On 3/11/2013 at 8:18 PM, joeshmoe554 said:

They wouldn't be in the middle of the battle. The quest has a fight about half-way through with color-coded enemies. Those enemies drop weapons associated with their colors. Then the enemies in the "Boss Battle" drop energizers to unlock the elemental properties of the weapons. The blue weapon would be water based, the purple weapon would be darkness, etc. That way I could drop the weapons earlier in the quest, where they made sense with the enemies being fought, drop some decent loot in the boss fight (make the weapons elemental), and not give out a tremendous amount of loot overall.

Why not just drop the elemental gems themselves, then?

There's a bonus boss fight, if they players want to engage in it, where having elemental weapons will be very useful.

Thank you very much for the Quest, Sandy, it was really fun, and interesting to see what happened. It was short and sweet I'd say!

Brothers-in-Arms was a fun quest to watch Sandy, if a little hard to swallow, what with Reno's death and all.

I'm curious as to how the ship works, now that the party owns it. How does it function quest wise? And will their be more opportunities to pick up vehicles?

Edited March 20, 201311 yr by Kintobor

What I'm hoping is that the ship is a plot device that could potentially used by QM's, if they wish.

We've got some inventive QMs. It may be hard for me to rebuild pieces of the ship, but if I can, I certainly will. I wonder if all three heroes own it together, and how they divi it up. Do they each get it every third weekend?

Sandy, great quest, as always. I will be interested to see how the story progresses from here. I made my commentary on Hestia's choice in the Discussion thread, but I liked what she did and what you did. I'm sad to see Reno go- he seemed sort of fated for death. I think he's the only NPC who could really be killed in every quest he appeared in.

I'm hoping there is a crazy twist in the big story now. Things that would be awesome (to me, narrative-wise) would be is a) Nemo died of sadness and b) his daughter died in the North. I could see people whining that we didn't get to effect that, but I like stories with harsh random happenstance. I think it would be super awesome. But probably unlikely.

Anyway, great as always, excited to see where this goes, especially as we're seeing more of the Ji Pei and they don't seem that devious. If it comes down to saving one of the families... that'd be an interesting choice. Jun or Attina, who do y'all love me?

  On 3/20/2013 at 7:56 PM, Zepher said:

I think he's the only NPC who could really be killed in every quest he appeared in.

Nah, he had an appearance in Quest 34, pretty sure we couldn't kill him then! Not that Guts knew who he was or recognized him from then.

Yes, I'm aware he appeared then, but not in earnest. Every time you interacted with him, he could pretty much be killed.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:01 PM, Zepher said:

Yes, I'm aware he appeared then, but not in earnest. Every time you interacted with him, he could pretty much be killed.

Just like all of your friendly NPCs...and none of your hostile ones!

  On 3/20/2013 at 7:56 PM, Zepher said:

I'm sad to see Reno go- he seemed sort of fated for death. I think he's the only NPC who could really be killed in every quest he appeared in.

I'm hoping there is a crazy twist in the big story now. Things that would be awesome (to me, narrative-wise) would be is a) Nemo died of sadness and b) his daughter died in the North. I could see people whining that we didn't get to effect that, but I like stories with harsh random happenstance. I think it would be super awesome. But probably unlikely.

I can see Nemo's daughter getting in trouble up north, and the party has to go save the fleet she's with, but flat out kill her? Maybe as a bad ending to the quest, but that's all. As for Nemo, perhaps suicide isn't that unlikely. I could definitely see it, perhaps even at sea. He gets aboard a dinghy in a storm, and simply wishes to die there. It would make for an interesting quest actually, giving the party the option of allowing Nemo to have his wish, or saving him. Just a thought.

  On 3/20/2013 at 7:56 PM, Zepher said:

Anyway, great as always, excited to see where this goes, especially as we're seeing more of the Ji Pei and they don't seem that devious. If it comes down to saving one of the families... that'd be an interesting choice. Jun or Attina, who do y'all love me?

I, personally, like Jun more...though it may just be that we've gotten to see more of him than we have of Attina. The Ji Pei are being oppressed, and as interesting as the Bonapartes are (and as vital to Heroica!), they have to go down sooner or later.

  On 3/20/2013 at 7:56 PM, Zepher said:

We've got some inventive QMs. It may be hard for me to rebuild pieces of the ship, but if I can, I certainly will. I wonder if all three heroes own it together, and how they divi it up. Do they each get it every third weekend?

Sandy, great quest, as always. I will be interested to see how the story progresses from here. I made my commentary on Hestia's choice in the Discussion thread, but I liked what she did and what you did. I'm sad to see Reno go- he seemed sort of fated for death. I think he's the only NPC who could really be killed in every quest he appeared in.

I'm hoping there is a crazy twist in the big story now. Things that would be awesome (to me, narrative-wise) would be is a) Nemo died of sadness and b) his daughter died in the North. I could see people whining that we didn't get to effect that, but I like stories with harsh random happenstance. I think it would be super awesome. But probably unlikely.

Anyway, great as always, excited to see where this goes, especially as we're seeing more of the Ji Pei and they don't seem that devious. If it comes down to saving one of the families... that'd be an interesting choice. Jun or Attina, who do y'all love me?

About Hestia, I just think she's making some type of evil plot . She left Reno to die, I don't think that's what a normal person would do.

Attina. If only because the Ji Pei would decimate pirate activity. And we don't need that.

You can't really think yourself as being oppressed if you have superior technology over everyone else and flying ships, I'm just saying.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:06 PM, Kintobor said:

I can see Nemo's daughter getting in trouble up north, and the party has to go save the fleet she's with, but flat out kill her? Maybe as a bad ending to the quest, but that's all. As for Nemo, perhaps suicide isn't that unlikely. I could definitely see it, perhaps even at sea. He gets aboard a dinghy in a storm, and simply wishes to die there. It would make for an interesting quest actually, giving the party the option of allowing Nemo to have his wish, or saving him. Just a thought.

Sidequest, perhaps? One party member separates from the others to help an injured/unconscious Nemo to a lifeboat as his ship is sinking, and they have to decide whether to cooperate with his wishes or not.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:05 PM, Flipz said:

Just like all of your friendly NPCs...and none of your hostile ones!

All of my hostile NPCs who survived this quest were spared. XX and Zane both could have been killed off. You didn't.

And yes, I know Sandy wouldn't kill off major NPCs off screen. I would, not him. You guys are just lucky he heads up the large story. I (PERSONALLY) think it would be a more interesting story if the Bonapartes fell apart after the heroes made the "right choice", and the power of Eubric fell apart around them. Then the heroes would have to figure out some new power balance. Random happenstance makes awesome story. Read Game of Thrones, go watch some Film Noir.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:10 PM, Scubacarrot said:

You can't really think yourself as being oppressed if you have superior technology over everyone else and flying ships, I'm just saying.

Superior technology that they have to build and use in secret for fear of being attacked/arrested by the Bonapartes...and let's not forget that the Bonapartes have been hijacking their ships and stealing their cargo, too.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:10 PM, Eric Su said:

About Hestia, I just think she's making some type of evil plot . She left Reno to die, I don't think that's what a normal person would do.

Honestly, if some guy tricked you, tried to enslave your husband and was very close to actually murdering you, your husband and three people that worked for you, giving them the blame in the process, and stealing your husband's identity and taking away everything you worked for, what would you do? Brother in law or not, I'm not sure I'd go through the effort of saving him.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:12 PM, Flipz said:

Superior technology that they have to build and use in secret for fear of being attacked/arrested by the Bonapartes...and let's not forget that the Bonapartes have been hijacking their ships and stealing their cargo, too.

Did they? Couldn't they just fly away? Anyways, it's mentioned somewhere that much of Eubric's tech comes from the Ji-Pei, so not actually a secret. And that has two sides, they are also not sharing. For Guts, he doesn't really know anything about the Ji-Pei, but he does know that the Bonapartes (or better said: their fleet) are vital. So I say Attina!

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:12 PM, Zepher said:

Then the heroes would have to figure out some new power balance.

King Guts is still a possibility!

Edited March 20, 201311 yr by Scubacarrot

Thanks for the compliments! It felt good to continue another family storyline that has been neglected for so long. These type of "short and sweet" quests actually feel the best to move the main storylines forward for me, since they allow more people to get into them, being chopped up into several portions like this.

What comes to the ship, it is up to the three players to do whatever they wish with it. I did not plan on actually giving it to the players originally, but things just went that way this time.

Coincidentally, my next quest will take place in the same cemetery as Kintobor's quest, but I'll concentrate on #50 for now, so it will take some time before I launch it.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:18 PM, Scubacarrot said:

Did they? Couldn't they just fly away?

They cannot, they would be hunted down by the enemies of the Aoi.

Which does bring up an interesting point: the Ji Pei are benefiting from the protection of the Bonaparte fleet, but at the cost of their dignity and their freedom. Is the safety worth the price? Perhaps the Ji Pei themselves are wondering...Jun, clearly, does not.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:21 PM, Sandy said:

Coincidentally, my next quest will take place in the same cemetery as Kintobor's quest, but I'll concentrate on #50 for now, so it will take some time before I launch it.

Please tell me it's not a Zeigfried or Byblos Quest...I don't want to miss another one...

  On 3/20/2013 at 7:50 PM, Scubacarrot said:

What I'm hoping is that the ship is a plot device that could potentially used by QM's, if they wish.

Amulet of the Terra Chiman Sailor - Upon command, summons a Terra Chiman ship, allowing the party to move at double speed over water in quests with movement mechanics.

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:12 PM, Zepher said:

And yes, I know Sandy wouldn't kill off major NPCs off screen. I would, not him. You guys are just lucky he heads up the large story. I (PERSONALLY) think it would be a more interesting story if the Bonapartes fell apart after the heroes made the "right choice", and the power of Eubric fell apart around them. Then the heroes would have to figure out some new power balance. Random happenstance makes awesome story. Read Game of Thrones, go watch some Film Noir.

But that's material for the MAIN storyline. It's still too early to take out one of the main families in power - nobody has even gotten to use the expert job class they offer yet.

The players did have a genuine choice of letting the weregators take Nemo away, or even kill him before he reached his brother, meaning a significant change in the Bonaparte politics. I would have allowed that, but they chose otherwise (well, at least two of them did).

  On 3/20/2013 at 8:26 PM, Brickdoctor said:

Amulet of the Terra Chiman Sailor - Upon command, summons a Terra Chiman ship, allowing the party to move at double speed over water in quests with movement mechanics.

You can't treat my ship like it's some bloody horse.

It was a great quest, short but strong! As always, the scenery was amazing (especially that pub) . I wished I would've been able to participate more towards the end, but I've got mumps (or whatever it's called in English) and I really had to force myself to log on and think about my actions while I'd rather be in bed and sick it out. But that's totally my issue and nothing any of you could've done something about .

I'm not arguing against your story at all, Sandy. I know you allow for choice, and that your story is very cause-and-effect (something I used to be obsessed with, but have broken away from). I love it. I'm just saying my personal taste in story writing, not suggesting what should happen in the over-all story itself. I think everyone would be pissed if I ran things my way, and rightly so- I don't know if non-cause-and-effect would wok well for a RPG. Just would intrigue me.

Edited March 20, 201311 yr by Zepher