Tumbleweed Tactics (BETA) - drop in/out western combat and teambuilding

Delzhand

Maxwell moves to B7.
Maxwell uses Arrow Shot on Unit 65.
Unit 65 loses 39 HP.
Maxwell gains 25 XP.
Maxwell is now level 3!
Maxwell's LCK increases to 7.
Maxwell's Max HP increases to 137.

Unit 64 moves to E6.
Unit 64 uses Spazer on Emma Mae.
Emma Mae loses 78 HP.
Unit 64 loses 10 HP.
Unit 64's MOV Down fades.

Elvenshae

65 dies from HP Down on its next turn, so we can ignore it.

Should Emma Mae go up and smack 64 in the face?

discrider

I guess so, move her to E7
(not sure why Grace is highlighted, she used her Quick turn?)

Delzhand

Grace is highlighted because quick doesn't consume your regular turn, it gives you a free one.

Admittedly, this would be more useful if she hadn't gotten KO'd immediately

Delzhand

Emma Mae moves to E7.
Emma Mae uses Crushing Blow on Unit 64!
Unit 64 evades!

Unit 65 loses 3 HP.
Unit 65 is KO'd

Grace is unable to fight...

Unit 64 moves to F5.
Unit 64 uses Spazer on Emma Mae!
Emma Mae evades!
Unit 64 loses 10 HP.

* The next enemy turn is Unit 65's, so you'll get two actions back to back here. The end is in sight!

discrider

River revive Grace, Grace to B5 and Wisp or Scream
Then Emma to B6 and toughen?

discrider

Probably not worth it honestly.
Maybe just Revive then get Grace close enough to double Wisp

Delzhand

River uses Pep Tonic on Grace!
Grace is no longer KO'd.
Grace gains Quick.
River gains 15 XP.

Grace moves to C5.
Grace uses Wicked Wisp on Unit 65!
Unit 65 loses 54 HP.
Grace gains 25 XP.

Unit 64 is unable to fight...

Grace uses Wicked Wisp on Unit 65!
Unit 65 loses 54 HP.
Grace gains 25 XP.
Grace is now level 4!
Grace's Max HP is now 124.
Grace's SKL is now 10.

Unit 65 moves to F7.
Unit 65 uses Incinerate on Emma Mae!
Emma Mae is KO'd.
Unit 65 loses 10 HP.

discrider

Max, Arrow shot and move to B5
Then Emma

Delzhand

It becomes straightforward to figure out how the rest of this battle plays out from that point, then - Max arrows, Emma can't fight, Unit 65 can't right, Grace Wisps to claim the victory. XP will be assigned accordingly!

At the collapse of the two machine men, a stick-thin young figure scurried from the shadows of the cave. A giant hat hid her face, but she was clearly agitated. She ran up and kicked at the closer of the two robots. It gave off a shower of sparks.

"Stupid idiot!"

The machine responded only with silence and a dimming of its internal lights.

The girl whirled on you.

"I hope you can pay for this!"

Emma Mae looked to you, then to the girl.

"They attacked us. Don't reckon it ought to come out of our purse to fix 'em," you declared.

She sat down unhappily on the collapsed automaton, heedless of an electrical buzzing and accompanying sputter of smoke. After a moment, she reached down and fiddled with something inside the casing, and it ceased all emissions. She removed her glasses and buried her face in her hands.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Every time I get ahead the fates slap me back down!"

"Are you Kingmaker?" Emma Mae asked.

She rubbed her eyes and pushed her spectacles back onto her face. It was her face on the machine before they began their attack, although it had appeared older by far on the screen.

"Yes, well, that's what those fool townspeople call me. I gather you're not from these parts."

You shook your head.

"Good, then you can call me Merise. It was those fool Abbots that started calling me Kingmaker, on account of my uncursing some guns for them. Then it wasn't long until the McKendricks came asking for the same. It all spiraled from there."

"That's how feuds tend to go," Emma Mae said, nodding. "Are you a full Sister? You look a bit young."

"It's a long story, and I don't want to bother you with it. Let's just get to the point. What do you want?"

You explained the situation.

She pulled her hat down tight in frustration, then let the brim flop back into place.

"The sisterhood never paid much attention to the Aguadores. Always too busy charting the stars and drawing their sigils. So worried about the way back home they ignore the world they have now..."

This last part she muttered under her breath. You didn't know if you were meant to hear it. But Merise shook her head.

"If you want to get past the Abbot holding, you could go back south. Although that's not going to put you on a short path to the Sector. Honestly, it'd be much better to convince the Abbots to let you through, but I don't know how you'd do that short of settling their feud with the McKendricks."

You wondered briefly how it began. Some trifling insult, turned to fisticuffs, turned to a brawl, and then siblings and cousins come back with weapons... Despite Isaac's claims, you doubted the death of Elias McKendrick would bring peace to Summer's Rock. As quick as he was to bring his Gun out, you figured it wouldn't be long before they realized no sheriff would be able to enforce the law.

"If we broke all the McKendrick and Abbot guns, would you stop uncursing them?"

For a moment, she looked at you with an expression you couldn't read. She she looked away.

"I... I can't promise that."

"Why not?" Emma pressed. "If the feuding families don't have working Guns, they'll have a lot less power over the rest of the town, right?"

"You don't understand. It's... it's the only way I have to make money. My studies involve some very expensive reagents, and..."

Her shoulders slumped.

You weighed asking about her research, but decided you didn't want to know.

"What kind of research?"

If Emma Mae weren't so kind, genial, and useful in a fight you might have been annoyed. Luckily for you, Merise seemed disinclined to explain.

"You wouldn't understand. I don't mean to be rude, it would just take me too long to explain unless you're already familiar with chrysomatic processes."

Merise read your passive stares and smiled weakly.

"I figured."

Victory spoils now, story continues tomorrow!

• Queen of Diamonds
• 4 of Spades
• Ace of Hearts
• 7 of Hearts
• 6 of Clubs

As always, each poster can pick 2 and the results will be decided randomly.

discrider

Are the spoils being drawn from the same deck all the time?

Delzhand

It's random every time, there's no persistence. Each card just represents a particular bonus, each suit a character. If I was doing it over again it would be kind of a cool metagame if there was a card game aspect to it, though!

discrider

Ace and Queen here

Delzhand

With the Ace of Hearts, Grace's raw SKL, STR, and LCK increased by 1, raw HP increased by 3! (Max HP increased to 128)
With the Queen of Diamond's Maxwell's raw SKL increased by 4! (SKL increased to 8)

Merise was a walking contradiction. If she was an adult in the legal sense, it was only barely, and her mannerisms had a lot in common with other teenagers from back home. But she'd sometimes get a distant look in her eyes and you just knew the gears were spinning in her head.

She'd spared you lengthy explanations of her research, but it turned out that in addition to being a Sister of Sunset, she was also involved with the Reclamation Division. Screwheads, as Isaac Abbot had called them.

Which explained the guard drones, obviously.

Presently, you sat on a stone outside the cave entrance, overlooking the southern slope. Merise had offered to uncurse Emma Mae's Gun by way of apology for the rough welcome, a task best performed without distraction. So you watched the sun go down, far to the west. Honestly, you thought you'd be out past Sector 82D by now. You hoped that Aguadores were safe. You also wondered if anyone else was out there looking for them.

Something changed in the lighting at the mouth of the cave, and you looked over your shoulder. A row of tiny lights, strung along a cable, had turned on as the darkness settled in.

A neat trick.

You caught sight of Emma Mae emerging from the draped curtain that partitioned off part of the cave. She joined you in the deepening dusk.

"She's got what she needed from me." She held up her index fingers, showing off a pair of bandages. "She said to give her an hour or so."

You nodded, and she joined you in your silent vigil.

"Wasn't sure if you'd go for it."

She shrugged. "I doubt things are gonna get any easier as we get further from home."

She opened her mouth as if to say more, then closed it again and turned away.

"Raised Diamond from a foal, me and Everett did..."

You slept under the stars.

You awoke, surprised to see a somewhat tired looking Merise flanked by the two gleaming (if a bit dented and scuffed) robots looming over you.

"I know how to get through Abbot's land, if you don't mind a bit of a detour."

You sat up with a quickness. Emma Mae was already awake, and she was holding her rifle in both hands.

"We're gonna break some Guns," she said, and rested the rifle on her shoulder. "Merise and her friends are going to help."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azzc5odj9V4

Delzhand

Sorry this is taking so long, my friends.

Also, did I not write a post introducing Everett and Emma on page 1 of the thread? I just went to check it for something, and it's not there.

Delzhand

Also, Emma Mae has a Gun now. A Rifle, to be exact.

• Can be fired 3 times in any given battle
• Has unlimited range (line of sight rules apply)
• Ignores enemy evasion, however, it can miss, and its accuracy is a function of range (best at about 8 tiles)
• Deals random damage (100~180)

Delzhand

The McKendrick clan wasn't happy when you showed up at the family compound politely requesting that they hand over their guns. In fact, they were downright hostile to the idea, which, to be fair, you expected. But the only way Summer's Rock would know peace was if the McKendricks and Abbots were reduced to throwing stones instead of slinging lead.

* I'll add the enemy stats/abilities later. You've seen most of these classes by now, and you have the reference (which, admittedly, I need to update with the patch notes)
* Earl has a Pistol, which is like a Rifle, but has 4 shots and a much different accuracy sweet spot/damage formula
* Bret has a Snub, which is basically a 2 shot pistol with lower damage
* Ashley has a Rifle
* Merise and her robots are guests, which means they're under your control
* The robots can't be revived with Pep Tonic

discrider

Emma to E10, rifle at Ashley at 7 range, hope to knock out their rifle immediately?

Delzhand

Emma Mae moves to E10.
Emma Mae fires her Rifle at Ashley!
It's a hit!
Ashley loses 137 HP.
Emma Mae gains 25 XP.

Bowie casts Misfire on Emma Mae!
Emma Mae is afflicted by Misfire.
Bowie moves to H9.

* When setting up this battle, I forgot to change Ashley's job icon. 144 is the right HP for a Flowerchild, not a Switchblade. But I think, if anything, that makes her even more of a target.
* Also, Merise's skill data is wrong: Chrysomancy is a unique skill, 66 damage and applies Shield (33) to herself. Lunar Scream is the same skill, but with her SKL it's 44 damage. Misfire, as you've just seen, is the same.

Elvenshae

Move Grace up, AOE Ashley and Charlotte.

Delzhand

Grace moves to A9.
Grace casts Lunar Scream on Ashley!
Ashley is KO'd.
Charlotte loses 40 HP.
Grace gains 25 XP.

Reeves moves to F10.
Reeves uses Corkscrew on Emma Mae!
Emma Mae loses 54 HP.
Emma Mae is afflicted by Stop.

* So I felt kinda spoiled for choice here. It took a long time to decide what action to take, which is actually a fun place to be!
* I did however, realize that I fucked up. I had plenty of time to cast Misfire on Emma Mae, I really should have done something with Ashley first, and now she's KO'd!

discrider

Thinking Earl needs to be next.
He appears to be able to inflict stop on everyone in a 5 square radius, which seems extremely bad.

I'd say probably Maxwell needs to take a shot on Earl from as far away as possible.
Which is probably D12

So Unit 64 to F12 and Phaser Reeves, to clear up D12

We could also misfire Earl, but dead is the best status condition and we probably want him to move closer so Merise can snipe him instead.

Delzhand

I've updated the Job List with the prior patch notes - In particular, Peacemaker's Stall ability is now single target, if that affects your decisions.

It also now shows the damage formula for all abilities that have one, instead of just the attribute(s) used.

discrider

That does change things.
Peacemaker is still high priority due to being able to convert our units.
But Charlotte the Butcher could also hit two of us at once.

discrider

I think I still go Unit 64, but to F11, phazer on Reeves.
Then move Maxwell to snipe the peacemaker

Delzhand

Unit 64 moves to F11.
Unit 64 uses Spazer on Reeves!
Reeves loses 78 HP.
Unit 64 loses 10 HP.

Alistair moves to H8.
Alistair uses Defend on Bowie!
Alistair and Bowie switch places.
Alistair gains Shield (21).

* Because this battle is so large and involves so many units, I'd like to hasten things up a bit. From now on (for this battle at least), each side will move 2 units at a time, back to back. This should provide some additional strategic opportunities.