Heroica RPG General Discussion

[Flipz]

Oh, OK, I get it. I was envisioning more of a "parting of the Red Sea" type of thing.

Quick, how fast can we get to Alexis? Wait, we've got three Mages--Teleport!

[Darth Nihilus]

Oh dear. I seem to have, without inteding to, conformed to the colored-text trend!

[K-Nut]

OOC: Sorry! I forgot to dust the baseplate before taking the pictures.

Really? I thought that may be intentional, since it kind of looks a bit like sand, having grass poking out of the sand.

[Jebediahs]

What's the estimated start date for Quest 21? What do the current sign-ups for it look like?

[Rumble Strike]

I'm going to have very limited internet access (possibly none) for the next week, so I would understand if this was a problem and Tarn was not picked for either Quest 20 or 21, but given that neither quest currently has a confirmed start date I won't scrub my name off of the signups. Hope this is OK.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Rumble Strike

[CMP]

Oh dear. I seem to have, without inteding to, conformed to the colored-text trend!

Hey, I started that trend on Heroica!

[Bricksandparts]

I'm going to have very limited internet access (possibly none) for the next week, so I would understand if this was a problem and Tarn was not picked for either Quest 21 or 22, but given that neither quest currently has a confirmed start date I won't scrub my name off of the signups. Hope this is OK.

Think you mean 20 or 21. Those are the only ones still up...

[Rumble Strike]

Well spotted Bricks, of course your Quest is #22. I have changed it now

[Flipz]

Hey, welcome to new player Dwellington who has just appeared in Heroica Hall as the mage Aberforth Swindle!

[Jebediahs]

Hey, welcome to new player Dwellington who has just appeared in Heroica Hall as the mage Aberforth Swindle!

What elemental gem is he starting with?

[legobodgers]

After playing the game for a while and seeing which gems are rarer or more useful I think that a diamond would be the best gem to start with. It is interesting that no mage has chosen to start with one yet.

[K-Nut]

After playing the game for a while and seeing which gems are rarer or more useful I think that a diamond would be the best gem to start with. It is interesting that no mage has chosen to start with one yet.

I know I didn't want to start with one (don't ask why it was my second choice) but I was sure as heck glad to get one in Quest #5. Now It has become Althior's signature gem, like Garnet is En Sabuh Nur's or Sapphire is Arasmyth's.

[Brickdoctor]

I know that if I were starting out as a Mage, I'd pick Amethyst.

But then again, maybe that's because I'm a QM who 99% of the time uses Humanoid enemies.

[Dwellington]

Hello everyone!

I've chosen Amethyst in case of bandits or evil gangs of other dudes that aren't necessarily straight-up monsters. I figure as long as there aren't any demons around I'll be fine!

(Watch as now there are like five hundred demons all over the place...)

[K-Nut]

I've chosen Amethyst in case of bandits or evil gangs of other dudes that aren't necessarily straight-up monsters. I figure as long as there aren't any demons around I'll be fine!

I had a feeling you would with the purple getup.

[Dwellington]

I am a sucker for purple, yeah.

Funnily enough, I don't think I actually have a purple gemstone in my collection.

[JimBee]

Dwellington, I believe you also start with a potion.

Yup, Diamonds and Amethysts are definitely the rarest ones (they're the only two that didn't appear at Elphaba's). I would also choose Amethyst because like Doc said, most of the enemies are humanoids. But you'd be screwed if you came across an undead monster.

[Dwellington]

Dwellington, I believe you also start with a potion.

I do? Oh, I do! Thanks.

While I'm crawling through the archived quests, I'm wondering, are there specific spells with specific effects, or is it just elemental damage? And what about non-combat scenarios?

[Flipz]

I do? Oh, I do! Thanks.

While I'm crawling through the archived quests, I'm wondering, are there specific spells with specific effects, or is it just elemental damage? And what about non-combat scenarios?

There are scrolls that cause things like sleep, blindness, etc., but they haven't really been used for some reason. (Players really haven't played with effects enough, IMO, it seems to be this subconscious supposition that Effects belong to QM-controlled entities. I hope to see this remedied in the near future, especially now that Quest 22 handed Boomington a weapon with a decent WP AND a stunning effect.)

Interestingly enough, you may see more non-combat uses of magic from Quest 17. Doc really wants us to think out of the box with this one, and so creative out-of combat uses of Mage powers will likely be a big part of our between-waves strategies.

(Speaking of which...K-nut, if Althior's not gonna do crazy Rube Goldberg/MacGuyver-esque things with his elemental gems, let Arthur use 'em between battles! I've got PLENTY of ideas... )

EDIT:

After playing the game for a while and seeing which gems are rarer or more useful I think that a diamond would be the best gem to start with. It is interesting that no mage has chosen to start with one yet.

Relatively few Quests have undead or demonic foes, at least compared to the massive number of humanoid enemies. (Hmm...demonic/fire...we need to throw Althior and Arasmyth up against a Balrog. )

I know that if I were starting out as a Mage, I'd pick Amethyst.

But then again, maybe that's because I'm a QM who 99% of the time uses Humanoid enemies.

I kind of wish that I had taken Amethyst--when I picked Opal, I was thinking of traveling through the forest and meeting dangerous beasts on the roads, and being able to deal decent damage to things like that Dire Wolf from Quest 1. Having read through more of the Quests, though, I see that Amethyst would have been MUCH more useful, and I hope I get some kind of chance to pick one up soon. (Also, Ice seems to be Sarick's trademark, I need to find a different element to master. Not Fire, though--I've got a recurring NPC/shout-out prepared to take care of that one. )

Also, while we're on the topic of gemstones: I propose that the traditional birthstone for a particular month be extra-powerful during that month. Nothing much, just, say an extra +1 or +2 to damage after applying all multipliers, but it's something that makes sense to me and makes magic seem...well...more magical. Garnet would get a boost this month, next month Amethyst would would get the boost, etc. Better yet, align them to the associated Zodiac signs, though that borders on too much work for the QM. I'll post a quick list here, though:

Gem--Month

Garnet--January

Amethyst--February

Aquamarine--March

Diamond--April

Emerald--May

(Moonstone/Pearl--June)

Ruby--July

(Peridot--August) (could be represented with the fluorescent green LEGO gem, but there's no element anyway )

Sapphire--September

Opal--October

Topaz--November

(turquoise/zircon/tanzanite/blue topaz--December)

Edited January 14, 2012 by Flipz

[Scubacarrot]

And what about non-combat scenarios?

Magic CAN be used in non-combat scenario's, to get rid of obstacles. If I am not mistaken, Quest 6 has an example for this use.

[Sandy]

Welcome to the game on my behalf as well, Dwellington! You're the first new player this year.

Here's your character's avatar in the correct size (100x100 pixels):

As an interesting phenomenon, Aberforth now joins Ad-Hoh, Althior, Amorith, Arasmyth and Arthur in the long line of mages with names beginning with an "a". Seriously, that's half of all the mages in this game!

[K-Nut]

As an interesting phenomenon, Aberforth now joins Ad-Hoh, Althior, Amorith, Arasmyth and Arthur in the long line of mages with names beginning with an "a". Seriously, that's half of all the mages in this game!

Psch! I started a fad!

(Peridot--August) (could be represented with the fluorescent green LEGO gem, but there's no element anyway )

I feel left out. Though a while back I thought of a use for it, I'll remember.

[Quarryman]

There are scrolls that cause things like sleep, blindness, etc., but they haven't really been used for some reason. (Players really haven't played with effects enough, IMO, it seems to be this subconscious supposition that Effects belong to QM-controlled entities. I hope to see this remedied in the near future, especially now that Quest 22 handed Boomington a weapon with a decent WP AND a stunning effect.)

Well, they've seen some use in Quest#18 when we've been up against enemies where it was worth the effort, such as the level 20 Phoenix, but for most lower level enemies it's usually better to just spend that turn on dealing damage instead.

[Fred Daniel Yam]

Sandy, is some of Heroica RPG inspired by a Game of Thrones? There are the Free Cities and the Jade Sea in the book which sound similar to the Free Islands and the Crystalline Sea.

[Sandy]

Sandy, is some of Heroica RPG inspired by a Game of Thrones? There are the Free Cities and the Jade Sea in the book which sound similar to the Free Islands and the Crystalline Sea.

I've read the books and loved them to bits, but no, those names were not derived from the series. In fact, many fantasy novels (and I've read a lot of them) feature the concept of cities independent from any nation. And I gave teh sea surrounding the Free Islands that name because I wanted to give an impression of a clear-watered sea near the tropic, not a raging deep ocean.