Fall with Fleme

[Fleme]

Second DM Intervention:

Old_Lion, you're up!

First a clarification for future ref: Unless a quest otherwise specifies, it does not end until you return to the source of the quest.

On to the game:

Gryndane has completed his first two quests, Gryndane the Protector and Fizziks versus the Undead. For these, the rewards have been placed accordingly; Swift Boots for +1 Movement and Phoenix Blood to avoid any unpleasantries that might come his way early on.

Followups:

Quest 3, part 2:Fizziks versus the Giant

Spoiler :

First of all, thank you Gryndane. Those undead did not seem at all pleasant considering it is just me and Zak here. It's nice to be able to walk out here in the desert to get a feel of the land once again. Perhaps I'll get to go refill at my copper mine soon? Perhaps not yet, but soon.

Ahh, I'm not saying I enjoyed having that brute of a hill giant around but having someone who is ten times your size doing your dirty work and watching your back does give a certain sense of security - especially when I'm not yet setup! ARGH! That blasted giant took my tools along with him, as if losing him as a lackey did not hurt enough. If only I had my tools, I'd be able to build proper defenses instead of having to resort to hiding behind a moat on a hill. What are we, barbarians?

Anyhow, before I get ahead of myself I'd like for you to know that I took the liberty of shipping a seeing stone to Telyhohn so you can keep an eye out on the desert through my latest invention, the Ooglamatron 300x, my latest invention in observation technology. The clockwerk should actually be there already, I sent it as a token of good will. Anyhow… Since your intentions are clearly amiable and you seem to get things done, how about a new mission? You know I’ll make it worth your while.

That blasted giant. He crossed me at the most inopportune moment and now that the skeletons are dealt with, I need for you to reaqcuire the hammer for me. You see, it's a Golden Hammer I happened to... ehm... purchase, from a Luchuirp craftsman and it is beyond any tool in this world and there is not a thing it could not do. You see, it's a Hammer in its base form but due to the fine internal mechanics of the piece, it adapts to the situation as if it has a mind of its own and I would venture a guess that the hammer is smarter than the giant now in possession of it. Please get it back so I can get back to constructing my inventions. The matter is of grave importance and you know I will make it worth your while - I'll construct something just for you as soon as I get that hammer back.

You'll find him in a Steading due west. Careful though, there might be more giants in there but I took a look in the Ooglamatron and noticed that its Ge'err who is standing guard so you could simply claim the hammer by being stealthy enough not to arouse the other giants. Use any means necessary, I need my hammer!

Q: Defeat Ge'err and return the Golden Hammer to Fizziks.

R: Unknown. Most likely Fizziks will build something for you to use.

Quest 1: part 2: A Guardian in the making.

For this quest you need to visit Telyhohn. When you do, read the spoiler:

Spoiler :

You’ve served your nation with valor, that of a true champion. We, the explorer council, are pleased to see your progression and have decided to bestow upon you one of the greatest honors our nation can give its heroes. It has come to our attention that you would wish to become a Guardian of this land and although you’ve already gone above and beyond the call of duty, we need to ask your assistance with the Lizard threat looming on our nation.

There are several reports of Lizard activity in the surrounding jungles and we need you to sort this situation once and for all. First we need you to scout the jungle with the assistance of our Rogues. We need to know the extent of the Lizard infestation and the source of it. Take a good look around and report back with whatever useful information you might get.

Q: Locate at least 2 marked Lizard locations. (DM note: Locate does not mean you have to visit the tile, just screenshot it) Destroy any Lizardman units that might get in your way.

Q2: Gain 25 Experience

Reward: Return to Telyhohn at the end of a turnset (not necessarily this turnset) and become a Guardian. (Gain basic Guardian promotions, new model)

Quest 4 update:

Spoiler :

The Lizard threat is escalating! You need to return to Telyhohn immediately to defend it from being overrun. There are lizard scouts spotted overlooking the city from the hills just south of Telyhohn and there are reports of lizard sightings in the southwestern mountain pass as well.

Q: Destroy 5 Lizardman units (screenies) and 3 ruins.

R: Reward remains unknown.

This quest overrides the original Quest 4.

Lastly for the record, the quest 2: Echoes of Foxford, is still in play.

Due to the forum being borked somehow (refuses to upload files) I put it on Megaupload. Has a 45 second wait, but it should be ok.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CPEGDTR8

Apologies for the inconvenience. Questions?

 

[Fleme]

Did the uncommon file hosting location drive people away or what happened?

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Maybe people are still having problems with accessing the server. I'm keeping an eye on the game, but not taking due to being far back. I'd say give Old_Lion a day and the ask AntiTwelve to swap in. Or you could just PM him.

 

[Fleme]

I have all the time in the world for the next 70 days so I'm not in a rush

However, unless Old_Lion answers soon, its skips for him and game passes to AntiTwelve. You set?

 

[Old_Lion]

I'm up! don't skip me

first : the current situaution:

The most immediate threat is a specter next to our adventuring team :
We just need to get rid of it.

Then there is the situation with the lizardmen.
I'm inclined to send the team there, Gryndane should be able to help there. There are some lizardmen scouts that look like they won't move soon if not hunted. We also want to destry their lair.

After that, we'll be able to explore south.

In the mean time, we want to help old Fizziks, the man looks like he coud have good ideas. By luck the steading he spoke about is probably the one that stands near our way. We'll have a look.

We are researching Ancient chants. For a while.

After the current warrior, I plan our first worker.

Any remarks ? go fast, since I'll play soon in order to have the game going.

 

[Old_Lion]

I played two turns and paused in order to discussthe situation (Our specialist kind of supposed there could be a survivors camps in the south (How did they know ?)

Turn 30 :
our warrior in the south is stuck by the entrenched lizards scouts, so He decides to destroy the then empty lair. good idae : He finds a faith shield that gives him the strength to go further (+10% strength)

Just after our Hero defeats the attacking specter, Elohims propose to exchange maps. sounds like a good idea, we want to know the world. ELohim live further north

during that time, our faith bringer explore the world further south, and finds out he is blocked by other entrenched lizards. HE decided to settle on a forested hill and wait for help.

And in the south... Cat Bane finds this :
The Tlacotli Sacellum is garded by a Wyvern Gardian (6 strength) that does not want to move (held unit)

I'll wait for advice before going further. Do we explore the Survivors camp ? Do we wait for our hero ?

 

[Fleme]

Quests won't open up to other units than heroes so you're free to move where-ever you want with your Rogue.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Well the survivor camp is a place by Fleme, so he/she may want the save back to give us some more juicy quests. The Tlacotli Sucellum is something I've not seen before but may be part of the FF scenery, so I'll need help on that.

Edit; forgot about the hero rule, as we don't have the power to do anything about the Sucellum, ignore it as regards the scout. The other thing can wait too. We don't need too many quest markers in the one go, it'll dilute our normal game too far.

 

[Jarrema]

my thoughts:
1. lets go with our hero home to help defend city
2. then, let him explore Survivors Camp
3. worker is a good idea

 

[Old_Lion]

Since Cat Bane's non-hero statusprevented him to find the survivor's camp, I went ahead.

Cat Bane's did not find the survivor's camps, but he did fins Lizards. plenty of them.
Reports say they found him tasty.

IN the north, after recovering from the figth with the specter, Gryndane went to visit the steading. And there was Ge'err, playing with his brand new hammer.

Estimating he had a 92.7% good odds to win, and having blod phenix, our shock promoted Gryndan attacked. And won. But lost his phenix blood promotion ( see the "The Austrin Gryndane has been born again message")
So I wonder : did the calculation take the phenix blood promotion into account ? I kind of thougth it worked like immortal promotion : if you lose, you satrt anew in the capital city....

Well. Ge'err was vainquished anyway.
And we found the golden hammer. And we found fish=> then Gryndane had an epiphany : You can take fish in the sea !

Well, elders back in town will find a wy to do that without a golden hammer.

with fish in every pocket, Gryndane went back to Telyhohn., and received his new mission ( I read the quest 1, part 2)
What the elders asked for was exactly in line with our plans !
And it is about time ! Our Faith bringer in the south is being attacked !

What a great hero Gryndane is ! Killing a giant ! Figuring fishing ! going south and Saving Austrin butts !
Well... just a thing : He was to occupied with his flashy fishes when leaving the steading ruins, and just forgot to take the hammer along.
+ I clicked on "next turn instead of save, so we are at turn 46. But I did not do a thing on that turn.

EDIT attachement failed, so use that link : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IL92UP00

 

[Fleme]

Third DM intervention.

Heh, I got a nice little laugh from you forgetting the hammer . Anyhow, I would've had to mention that you can't use the hammer as a specialist (it turns into an Engineer specialist if you make it) but you could've used it for damage until you return to Fizziks' - you will have to return it no matter what unless you wish to turn Fizziks hostile (you don't want that as he controls the mountain pass and I'll be nasty if you steal). Should you choose so, you can dispatch a Rogue to transport the hammer to Fizziks. I repeat, at any case do not use the hammer to create a specialist - it's unbalanced.

On to the game: Only quest that completed is Fizziks versus the Giant, reward will be available after the set in which you return the hammer.

Story update:

Spoiler :

[Gryndane]

...I travelled far and wide. Is my cause true and am I just being an explorer or do my actions change the world? Is killing to save another being justified? Killing for personal gain surely isn't. I fear for my integrity.

Is my mission against the lizardmen justified? They seem far too organized to be simple barbarians and the recent reports of a seemingly ancient shrine guarded by a disciplined elite unit speaks volumes in strengthening my belief. I must take it on to myself to discover whether there is something more to these lizards. They are so different... and they weren't hostile towards us right away and I'm almost inclined to believe that we are the aggressor here, not them. I must find a way to communicate with these lizards.

Q: Find a way to enter a marked lizard location.

Event:

Spoiler :

As the warm western winds bring tidings of a good harvest, this year they also bring with them an alarming sight. Telyhohnian hunter group preying on the native Deer have spotted several ships sailing along the coast. All attempts of communication have been met with a flurry of arrows and the explorer council has ordered hunters to be even more careful while hunting for Deer. Ultimately, these sea people seem more curious than hostile towards us. What will this mean for the Austrin?

Event:

Spoiler :

Wolf packs have been spotted to the east towards Foxford. The area did not previously host any wolves, so it might be that the situation in the village has escalated to a catastrophic degree. Explorers are to follow extreme caution.

Event:

Spoiler :

The explorer council is disappointed at the efforts of Austrin explorers. You are tasked to assign rogues to locate other civilizations and establish trade.

Some concluding words: Too bad the Phoenix Blood didn't work as intended. However, you can expect me to "manually" work that, so technically the promo is still there. Ultimately though, I hope that you won't embard on suicide missions and go with extreme care wherever you may go. The jungle is risky and if you misstep, you can die even with the promos you already have. Entrenched lizards are not melee nor do you get any benefit from the woodsman when attacking so ultimately it might be best to stick to defending while you explore unless you catch some of them in the open.

For those of you who are wondering about Gryndanes alignment, he is still Neutral but his choices are already pushing him towards a more evil approach which will ultimately mean that quests with options will no longer feature the [Good] option but instead just the [Neutral] and [Evil] ones. You're not there yet, however, not even close. What is neutral anyway?

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VK8KIFQB

Oh, and Tlacotli Sacellum is something I added.

AntiTwelve up, uberfish on deck.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Looks good to my eyes Old_Lion. For the next set I'd say get the hammer back to Fizzik and then go after the other quests.

 

[lymond]

What is neutral anyway?

I've always felt that neutral was the most complex and opaque alignment:

Neutral

Neutral alignment, also referred to as True Neutral or Neutral Neutral, is called the "Undecided" or "Nature's" alignment. This alignment represents Neutral on both axes, and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment. A farmer whose primary overriding concern is to feed his family is of this alignment. Most animals, lacking the capacity for moral judgment, are of this alignment. Many roguish characters who play all sides to suit themselves are also of this alignment.

Some Neutral characters, rather than feeling undecided, are committed to a balance between the alignments. They may see good, evil, law and chaos as simply prejudices and dangerous extremes. Mordenkainen is one such character who takes this concept to the extreme, dedicating himself to a detached philosophy of neutrality to ensure that no one alignment or power takes control of the Flanaess.

Druids frequently follow this True Neutral dedication to balance, and under Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules were required to be this alignment. In an example given in the 2nd Edition Player's Handbook, a typical druid might fight against a band of marauding gnolls, only to switch sides to save the gnolls' clan from being totally exterminated.[8]

Lara Croft, Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Han Solo in his early Star Wars appearance are neutral

 

[AntiTwelve]

Got it. Will play Thursday. If the wait is unbearable then either: A) assassinate my English professor, or B) actually A is good.


or uberfish can take the save.

 

[Fleme]

Exactly lymond. Waiting is fine, we haven't heard from uberfish in a while.

 

[Old_Lion]

About the elders being disapointed :
They should try and travel by themselves ! Crossing the world while keeping good health is not that easy. Travels take time in this dangerous world, even for Austrin Heroes. !
Exchanging the map with Elohim also did alot for our world knowledge...

 

[uberfish]

I can take the swap and play tonight if we want to move the game forward, it's kind of difficult to get into the game without having played a turn yet really.

Like with the werewolf, I'm in favour of finding some way to cooperate with the lizards rather than killing them, so the plan would be to deliver that hammer and explore some more.

 

[Fleme]

You could do a swap, I have content ready and waiting for a few discoveries and swapping would make this go faster. I'll go skiing this coming weekend so I'll be unavailable from friday night until some time sunday.

 

[uberfish]

@Fleme: Gryndane is severely bugged at the moment. I won a fight and he (she?) transformed himself into a treasure chest (??) Reloaded, did the fight again and he seemed to behave ok. Then after a second fight he turned into a treasure chest again.

Can you check this out please? Can't really play the game like this.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

@Fleme: Gryndane is severely bugged at the moment. I won a fight and he (she?) transformed himself into a treasure chest (??) Reloaded, did the fight again and he seemed to behave ok. Then after a second fight he turned into a treasure chest again.

Can you check this out please? Can't really play the game like this.

I know it's annoying, but our hero turning into treasure chests is the gassest (defn. no. 4) bug I've ever heard of.