CMP

Those don't really seem like they fit the flavor of the original cards, though.

Blood and Loot.

It's not. I found Wasabi Ginger chips in my local store. What in the world are the Lay's CEOs smoking??

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. It'd be an interesting pasttime in the Hall.

"I didn't say you started that mess, but what you're doing now is risking just the same happening again. The Blue Assassins didn't give two shits who they killed, not all organizations are as 'moral' as yours. But I was under the impression you call yourselves heroes because you sought to prevent disaster" Posco narrowed his eyes. "Are you risking the lives of everyone here to fulfill your curiosity, or are you looking for something?" "Digging a hole down there will sure as hell expedite things. The way I hear it the mess we got into last time happened because we accidentally unearthed a damn hole in the wall. Not getting too nosy is a lesson we've learned. Evidently Heroica hasn't. I'm one hundred eleven and spent the vast majority of that time as a Blue Assassin; wisdom and intelligence doesn't mean crap if you have the wrong motives." Posco gripped his walking stick tightly. Even age couldn't help mask his obvious contempt for the situation. Melvin scratched his beard. "Aheh, Posco, maybe we should all just relax a bit, I'm sure the heroes know what they're doing..." Luckily, Moke walked in. "Ah, good, you're all still here. The Baron will be waiting for us at the dig site. I can take you there now, if you're-..." The gnome blinked at Posco's furious expression, looking between him and the heroes rapidly and nervously. "...um, is everything here alright?" Posco looked sideways at Moke. "Fine. Just...bloody fine. I want to see this damn dig site for myself. If Zylstra's putting up with the heroes' curiosity, surely the heroes can put up with mine." The halfling crossed his arms and looked over at the heroes, as if expecting a hostile reaction.

I like Weather Mage. It doesn't seem that complex to me: in addition to being a regular mage, they can also change the weather condition to suit their purposes and make their spells (and elemental weapon attacks) more powerful. Then their shield depends on what the weather is like. I also suggest changing Kudzu to Sinkhole, since it's more of an actual disaster. I like the line of MDM's thinking, but some of those effects are just outright more powerful than others. Also, they should all be (roughly) the same otherwise. The Weather Mage deals damage equal to their weapon power added to their level, the element depending on the current weather type to all enemies. In addition, each enemy has a 1/2 chance of being dealt the given negative effect. Sinkhole (during a Lush weather): Wood, Jinxed Sunflare (during a Bright weather): Light, Blinded Thunderstorm (during an Electrified weather): Lightning, Stunned Tornado (during a Breezy weather): Wind, Bleeding Abyss (during a Dim weather): Darkness, Cursed Inferno (during a Hot weather): Fire, Burned Avalanche (during a Cold weather): Ice, Slowed Earthquake (during a Dry weather): Earth, Weakened Flood (during a Humid weather): Water, Confused

Atramor blinked, unconcerned. "Maybe ya' didn't hear me. Undead aren't workin', if it wasn't obvious enough. Get some machines or somethin'." The regulator takes the incense, and tosses the Scroll of Arc Frailty to Heckz. "Be careful with that thing mate. It's more valuable than any of the crap you've ever dumped into your hair." He turned his head to the paladins, and nodded. "I assume we can count on your help takin' these things on, too. If so, that makes thirteen of us. If I can kill thirty five homicidal ninja and a magic dragon with that many people, that should be more than enough to handle a few undead."

"Human bars ain't nearly as friendly as dwarven ones, believe me lass." "Heh. Still easy to forget not everyone's a drinker, even after all the years I've spent out of Nathuz. Nothing to drink down there but ale and beer." The aging halfling snorted. "Hmph. How much more digging do you need to do to figure out there's nothing below us but damnation? You help save us all, and now you're calling in a favor to put us all at risk again?" He coughed, glancing at the rest of the party. "In case you weren't in the know, we're sitting on top of a city full of dead elves and all manner of dark creatures. They nearly wiped out our entire town before. Who the hell gives Heroica the right to endanger the world like that?"

Those are perfect. My only fear is that printing light colors against dark colors turns out terribly most of the time.

"It's quite a tune! Been a hit back on the ship. Gotta say I like the quiet down here though." "Says the man with his face covered in bandages." "Thing's've settled down since then, Hybros. And free drinks are the least I can do to repay you for what you've done for our city. Hell, all of you probably did somethin' or other to save this whole island at some point." "Oh, the brandy ain't nearly strong enough for you lot. But aye, everythin' here's been whipped up by yours truly. It's a wonder what you can do with the mushrooms around here." Vinum shrugged, slinging everyone but Ellaria a glass of Mulled Wine that smelled a lot like the very air inside the mushroom. Posco leaned against the side of the bar, looking tired. "Dare I ask while you're all here?"

Hybros led the way to the giant mushroom up some slimy steps and through a wooden door that had been fitted into the front of the enormous fungus. Inside was a warm and oddly homely, if rather musty, bar. Two dwarves and a halfling seemed to be talking over a few drinks. "-eally don't know what ye mean, things have picked up quite well around here from what I've seen, considering what everyone went through." "Aye, 'fraid I'm with Melvin on this one." The halfling coughed harshly. He looked to be by far the oldest. "Sentiments like that get people killed." "Paranoid old bastard. And here I was thinkin' you couldn't get any more bitter, Posco. Need another brandy?" "I'm fine, Vinum. And here's my justification, right on cue." The elderly halfling coughed again, but then only gave a twisted smile and motioned towards the party. "Heroes of Heroica, walking into a bar. I was a bloody assassin, but there's no surer sign of imminent death than that." "Oh, stuff it you rotten lunatic." The bartender waved the heroes over in a more friendly manner. "Heroes are always welcome in my place. Hybros, not surprised to see you're back. Zylstra has a way of doing that. Is that an ogre? Mind the door, that thing's older than I am."

JimB.

"Right in one. And built for mining. It'll definitely be of use." "Most are fine, if rattled from their little venture into the Black City. Posco's....not well. And Wally seems to have run off not long after the U'Kin's burial, I'm afraid." "Of course, thank you miss." Moke paused briefly to bow in return, and his hat very nearly fell off. "I may seem a bit...out of place here, but I assure you, our town is very, erm, civilized." "Our town actually sits in what would be a cistern Miss Arbour. Our ancestors cleaned up the tunnels nearby, so we have only clean water running through our town. One of our food staples is actually mushrooms. And our tavern sits inside of one." Up ahead, a dim glow of reddish light was visible. When the party finally arrived at it, they could see the gnome wasn't lying. "Ah, here we are. Welcome to Zylstra, though, ah...I'm afraid we won't be stopping here for long. I just need to go inform the Baron - he's our mayor down here - that you've arrived, and then we can be off." Moke blinked at the heroes. "You, eh, seem to have been in a scrape or two before coming down here, haven't you? Why don't you go visit the Sluice while I go fetch the Baron? It's right up there - the big mushroom, as I said. Have a drink, relax - I'll be along shortly." The gnome hobbled off. "Got to wonder what they even have to drink down here."

I am assuming control. Also, gnomes. Heweyrt led the way through a few of the winding streets within the heart of Eubric, their short trip ending in a rather clean alley behind the apothecary. Two signs and a spiffy-looking gnome in a top hat awaited them near a heavy-looking manhole. "Heroes, heroes, welcome to our fair city - and welcome back in your case, Mister Hybros. Well, this - it's mostly underground. Welcome to the fair door to our fair city, I suppose." "Hard sell if your front door is a manhole. But maybe that's intentional." Heweyrt grins. The gnome adjusts his hat nervously. "Yes, indeed. My name is Moke, I manage the funds of Zylstra, the City in the Sewers, secret haven for many - mostly gnomes. Doctor Daneeka is already down below assembling the, um, device. I'm here to take you to him." The gnome tugged the lever at his side, and the large manhole slid outward on a mechanical arm of some kind, and the heroes were now looking down what seemed to be a set of sturdy stairs, lit by some rather nice candles mounted on the walls. Moke pried one of the candles free, carrying it down, leading the party down into a lengthy, but rather dry and warm sewer tunnel. "Yes, we have lived in isolation for countless generations in these sewers, but as you can see, we've taken many strides towards greater contact with the outside world. And it is thanks to Heroica's many...er, heroics, in the past. We would not have survived beyond that had Mister Hybros and others from your organization rescued most of the city from a dark threat not more than a month ago, so the Baron was more than happy to let the Doctor begin his drilling here. Naturally, we have a great respect for you heroes. Who do we have the privilege of hosting here this evening?"

I like that idea for Cannoneer. Level + Weapon Power + 1/2 Bomb Damage + Bomb Effects for a regular Bombard and full Bomb Damage for Critical seems reasonable.

It comes with the increased difficulty. Battles in the most recent trip to the Fields were ridiculously short.

One battle could. Remember, it ends when the party wants it to.

"You're really loud for a lizard," remarked Miderun bluntly as she passed Benji going down the stairs to check the quest board. What she found was less than ideal. Paladins. How typical. They spent what little military might they had harassing orcs near Baltarok. No men to spare to protect their own. Then again, if they were that logical, maybe Ennon would still be in on piece. Well. If random heroes came to help Baltarok in its time of need...Miderun sighed, half-reluctantly scrawling her name underneath Quest 111.

I love seeing characters develop. Having them follow a predetermined path or delivering backstory through scenes that you can't really react to isn't really development.

That's what I'm referring to as well.

I'm not suggesting we enforce a limit on cutscenes. I'm just saying I really dislike them. Real character interaction is the difference between an RPG and a video game.

I'm in the same boat, but I don't think it's been a problem in Quest 105 thus far. I'm really happy to see the number of cutscenes in the Hall has dropped significantly, too.

It's more Masson than Karie I think Karie's been getting better about it. He seems like he's kinda just there for her. Punii's got a damn good reason to be there. Masson, not so much. I might add between the extensive internal monologue each of them gets, whatever drama they've got going on between them, and their current situation, it seems more like a soap opera than an actual relationship, to be honest.

Don't know if this pertains directly to QMing. I have no problem with players diverging from the path like Throlar actually, but the problem is, I personally can't plan for two different quests at once, despite one of my biggest goals as a QM being to offer as much choice as possible. Maybe I'd find a way to make it work, but players are generally pretty reasonable when it comes to the party wanting to make a different choice than their own. See Karie in Quest 84 or I think Benji in Quest 33. They're not stubborn and they understand their choice, while in-character, would kind of hold things up in the quest itself. Then again, you have to consider the stakes, and the situation. If Arthur was on our side maybe we could've kept Hans or Gnash alive. If a party member stabs me in the back again Atramor is going to attack them. With Karie/Benji/Throlar (sort of), they were offered an outright choice, they just didn't choose what the rest of the party chose. As far as just the solo roleplaying thing goes (which I think is what you mean by putting your own interests/fun above others) it generally doesn't directly detract from the fun of others, it's just sort of...there. Sorrow in 93 and Karie in Quest 93 and 105 suffer from this. I feel it was kinda the same with Arthur in Quest 53. The only issues with it are that it clutters the topic, and nobody even seems to care, which kind of defeats the purpose of roleplaying. It makes other characters trying to interact with them awkward and kind of uninteresting.