent. On the subject of rules revision, there are a few more that I think we'll need to address moving forward. Death/Stabilizing Checks are currently DC 3 Attribute checks. Considering very few starting heroes have any Attribute starting at 3, succeeding on this check is very unlikely. It also means its very likely that a high level hero will always succeed on their check. Personally I'd like the check to be equally difficult regardless of the hero's level. So my idea would be to tie it to a simple d6 roll, where 1-3 = unstable, 4-5 = stable, 6 = revived with 1 Vitality. Thoughts? Opportunistic Attacks I feel are still a mess from a strategy perspective. Looking at Quest 2 as an example, there is really not a lot of places ranged fighters can attack from without incurring either a penalty or an Opportunistic Attack. The easy solution to this is allowing for bigger battle grids, but then we run into the issue with melee fighters not having enough velocity to reach places. Combine this with having to constantly remind folks of all the things that trigger off an opportunistic attack and it just becomes in my opinion unwieldly. My current thought is to simply remove the caveat about moving away without dashing. You'd still incur an Opportunistic Attack for using a ranged weapon against a different target than the enemy right next to you, but you'd be free to move beforehand. Just like the enemy would then be free to move afterwards and attack you with their melee weapon. Passive Specials are something I think it'd be nice to bring back into the enemy statistics. Right now special abilities are handled more by spells, i.e. acid spit, psychic shock, fear, it'd be nice to have a system to handle these things as more innate to enemies. The only issue is that this introduces a feature that doesn't necessarily correlate to certain point costs and thus might make balancing more difficult. I'm not as concerted about this though as I think MM will slowly develop a good feel as to how these Passive Special features impact balance even if they don't have point values associated with them.

MM Note: A reminder, you always have the Defend/Rally/Try Something actions available to you.