BJ Back From the Beyond

Click to reveal.. (Marra) Name: Marra Race: Nephil Female Occupation: Scout Alignment: Vengeful Description: Tan fur with a few white spots about the ears, lithe and somewhat short. Wears a sleeveless tunic and dark trousers. HP: 30/30 [+1] STM: 10/10 Armor: None Missile (Bows): 10 [+1] Stealth: 6 Perception: 6 Melee (Shortswords): 5 Acrobatics: 5 Athletics: 4 First Aid: 4 Nature: 3 Composure: 2 Banked Skill Points: 0

Okay, so looks like the next session is going to be Thursday, June 21st.

Bandek would be able to use the armor.

It's looting time! Here's the stuff you guys found on the two assassins: Click to reveal.. (Assassins' Gear) 1 Rapier 2 Daggers 2 Leather Armors 1 Buckler 2 Black Cloaks 2 Identical Rings (magical, unidentified) 2 Healing Potions 1 Grappling Hook w/ Rope 1 Poison Dart 7 Shuriken 1 Bottle of blue liquid (magical, unidentified) 1 Smoke Bomb Let me know which items you guys want to take so I can note them in your respective inventories. Also, I've got a couple of perks that need handing out. First up is Sarelim: Keen Senses: Having spent an inordinate amount of time as a furry, four-legged animal, Sarelim has grown accustomed to seeing the world in ways others wouldn't even consider. While morphed, Sarelim may re-roll a perception check once per day (the second number must always be taken) and may also take ten on any perception check, except when re-rolling. And the second one goes to Bandek: Opportunist: Some may call it 'unfair' or 'dishonorable', but Bandek knows that taking advantage of an enemy's misfortune during combat produces spectacular results. Whenever an enemy rolls a critical failure or is the target of a critical success, Bandek gets a +2 bonus to any action targeting that enemy on his next turn. This bonus stacks with multiple criticals. And now for the scheduling stuff. I'd like to do the next session in the coming week. However, I'm going to be busy on Monday, so that just leaves Tuesday the 19th and Thursday the 21st. How do those look to everyone?

Thursday should be fine for me. I'm actually glad we're pushing this back. I completely forgot there was a session today.

No, I haven't scheduled the next one yet. I've still got some things to clear up on my end. Which reminds me, you guys have some loot to clear up. I'll do that soon.

1 hour and 40 minutes to show time! As always, spectators are welcome.

I love topic drift at Spiderweb. It's like watching continents move with the speed of freight trains.

Pfft. I've been working on An Ancient Conflict off and on for the past 4 years. There's nothing wrong with shelving a project for a while, as long as you actually do intend to come back to it. When you do come back to it, you may find new ways to breath life into it, making the end result even better than it would have been.

Are we allowed to come up with ideas and outlines before hand? Basically, can we do everything short of actually making the scenario file itself? If so, count me in, and I'm free just about any time this summer.

Originally Posted By: Miramor First off: I've heard some not-nice things said about BoA's scripting system. How does it compare to to BoE nodework for debugging? How about transparency - if I create a scenario and comment the scripts well, will I be able to come back to it a month later and understand what they do? (Noting that my most familiar languages are Java, which I'm rather terrible at, and Perl, which I can write passable scripts in... I also hack around with roguelikes in C, but pointer arithmetic gives me the heebie-jeebies.) The learning curve for BoA is significantly steeper, but having any experience with other scripting languages means you can pretty much bypass the biggest hurtles. Plus, if you ever do run across a problem that you can't fix yourself, you can post it on the BoA boards and get an answer pretty quickly. As for transparency, it's hardly a problem at all. I barely comment my code, and can tell you just about what every piece does just by looking at it. If you're still not sure, you can download the demo of BoA and then download the Scenario Editor (it's free, but make sure to get the official editor off of Spiderweb's sight; that's the one with the documentation in it) and take a look at the documentation and sample scripts.

The log of session 8 should be up soon, so here are the quotes: Click to reveal.. (We'll miss you, HJ!) Vyncin: "Blasted thing. Why won't it die?" Chantico: "Good question." Bandek: "Well, uh, it's made of water. There's kind of a lot of water around. As long as it's in the ocean, d'you think it even can die?" Chantico: "You're made of meat, but sandwiches don't make you invincible," Hopping Jaguar: "So we surrender now, risking execution or long-term imprisonment, just hoping that your master, on a whim, decides to spare us? Is there another alternative?" Vyncin: "The town guard and I beat you to a pulp, then we arrest you." Hopping Jaguar: “With great ninja comes great responsibility! FISTS OF GREAT JUSTICE!" Random Guard: "If you ever come back, we'll kill you for sure!" Chantico: "Okay! Have a nice day!" DM: (One of these days I will succeed in capturing you all! :-D ) Chantico: "I went to a circus once. Turns out, elephants aren't so tough." Bandek: "Ah, that's the stuff. Mebbe when I wake up this'll all be a bad dream." Viatrix: "Escape is an option, perhaps. Join the others. Go home. Mission failed. But not one I'm ready to take yet." Sarelim: "Alright, if I was a smuggler... I'd head out of the city first chance I got. I think. Come to think of it, I'm not really a smuggler." Hopping Jaguar: "Death to pirates. Once more...unto the breach..." (last words)

Originally Posted By: Nioca It's good to see that it produced reasonable DCs in someone else's hands. How difficult or easy was the process to do, and would you say you'd be able to do it mid-session without too much trouble? By the time I got half way through the list, I was doing most of them without looking at the chart. I think with a little practice I could do it without trouble. Originally Posted By: Nioca Curing: Curing spells don't function quite the same as normal spells. Instead, they derive their DC from the Complexity, Duration, Power, and Scope of the toxin it's trying to cure. I didn't see that noted anywhere in the wiki, so that's something that needs to be added. On Scope and AoEs: I don't understand why the sizes for the AoEs are even numbers. Usually, an AoE is centered around a single space and then covers every space within a certain radius, thus giving you odd numbered AoEs like 3x3, 5x5, 7x7, etc. So why are all of the AoEs listen under Scope even numbers?

Well, looks like we're on for Monday, June 4th, then. Hope to see everyone then.

So, partially out of curiosity (and partially out of boredom) I decided to take the current QuadHack evaluation system and apply it to some of the more popular and/or basic spells from classic AIMHack. I'm wondering if these numbers seem right to everyone else: (Note that on the DCs, the first number is for characters without proficiency and the second is for characters with proficiency. Also, all of these are what I see as being the minimum for each value. Any of them could be increased depending on the action.) Click to reveal.. (QuadHack Spell Conversion) Elemental Ward: Bestow resistance to a selected element upon a target. Stamina is required for multiple targets or elements. Complexity: 2 Duration: 2 Power: 2 Scope: 1 (for a single target/element) DC: 21/14 Stamina: 0 Brafdyk's Mystic Succor (1STM): Conjures up bandages and gauze around the target's wounds, healing damage. Complexity: 3 Duration: 1 Power: 2 (required for healing, or is it possible for this to be 1?) Scope: 1 DC: 21/14 Stamina: 1 Resconjure Minor: Summons a small-to-medium simple non-unique inert object, which lasts for ~1 hour before deteriorating into nothingness. Stamina can be spent to permify the object. Complexity: 2 (maybe?) Duration: 2 (border before stamina is needed) Power: 2 Scope: 1 DC: 21/14 Stamina: 0 Location: Gives information on the location of an object or person. The more familiar the caster is with the target, the more accurate the intel. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 1 Scope: 1 DC: 15/10 Stamina: 0 Lehun's Messenger (1STM): Allows the caster to send a brief verbal message to someone they are personally acquainted with, even across great distances. The recipient may make a brief reply. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 1 Scope: 1 DC: 15/10 Stamina: 0 (this makes me suspect that Complexity should be 3, though it doesn't seem like it from the description) Shrewd Disappearance: Turns the caster invisible and dampens all sound they make. Complexity: 2 Duration: 3 Power: 2 Scope: 1 DC: 24/16 Stamina: 1 (seems appropriate for such a powerful ability) Calm: Instills a sense of peace and relaxation in the target, making them less wary and alert. Hostile characters affected are more likely to negotiate, and suffer a penalty to attack. Complexity: 3 Duration: 2 Power: 2 Scope: 1 DC: 24/16 Stamina: 1 Fireball (1STM): Fires a large fireball at the target that detonates on impact, doing damage to it and anything in a moderate AoE. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 2 Scope: 3 DC: 24/16 Stamina: 1 Cyclone: Creates fierce winds about the caster, pushing and knocking down anyone near and potentially stunning them. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 2 Scope: 2 DC: 21/14 Stamina: 0 Telekinesis: Magically pushes and/or pulls a targeted object. Larger and/or more complex tasks may require stamina. Complexity: 1 Duration: 1 Power: 1 Scope: 1 DC: 12/8 (really not sure about this one) Stamina: 0 Teleport: Instantly relocate something from one place to another place. Larger objects require stamina. Teleporting living matter or something to somewhere out of the caster's LoS greatly reduces the odds of success. The spell can only transport something in its entirety. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 3 (maybe?) Scope: 2 (for range, if I'm understanding it correctly) DC: 24/16 Stamina: 1 Detrimentum: Disrupts the molecular structure of a targeted object or creature, potentially disintegrating it. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 2 (assuming medium attack power) Scope: 1 DC: 18/12 Stamina: 0 Curing: Purges the recipient of toxins. Note that, depending on the severity of the ailment, stamina may be required. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 2 Scope: 1 DC: 18/12 Stamina: 0 Drain Life: Drain life force from a creature, replenishing your own. May require stamina to effect larger targets. Complexity: 2 Duration: 1 Power: 2 Scope: 1 DC: 18/12 Stamina: 0

Abyss is on the 7th? *goes to look* Well son of a gun, so it is. Must have forgotten about that.

*sigh* Sarelim kind of needs to be there for this next session, so I guess we'll reschedule. How the 4th, 5th, and 7th look to everyone?

Oh, cool, I didn't know about that one.

Okay, I just want to check that everyone knows that you can enlarge the board on webDiplomacy. You guys did know that, right?

< 24 hour warning!

Aaand the log of session 7 is away. The quotes were a little sparse this time, but there were some good ones. Click to reveal.. (Yep, more quotes) Hopping Jaguar: "Also, I just had a great idea. Our little group could go by the nicknames Trixy, Bandy, Chanty, Limy, and Hoppy, we could be the stars of songs taught to children all over Mote!" Hopping Jaguar: "Ahhhhsnarggleblarghhhh... Heeeeeeeellllppp." Chantico: "Nothing personal, Jaguar, but I already slapped the others, and if I left you out they'd think I was playing favorites." Bandek: "How you holdin' up? Feelin' any better yet?" Hopping Jaguar: "La la la...ninja in the dark / has no spark / fears the landshark / here in the dark." Bandek: "Guess that's a no." Sarelim: "Ruff?" Viatrix: "Ruff." Viatrix: "As much as it pains me to say it, I don't think that brute force is going to be the solution here." Hopping Jaguar: "No more clever ideas, O Chantico sage of ages?" Chantico: "That's sage of rages if you sass me again." Sarelim : "Whub!"

Yep, we're still on for Thursday.

The log of session 6 should be in Nioca's hands now, so here are some quotes for ya all. Click to reveal.. Hopping Jaguar: "Chantico, don't try to be a pirate. I know pirates. I've fought pirates. Pirates are my enemies. And you, sir, are no pirate." Chantico: "I'm neither a pirate nor a sir, Mister Jaguar, but I am the captain of this vessel and the one thing I will not tolerate is mutiny!" Hopping Jaguar: "That's not fair. A head shot should at least slow it down..." Chantico: "She was a fine, fine vessel. Alas, for the good ship Chantico Is Awesome." Bandek: "Maybe it'll give me a wish or somethin' if I spare its life. Fish do that." Sarelim: "Knew I should've stayed a dog..."

Hm. Looks interesting, especially the new Stamina rules. I look forward to trying those out. I am a little concerned by the weapon rules though. They look a little complicated, which can make things difficult to figure for the DM during a session. Though that might just be my inexperience talking.

Ding-a-ling! Posting the whole character sheet here. I've made a new technique (which will need approval) and cribbed a few others from Amadan (because really, how many different ways can you shoot a bow). Click to reveal.. (Stats) Name: Marra Race: Nephil Female Occupation: Scout Alignment: Vengeful Description: Tan fur with a few white spots about the ears, lithe and somewhat short. Wears a sleeveless tunic and dark trousers. HP: 22/29 [+2] STM: 4/10 Armor: None Missile (Bows): 9 [+2] Stealth: 6 Perception: 6 Melee (Shortswords): 5 Acrobatics: 5 Athletics: 4 First Aid: 4 Nature: 3 Composure: 2 Banked Skill Points: 0 Click to reveal.. (Techniques) Bow Techniques: Take Aim: (1 STM) Spends a full round observing a target and setting up a shot at its vitals. The character may not move, attack or use items during the round spent taking aim. If the character fires at the target the following round, the attack has a bonus to hit and inflicts triple damage. Interrupting Shot: (1 STM) A painful attack breaks a target's concentration. In addition to dealing damage, the target saves to continue its current action (if applicable); otherwise, it takes a penalty to its next action. Rapid Fire: (1 STM) Fires off two arrows, either at different targets or at the same one. Both attacks have a slight penalty to hit. Iron Maiden (FRAct 2STM): Spend a full-round action to assail a single enemy with an unrelenting barrage of arrows, bolts, or javelins targeted at multiple parts of the body, pinning them to floors, walls or other fixed points. This attack is difficult to completely avoid, and the target takes additional damage the next time they try to act unless they first spend a standard action to free themselves. Requires 6 arrows. Shooter's Stance (MAct): The archer holds their current position and remains steady; so long as the character does not move from that spot, they gain a bonus to missile accuracy and can inflict additional damage on stronger rolls. However, remaining still also makes the character an easier target, causing their defense to drop until they break the stance. Truefire (FRAct OR 1STM): Utilizes skills, intuition, and perceptive abilities, enabling one to lock onto and shoot a specified target even if the character (or player) can't tell where the target is located, without taking concealment penalties. The character still needs to have a reasonably clear shot, and firing with someone downrange increases friendly fire risk. Melee Techniques: Pounce: Marra attempts to sneak up on an unwary foe and attack them. Attack as normal, but make an additional Stealth check. If the check is passed, the attack will have a bonus to accuracy and will stun the target for a round if it connects. Can only be used if the target is not aware of Marra's presence. Cat and Mouse: Marra positions herself close to a target enemy but does not attack. If the target attacks her that round, she gets a bonus to defense against that attack. If that attack would miss under normal circumstances, Marra may counterattack. If the target attempts to move away or attack anyone besides Marra that round, she gets an attack of opportunity with a bonus to hit. Stalwart Defense: (1 stamina) As a free action (no roll required), can prepare to parry oncoming attacks. That round, Marra receives a bonus to defense and takes slightly less damage from hostile attacks. Refraining from attacking that round provides a stronger effect, as does spending additional stamina. Other: Martial Direction: As a move action, Marra shouts instructions to an individual or group that is using a type of weapon she is familiar with. This gives the target a bonus to hit, based upon Marra's composure and relevant weapon skill. Click to reveal.. (Items) Inventory: - Gold: 100 - Clothes - Cavewood Bow - Yew Bow - Quiver: crude arrows: 5 steel arrows: 4 - Crude Shortsword - Imperial Blade (symbol has been scratched off) - Dried Lizard Meat: 4 days worth - Lamp