While @Brutal J liked to think he was ready for anything as they beamed down, it turned out he was not. Sensors hadn't been able to get very specific information on the beam in site. The U Wot M8 had encountered a rogue moon giving off Steam signs. A large complex of some kind was built under the moon's surface. There were power readings, and artificial atmosphere. But no life signs. They materialized in the center of what turned out to be town square. @ReverseCreations , @destroyah87 , @BathTubb , and @Mudzgut made up the rest of the team. The new arrivals scanned their surroundings quickly, weapons raised. They were in an olden village of some kind. Short stone buildings surrounded the fountain square, with large signs declaring their purpose. Blacksmith. General Store, Stables, Magic Shop, and more. A short distance away up a hill was a large stone castle, covered in colorful but tattered banners, the drawbridge was currently up. And throughout the area were unmoving clockwork people. Well people and animals. The clockwork blacksmith was frozen mid-swing over an anvil. The stable held an array of clockwork horses. And various villagers scattered.
"There's some kind of dampening field in effect here" ReverseCreations said. He was checking the readings on his handheld scanner. He tried to blast the ground a few feet away and the disrupter just made a squelching popping noise." Then all at once a line of clockwork men on the castle battlements began to move. They raised trumpets up to their flat lip-less faces and trumpets blared over some kind of hidden PA system. The villagers all began to move with whirring internal motors. The smithy began to hammer again, the horse started chewing their fake hay. A weak puff of smoke shot out of the ground in front of the fountain, and a new clockwork figure was raised up awkwardly from below. This one was dressed in a bright blue robe covered in stars along with a matching hat. Some more smoke shot out of it's outstretched fingers as it finally arrived. "Welcome heroes. Welcome to Wizards and Warriors!" The trumpet fanfare concluded and a large logo reading Wizards & Warriors moved across the screen above simulating a sky. "I am the Archmage. You have come just in time. The evil lord Darkon has stol." With a static pop the clockwork wizard halted mid-speech while the rest of the robots continued their routines. Mudzgut had been happily clapping since clockwork figures began moving, and only now slowly stopped after noticing no one else was. It was quite noisy, with squeaks and gears buzzing. This place had probably seen better days. BathTubb excitedly looked around the square, "It's like Fantasy Town. Remember that place? I used go there every summer!" Destroyah just sighed and began to examine the stuck clockwork wizard.
Geth roll 1d10+2 for Engineering Challenge vs Difficulty 4
Geth roll 1d4
Thanks to Bathtubb's Strange Destiny, Critical Successes come easier for this mission. a roll of 8 or 9 will have the same effect as a natural 10
Destroyah found the problem easily enough, there was a chunk of the robots own robe that was getting pulled into an expose gear where the plating had fallen off. He rotated the mechanism the opposite way and put a wad of sealant gunk over the whole in its outer shell that should keep it from repeating. A few moments later the wizard continued "stolen the Heartstone. Quickly to the castle!". Another flash of smoke puffed from the machines hand and it lowered back down into the ground. The drawbridge of the castle was lowering in the distance. "Well I'm not picking up any Steam readings around here, I guess we should check the castle", Reversecreations said. Mudzgut was already running up the hill and after some slight hesitation BathTubb quickly followed. Destroyah took the time to examine the other clockwork robots in the area. While the effect seemed clunky, it may have been on purpose. The engineering behind these automatons was actually very impressive, the designs stuck with him. Destroyah +1 Engineering
In the castle courtyard there were a number of bulky buildings with signs in large block lettering. Training, Concessions, Gift Shop, and of course the central castle itself which did not have a sign on it. The entrances to the concessions building had collapsed and the gift shop itself appeared to have been destroyed by a fire at some point. The Archmage had arisen again here next to an ornate golden statue of a king, a large heart-shaped indentation was missing from its chest.. This version seemed to be in much better shape. "You must gather your party before continuing." It repeated again. Mudzgut impatiently urged the others to catch up. Finally when they'd all arrived it continued. "King Ammenas has been cursed by evil lord Darkon. Without the Heartstone he cannot move. Will you mighty heroes help us?" After a bit of a pause it starts up again "Oh thank you! Return to me when you have completed your training and I will open the way to the evil lord's dungeon."
"Mudzgut hates the evil lord Darkon!" the big fella yelled as he went off towards the training center. "Keep an eye on him", Brutal J told BathTubb and Destroyah. ReverseCreations was scanning the golden statue. "Now this has some Steam residue on it. I hate to say it...but I think we need to get ourselves a Heartstone. The castle doors themselves didn't seem to open, it was a false front it seemed. Maybe some of the behind the scenes operations were back there, but it didn't seem to be accessible from here. "You think it's actually in this dungeon it's talking about?"
"Go now! There's no time to waste. I will prepare the way." The robot repeated a few times.
ReverseCreations said, "There must be some kind of token or check it's making to see if we've completed training. Let's go see what that's all about."
Geth roll 1d10+2 for Mudzgut's Weird Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Brutal J Martial Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Destroyah's Engineering Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+4 for ReverseCreations Science Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Bathtubb's Weird Training vs Difficulty 5
Mudzgut's Weird Training vs Difficulty 5:
1d10+26 [1d10=4]
Brutal J Martial Training vs Difficulty 5:
1d10+312 [1d10=9]
Destroyah's Engineering Training vs Difficulty 5:
1d10+34 [1d10=1]
ReverseCreations Science Training vs Difficulty 5:
Inside they were given a series of aptitude tests to assign them a role. Bathtubb and Mudzgut were declared wizards and each given a set a blue starry robes and hats to wear. Which both did willingly, although Mudzgut's robe was stretched awfully tight. Brutal J was a barbarian and given a large battleaxe to fight with. Destroyah was a conjuror and given a metal wand with a series of buttons on it. ReverseCreations was an alchemist, and given a pouch of different colored spheres. Then one by one they were set to run through the basic tutorial of their new abilities and weapons. Mudzgut needed a lot of help from Bathtubb to get the hang of the complicated hand gestures they were shown. But when they all met back up in the courtyard he bellowed "I am a wizard now!" and waved his arms in the explained pattern. After he did so a zap of electricity shot down from above zapping the training dummy posted by the wall. Destroyah gave up trying to explain how the gesture recognition system was actually working when Mudzgut threatened to turn him into a toad. Besides his arm was till numb and he could barely move it. In his own training scenario he was supposed to use his wand to command a summoned skeleton clockwork robot to do battle with a series of clockwork bats. But after fumbling the button sequence a few times, the blasted thing shorted out in his hands electrocuting him. The training simulation shut down when that happened with an alarm about a safety systems failure, but no service technician ever arrived. ReverseCreations spheres could be thrown at enemies causing a variety of effects, one generated heat, another ice. And some could be used together to cause combination effects. Brutal J emerged from his training simulation to a dramatic fanfare of music. He had apparently leveled up, and the battleaxe he'd smashed up the training robots with now glowed with a "mystical" flame.
The Archmage reacted differently when they returned, "Gather your forces and go forth to the dreaded dungeon of Darkon!" A large entryway slid open along one of the outer walls, Behind it a stairwell led down to a stonework tunnel lit by flickering electric torches. However, there was a far more advanced bit of tech barring the way for Destroyah. As he went to follow the others down the stairwell he found himself running face first into an invisible wall.
"What the.."?
"Apologies young one, the Dungeon of Darkon is only for experienced adventurers. Please enjoy our concession stand or watch their progress from inside the gift shop." The Archmage declared.
Destroyah was content to wait behind anyway since his arm was injured. Plus he wanted dig into the inner workings of some of these clockworks.
The other four continued on into the dungeon. In the first room they were confronted by a clockwork ogre and multiple skeletons.
Geth roll 1d10+3 for a Martial Challenge vs Difficulty 3
One easier from Brutal's crit roll
The team quickly progressed through the dungeon. Bathtubb and Mudzgut were pretty into it, throwing their new found spells at each encounter. Brutal J found their enthusiasm infectious, it also didn't hurt that he was getting to smash things with a big axe. ReverseCreations was content to let them take care of the monsters that showed up while he scanned the area for Steam. Finally they came to a break in the path. Five separate tunnels led out of the current chamber. Another Archmage robot appeared to explain. Each of the five paths would lead to the evil lord Darkon, and within each was special item that would help them defeat the evil lord. They should divide their forces and gather as many of these items as they could before facing him. Everything had gone pretty smoothly so far, so they split up and each picked a different route to take.
Geth roll 1d10+2 for Mudzgut's Weird vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Brutal J Martial vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+4 for ReverseCreations Science vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Bathtubb's Weird vs Difficulty 4
Bathtubb's difficulty is reduced by one from the earlier crit.
ReverseCreations had mostly been ignoring the game around them, but was forced to engage with the puzzle presented in his personalized challenge. It was quite fascinating really, the spheres acted like a chemical reaction, and once he found the right combination, the skeletal clockwork dragon was simple to disable. Bathtubb danced his way through, waving gestures for spell after spell at the various obstacles that popped up. All four of the team emerged into the final chamber at around the same time. The room was dark, and covered in skulls and spikes. Creepy music was playing over the hidden speakers. In the center of the room was the Heartstone. The golden heart was floating in the air surrounded by glowing energy. Behind it, was a large throne, and in the throne was the evil lord Darkon. The giant figure roared at them as it stood from it's throne. "Foolish mortals, you dare enter"
With that the clockwork giant misplaced its next step and tumbled over crashing into the Heartstone and the floor. The large machine whirred and sputtered, its limbs broken off in multiple places it struggled to move. The Heartstone itself was smashed and scattered around the room. It was...a disappointing finish.
They gathered up what they could of the Heartstone and brought it back to the castle courtyard above. The Steam collector was able to pull 4 Steam out of the shattered prop. But on top of that, Bathtubb and ReverseCreations were given awards of valor by the Archmage (a jealous Mudzgut sulked in the background) they seemed made out of the same golden painted material and each contained an additional 1 point. And in his explorations while they were gone Destroyah had found a similar medal in the rubble of the gift shop. All together they'd collected 7 Steam. Captain Corrigan was pleased.
Mudzgut cried for a day and a half when he couldn't perform magic anymore. Bathtubb had helped explain to him that of course it wasn't real, it was just part of the game. But at night in his quarters, Bathtubb continued to practice his spell gestures. Sometimes he felt convinced they were going to work. Bathtubb +1 Weird. ReverseCreations had brought his alchemy spheres back to ship with him, and conducted a more thorough examination. While in the end, they simply were used to signify effects to the robots around them, Reverse thought perhaps there was some merit in a creating something similar for real. ReverseCreations +1 Science
That was a particularly opportune time to get the crit chance increase. Lots of rolls, a low average Steam mission (4 generally so the base challenges are not very hard) but with a high ceiling from crit rolls (max of 8), plus stat gains.
Did I miss where they picked me up after the pirate incident or was that mildly assumed? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I wasn't left behind (how else could I have become a wizard...temporarily, WAH!!!) but I want to make sure I didn't miss something.
Chef Mts gave up trying to find anything useful on the long range scanners for the day. He decided to head to the kitchen and make sure everything was ready for the next days meals. Most of it took care of itself, but he had to check up on his special ingredients. Make sure the cultures were fermenting properly. It was late, so there was only one diner in the front room currently. Jazz was eating a late meal. Sipping some kind of nutrient sludge through a crazy straw. Mts made his way back into the kitchen and popped open the staff fridge. Yes, good, the samples were the proper shade of purple. "despair......despair....so cold..." Mts looked around convinced he'd just heard someone faintly talking. "despair...nooo hope" There it was again, Mts glanced over the front counter at Jazz. "Did you hear that?" Jazz seemed confused, "Hear what?". Mts stuck his head back in the fridge. "DESPAIR!" The voice shouted nearby. Mts jumped and banged his head on the inner fridge. There was a rectangular black container in the fridge. "No name on it, typical" he thought. As he cracked the lid of the box a green mist poured forth and the voices spread throughout the kitchen. "There's no escape. The end is coming. No hope. No hope." Then the pots and pans began to shake and bang together The cutlery was menacingly rattling in place. "Are you ok in there?" Jazz asked and then screamed as her chair began to levitate.
Ten minutes later Firebird had a headache, which seemed kind of strange since he was pretty sure he didn't actually have a head anymore. Mts and Jazz had come running up to the bridge spouting something about ghosts in the kitchen, and now the doorway to the kitchen was sealed up with some kind of sticky green gloop. The cameras inside were no longer functioning, and they could hear all kind of banging and shouting from the other side. To top it all off, instead of being able to put a full team on the issue, the system had just updated to tell him that his assigned mission team for this round would be the only ones allowed anywhere near the kitchen until the matter was resolved. Any outside help and they'd be found to be breaking the rules...which came with fatal consequences for all of them.
Which is how @Soundsplush and @HyphyKezzy found themselves locked into deck three alone; staring at a door covered in green slime, listening to strange animal roars from the other side.
The goop would come away from the door when pushed, but then more would ooze through the door itself, bubbling and sputtering. After creating a small heap of the stuff on the floor with a shovel, and the door being as gummed up as ever, Soundsplush was open to other ideas. "So...there's no coffee?" a bathrobe wearing HyphyKezzy asked. They'd woken him up in the middle of the night and told him he had to go on his mission now. Some of the other passengers had seemed to enjoy their excursions, but his was this? He wiggled his toes in his high heeled pumps and peered closely at the slime. It reminded him of that terrible cold he'd had last year.
Geth roll 1d4 for HyphyKezzy
Geth roll 1d10+2 for Science Challenge vs Difficulty 6
The laser torch didn't manage more than a slight scorching on the door. The slime seemed to be protecting it, hardening under the beam. The other side had gone quiet apart for an occasional prolonged growl.
Gamma rays cause the slime to violently explode outward from the door like a giant sneeze, covering the unfortunate pair with thick chunks of the stuff. But the door just as quickly filled back up with another layer of goop.
Soundsplush wiped a blob of slime off his forehead with the back of his hand. He turned away from the door and yelled in frustration. They'd been at this for two hours now, and the first thing that had any effect just made it so much worse covering him in goop. And this other guy in the bathrobe and high heels had been no help at all. "Dammit!" He sighed and thought about maybe trying ultraviolet rays when he noticed he couldn't move his right leg, or back... He tried to turn his head, but couldn't. "What's going on, why can't I move!" HyphyKezzy came over. The slime of the door had pushed outward from the door and covered Soundsplush's back, right leg, and head. With a slurping suction noise the slime constricted back into the door, pulling Soundsplush with it. Hyphy tried to help pull him free, but he wasn't budging an inch. "Should I try the gamma ray thing?" Hyphy asked.
"NO! No, it was explosive enough reaction it might take me with it. This stuff is getting tighter. Ah...ow." The more Hyphy tried to pry him loose the more the slime tightened. In fact it had begun to creep around his torso, taking hold of the front. The slime on the door was no longer coming off freely, it had thickened and grown denser. "All right, All right, we need to come up with something new. Fast. See what else you can find in the lab. We can test it on the pile on the floor first." The slime had begun to close in on Soundsplush's mouth, so from then on he tried to stay as still as possible.
(To be continued post commute. Catching up from missing Monday. Want to give the Captains a bit of extra time to make some choices between rounds this week.)
Geth roll 1d10+1 for a Science challenge vs difficulty 6
The slime had enveloped Soundsplush's torso, and it was getting difficult to speak for lack of breath. HyphyKezzy had returned with an armful of supplies from the science lab. He'd ditched the bathrobe since it had gotten coated in a layer of slime from the burst. His silk pajamas were a gift, and he took care not to get any of slime on them. "All right" he said. "I think this is gonna work. I had a terrible sinus infection last year, my bedroom looked a lot like this before it was over. My aunt Carla gave me this protonic vibration thingy, it just shook the stuff right out. And THIS looks like a really big version of that." He flipped on the power switch of the generator and and pointed the attached nozzle at Soundsplush. A wave of energy shot out and enveloped Soundsplush and the door. The green slime shivered and then melted away leaving the door clean and untouched. Soundplush stood up, aching from the iron grip he'd been in. "You should have tested it first! Are you trying to kill me?" "Hey it worked didn't it? So...do we have to go in there?" The banging noises inside the kitchen had picked up again."Yeah I think so. We'd better bring that thing with us." HyphyKezzy slung the protonic generator over his shoulder with the handy strap. "Check".
As the door slid open normally, the noises inside stopped. The two cautiously walked across the threshold. The tables and chairs of the dining area were stacked together in three separate large piles. The air was hazy, and the burners on the stoves were on full blast. But otherwise the room seemed empty. Soundplush turned from side to side, pretty sure he'd just heard some giggling. They crept towards the refrigerator, Mts believed the source of the disturbance was in that black box. Eerily as they entered the kitchen the door of the refrigerator slowly swung open to greet them. The sounds of many people eating...chewing, slurping, utensils clanking filled the room getting louder and louder.
Geth roll 1d10+2 for a Science Challenge vs Difficulty 5
Inside the fridge the black box sat there, unremarkable apart from all the noises happening. And then apparaitions appeared. Meals of the past floating across the room but alive. A cheeseburger on a plate drifted by HyphyKezzy, a pair of eyes on the bun opened, and the patty split open to reveal a row of sharp teeth. Hyphykezzy tried to bat it away but his arm passed through it, chilled as if he'd just poured cold water over head. The roast pig from a past luau themed cruise rocketed past them and burst into flames. And the pots and pans began to bang together again. "It really is a ghost" said HyphyKezzy. "That's bullshit! It's a trick of some kind, it could be a holographic projection, a psionic and telekinetic alien putting images in our minds. But it is NOT a ghost." He snatched the box out of the fridge and threw it on the counter. Inside was just the moldy remnants of a half eaten grilled cheese sandwich. Purple fuzz growing out of it. "Shoot it with the thing!" Hyphy obliged and the positronic beam flung the box across the dining area and scattered the apparitions in its path, but the manifestations continued.
"It is not a ghost." Soundsplush stated certainly. Soundsplush +1 Science
Geth roll 1d10+3 for a Science Challenge vs Difficulty 7
Crit success on previous challenge allows this to be solved as a Science challenge as opposed to a Weird one
"All right this thing whatever it is doesn't like positronic energy. And it hasn't left the kitchen yet. Lock the door." HyphyKezzy crossed back through the dining area dodging a manically laughing bowl of jello and floating wad of spaghetti and meatballs dripping sauce from its eyes. Meanwhile Soundsplush gathered up the black box and its lid and placed it roughly in the center of the room. He added in a device normally used to generate forcefields in the brig, and set it to remotely activate. Once Hyphy returned, the creature causing chaos in their kitchen tried one last time to scare them away. A huge apparition of a giant made from various coldcuts and meats stomped towards them while Soundsplush worked on the positronic generator. "Ignore it, it can't hurt us" Soundsplush said. The beast slammed a ham fist into a stack of chairs splintering them to pieces. "Ok maybe it can." Hurrying with the final touches Soundsplush turned on the generator again, now set to overload. "Take cover!" They ran for the back of the kitchen as the generator burst in a explosion of positronic energy that bathed the entire room. The various floating spirits were pushed together as the force of the blast pushed through the room. The force of the blast was strong, but the energy itself was not harmful to the two crew members. As the meat monster dissipated as well, all the manifestations in the room fled into the black box. Soundsplush clicked the tigger. And a shimmery bubble formed around the container. Nothing else unusual happened as they looked around the room.
Firebird got the all clear from the computer systems to send people back down into the kitchens. The box was still sitting there in the forcefield bubble. "So what is it?" "No idea, said Soundsplush, "I'd shoot it out the airlock though, that forcefield won't hold forever." Not inclined to argue Firebird gave the command to do just that. But Elvenshae said he was getting weird vibes from the box and tested it with a Steam collector. 6 points of Steam were pulled from it before it was shot out the airlock. Soundsplush and HyphyKezzy went back to bed, and Mts was left to clean up the mess.
Why couldn't it have been the other type of space ghost?
See? This what I get for buying a used cruise liner off the back of an old 'women of the forbidden sectors' pin-up magazine ad. I get @Bedlam and GHOSTS!!!
Also... who ate my banana loaf and fritatta sandwich?
EDIT: Do I assume the headache-headless comment is in part of being a hard hologram?
Because it would be quite a gruesome, yet ridiculous ordeal trying to give direct and disturbingly guttural commands out the place that is currently my neckhole...
Firebird on
STEAM ID: Firebird
XBOX Live: FirebirdLR
Playstation: FirebirdXR
If you want to make things more difficult, why not remove displaying the modifiers during the pre-round selections, as they give too much of a hint on who should go on missions?
STEAM ID: Firebird
XBOX Live: FirebirdLR
Playstation: FirebirdXR
Yes, headless comment is in regardless to most of your actual body's destruction.
Not sure which modifiers you mean.
Stuff like the sensor scan difficulty being visible is deliberate.
But I wasn't actually serious about trying to make it harder. The difficulty will scale as it progresses in a couple ways. More round based than spot on the map, although the base values on the map are predetermined.
Will have some a side option tomorrow that should be entertaining.
The real difficulty kicks in now that I hit the zone I wanted to venture to. Now we're no longer hunting specific squares, but going for targets. Closest ship is @Firebird and his crew. Good luck guys.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
See? This what I get for buying a used cruise liner off the back of an old 'women of the forbidden sectors' pin-up magazine ad. I get @Bedlam and GHOSTS!!!
HEY! WOAH! THAT STUFF WAS HAUNTED WHEN I GOT THERE!!
Plus I only brought the 1 orphan sou...I mean NOTHING! GEEZ!
Geth roll 1d4 for F3rret. 1 he remains incapacitated. The rest he improves to injured
Geth roll 1d100 for Polaritie
Geth roll 1d100 for Pixie
Geth roll 1d100 for Jclast
Geth roll 1d100 for Firebird
Geth roll 1d100 for Corrigan
F3rret. 1 he remains incapacitated. The rest he improves to injured:
The show featuring footage of their exploits for the week aired as usual. Although the portions showing Polaritie's mission were omitted apart from some brief clips of them finding a rock on a hillside. Following the presentation the golden emoticon included a recorded message at the end. "Well, it looks like you're all getting the hang of it. Having fun? Good! It looks like some of you are falling behind...but you've got spirit. Just, do better.
Now that we're moving into round five, it's time for party favors. I've included a little bonus for each of you that you can use to get an edge over the competition. But don't wait to long, these are a limited time offer."
The message concluded, and the timer for the next jump proceeded as normal. However the system update listing crew assignment requirements came with some additional information.
Posts
Steam ID: Good Life
CorriganX's Crew. Round Four. Zone 2-4
While @Brutal J liked to think he was ready for anything as they beamed down, it turned out he was not. Sensors hadn't been able to get very specific information on the beam in site. The U Wot M8 had encountered a rogue moon giving off Steam signs. A large complex of some kind was built under the moon's surface. There were power readings, and artificial atmosphere. But no life signs. They materialized in the center of what turned out to be town square. @ReverseCreations , @destroyah87 , @BathTubb , and @Mudzgut made up the rest of the team. The new arrivals scanned their surroundings quickly, weapons raised. They were in an olden village of some kind. Short stone buildings surrounded the fountain square, with large signs declaring their purpose. Blacksmith. General Store, Stables, Magic Shop, and more. A short distance away up a hill was a large stone castle, covered in colorful but tattered banners, the drawbridge was currently up. And throughout the area were unmoving clockwork people. Well people and animals. The clockwork blacksmith was frozen mid-swing over an anvil. The stable held an array of clockwork horses. And various villagers scattered.
"There's some kind of dampening field in effect here" ReverseCreations said. He was checking the readings on his handheld scanner. He tried to blast the ground a few feet away and the disrupter just made a squelching popping noise." Then all at once a line of clockwork men on the castle battlements began to move. They raised trumpets up to their flat lip-less faces and trumpets blared over some kind of hidden PA system. The villagers all began to move with whirring internal motors. The smithy began to hammer again, the horse started chewing their fake hay. A weak puff of smoke shot out of the ground in front of the fountain, and a new clockwork figure was raised up awkwardly from below. This one was dressed in a bright blue robe covered in stars along with a matching hat. Some more smoke shot out of it's outstretched fingers as it finally arrived. "Welcome heroes. Welcome to Wizards and Warriors!" The trumpet fanfare concluded and a large logo reading Wizards & Warriors moved across the screen above simulating a sky. "I am the Archmage. You have come just in time. The evil lord Darkon has stol." With a static pop the clockwork wizard halted mid-speech while the rest of the robots continued their routines. Mudzgut had been happily clapping since clockwork figures began moving, and only now slowly stopped after noticing no one else was. It was quite noisy, with squeaks and gears buzzing. This place had probably seen better days. BathTubb excitedly looked around the square, "It's like Fantasy Town. Remember that place? I used go there every summer!" Destroyah just sighed and began to examine the stuck clockwork wizard.
Geth roll 1d4
CorriganX's Crew. Round Four. Zone 2-4
In the castle courtyard there were a number of bulky buildings with signs in large block lettering. Training, Concessions, Gift Shop, and of course the central castle itself which did not have a sign on it. The entrances to the concessions building had collapsed and the gift shop itself appeared to have been destroyed by a fire at some point. The Archmage had arisen again here next to an ornate golden statue of a king, a large heart-shaped indentation was missing from its chest.. This version seemed to be in much better shape. "You must gather your party before continuing." It repeated again. Mudzgut impatiently urged the others to catch up. Finally when they'd all arrived it continued. "King Ammenas has been cursed by evil lord Darkon. Without the Heartstone he cannot move. Will you mighty heroes help us?" After a bit of a pause it starts up again "Oh thank you! Return to me when you have completed your training and I will open the way to the evil lord's dungeon."
"Mudzgut hates the evil lord Darkon!" the big fella yelled as he went off towards the training center. "Keep an eye on him", Brutal J told BathTubb and Destroyah. ReverseCreations was scanning the golden statue. "Now this has some Steam residue on it. I hate to say it...but I think we need to get ourselves a Heartstone. The castle doors themselves didn't seem to open, it was a false front it seemed. Maybe some of the behind the scenes operations were back there, but it didn't seem to be accessible from here. "You think it's actually in this dungeon it's talking about?"
"Go now! There's no time to waste. I will prepare the way." The robot repeated a few times.
ReverseCreations said, "There must be some kind of token or check it's making to see if we've completed training. Let's go see what that's all about."
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Brutal J Martial Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Destroyah's Engineering Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+4 for ReverseCreations Science Training vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Bathtubb's Weird Training vs Difficulty 5
CorriganX's Crew. Round Four. Zone 2-4
Inside they were given a series of aptitude tests to assign them a role. Bathtubb and Mudzgut were declared wizards and each given a set a blue starry robes and hats to wear. Which both did willingly, although Mudzgut's robe was stretched awfully tight. Brutal J was a barbarian and given a large battleaxe to fight with. Destroyah was a conjuror and given a metal wand with a series of buttons on it. ReverseCreations was an alchemist, and given a pouch of different colored spheres. Then one by one they were set to run through the basic tutorial of their new abilities and weapons. Mudzgut needed a lot of help from Bathtubb to get the hang of the complicated hand gestures they were shown. But when they all met back up in the courtyard he bellowed "I am a wizard now!" and waved his arms in the explained pattern. After he did so a zap of electricity shot down from above zapping the training dummy posted by the wall. Destroyah gave up trying to explain how the gesture recognition system was actually working when Mudzgut threatened to turn him into a toad. Besides his arm was till numb and he could barely move it. In his own training scenario he was supposed to use his wand to command a summoned skeleton clockwork robot to do battle with a series of clockwork bats. But after fumbling the button sequence a few times, the blasted thing shorted out in his hands electrocuting him. The training simulation shut down when that happened with an alarm about a safety systems failure, but no service technician ever arrived. ReverseCreations spheres could be thrown at enemies causing a variety of effects, one generated heat, another ice. And some could be used together to cause combination effects. Brutal J emerged from his training simulation to a dramatic fanfare of music. He had apparently leveled up, and the battleaxe he'd smashed up the training robots with now glowed with a "mystical" flame.
The Archmage reacted differently when they returned, "Gather your forces and go forth to the dreaded dungeon of Darkon!" A large entryway slid open along one of the outer walls, Behind it a stairwell led down to a stonework tunnel lit by flickering electric torches. However, there was a far more advanced bit of tech barring the way for Destroyah. As he went to follow the others down the stairwell he found himself running face first into an invisible wall.
"What the.."?
"Apologies young one, the Dungeon of Darkon is only for experienced adventurers. Please enjoy our concession stand or watch their progress from inside the gift shop." The Archmage declared.
Destroyah was content to wait behind anyway since his arm was injured. Plus he wanted dig into the inner workings of some of these clockworks.
The other four continued on into the dungeon. In the first room they were confronted by a clockwork ogre and multiple skeletons.
One easier from Brutal's crit roll
CorriganX's Crew. Round Four. Zone 2-4
The team quickly progressed through the dungeon. Bathtubb and Mudzgut were pretty into it, throwing their new found spells at each encounter. Brutal J found their enthusiasm infectious, it also didn't hurt that he was getting to smash things with a big axe. ReverseCreations was content to let them take care of the monsters that showed up while he scanned the area for Steam. Finally they came to a break in the path. Five separate tunnels led out of the current chamber. Another Archmage robot appeared to explain. Each of the five paths would lead to the evil lord Darkon, and within each was special item that would help them defeat the evil lord. They should divide their forces and gather as many of these items as they could before facing him. Everything had gone pretty smoothly so far, so they split up and each picked a different route to take.
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Brutal J Martial vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+4 for ReverseCreations Science vs Difficulty 5
Geth roll 1d10+3 for Bathtubb's Weird vs Difficulty 4
Bathtubb's difficulty is reduced by one from the earlier crit.
Take note crew. Don't let those ruffians show you up.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to lots of guys...
CorriganX's Crew. Round Four. Zone 2-4
ReverseCreations had mostly been ignoring the game around them, but was forced to engage with the puzzle presented in his personalized challenge. It was quite fascinating really, the spheres acted like a chemical reaction, and once he found the right combination, the skeletal clockwork dragon was simple to disable. Bathtubb danced his way through, waving gestures for spell after spell at the various obstacles that popped up. All four of the team emerged into the final chamber at around the same time. The room was dark, and covered in skulls and spikes. Creepy music was playing over the hidden speakers. In the center of the room was the Heartstone. The golden heart was floating in the air surrounded by glowing energy. Behind it, was a large throne, and in the throne was the evil lord Darkon. The giant figure roared at them as it stood from it's throne. "Foolish mortals, you dare enter"
With that the clockwork giant misplaced its next step and tumbled over crashing into the Heartstone and the floor. The large machine whirred and sputtered, its limbs broken off in multiple places it struggled to move. The Heartstone itself was smashed and scattered around the room. It was...a disappointing finish.
They gathered up what they could of the Heartstone and brought it back to the castle courtyard above. The Steam collector was able to pull 4 Steam out of the shattered prop. But on top of that, Bathtubb and ReverseCreations were given awards of valor by the Archmage (a jealous Mudzgut sulked in the background) they seemed made out of the same golden painted material and each contained an additional 1 point. And in his explorations while they were gone Destroyah had found a similar medal in the rubble of the gift shop. All together they'd collected 7 Steam. Captain Corrigan was pleased.
Mudzgut cried for a day and a half when he couldn't perform magic anymore. Bathtubb had helped explain to him that of course it wasn't real, it was just part of the game. But at night in his quarters, Bathtubb continued to practice his spell gestures. Sometimes he felt convinced they were going to work. Bathtubb +1 Weird. ReverseCreations had brought his alchemy spheres back to ship with him, and conducted a more thorough examination. While in the end, they simply were used to signify effects to the robots around them, Reverse thought perhaps there was some merit in a creating something similar for real. ReverseCreations +1 Science
Mission Done. 7 Steam gained. Destroyah87 injured and +1 Engineering. Bathtubb +1 Weird. ReverseCreations +1 Science
Geth roll 5d71
Also - go team!
Twitch/Mudzgut
Fall down seven times. Stand up eight.
Snagged you with long-range teleporter. Everything important made the trip.
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
Chef Mts gave up trying to find anything useful on the long range scanners for the day. He decided to head to the kitchen and make sure everything was ready for the next days meals. Most of it took care of itself, but he had to check up on his special ingredients. Make sure the cultures were fermenting properly. It was late, so there was only one diner in the front room currently. Jazz was eating a late meal. Sipping some kind of nutrient sludge through a crazy straw. Mts made his way back into the kitchen and popped open the staff fridge. Yes, good, the samples were the proper shade of purple. "despair......despair....so cold..." Mts looked around convinced he'd just heard someone faintly talking. "despair...nooo hope" There it was again, Mts glanced over the front counter at Jazz. "Did you hear that?" Jazz seemed confused, "Hear what?". Mts stuck his head back in the fridge. "DESPAIR!" The voice shouted nearby. Mts jumped and banged his head on the inner fridge. There was a rectangular black container in the fridge. "No name on it, typical" he thought. As he cracked the lid of the box a green mist poured forth and the voices spread throughout the kitchen. "There's no escape. The end is coming. No hope. No hope." Then the pots and pans began to shake and bang together The cutlery was menacingly rattling in place. "Are you ok in there?" Jazz asked and then screamed as her chair began to levitate.
Ten minutes later Firebird had a headache, which seemed kind of strange since he was pretty sure he didn't actually have a head anymore. Mts and Jazz had come running up to the bridge spouting something about ghosts in the kitchen, and now the doorway to the kitchen was sealed up with some kind of sticky green gloop. The cameras inside were no longer functioning, and they could hear all kind of banging and shouting from the other side. To top it all off, instead of being able to put a full team on the issue, the system had just updated to tell him that his assigned mission team for this round would be the only ones allowed anywhere near the kitchen until the matter was resolved. Any outside help and they'd be found to be breaking the rules...which came with fatal consequences for all of them.
Which is how @Soundsplush and @HyphyKezzy found themselves locked into deck three alone; staring at a door covered in green slime, listening to strange animal roars from the other side.
The goop would come away from the door when pushed, but then more would ooze through the door itself, bubbling and sputtering. After creating a small heap of the stuff on the floor with a shovel, and the door being as gummed up as ever, Soundsplush was open to other ideas. "So...there's no coffee?" a bathrobe wearing HyphyKezzy asked. They'd woken him up in the middle of the night and told him he had to go on his mission now. Some of the other passengers had seemed to enjoy their excursions, but his was this? He wiggled his toes in his high heeled pumps and peered closely at the slime. It reminded him of that terrible cold he'd had last year.
Geth roll 1d10+2 for Science Challenge vs Difficulty 6
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
The laser torch didn't manage more than a slight scorching on the door. The slime seemed to be protecting it, hardening under the beam. The other side had gone quiet apart for an occasional prolonged growl.
Gamma rays cause the slime to violently explode outward from the door like a giant sneeze, covering the unfortunate pair with thick chunks of the stuff. But the door just as quickly filled back up with another layer of goop.
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
Soundsplush wiped a blob of slime off his forehead with the back of his hand. He turned away from the door and yelled in frustration. They'd been at this for two hours now, and the first thing that had any effect just made it so much worse covering him in goop. And this other guy in the bathrobe and high heels had been no help at all. "Dammit!" He sighed and thought about maybe trying ultraviolet rays when he noticed he couldn't move his right leg, or back... He tried to turn his head, but couldn't. "What's going on, why can't I move!" HyphyKezzy came over. The slime of the door had pushed outward from the door and covered Soundsplush's back, right leg, and head. With a slurping suction noise the slime constricted back into the door, pulling Soundsplush with it. Hyphy tried to help pull him free, but he wasn't budging an inch. "Should I try the gamma ray thing?" Hyphy asked.
"NO! No, it was explosive enough reaction it might take me with it. This stuff is getting tighter. Ah...ow." The more Hyphy tried to pry him loose the more the slime tightened. In fact it had begun to creep around his torso, taking hold of the front. The slime on the door was no longer coming off freely, it had thickened and grown denser. "All right, All right, we need to come up with something new. Fast. See what else you can find in the lab. We can test it on the pile on the floor first." The slime had begun to close in on Soundsplush's mouth, so from then on he tried to stay as still as possible.
(To be continued post commute. Catching up from missing Monday. Want to give the Captains a bit of extra time to make some choices between rounds this week.)
Or at least everything that doesn't risk getting slime on my pumps.
Awww.... dammit.... that can't be good.
:razz:
Where's the "Half-Hearted Brofist" reaction?
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
The slime had enveloped Soundsplush's torso, and it was getting difficult to speak for lack of breath. HyphyKezzy had returned with an armful of supplies from the science lab. He'd ditched the bathrobe since it had gotten coated in a layer of slime from the burst. His silk pajamas were a gift, and he took care not to get any of slime on them. "All right" he said. "I think this is gonna work. I had a terrible sinus infection last year, my bedroom looked a lot like this before it was over. My aunt Carla gave me this protonic vibration thingy, it just shook the stuff right out. And THIS looks like a really big version of that." He flipped on the power switch of the generator and and pointed the attached nozzle at Soundsplush. A wave of energy shot out and enveloped Soundsplush and the door. The green slime shivered and then melted away leaving the door clean and untouched. Soundplush stood up, aching from the iron grip he'd been in. "You should have tested it first! Are you trying to kill me?" "Hey it worked didn't it? So...do we have to go in there?" The banging noises inside the kitchen had picked up again."Yeah I think so. We'd better bring that thing with us." HyphyKezzy slung the protonic generator over his shoulder with the handy strap. "Check".
As the door slid open normally, the noises inside stopped. The two cautiously walked across the threshold. The tables and chairs of the dining area were stacked together in three separate large piles. The air was hazy, and the burners on the stoves were on full blast. But otherwise the room seemed empty. Soundplush turned from side to side, pretty sure he'd just heard some giggling. They crept towards the refrigerator, Mts believed the source of the disturbance was in that black box. Eerily as they entered the kitchen the door of the refrigerator slowly swung open to greet them. The sounds of many people eating...chewing, slurping, utensils clanking filled the room getting louder and louder.
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
Inside the fridge the black box sat there, unremarkable apart from all the noises happening. And then apparaitions appeared. Meals of the past floating across the room but alive. A cheeseburger on a plate drifted by HyphyKezzy, a pair of eyes on the bun opened, and the patty split open to reveal a row of sharp teeth. Hyphykezzy tried to bat it away but his arm passed through it, chilled as if he'd just poured cold water over head. The roast pig from a past luau themed cruise rocketed past them and burst into flames. And the pots and pans began to bang together again. "It really is a ghost" said HyphyKezzy. "That's bullshit! It's a trick of some kind, it could be a holographic projection, a psionic and telekinetic alien putting images in our minds. But it is NOT a ghost." He snatched the box out of the fridge and threw it on the counter. Inside was just the moldy remnants of a half eaten grilled cheese sandwich. Purple fuzz growing out of it. "Shoot it with the thing!" Hyphy obliged and the positronic beam flung the box across the dining area and scattered the apparitions in its path, but the manifestations continued.
"It is not a ghost." Soundsplush stated certainly. Soundsplush +1 Science
Crit success on previous challenge allows this to be solved as a Science challenge as opposed to a Weird one
Firebird's Crew. Round Four. Zone 4-4.
"All right this thing whatever it is doesn't like positronic energy. And it hasn't left the kitchen yet. Lock the door." HyphyKezzy crossed back through the dining area dodging a manically laughing bowl of jello and floating wad of spaghetti and meatballs dripping sauce from its eyes. Meanwhile Soundsplush gathered up the black box and its lid and placed it roughly in the center of the room. He added in a device normally used to generate forcefields in the brig, and set it to remotely activate. Once Hyphy returned, the creature causing chaos in their kitchen tried one last time to scare them away. A huge apparition of a giant made from various coldcuts and meats stomped towards them while Soundsplush worked on the positronic generator. "Ignore it, it can't hurt us" Soundsplush said. The beast slammed a ham fist into a stack of chairs splintering them to pieces. "Ok maybe it can." Hurrying with the final touches Soundsplush turned on the generator again, now set to overload. "Take cover!" They ran for the back of the kitchen as the generator burst in a explosion of positronic energy that bathed the entire room. The various floating spirits were pushed together as the force of the blast pushed through the room. The force of the blast was strong, but the energy itself was not harmful to the two crew members. As the meat monster dissipated as well, all the manifestations in the room fled into the black box. Soundsplush clicked the tigger. And a shimmery bubble formed around the container. Nothing else unusual happened as they looked around the room.
Firebird got the all clear from the computer systems to send people back down into the kitchens. The box was still sitting there in the forcefield bubble. "So what is it?" "No idea, said Soundsplush, "I'd shoot it out the airlock though, that forcefield won't hold forever." Not inclined to argue Firebird gave the command to do just that. But Elvenshae said he was getting weird vibes from the box and tested it with a Steam collector. 6 points of Steam were pulled from it before it was shot out the airlock. Soundsplush and HyphyKezzy went back to bed, and Mts was left to clean up the mess.
Mission done. 6 Steam Gained. Soundsplush +1 Science
Geth roll 5d71
See? This what I get for buying a used cruise liner off the back of an old 'women of the forbidden sectors' pin-up magazine ad. I get @Bedlam and GHOSTS!!!
Also... who ate my banana loaf and fritatta sandwich?
EDIT: Do I assume the headache-headless comment is in part of being a hard hologram?
Because it would be quite a gruesome, yet ridiculous ordeal trying to give direct and disturbingly guttural commands out the place that is currently my neckhole...
STEAM ID: Firebird
XBOX Live: FirebirdLR
Playstation: FirebirdXR
If you want to make things more difficult, why not remove displaying the modifiers during the pre-round selections, as they give too much of a hint on who should go on missions?
STEAM ID: Firebird
XBOX Live: FirebirdLR
Playstation: FirebirdXR
Not sure which modifiers you mean.
Stuff like the sensor scan difficulty being visible is deliberate.
But I wasn't actually serious about trying to make it harder. The difficulty will scale as it progresses in a couple ways. More round based than spot on the map, although the base values on the map are predetermined.
Will have some a side option tomorrow that should be entertaining.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Plus I only brought the 1 orphan sou...I mean NOTHING! GEEZ!
She's lying Geth, carry on.
Switch FC: SW-7588-7027-0113, Steam/PSN: Halfazedninja
Round Four Complete
Current Scores
Wishlist Upon A Star : 27
Kiss Her Plenty : 24
USS Birds Are Fucking Terrifying : 23
ISS Rougelike : 19
U Wot M8 : 18
Round Five Map
Other Notes
Darkprimus Injured
HalfazedNinja Injured
Destroyah87 Injured
Destroyah87 +1 Engineering
Bathtubb +1 Weird
ReverseCreations +1 Science
Brutal J Leveled Up
Soundsplush +1 Science
SanderJK healed
Emberquick healed
F3rret improves to injured
Talus9952 remains incapacitated.
Geth roll 1d100 for Polaritie
Geth roll 1d100 for Pixie
Geth roll 1d100 for Jclast
Geth roll 1d100 for Firebird
Geth roll 1d100 for Corrigan
We shall see...
Round Four Complete
The show featuring footage of their exploits for the week aired as usual. Although the portions showing Polaritie's mission were omitted apart from some brief clips of them finding a rock on a hillside. Following the presentation the golden emoticon included a recorded message at the end. "Well, it looks like you're all getting the hang of it. Having fun? Good! It looks like some of you are falling behind...but you've got spirit. Just, do better.
Now that we're moving into round five, it's time for party favors. I've included a little bonus for each of you that you can use to get an edge over the competition. But don't wait to long, these are a limited time offer."
The message concluded, and the timer for the next jump proceeded as normal. However the system update listing crew assignment requirements came with some additional information.