Behind the Lines

[Lighthearter]

Map updated.

Spoiler :

Mission Complete: Down in the Deep
Rewards: +1000XP. +2 Rewards.

Spoiler :

Current Tiebreaker: DT

The Rewards you choose this time will NOT be available the next time you complete a mission. More Reward options may become available as the game proceeds.

+3HP for All PCs and Current Companions
+1 Time Delay for Current Missions Disappearing
+1 Free SP Invocation for The Next Mission
Corran may immediately take Crack Spotter(Once per Companion)
A New Mission Lead(If I have a new mission I am prepared to add to the roster but has not technically unlocked yet) - "Lighting a Fire"

XP Gained: 500XP+1000XP(Mission completion)=1500XP
Timotei gains an additional +400 in Catchup XP. Also, +1 Stat Point. He reaches Level Two(+5HP, +1 Feat OR Additional +5HP OR +1 Stat Point). He should be at 1900XP.

All Other PCs should have 3650XP. These reach Level Three(+5HP, Additional +5HP OR +1 Stat Point, +1 Feat OR +1 SP Capacity).

One Additional Weapon Upgrade is available to all PCs, assuming they can reach a location with a workshop to actually install the upgrade.

The raid on the mines is completed, and despite the discovery of a strange substance that can convert human tissue on contact(which seems highly weaponisable), blowing up the facility went off without a hitch. With the operation shut down, hopefully Lourene's acquisition of this material will be substantially slowed for the near future. It's time to turn your attention toward other matters...

Enemy Types Updated: Lourene Clockwork Man.

 

[Patchy]

Level Up: Boot Camp Training (WIS)

Patchy's Pick:
Reward One: +3 HP Its the only permanent statistical boost available to us, and is thus the obvious pick for our first reward.
Reward Two: +1 Time Delay Now this one seems less obvious, but I have it on good authority that after next mission things are going to change a lot on the over-world and I'd like to do at least one more "regular" mission before we pick Back to War and start advancing the plot. None of the other rewards options really catch my interest either +1 SP for the whole party for one mission isnt much, Corran ought to spend his main actions shooting rather than spotting, and we have more than enough missions already.
Mission: EDIT Refuge No secret talks were had here.

 

[Kinich-Ahau]

Took +1 INT and the Demolitions Expert feat

Also voting for HP and Time Delay, for more or less the same reasons.
I vote for Refuge as our next mission. I want to upgrade my armor.

 

[Lighthearter]

In case it wasn't clear: if you leveled up to Level Three, you gain 5HP, yay...AND you can have 1 Stat Point OR 5 more HP. AND on top of that, you can also have 1 Feat OR an additional SP capacity.

 

[Celticfury]

Level Up Bonuses: Take the feat Boot Camp Training (WIS) and +1 AIM

Voting:
Reward 1: +1 Time Delay. The more we can sabotage the enemy before we need to join up with friendly forces, the better.
Reward 2: +3 HP. Permanent stat increases are always useful, especially with health.
Mission: Fire on the Water. Destroying the frigate will serve as a serious blow to the enemy. And on the insane off chance we might be able to temporarily commandeer it, it might open up some options (though even I know this is a long shot. Just spitballing here really).

 

[KaiserElectric]

I will vote for the +1 Time Delay and take +10 HP and the Melee Expert feat. Fire on the Water also sounds like a fun mission, so I vote for that one.

 

[Dem Taqat]

Level up Choice: Stat Point: 1 STR, Feat: Boot Camp Training (AIM)

My Votes:
Reward One: +3 HP for all PCs and Current Companions. It's a permanent boost, what more is there to say?
Reward Two: +1 Time Delay for Current Missions Disappearing. None of the remaining options are all that great, so we might as well be unanimous.
Missions: Smash and Grab. Yes I know it's too late for it to actually win, but I'm going to throw out my preference for it anyway. Targeting the enemies command network will have a noticeable impact on their war effort, and this is a great opportunity to do just that, especially since we know there is a dent in their naval strength from the frigate's immobilisation. Picking purely based on merit, that would be my option, since it as more impact than hitting a single frigate, and establishes a clear pattern of operations in the south that should allow safer resting at Refuge the following mission. That said, since I am the current tiebreaker, I will pick Refuge, on the grounds we have had no proper safe stops since the battle. Not that I am expecting this particular plan to go exactly as advertised.

We can get a second permanent boost by further buffing Corran, which could come in handy on occasions when he is using the old veteran ability, but as with smash and grab, it seems a little late to really press that argument.

DT

 

[Lighthearter]

Map updated.

Spoiler :

Mission Complete: Refuge
Current Tiebreaker: Celt
Rewards: +500XP. +1 Reward.

Spoiler :

+1 Feat for One PC(determined by vote)
+1 Stat Point for All PCs
+1 Free SP Invocation for The Next Mission
Corran may immediately take Crack Spotter(Once per Companion)
A New Mission Lead(If I have a new mission I am prepared to add to the roster but has not technically unlocked yet) - "Lighting a Fire"

Workbench available!

Spoiler :

Upgrades: If you have an upgrade available, you may have a single upgrade on each of your weapons without a check. Adding a second upgrade requires an Engineering check against a DC of 10. A third requires a check against a DC of 18. Failure will break your weapon. A more mechanically-inclined teammate can perform the check for you.

Corran has 2 Upgrades available. He currently possesses:
Musket: Rifling, Sight
Knife

Sabre:
-Tempered Steel: +2 Damage
-Well Balanced: +1 to-hit
-Dueling Blade: When you engage an enemy with this sword, they must engage you on their following turn or take an attack of opportunity.

Musket:
-Rifling: +1 to-hit
-Sight: +2 damage
-Bayonet: Removes the melee combat penalty with this weapon. Cannot be used with Extended Barrel.
-Extended Barrel: +3 to-hit. Cannot be used with a bayonet. Increases melee penalty.

Pistol:
-Double Barrel: +1 damage
-Rifling: +1 to-hit
-Steam Auto-Loader: Every two shots you take with this weapon, you may take a third for free.

Knife:
-Throwing Knife: Knife can be thrown as a melee attack at range.
-Serrated Blade: +1 damage
-Balanced: +1 to-hit

Spoiler :

Assembly: If you have enough mechanical parts, power cores, Blue Gems, or any other material, you can assemble items when at a workbench.

Currently, the team has:
1 Mechanical Parts
0 Power Cores
2 Explosive Charges

Disassembling the Clockwork Spider in Richard's possession will net you 1 Mechanical Part and 1 Power Core. Disassembling a Grenade of any type will get you an Explosive Charge.

Items to Build:
Spider: 2 Parts, 1 Core
Grenade(Fragmentation, Smoke): 1 Charge
Grenade(Pulse): 1 Charge, 1 Power Core
Land Mine: 1 Charge, 1 Part
Revolver: 1 Pistol, 3 Parts

If you have an idea for an item to assemble that is not on this list, run it by me.

XP Gained: 500XP+500XP(Mission completion)=1000XP
Timotei gains an additional +600 in Catchup XP. He reaches Level Three(+5HP, Additional +5HP OR +1 Stat Point, +1 Feat OR +1 SP Capacity). He should be at 3000XP.

All Other PCs should have 4650XP.

Corran has completed his Mission-1. He has Leveled Up as well(+1 Stat Point, +1 Feat/Bonus, +7HP). Since this is his first Subplot mission, he also gains +1SP that he will use at player discretion.

One Additional Weapon Upgrade is available to all PCs who leveled up this round, assuming they can reach a location with a workshop to actually install the upgrade.

New Mission Available: (1)"Making Friends" - You've discovered that Corran's family was taken somewhere called "Camp Victoire" which appears to be a reeducation camp for Kingdom civilians. You've also discovered that there is a lieutenant at Fort Emerald who can tell you where the camp is. Time for a smash and grab.

New Mission Available: (5)"In Darkness Dwells" - Rumors have reached you along your travels of a new Lourainer mine opening in the Gemstones, exporting more of the strange blue crystals you found near Mill. If Lourene wants them, you can't let them have them.

The flight to Corran's farm is over, and in the end, you got your hot meal and your full night's sleep. However you got them at a price: Corran's wife, daughter-in-law and granddaughter have apparently been taken by Lourene for reeducation at a camp somewhere in the occupied territory, and despite interrogating an enemy officer and perhaps learning the key to finding the camp, you also hosted the White Tiger and her adjutant for dinner. Montserrat seemed dangerous, but reasonable. She pledged not to return with a battalion and drive you from the farm, but it still seems wise to move on, at least for the moment. It appears she will be your opponent in the battle behind the lines, and time will tell if she lives up to her reputation as a wily, nigh-unbeatable mastermind.

Corran dug through his collection of weapons. He turned up:

2xKnife(Throwing Knife)
1xMusket
2xExplosive Charge

Whatever you can't use at the moment, you still might want to keep in case you lose or break your existing weapons. If nothing else, they might be useful to arm companions with down the road.

Enemy Types Updated: Lourene Hunter.
Bios updated: Alexis Montserrat, Yvette Cardolan.

 

[Patchy]

Patchy's Pick:
Reward: +1 Stat Point That's basically the equivalent of a free level for everyone, I did say if we only had one pick I'd pick it every time. And guess what, we only have one pick so that does simplify things.
Workbench: Use my free upgrade to affix a bayonet my musket. Then go bother Tim about putting rifling on it as well. (Kinich you have to confirm this order)
Corran: +1 AIM he's still one-shotting most things he hits so long as he hits them so let's make sure he hits them, Crack Spotter has been re-balanced to be no longer **** and allows him to spot and shoot thus increasing party damage output significantly, it would be especially useful for middle-of-the-road shooters like Jesse to have a spotter.
Mission: Making Friends What, we found out that Corran's family got sent to re-education camps and you think Jesse isn't going to immediately head off in that direction? We have a friend who's family is in danger and a chance to break up another prison camp, you'll have to tie him down to keep Jesse away from there.

 

[Kinich-Ahau]

Took +1 INT and the Ace feat

+1 stat point is the only way to go

We seem to have multiple unclaimed muskets, so take one and upgrade it with an Extended Barrel
Upgrade my armor; enhanced ranged dodge.
Build 1 frag and 1 smoke grenade.
Timotei is more than willing to help his less mechanically-inclined allies upgrade their weapons (approve all request by allies to have me perform their upgrades)

As long as the point doesn't go somewhere stupid, like STR or CHA, it doesn't really matter to me where Corran puts his stat point; Crack Spotter is a pretty good bonus, though.

I'll also go for Making Friends; may as well finish Corran's subplot and get all his bonuses.

 

[Dem Taqat]

My Votes:
Reward: +1 Stat Point for all PCs. As noted this is a permanent reward, and statistically speaking gives a far higher bonus output than any single feat.
Corran: +1 AIM, Crack Spotter. Currently, Corran's Combat role is a damage-dealer of last resort, and boosting his to-hit chance will ensure he remains mostly reliable in situations where this contribution is necessary. The boost to Crack Spotter means that any other feat we select is competing with a probable +8/9 to hit/+5 to damage for a PC ranged attack every turn, and no other feat even comes close to those numbers.
Mission: Making Friends. Much as I liked the option of Smash and Grab, a guerrilla movement lives and dies on the basis of popular support for itself and popular opposition to the opposed regime. A liberation option at Camp Victoire will give us both, and our position is not so secure we can afford to pass up an opportunity like that. We should also consider that putting this off too long will likely result in Corran becoming even more intractable than he already is, )) or possibly leaving the party entirely. It's also the closest option, although we do have to be aware that the enemies new high command will almost certainly have word of our intentions to this effect from the prisoner they obtained. If we pursue this path at a later date, we will undoubtedly see increased security at the camp, and even now it will likely be a race against time.

Equipment Allocation:
According to my notes and the recent thread post, we appear to have access to the following equipment, excluding the musket already claimed by Kinich:

4x Unmodified Knives
2x Knives, Throwing
1x Unmodified Musket
1x Musket, Extended Barrel
2x Explosive Charge
1x Ghille Suit

My proposals for equipment allocation are as follows:

Jesse: 1x Unmodified Knife
Albert: 1x Knife, Throwing (Because I want it, and also by virtue of being our stealth guy)
Richard: 1x Unmodified Knife, 1x Musket, Extended Barrel (By virtue of not having one, and having no specialisation in an alternate form of attack)
Reinhilde: 1x Unmodified Knife, 1x Unmodified Musket
Timotei: 1x Unmodified Knife, 2x Explosive Charge (Having the feats required to make best use of them)

The knives are allocated on the basis that we have enough for everyone, and therefore everyone is given a basic one unless they are being allocated a modified one. This leaves 1x Ghille suit and 1x Knife, Throwing, which if nobody else is interested in them, I would also like to take. It really depends on if there is anybody else who wishes to invest in secondary stealth capacity; if not it seems logical to maximise my own stealth abilities. We might also consider giving Reinhilde either the unomodified musket (or if Jesse successfully trades for a new one, his current one) or the ghille suit on the basis that her melee attack is the most versatility-limited combat option available to any player. We might also allocate Richard one of the charges, on the basis of not putting all our eggs in one basket, as he has our second highest INT score, but this loses out on a fairly major chunk of the bonuses that Timotei can bring to bear.

Upgrades:

Spoiler Probably Unnecessary Rules Quote :

-Weapons and Upgrades:
There are a few weapons in the game. Each one can be modified with one or more of three options. You can upgrade a weapon once per level up, provided you are in a position where you can work on the weapon. If you are not in such a position when you level up, you can bank the upgrade until you have access to a workshop. You CAN perform the roll and do the work of upgrading the weapon for a companion yourself, and it will cost THEM an upgrade, not you.

Adding a second upgrade to a weapon requires an engineering check(modified by INT) at a DC of 10, to avoid breaking the weapon. Adding a third requires a check at a DC of 17.

If my understanding of the upgrade system is correct, based on the above, I have access to two upgrades to spend, and no limit to the number that may be performed at once. As such, I would like to request Timotei adds the Steam Auto-Loader upgrade to my currently upgraded Pistol, and the Serrated Edge Upgrade to one of the Knives allocated to me above.

I Note the stat sheet for Alexis Montserrat contains the trait 'Officer and a Lady', despite her not being a Lady by her own admission. Just saying.

Edit: Proposals updated in light of responses.

DT
Putting in far too much Work

 

[Patchy]

I already have rifle upgrades covered, and considering how often I use mine as a melee tool I'd like to keep that extended barrel far away from Jesse.

 

[Celticfury]

Voting:
Reward: +1 Stat Point for Party. Everything that can be said in favor of this has been said.
Workbench: Use the free upgrade to add Tempered Steel to my sabre. If Tim has the time, add Rifling to the Extended Barrel Rifle.
Assembly: Disassemble the Clockwork Spider and use 1 Charge and 1 Power Core to construct 1 Pulse Grenade.
Corran: +1 AIM and Crack Spotter. Again, all that can be said about this has been done so.
Mission: Fire on the Water. As admirable and morally correct as it would be to save Corran's family, this seems far too obvious a move. The officer we had captured knows about Corran's family, and will likely tell Alexis about it. I fear this will set us up to be walking into a trap. Perhaps we ought to strike elsewhere first, divert attention away from this path before we commit to traversing it?
Sergeant's Suggestions: I approve of the Sergeant's suggestions as to the division of equipment.

 

[KaiserElectric]

Reward: +1 Stat Point for Party
Corran: +1 AIM and Crack Spotter
Mission: Making Friends Our first and foremost duty is to the people of this great Kingdom. We should not allow innocent civilians to languish in captivity while we have the means to release them.

The Se argent's equipment distribution is fine with me.

 

[Lighthearter]

Map updated.

Spoiler :

Mission Complete: Making Friends
Current Tiebreaker: Celt
Rewards: +500XP. +1 Reward.

Spoiler :

+1 Feat for One PC(determined by vote)
+3HP for All PCs and Current Companions
+1 Time Delay for Current Missions Disappearing
Colette may immediately take Elite Officer(Once per Companion)
A New Mission Lead(If I have a new mission I am prepared to add to the roster but has not technically unlocked yet) - "Lighting a Fire"

XP Gained: 500XP+500XP(Mission completion)=1000XP
Timotei gains an additional +650 in Catchup XP. He should be at 4650XP.

Reinhilde, Jesse and Arty should have 5650XP. They have all three Leveled Up(+5HP, +5 Additional HP/+1 Feat/+1 Stat Point)

Corran has completed his Mission-2. He has Leveled Up as well(+1 Stat Point, +1 Feat/Bonus, +7HP).
Corran has three Upgrades available for use the next time you are at a workbench.

Colette has joined the Scorpions as your second Companion. Remember, you can only have two Companions at a time, so if you find another one prior to completing either Colette or Corran's subplot, you will not be able to take them on at that moment. She has completed her introductory mission and has Leveled Up(+1Stat Point, +1 Feat/Bonus).
Colette has a single Upgrade available for use the next time you are at a workbench.

One Additional Weapon Upgrade is available to all PCs who leveled up this round, assuming they can reach a location with a workshop to actually install the upgrade.

Missions Disappeared: "Fire on the Water" and "Smash and Grab". The Brigadier on Queensland has left the island, and the Lourene frigate on the coast has been repaired and has returned to sea. These missions may reappear later in the game, but for now they are inaccessible.

New Mission Available: "(2)The Great Escape(Colette-1)" - Colette was placed in charge of rounding up captives to take to Camp Victoire for reeducation, and now that she has defected, she has given you information on a convoy bound for the camp from near the front lines east of Null. "Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to the convoy?" she asks with a gleam in her eye.

New Mission Available: "(1)Camp Victoire(Corran-3)" - Armed now with the location of Camp Victoire, you can execute a raid on the camp, either aggressively or stealthily, in the name of recovering Corran's family and any other captives you can get your hands on. Upon completion of this mission, Corran will exit the party for the foreseeable future.

Summary:

The smash and grab to retrieve the lieutenant in charge of rounding up internees for Camp Victoire went well - in fact, much better than expected, considering it turned out to be none other than Colette from In Memoriam, and she defected outright to join the Scorpions. Armed with her information and her leadership skills, you now stand poised to begin your raids on Camp Victoire or the convoys shipping in local civilians for reeducation, though with the battle lines stabilizing in the west, it might be time to make contact with the Kingdom forces by the Peregrine Bridge. Perhaps they'd be able to spare some men or equipment to help?

GM Recommendations, Comments, and Housekeeping:

I really suggest you get the lead out on Back to War fairly soon, though not necessarily this round. As soon as you complete it, about three or four other missions will open up, with the potential to seriously change the game. There is an argument for completing it prior to Great Escape or Camp Victoire, though I am not opposed to knocking one or both of those out first. In Darkness Dwells is currently the only mission that will disappear, but it's on a fairly long timer.

I would also like to run a straight RP mission, considering how characterization has developed over the last few sessions. This would not reflect on the various votes for next mission, and I could either run it next Tuesday in place of a regular mission or Thursday night out of sequence. I would be willing to look at a weekend possibility as well. Let me know what you think of this idea and what times work for you.

And finally, if anyone would like to submit ideas for missions or Lourene boss enemies(NOT enemy types), I would be more than happy to take them into consideration as we proceed into the game's second act.

Lec, you have your Reward stat point from last mission to assign.

Enemy Types Updated: Lourene Chevalier.

 

[Kinich-Ahau]

Let's go with a feat for a PC; I have no preference, unless we do Corran's mission, in which case I would like it for myself. Corran is currently our best ranged damage dealer; I have almost identical ranged damage stats, though, so I could be a good sub for him if we decide to give the guy the boot.

On that note, I would give Corran either +1 AIM or +1 WIS, and the Vital-Point Targeting feat.

May as well give Colette Elite Officer; beyond the boost to her buffing skills, we haven't encountered any Elite Officer enemies yet, so if she took that bonus, we would be better prepared to fight Elite Officers in the future, by virtue of knowing what abilities they can use. I have no preference for her stat boost as long as it doesn't go to INT or something equally bad for her.

As for missions, I would like to not do Camp Victoire until Colette is better, but beyond that I have no preference. If forced to decide I'd probably go with In Darkness Dwells.

 

[Patchy]

Level Up: Boot Camp Training (DEX)

Patchy's Pick:
Reward One: +1 Feat (Jesse: Lucky Sob) Lucky Sob has been buffed considerably and now acts as a super SP point, which is very attractive to Jack of All Stats characters like Arty or Jesse, and Arty already got it the first mission so I think it's Jesse's turn. While Kinich could use a feat to buff his damage dealing that's only helpful in fighting scenarios as opposed to Lucky sob which could be helpful in any scenario.
Corran: +1 WIS, LUCKY S.O.B. Cheese.
Colette: +1 CHA (She's a leadership support), Elite Officer We actually have encountered an Elite Officer once, she just only lasted one round before we killed her. But what we did see was an amazing new skill: Rally which allows an ally to take another attack on their turn. While some of Colette's buffs are just generally useful they are just bonus to-hit, heals, or stuns; this upgrade would allow Colette to put extra damage out on the field by trading her action for a dedicated damage dealer like Tim or Corran allowing them to go twice and increasing our ability to focus fire down an enemy target.
Mission: RP? Jesse kinda has a lot of unfinished business with Corran and Colette so I'd like to take some time to go over that before Back to War, not to mention building new ties. If I had to pick a combat mission though, it would probably be Camp Victorie. As much as I'd like to do Back to War soon it just feels rushed if we take Colette to the main resistance before she's had a chance to prove herself and integrate her into the team. Shutting down a place as foul as Camp Victorie reputably is seems like a great start.

 

[Dem Taqat]

My Votes:

Reward: +1 Feat for Patchy or Kinich. Much as I would like further stat buffs for myself, additional HP seems unnecessary, and it seems only fair to try and spread around the additional feats.
Corran: +1 WIS, Lucky Sob. We've already buffed his to-hit, so now we should get to work on damage, and short term damage output will be increased significantly more with a second critical than with the more passive boost from vital point targeting. Long term damage output is irrelevant when he inevitably leaves the party.
Colette: +1 CHA, Elite Officer. These are fairly obvious looking at her ability lineup, especially given how useful the tactical manual could prove. It might also help offset the deserter penalty if she can boost her bluff and disguises.
Mission: RP or Camp Victoire. The loss of Corran does not to my mind outweigh the strategic value of this target, especially since our RP for the last couple of missions has focused on its destruction. Similarly, this is the last chance we may get to hit it before it is reinforced or Colette's defection is made known. It will never be a better option than it is right now. That said, an RP mission can really be fit in anywhere without detracting from strategic considerations, and given how certain people who shall go unnamed () limit the time available in regular missions, it would be nice to devote some to RP.

Doing RP out of sequence on Thursday or on Saturday are not problems for me.

DT

 

[Lighthearter]

We'll do an RP mission next, and at the moment it looks like that will be Tuesday in place of a normal mission. If people are free later next week, I would be perfectly fine with running the actual mission out of sequence.

Colette's sheet has been updated with +1CHA and Elite Officer, and Corran's with +1WIS. At the moment Camp Victoire leads for the actual next mission, but Celt is our tiebreaker and he and Lec have yet to vote.

Currently there is no overwhelming consensus on which PC should get the Feat or on which Feat Corran should take.

 

[Celticfury]

Voting:
Reward: +1 Feat for Patchy. Patchy is probably the best PC we have, so boost him up.
Corran: +1 Wisdom, Lucky SOB. Sure, let's boost the sniper. One hit kills ahoy.
Colette: +1 Charisma, Elite Officer. As has been said before, leadership support needs charisma.
Mission: Camp Victorie after the RP mission. Now that we have Colette, maybe we will be in a better position to save Corran's family.