Black Zenith [Adventure RPG / Chapter Four: Fires of Heaven]

You could cast mass haste if you rolled really well. If you didnt, you could still cast it. It'd just be so bad it would make no difference.

Also, i was planning on proposing a move once we reached the end of the chapter. I had hoped to get there faster, but i kind of always hope to make everything go faster so thats hardly news.

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SpoilerHow many chapters are there? Also, will you be planning anything after this adventure?

A lot. No definite number, but a lot. It will depend on how fast i can get the story told.

And yes, as i hinted at at the end of A New Dawn, this is a trilogy. The last game in the series will be radically different though.

After that i have been making plans for a new genre, not unlike Demigods.

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SpoilerI can't believe I didn't think of this earlier.

Rather than casting haste on everybody, why can't Bohw or Myra just cast a Slow spell on Echo?

doesn't echo techincally have haste or something right now due to slow time?

also malignant reflection would make you guys slowed if you tried that I think

Hellos. Still distracted by things.

Assuming I have priority over the doomstorm attack, think popping Blade of Light on Echo would have any effect? I mean, could cause a flinch, maybe un-evil her if corruption is the source of motive.

Alternatively, I could bail and save crystals from harm very easily. As my strategy of "Bash and Ditch" will likely be ineffective in gravity room, what do?

doesn't echo techincally have haste or something right now due to slow time?

also malignant reflection would make you guys slowed if you tried that I think

Technically, yes. Practically, no. Your haste is so powerful that it wraps around to allow you to act twice. Thus only your first action will be taken before the others'. You've all been overcomplicating things all along.

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Spoilerso we can still prevent her from taking the second if we slow her?

Ofcourse you cant prevent it. Even if you stunned or silenced her that would only take effect for next turn, and both of those effects require a rather good roll. Assuming that you forget entirely about messing around with turn orders, it would look something like this

thunderpaw & myra
bohw
Echo's first action
razan
everyone else
echo's second action

I would advocate picking one course of action and sticking to it and not worrying about whether or not she might kill someone. Besides theres always the new death system, so even if somebody is brought down they still wont die immediately.

tldr; stop worrying and hope she doesnt roll twenties

spoiler alert I roll twenties

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SpoilerIt's never easy is it. Oh well. I guess it's just time to tell everyone to skedaddle.

Hmmm. How many enemy targets would Watson hit if he jumped high in the air and breathed flames directly below him?

the maximum amount, which is four. You could hit Lucid, Echo, Sarth and one of Sarth's minions. Karin is standing a little further away.

Just to be clear, those two traps are only in that corridor, and once the party leaves that area, melee, ranged, and healing will be back to normal, right?

'Cause if that's the case, then all we need to do is make sure everyone gets outside.

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SpoilerI don't think it's too much for Myra to fly out of range and then cast

Myra, Thunderpaw, Bohw and Razan are the only ones not inside the area at the moment. their targets are still affected though, both for healing and damage, assuming that they are inside the aura. On the other hand, someone standing inside the aura healing someone outside would not have their healing reduced (damage would still be though)

Wait, is the gravity area in the room, or in the entrance hallway?

Actually, can we have a general strategy map? The utter doom seems to warrant it...

something like this

the auras fill out the room and extend a little up the corridor, but Razan and Bohw are further away than indicated and are not affected

Blade of Light would be unaffected by the gravity aura, but not by the anti-heal aura (if used to heal)

okay
OKAY
can i just pop in and say we just hit them

our commands is gonna take years at this rate and also credit your plan is just getting progressively more terrible i am not hasting you to let you have priority to dance on echo's head and have you die

I repeat: The reason why we're losing is because we have no staying power in this. Thunderpaw is practically doing nothing in taking down Echo and her Allies, while Myra is buffing Thunderpaw, which helps no-one. Myra has even scryed and detected no-traps other than the unavoidable auras there is virtually no excuse for you hitting them right now.

WE HAVE TWO OPTIONS IF WE DON'T FLEE THE BATTLE:
1: Retreat to area where the auras are no longer affecting us, but give them another turn of stomping us.
Or
2: Continue to fight here on their own terms.

PICK ONE.

(We cannot push through the barricade they have to fight them outside away from the traps, but Thunderpaw and Myra can easily escape back into the ruins by pushing through with their jumpy and raven morphy-abilites.)

IF WE RETREAT:
Thunderpaw and Myra pass the barricades to regroup with the others.
Myra uses Winds of Fate.
Thunderpaw HITS THEM smacks a wounded target down while passing through. Ideally Karin or Lucid.
Bohw/Savannah/Nos do some covering fire to disarm as much damage being thrown at us with spells and stunning grenades. (Savannah can also use Aromatherapy)
Mayor covers the retreat with his body for the more squish and wounded among the group.
Watson is too wounded to cover the retreat and should just leg it.

IF WE FIGHT:
Myra uses Winds of Fate, stays outside.
Thunderpaw goes in and smacks someone down, ideally Lucid or Karin. Even if there is a trap, your buffs, winds of fate will neglect damage and Myra can easily cure statuses with her own spells I hope I've made clear what I want you to do now
Mayor fucking tackles Echo to the ground. It will reduce the overall damage thrown out from her and other fun stuff.
Bohw commands Taran to help Mayor.
Watson, Savannah and Nos can continue fighting in whatever way they please. Nos and Watson can help disarm Echo if they are feeling bold, but if not, they should focus on dealing with the big threats. (Lucid, Sarth, Echo and Karin)
Bohw will charge up her AoE Multi-shot to get full use of the Winds of Fate and use it on Echo and Co or the 15 or so minions of Sarth, depending on the results of next round.

OR WE BOOK IT AND RUN AWAY.

PICK ONE EVERYONE. I PERSONALLY WANT TO STAY BECAUSE I AM A CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER BUT YEAH I'D RATHER NOT HAVE THIS TURN DRAG OUT FOREVER.

(Just remembered, I know Echo cannot steal the crystals from Thunderpaws but she is a thief right, so bonus damage?)

the dancing on the head thing was a joke. I plan to jump high in the air [spitting flames as I ascend] and then mana-leap over the barricade

Also I choose retreat

Auras, traps, a small army. Bah, this battle was lost before it even began! He should have pursued echo when she was weakened earlier; for now the heroes were at disadvantage.

And at the time, Thunderpaw knew he was the bigger target. Even as the demon in the room's center cast to strike down those he swore to protect, he hesitated. Jumping straight into the heart of battle was in his nature. It was so much easier when his death would mean nothing. But if he fell, so would the world. He could not afford to be so selfish. If he had fallen earlier, at the hydra, what would the world had done then? What will it do now?

As Echo charged for her magnum opus, Thunderpaw took a few steps back.

And then he turned to run. He ran faster than he had ever run before; straight for the entrance. Straight for where his horse was waiting in case of a need to escape. He ran, and left tears in his wake.

He had failed.

(Who's side are you on.)

Bohw scowled back at Sarth, drawing another arrow from her quiver as she does so, but as she grabs the arrow she clumsily fumbles it and drops it on the ground. Rather than draw another arrow, something slowly dawns upon her, Bohw looks up and gauges the situation.

Something is terribly wrong.

Everyone was heavily wounded, Thunderpaw and Myra were no-where to be seen and the enemy showed no signs of slowing down. Something was terribly wrong.

Mayor wasn't looking forward to the end result of this fight either, his shield thrums with power as he prepares to Block the worst of the attack, but he briefly turns his head to face Bohw. His eyes, his expression, can only be described as a look of regret, he wanted to apologize, he had done all he could and it was not enough, before turning to face Echo and charge her down. It is there Bohw knew exactly what had gone wrong.

A desperate command is issued. "RUN!" Bohw shouts, "Everyone just run for your lives!" as the demonic aura begins to emerge around her once more. Her tone is serious and stricken with grief, anyone here could tell from her voice alone that they shouldn't question their command. Gripping her weapon in one hand and drawing a red rune to trade life for power with her free hand, she makes that entirely clear.

"Get as far away from here as possible!!"

Simplified Version:

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Spoiler
Mayor uses Block, then Tackles Echo to the ground to interrupt her spells in any way if allowed to do so on the same turn.
Bohw casts a rune to trade HP for Temporary Power. The same one I used in the fight with Echo.

Using Hellbent next turn.

(For future reference I will be describing it at as the Red Rune from here on out, same for the Blue Rune where I traded AoE for Hit.)

(The emotionally-distraught/unstable one. Also, probably a healthy dose of panic)

(On a side note, whats with the over-aggression lately?)

(uuugh I don't want to go into the details right now, don't take this the wrong way but I don't know whats going on with you all of a sudden

holding onto all the crystals/literally useless items in your hands
practically ignoring people's plans + opinions
flat out refusing to help in the fight
You're just not wanting to co-operate with the party in general really :/

and it's just "wtf are you even doing" it is legitimate confusing me why you're doing all this and I am starting to literally think you have your own agenda

but whatevs, if I am coming off as aggressive and I'm SUPER SORRY I DON'T MEAN TO BE HONEST, but the way you are currently acting not being the most helpful, at least in my own opinion, okay?)

The aggression is because we want to cremate and feed you to the dogs, Masterblade, and then we will cremate the dogs and feed those to some other unsuspecting person. Wasn't it obvious?

But yeah, I think Aven'sara should go in Myra's hands, Plot Crystal or not.

Also I just realized Samsouvra's effect can still be manipulated. If you use all your specials, you can hand it off real quick to someone else who is about to use theirs and it'll be a beautiful whirlybird pattern of people scamming CW off of precious cooldowns.

Character Motivation:
(May contain backstory details only discussed with GM IC'ly)

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Spoiler
Here is Thunderpaw, a mercenary with a troubled past. Raised by literal guardians of his village, he was trained to be a heroic protector of his people who would otherwise run from danger due to instinct. With his upbringing came an ideology to become something greater; the local Humans spoke of knights and heroes and he wanted to become one. So he leaves, eager to find a lord to squire under and prove his mettle to the world.

This fails, because flighty rabbits are known to make shitty heroes.

Cue the present day. Thunderpaw's will has been broken over the years, with the closest ideal line of work being a mercenary guarding caravans from thieves. It is at this time that he takes a job from a shady man, work is work after all. He beats down an old stranger under suspect circumstances, takes a parcel he tried desperately to secure, and took journey to a back-alley shop without any thought of the consequences.

He is stopped by a party of two, survivors of those who tried to stop the shady man. They sucessfully manage to respark a long-dead conscience, and the three form a plan to scour the place Thunderpaw had been hired to deliver his parcel to. They thwart the plans of a local cult, find evidence of their evil intent, and mange to save the local lands because of it. For the first time in a long time, the mercenary feels what its like to be a hero.

At the cost of one of his new allies. Who only died because he wanted so much to be the "hero" of the county, to find the proof he needed. There was little joy, and the quest to stop an evil became a journey of vengeance instead. He joins another group making plans to strike at the cult's supposed base of operations, and plays his part jumping into battle with all the fury he could muster.

And then, in the center of the vile keep, while the others are distracted with their various plans, Thunderpaw finds a lone spirit. Through discussion, it claims him to be some sort of destined hero, gives him a quest to take it to find and destroy some unspoken terror. The mercenary agrees, and with the help of the entire party makes it out of the ruins.

But only barely. In the fight to escape, and in his careless fighting, Thunderpaw becomes gravely wounded. Mistaking drugged wine for a source of healing, he sends himself into a coma. And in his dreams, he sees a prophecy. He feels the world's creation, he sees the world's undoing, and he fights a hopeless battle against an unspeakable horror. And when all looked lost, a foreboding figure gave him a single command. Find his brethren, and stop the calamity from repeating itself.

The mercenary awakes, and with technique learned from his visions manages to pierce the dark thoughts flowing through his companion. They then regroup, and make plans to lunge into the cult's works once more. Another ruin, another siege. But Thunderpaw no longer sees himself as a hireling sticking around for a fight, nor a man seeking vengeance for a fallen brother. He sees himself as the hero he had wanted to be all along, on a quest from fate he must wither. He takes things more seriously; instead of blowing gold on alcohol, he uses his boon to get equipment. He finds and apologizes to the beaten old man for his actions days before. He prepares to lunge headfirst into the heart of evil once more to stop their ploys with new power in hand.

And then, his path goes downhill. The party fights a traitor threatening their quest, but he is unable to beat her(it?) down. He lunges headfirst into a tribe of dungeon dwellers as he did, which only results in him falling to the mercy of a vicious spell that wrecked havoc on his mind. Further still, he finds another spirit much like the one that had labeled him "destined hero", and his careless charge to save both was met by a near-brush with death. The life he had so often put into the line of danger thoughtlessly was a breath from being lost.

Though the wounds had been closed after the fight, and cheers were had by the others who came with him, Thunderpaw was left to contemplate with the scars the battle had left. He realized the costs of his careless fighting, otherwise lost in vengeance and remorse. His closest ally drove these thoughts further, remarking how big a target he was to the forces of evil. He realized how selfish his motivations to be a hero truly were. Fighting for glory nearly cost the world it's only chance of salvation, and the weight of his task finally caught up to him.

And so the hero became cautious. Too much so. Rather than strike from the front with his allies, he wormed his way to the rear where he would be in the least danger. Rather than charge headfirst into battle, he waited to make sure there would be no swift curse waiting to take him out in a single moment like it had before. Yet even then he could not bring himself to strike in vengeance against the witch that had troubled the party so; not because he wanted the party to fail, but because he didn't want the world to lose.

Crushed under the true burden of his "destined" role, the instinct of his people reemerged. He fled to make sure the spirits that had led him here would not fall into dark hands, breaking his vow of guardianship for what he believed to be the greater good. Not because it was heroic, but because he could not afford to die and leave the world without a savior.

He did not consider the plurality; that there could be others with similar thinking, that fate had meant for heroes rather than the one. For whenever fate guided its hand to lead its warrior along, he was the only one to perceive its call. He went alone into the shrine of the light spirit, and alone was declared its destined hero. He stood alone in the vision against the unimaginable darkness that threatened existence. The party might have found the sage that gave him calling, but Thunderpaw was the only one to hear the summons. So alone he holds the weight of the world, the only one that truly mattered in the grand scheme of destiny. Even if it wasn't true.

TL/DR Version

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SpoilerThe spirits in the crystals and sage man caused Bunny Knight's mind to break. Also being smacked around a lot probably didn't help.