CMP

"You'll be able to pay 'em ten times over when ya' get back from your next Quest, trust me. Shame I don't have anythin' that helps me relieve enemies of their coin, but, hey, when ya' can have a beast entirely created and devoted to the destruction of heroes stab another designed to do exactly the same, ya' can't complain." Atramor cackles briefly, before taking a deep sip of rum to stifle it. "I'm tryin' to make a lot of deals in the hall at the moment, but I'll still have a good bitta gold left over. I considered gettin' myself one of those robes, but...eh. Might have this Crown priced, though, I hear there's some new elf in the marketplace who appraises this kinda stuff." "And on the chance ya' don't get into your Quest, try joinin' up on Quest 40 with me and Cronk. Last time we were workin' for the town guards was intense, but rewardin'."

"Aye, nice text color roguish voice. And I'm assuming it's an advanced class thing, mate, I haven't been able to laugh without it comin' out as a cackle since I became a Witch." Atramor leaned back in his chair, with a nod. "Soon you'll be rakin' in more gold than ya' know what to do with." "Oh, and I'd take a look at 38. Ya' seem to eager to learn more about Wren, and it seems to be a good opportunity to do so."

Atramor raised an eyebrow, turning to the rogue. "In the market for a weapon? I don't think I'll be needin' this Black Katana... It's a simple weapon, but I'll offer it at only 50 gold, that's 3 free WP more than they're selling that Fauxthril crap for at the marketplace." He also blinked at the newly-clothed Arthur, and chuckled. "Choosin' the rogue's path, eh?"

I think that's a very extreme measure, to be honest. Maybe just make it more expensive to upgrade a shield traditionally? Like, to upgrade a shield from SP 2 to SP 3 would cost 40 gold. Just multiply the SP it currently is by twenty. And even that might be going too far.

Right. You don't want to totally cripple the class with a bunch of specials like this, but use them sparingly enough to remind Knights they're not invincible.

Benji hasn't gotten knocked out yet. Remember, Rangers take half damage anyway. But, yes, the ideal Warden should probably have SP to be used to its full potential. And, well, maybe extreme defense isn't the right word, but they are the most defensive-based class in the game. Half damage and SP to boot.

That's exactly what I'm calling it. That's the whole point of being a Knight, like I said. Warden in particular is all about soaking up damage. They're not as heavy hitters as, say, Berserker or Mystic Knight, because then Knight's being combined with offensive classes. Heavy defense /minor damage class + minor defense/damage class = Extreme defense/moderate damage class.

Exactly. It proves that an enemy doesn't have to have an SP-piercing special or an ungodly high level to get heroes KO'd. Don't forget to take effects into account too. Look at Atramor, he doesn't have to deal a single point of damage and he'll be dead in 5 rounds. I've had a few ideas for special skills, and one of them deals an effect I called Sundered (mostly inspired by Jeb's scroll idea) that halves SP for the battle. Things like this aren't completely destructive, but they can really hinder a Knight. But that's a really basic way to do it.

SP is the Knight's(and its advanced classes') main draw and feature. Compare Warden and pretty much any other advanced class. It has a lack of interesting or vastly enhanced rolls because it's a very defensively-based class. And look at Quest 28. WBD got Docken knocked out. It's possible, and it's happened. The expense and time it takes to get so much SP is fair enough so that, for the most part, it's fair that they don't take as nearly as much damage as other classes. Knights don't do as much damage as Barbarian, don't get money every Shield, they don't get to fight at a range, they can't heal, and they can't cast spells. They're made specifically to be hard to kill. They're the tanks of Heroica, absorbing is damage is what they do.

"Aye," replies Atramor, pulling the tarnished, once ornate crown from his head. "Me, Tarn, and Mallelio - a Dastanian fellow who works a lot like Luke - killed a former emperor hauntin' a wall he'd constructed to keep the Teuthisal and U'Kin separate from the humans. Never seen a spirit like him - he'd make a copy of himself with the amount of strength equal to every strike we made on him. But in the end..." he lifted up his Witch's Talisman slightly, with a smirk. "...we barely had to scratch him."

Atramor nodded to Skrall across the hall, turning back to Namyyra's table while she considered his offer, eager to avert his eyes from the cruel orb. McCafferey vacated his shoulder, pecking the crumbs from the saloon's counter, though her beady eyes mirrored the glow of the plaything. "'Course, mate. And, Arthur, I think there's some sorta' magic business that records what heroes have done outside the hall once they return...or Byblos has some other means of knowin'."

That's what I meant; you brought U'Vires back from the technically dead to fulfill his prior obligation to die.

You brought U'Vires back just to fulfill that, didn't you? Cool reference.

It's okay, I used to mistake William for Sir Glorfindel.

Didn't one of the Imperial Archers drop a Precision Bow in the last Battle of Dastan? Xander's is from an earlier battle, and I don't see the second one listed in the loot list from the battle.

You can't use it and I don't think 4 damage at best to each enemy is as effective as you guys think. And I've got money.

Atramor notes the offer on the Quest board, written by a Fenarian he recalled from the storm some time ago. He nodded to Alexandre, and strode over to Nammyra, nodding at the Topaz in her hands. "Hey, mate. I see you've got a Topaz. Any chance you'd be willing to part with it for a Scroll of Sealin'? From what I can see, Topaz seems to be one of the more common gems, but I could still use one, whereas I prefer my enemies to be able to hit me with their special skill. It's fun to throw it right back in their faces, heh."

Awesome, I need that Cat 'O Nine Tails.

Doesn't count. Monk Pretzel calls everything 'demon'.

I'm pretty sure Phil was the only NPC to defeat a hero in the Arena too. What if he'd died?

It's clearly a sign - start roleplaying. It is interesting how Zepher connects all this stuff so that things like this happen.

"We got to crown the third emperor. Remember the homicidal dude with the bigass hammer in the last battle?" Atramor smirked, with a chuckle. "Oh, and we saw dragons, Wren, buncha' other shit too...you?"

The calculations are one thing, but I can't imagine having to go through all the crap needed to upload a picture every battle. At least, not using MS Paint.

After many months, Atramor once again sets foot in Heroica. McCafferey hadn't spoken since the end of events in Dastan, and it was certainly a nice change from all the ill-fated advice she constantly kept up. He looked around; a lot seemed to have happened in his absence. Many quests were on the board, and the influx of heroes from Dastan filled up the hall quick. He pulled his cloak around him, shuffling up to the board, and examining it closely. "1 gold as a reward? Hmph. I just saved a whole damn empire, I'm not gonna crawl through the underground of Eubric for a beggar..." The Unlimited Quest truly caught his eye. The loot of an unlimited amount of battles he'd like to see. But Alexis and other heroes were already out in the fields....still, there were other quests to sign up for. Namely, the Strivvian Job. The experience with the town watch had, well, not gone perfectly, but nevertheless the reward was decent, and Auntie Quarian's advice about the ancient, unlockable vaults, surely filled with treasure and enemies aplenty, continued to ring his ears. This Infiltrator bit was interesting too. So, he scribbled his name under the sign-ups for Quest 40, sat down at the bar, and for the first time in quite a while, grasped the neck of a bottle of rum, taking a heavy sip. "Ahh...stuff never gets old."

That was an awesome Quest, Zepher. You're by far the most roleplay-savvy QM, and it makes perfect sense that you have the longest-running quest trilogy going on. (Referring to Wren Quests.) The whole idea behind the Dastan Quests was great, all 3 QMs did a really fantastic job of running it all and having it coincide. The delays because others were often behind, during side quests, were eating at my mind, but considering you pretty much improvised the longest one it was completely understandable, and I was very glad to have gone on it. I loved all the NPCs, there were a few bit characters, but even they had some character and a purpose. The battles were always fresh, even if you trying your best to murder us every single turn. We completely burned through our supply of consumables during the Lyons battle, are we just barely managed to scrape through it, even after going through around 3 Phoenix Essences. The Brunt battle was creative, and it's a fun time having to fight Chaos Beasts. The final battle was just mind-blowing, but not only did it pose a serious threat of us all failing our quests, it was innovative in its mechanics, not to mention nearly every enemy was unique and had a different style of trying to get us killed. I cannot imagine how much the QMs had to go through to run each round of it. My party was really awesome. Atramor's quested with nearly all of them before, and the one he hadn't with absolutely hated his guts. Tarn and Nyx are always awesome to roleplay with, I had a hell of a lot of fun with the former in the Brunt sidequest and throughout the whole quest, especially with convincing him to nuke the other heroes when we killed Constance. Thothwick actually shows a lot of character, simply by not roleplaying much. I mean this completely seriously, he occurs to me as a usually reserved, quiet guy, quite a stretch from the characteristics you'd usually see in a rogue, and his choice to not make a choice in the Constance battle I thought really fit into his personality. I really hope Atramor gets to see Wren again, the interaction with her and U'Vires were awesome. A truly great Quest, Zepher, and an epic trilogy in all. :drool: Nah, I've had a lot of practice, Atramor is not a widely-liked hero. And for good reason.