Flipz Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Definitely looking forward to Arthur getting to meet Passion's sister. He could use some Hope right about now... Thank you all for the kind words! I do a normal Zepher post-quest post tomorrow, but I'm glad you all liked the quest and story! Like I said, I'd agree it was flawed, and I have such trouble hosting battles, but it's always worth it to hear that everyone had fun. Actually, I think this has been one of your best quests battle- and error-wise since 38. I'd still put 38 as your best Quest to date, but 68 comes in a close second. Edited June 27, 2013 by Flipz Quote
Zepher Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 Simpler days. Anyway, the classic Zepher break-down of the quest. Self-critique: Like I said, I don't think this quest was one of my best, but that being said, I still think it was pretty solid. It was about the length I wanted, had challenging battles for more advanced heroes, and still told the story I wanted to tell. I was pretty happy with the pictures and sets, and enjoyed slowly destroying the stage as they sunk slowly into the "reality" behind the play. It was a tough party to beat. The only scaling I did was knocking a little over 200 health off of the enemies of Act IV as I thought it would needlessly prolong the fight. I was happy with the characters (wish I'd had Russel and Pigley say a bit more, but I think they still came across). I also was happy with my twist. In most stories, the character is pissed because they were cast in a bad light, and in this one, she was pissed because she wasn't cast in a bad enough light. I thought it was an interesting story to play with. I was also happy with the afflicted effect, though I totally forgot to actually use it with Althior's undead in the final battle. Also, Necromancers are hard to balance for. Out-line: Russel Part Duex aka The Curse of the Stirlance Play For Three Four Heroes Introduction Russel greets the heroes, and tells them that the cursed Stirlance play is going up at the Bric’lin Theatre. Pigley has a part in the production, and so Russel has taken it upon himself to protect him. As they walk, Russel details the plot of the play: There is a war against the Dark General OR Akkaba. Duke and a General walk through the woods and meet some Witches. The Witches tell them that they will both be Kings one day. The Duke and General than win a big battle. The Duke and the General both consider winning favor with the current King, and the Duke and General both try to gain favor with him, as he has no sons. He originally is going to name the General his successor, but then names the Duke his successor when the General refuses. The General then advises the Duke to kill the King, which the Duke does. The General then stirs the people against the Duke, who slowly beats a retreat. He wages all out war, trying to win the Kingdom back from the people and the General. Afraid for his health, the Duke locks himself in a room with no windows and only one door, which he has barred up. His wife feeds him by sending him food tied to rats, but when the General comes to parlay she falls in love with him and trains the rats to kill the Duke. They do so, but the General is horrified by her methods and does not accept her. She disappears with her rats, and the General becomes the new King, saying he allowed the Duke to be King before him because he knew, logically, if they were both to be Kings the one to be King first would also have to die. The play ends with the witches entering and saying that their Gods, the Ancient Gods, have been well served, as always. The play is cursed by rats whenever performed. ACT I - Enter the Witches On the road to Bric’Lin, the heroes meet three witches. They hail the heroes as the King, General, and Duke, though they don’t indicate which is which. They praise the heroes, and say that they will do much good, perhaps lifting the curse of the play forever, but perhaps becoming as conniving and evil as the characters of the play in the process. They then disappear. The heroes arrive at the theatre. They watch a quick rehearsal of the play (Pigley is playing Guard #2) but then night is called. They may talk to all the actors (Duke, General, King, Duke’s Wife) and also the Director. They then retire for the night. ACT II During the night, the heroes awake to hear the Duke’s Wife being taken by rats. They, along with Russel, follow the rats down into the depths of the theatre, and suddenly find themselves on a battlefield. They are attacked by a group of soldiers. SOLDIER BATTLE After the battle, a Lt. enters and hails whichever hero killed the REBEL PRINCE as the King. The King is asked to pick a successor, as he has no children of his own. Whoever the King picks becomes the General (who, in secret, refuses the position, making the DUKE the real successor). ACT III The Leading Lady appears, this time appealing to the DUKE. She tells him to kill the King, though she appears to be controlled by rats. She then is carried off. The heroes are left to puzzle out what to do. The KING must consent to being KO’d by the DUKE (not the GENERAL). Once the King is KO’d by the Duke, the battle begins, with the King still KO’d though he can of course be brought back to life for the battle. KING BATTLE After the battle, a number of soldiers come and hail the GENERAL, saying that they’ve corner the DUKE and that now, only his loyal guards stand in the way. They say that he will pay for his crimes against the Kingdom. ACT IV The heroes rush forward and encounter the Guards. GUARD BATTLE After the heroes defeat the guards, they are greeted by the Leading Lady and her puppet master, the Duke’s Wife, now decrepit and styling herself the Queen of Rats. The Queen of Rats explains that she was the one who told the General to nominate her husband, as she always loved the General. She also tells that the General did not, in reality, cast her out, but rather she lived years with him, being his puppet master, and eventually she drained his life force to become immortal. The representation of the play makes her out to be powerless, but she is not. She refuses, therefore, to let it be performed. If the heroes attempt to fight her, she’ll remind them that they have been acting out the play, and therefore one more person needs to die- by “her” hand- before they can engage in combat. The heroes must offer up the DUKE to be KO’d by her. Once that is done, she raises her rats and her puppets, and the final battle begins. ACT V RAT QUEEN BATTLE Pop-a-duke Enemies Soldiers (Act II) Rebel Prince Level 20 Humanoid *Immune to Sudden Death* Health: 678/678 Defense: 6 Special I: Deceive: Deals damage equal to the enemy's level. Special II: Corrupt: Hexes the hero for three turns. Drops: 150 gold, Royal Dagger (WP: 5, may be sold for double gold) Rebel General Level 30 Humanoid *Immune to Instant Kill* *Immune to Stun* *Lucky* Health: 500/500 SP: 10 Special: Enervating Strike - Takes 75% off the target's current health and adds it to his own. Cannot exceed initial health. Drops: 60 Gold, Rebel’s Sword (WP: 11, Longsword), Rebel’s Dagger (WP: 5) Rebel Captain A Level 5 Humanoid Health: 25/25 Special: Call the Guards! - The Rebel Captain calls in backup. Two Lion Footsoldiers will arrive in one Round. Passive Special: Medal of Honor – AoE effects do not affect the Captain. Drops: 10 Gold Rebel Captain B Level 5 Humanoid Health: 25/25 Special: Call the Guards! - The Rebel Captain calls in backup. Two Lion Footsoldiers will arrive in one Round. Passive Special: Medal of Honor – AoE effects do not affect the Captain. Drops: 10 Gold Rebel Soldier A Level 24 Humanoid Health: 280/280 SP: 10 Special: Stunning Strike - Stuns the target for the next round. Drops: 20 gold Rebel Soldier B Level 24 Humanoid Health: 280/280 SP: 10 Special: Stunning Strike - Stuns the target for the next round. Drops: 20 gold Rebel Footsoldier A Level 2 Humanoid Health: 10/10 Special: Sound the Alarm - The Footsoldier alerts his allies. Five more Footsoldiers will arrive in three Rounds. Passive Special: Lust Drops: Nothing Rebel Footsoldier B Level 2 Humanoid Health: 10/10 Special: Sound the Alarm - The Footsoldier alerts his allies. Five more Footsoldiers will arrive in three Rounds. Passive Special: Lust Drops: Nothing King Battle (Act III) The King’s Ghost Level 40 Etheral *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* *Lucky* Health: 400/400 Special: Knighting – Knights the target, making them enamored with the King’s Ghost. Drops: Nothing Wizard of the Court Level 35 Etheral *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* Health: 370/370 Ether: 10/10 Special I: Magic Burst – Deals 15 fire elemental damage, 15 water elemental damage, 15 earth elemental damage, and 15 wind elemental damage. Disregards SP. Special II: Magical Vortex (used if ether is depleted) – Deals 20 lightning elemental damage to the party, and heals allies for 50 health. Drops: Wizard’s Staff (WP: 1, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind Elemental) Note: Fights from the back row and disregards row until ether is out. Attacks cost one ether. Once ether is depleted, attacks from the front row and does not disregard row. King’s Head Guard Level 30 Undead *Immune to Sealed, Bound, Blinded, and Asleep* Health: 320/320 SP: 20 Special: Take Cover – Doubles the Head Guard’s SP for the next 3 rounds, and gains counterstrike. Passive Special: Affinity for the Shield – When hit by a shield, the Head Guard gains the lucky effect. Drops: Guard’s Shield (SP: 6), Guard’s Dagger (WP: 4) Gate Guardian Fight (Act IV) Door Keeper Level 30 Rock Water *Immune to Negative Effects and Instant Death* SP: 52 Health: 350/350 Special: Protect the Bridge – Deals 30 damage rock/water elemental damage, ignoring row. Also strips hero of all effects. Passive Special II: All SP of other guards are added to the Gate Keeper’s SP. Drops: Garnet Summoning Lamp, Aquamarine Summoning Lamp Guard Master Level 50 Humanoid *Immune to Instant Death* SP: 10 Health: 400/400 Special: Precision Strike – Halves the target’s health. Passive Special I: On even rounds, pierces SP. Passive Special II: On odd rounds, gains the SP of hero attacking him. Passive Special III: Miracle of the Court – All negative effects last only one round on the Guard Master. Drops: Grating Stone Magical Guard Level 47 Humanoid Health: 300/300 Special: Soul Sap - Drains half of player’s remaining ether. Passive Special: Ether Drain - Drains ether from each party member at the end of each round in an amount related to the round number. Drops: Tonic x2 Guard A Level 44 Humanoid *Immune to Asleep* SP: 4 Health: 586/586 Special: Human Bowling – The Guard weakens and makes fragile all enemies. Drops: Minimizing Dust Guard B Level 31 Humanoid *Immune to Asleep, Sealed, Bound* Defense: 8 Health: 473/473 Special: Ugly Truth – De-equips all SP-giving equipment from the target. Drops: Robust Shield (SP:8) Guard C Level 50 Rock *Immune to all effects but slowed, immune to sudden death* *Slowed* Defense: 10 Health: 500/500 Special: Wisdom of Stone – Causes the slowed-effect to all enemies. Drops: Gaia Bomb (100 earth-elemental damage to all enemies) ACT V Queen of the Rats Level 46 Demon *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill* Health: 735/735 Passive Special I: Queen of Rats – Every time seven rats are KO’d, the Queen of Rats will sacrifice one of the ghosts to bring back the five most recently KO’d rats. Passive Special II: Rat’s Queen - All damage dealt to the Queen of the Rats is divided by the number of Rats in the battle. Drops: Ghost of the King Level 40 Etheral *Immune to Effects* Health: 320/320 Special: Knighting – Knights the target, making them enamored with the King’s Ghost. Drops: Nothing Ghost of the Duke Level 30 Undead *Immune to Effects and Instant Kill, Excluding Poisoning* Health: 240/240 Special: Treachery! – Deals 5 damage to all allies, and then deals the amount of damage done to the heroes. Drops: Nothing Ghost of the General Level 44 Undead *Immune to Stunned, Blinded, Asleep and Sealed* Health: 400/400 SP: 5 Special: Battle Cry – The general shouts, enraging the target. Drops: Nothing Note: There is a 1/3 chance the Ghost of the General will attack the Queen of Rats on a roll of damage. Rat Level 1 Vermin Health: 6/6 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: nothing Big Rat Level 2 Vermin Health: 10/10 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: Venom Rat C Level 3 Bestial Humanoid Health: 30/30 Special I: Poison bite – Causes poison effect to target, used if 6 or more rats in battle. Special II: Call to the horde - Brings 2 more Rats (randomized) into battle. Drops: Venom Dire Rat Level 4 Vermin HP: 22/22 Special: “For there are no cat’s in Eubric!” - The Dire Rat sings a song of his people, healing his comrades by 4 hit points. “And the roads are paved with che-ese!” Drops: Potion Kitchen Rat Level 5 Vermin Health: 26/26 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: nothing Brown Bilge Rat Type: Vermin Level: 6 Health: 50/50 Special: Bite: Causes 7 damage and poisoned effect Drops: Mead Bad Rat Level 7 Vermin Health: 50/50 Special: Foul Bite – Causes poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: Venom Cave Rat Level 7 Vermin Health: 100/100 Special: Lethal Bite - Causes 7 damage and the Stunned effect to the attacker. Drops: Nothing Rat B Level 8 Vermin Beast Health: 60/60 Special: Fierce Bite - Deals 8, regardless of SP and Row Drops: Nothing Giant Rat Level 15 Vermin Health: 151/151 Special: Deadly Bite – Causes the deadly poisoned-effect to the target. Drops: 2x Deadly Venom Rodent of Unusual Size Level 18 Vermin Health: 350/350 Special: Bit and roll – The ROUS jumps on the hero and rolls with them causing 25 damage to hero and confusing them. Drops: Health Core Ship Rat Level 20 Aquatic Vermin Health: 90/90 Special: Unsanitary Bite: Poisons the target, if the target is already poisoned, deadly poisons them instead. Drops: Nothing. Giant Rat Leader Level 23 Demonic Vermin Health: 265/265 Special I: Accursed Gnawing – Causes the cursed-effect to the target and causes the encouraged-effect to self for 3 rounds. Special II: Say Cheese - Causes enraged-effect to the target because the target is allergic to cheese, and gives itself immunity to all effects for 3 rounds. Drops: Tiger Balm, 3 Bones, Shackles of War Note: Specials alternate. Giant Rat Leader is weak to Cheese Elemental attacks. Player-Critique: Atramor - What else to say. I've hosted you so many times... you always bring something fun and new to the table. Atramor is a dynamic character, he's smart and witty and powerful, and YOU always take an interest in and follow the story. I love it. I liked your post a lot in the hall as well - Atramor and Boomingham would be tight friends now, if they ever met again, I think, as they have very similar philosophies at this point. So, like normal: good RPing, good strategizing, great build, lots of fun. Tesni - It was good to have Tesni back! I said I wasn't going to pick any Wren questers and was trying to branch out, but seeing as you missed 53 (and Atters was built to kill rats) I ended up taking you both! Tesni is always a lot of fun. She's sweet but very powerful - someone who would be great to be friends with, but terrifying to anger. I loved when you told Ellaria to just stab you already. Very cool moment. I'm sad that the RP dies down a little from you when fights begin, but I'm actually exactly the same way (I think it is a character choice for both of us) and so I understand. Would have liked to see more, but what I saw was, as always, awesome, and I find Tesni super fun to play with. Ellaria - Oh Ellaria. She's so innocent, and I love it. Everyone else has such a hardened past and so many regrets and are all "bad-assery" from it, whereas Ellaria has had a tough past and is just the sweetest little girl, though she's still believably affected by her past events. I liked everything you did, and was SO HAPPY to finally host you. I hope you'll come back some time, even though I'm horrible at running battles. There are lots of interesting threads for Ellaria to pick up from this quest. I also wish I had seen a little more from you, especially as the quest went on, but I understand that fights don't always promote role play. Althior - Althior's character used to confuse me a little. I liked him, but he seemed a little all over the place. Then you went to the fields and stopped role playing all together. I am so happy you're back in action. Althior is VERY COOL now, and his emotionlessness is a really unique and powerful choice. Whats best is that you motivated it. It seems like all your (slightly) scattered actions of the past have all informed his choice to give up his emotions. It's a new kind of bad megablocks, and I imagine we'll see people copying it sooner or later. It's fun to have that character to bounce off of. I hope to host or quest with Althior again soon, and I really hope to see you continuing to grow this new Althior, as he really intrigues me. That's all she wrote. Quote
LordoftheNoobs Posted June 28, 2013 Posted June 28, 2013 I was just wondering Zepher, why was the doorkeeper Rock/Water? I thought he was a skeleton... Quote
CMP Posted June 28, 2013 Posted June 28, 2013 I was just wondering Zepher, why was the doorkeeper Rock/Water? I thought he was a skeleton... I'm assuming he just wanted some variation in the enemies. I thought it was a little silly too, but it did keep us on our toes. Quote
LordoftheNoobs Posted June 28, 2013 Posted June 28, 2013 Huh, yeah, that does makes sense. When I first saw "Rock/Water" without looking at the enemy name I was half expecting a Kabutops! Quote
Emjajoas Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I've finally given into the urge and I'm going to start working on a quest. Got a few solid ideas I'm working on already. If anyone's got any advice, I'm all ears. Quote
Brickdoctor Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I've finally given into the urge and I'm going to start working on a quest. Got a few solid ideas I'm working on already. If anyone's got any advice, I'm all ears. Host newbs/Base Classes the first time around. Much easier to work with. Prepare your own outline before you start instead of having a jumble of notes or letting Zeph do it for you. Just to be safe, plan the scale of your quest based on the sets you can build; don't plan to build your sets based on the scale of your quest. Keep your sets and your plot flexible. For the players, railroading is not as fun as roaming around freely, and for the QM, railroading is definitely not as fun as penalizing the players when they do something stupid. Quote
Palathadric Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 We haven't had a great influx of new players in a while though. A lot of the newer players are in or close to level 15 already. Hmm, suddenly a new and exciting idea pops into my mind. Quote
Palathadric Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Don't worry. I have a brilliant new idea called, "balancing parties made easy." Quote
Brickdoctor Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Don't worry. I have a brilliant new idea called, "balancing parties made easy." Level-down Mushrooms? Quote
Dannylonglegs Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Level-down Mushrooms? All the high level party-members getting turned into Newts for the duration of the quest? (Actually not a bad idea. note to self: get a party of very mixed levels...) ~Insectoid Aristocrat Quote
joeshmoe554 Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Bolster Armor: (adds (20 - the character's current level) to power and HP for the duration of the quest) Quote
Flare Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Bolster Armor: (adds (20 - the character's current level) to power and HP for the duration of the quest) WAY overpowered Quote
Endgame Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Pro-tip: Put everything in writing. (Yes, I write in cursive. Yes, my handwriting is abysmal. Yes, if you look close enough, you will see something resembling the English language in written from. ) All of that paper for 3 battles (and that isn't even all of it! ) I find putting stuff on paper helps you organize your thoughts that much better... It is an abstract concept while in your mind, or even in digital text, but manually writing it down makes it become a lot more coherent. Quote
Dannylonglegs Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Pro-tip: Put everything in writing. (Yes, I write in cursive. Yes, my handwriting is abysmal. Yes, if you look close enough, you will see something resembling the English language in written from. ) All of that paper for 3 battles (and that isn't even all of it! ) I find putting stuff on paper helps you organize your thoughts that much better... It is an abstract concept while in your mind, or even in digital text, but manually writing it down makes it become a lot more coherent. Hey! That looks like my house. And those look like my battle order sheets... Except I don't write cursive. I agree though! Write it all down. ~Insectoid Aristocrat Quote
Endgame Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 (edited) Hey! That looks like my house. And those look like my battle order sheets... Except I don't write cursive. I agree though! Write it all down. ~Insectoid Aristocrat I am you though, remember? We had this discussion. For the record: those sheets are for the Fungeon, Eidolon, and regret battles. And I think that is about half of the paper that went into it. Edited June 29, 2013 by Endgame Quote
Capt.JohnPaul Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 Let's try and read this: Military Move: .Arrows..... that's as much as I can read. Seriously, what is written on that? Battle calculations? Planning? Specials and stats for each enemy? Quote
Endgame Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I don't actually make any enemies, I just write demonic incantations and summon them. That specific page is Eidolon's specials/passive specials. On the back of that is just a huge string of numbers of me mathematically devising the HP for Eidolon's parts. Quote
Dannylonglegs Posted June 29, 2013 Posted June 29, 2013 I am you though, remember? We had this discussion. For the record: those sheets are for the Fungeon, Eidolon, and regret battles. And I think that is about half of the paper that went into it. Oh, right. I keep forgetting. We even did the math that proved it at one point. ~Insectoid Aristocrat Quote
Kintobor Posted July 3, 2013 Posted July 3, 2013 Once again, sneak peak! This time on consumables! Falana Wine: A fruity wine from Charis. Heals 10 Hit Points and 10 Ether. Chuckola Cola: A strong cream soda-esque beverage. Restores 10 Ether and removes all negative effects Root Beer: The tried and true classic. Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against undead enemies for 20 damage. The Root Beer does not affect non-undead enemies. I intend to throw in a few of each during the quest. Thoughts? Quote
Duvors Posted July 5, 2013 Posted July 5, 2013 Once again, sneak peak! This time on consumables! Falana Wine: A fruity wine from Charis. Heals 10 Hit Points and 10 Ether. Chuckola Cola: A strong cream soda-esque beverage. Restores 10 Ether and removes all negative effects Root Beer: The tried and true classic. Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against undead enemies for 20 damage. The Root Beer does not affect non-undead enemies. I intend to throw in a few of each during the quest. Thoughts? Speaking not as a QM but as a possible party member I think that the only problem is the root beer.You say that it can be used as a bomb against undead? I think that you change it from anti-undead bomb to anti-plant poison. But as I said I'm not a QM,just some guy wandering around this part of the forums. Quote
Flare Posted July 5, 2013 Posted July 5, 2013 Yeah I also don't get the connection between root beer. But I am a QM Anyways, its not like it really matters too badly, but just wondering why root beer would damage only undead enemies? Quote
Kintobor Posted July 5, 2013 Posted July 5, 2013 Speaking not as a QM but as a possible party member I think that the only problem is the root beer. You say that it can be used as a bomb against undead? I think that you change it from anti-undead bomb to anti-plant poison. But as I said I'm not a QM,just some guy wandering around this part of the forums. You obviously have never played Secret of Monkey Island! Quote
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