Mind focused. Adventurer firmly in control, with Logic and Metaphysician assisting.
Party sailing ship, approaching first quest zone. Nav charts indicate Level 3 enemies but of course that estimate could be off and there is a chance of a Level 4 encounter, maybe even 5 if the surveyor had a bad day and the ecosystem developed. Or if random wildspace predator coming through.
Gathered enough data to estimate everyone's level to within a 2-level band, and probabilistically calculate our average Party Level to determine odds of success and proper level of paranoia.
Ra fal can cast level 3 spells and makes melee attacks twice as fast, so is definitely at least Level 5. Don't know rules for Bard Form that well, don't know if anybody does beyond 5 because data gets scarce at high levels, but the rules for spellcasting progression are very well-conserved and she's never told stories of anything that I recognize as a Level 4 spell, so she is either level 5 or 6.
I just got a significant Strength boost before this trip, which almost certainly means I just hit Level 4.
Sof has martial path (she calls herself Arcane Archer but she clearly fits the Eldritch Knight Form) so is at least 3, but no Extra Attack so not yet 5. No noticeable feats, but haven't gathered enough data to tell if her dex is boosted beyond the baseline, so could be either 3 or 4.
Tsinta is hard to guess because warlocks are weird. But I think she is just casting Level 1 spells, so probably she is either Level 1 or 2. Probably 2 because she's been on enough adventures to level. Let's hope she took a combat-relevant Invocation.
Rogues are also hard, but fairly sure Mabellyne does not have her Archetype yet. No evidence of Fast Hands, no magic, does not feel like Assassin. So probably level 1 or 2, won't know until I see her in melee and look for the Cunning Actions.
So our average party level is, probably, 3 or a bit higher. Plus we have a civilian Noble shooting crossbow bolts at things, which is a bonus as long as she stays out of trouble. With good tactics we can probably hack through a dozen Level 3 encounters. By burning spell slots and my potions we could almost certainly survive a Level 5 fight, but afterwards we would need to get out of here and search for a place to camp and Long Rest.
Ra fal burns all her Bardic Inspiration on boosting our intel and lookout checks. Respect. If we have good sitrep, we have good plans and tactics and we won't need them in combat, and if we get surprised or ambushed, they won't help much.
Tsinta spots Owlbear. Dumb melee ripper. Obvious tactics. Use their instincts against them, lure and ambush at time and place of our choosing.
Set loadout to Bait/Tank Mode to maximize Armor: Shield and longsword rather than two-hand greatsword. Damage probably won't matter much anyway because taking Dodge action all the time unless it attacks someone else or lands and gets flanked.
Make Nature check to imitate wounded prey animal, succeed. Lure requires me to doff crash helmet and replace with civvie broomer cap, hope that Fate doesn't notice that or bother to use partial armor rules today.
First encounter: Enemy flies in, hit with ranged attacks, swoops in, crit fails! Take advantage of that to attempt a free Trip attack, which succeeds! Enemy falls prone. Sof shoots it, then Ra fal charges, flanks, drops it.
Keep guard up. Make sure it is dead. Nothing else around, zero cost for taking time to be paranoid.
Time to loot corpse. And teach Mary. Doctor takes over.
Nature check to loot useful body parts. Crit success! Can (probably) turn gallbladder into Keoghtom's Ointment.
Metaphysician: "Ra fal uses another Bardic Inspiration on me? Either I've miscalculated or Fate is breaking the rules for Narrative reasons."
Ego: "Figure that out later."
Succeed in extraction. Complete lesson. Dispose of corpse. Revert to Adventurer.
Head to new territory, repeat lure.
Second encounter: volley hits, it crit-fails initiative, killed at range before even closing in. Fetch corpse with broomstick. Bladder ruined. Take fur and prime steaks as loot.
Third encounter: It attacks, misses, gets killed. Take normal bladder, fur, and meat.
Fourth encounter: Owlbear has better initiative, hits with bite, lands, hits with claws. Could drop if hits with another attack. Quaff Rage potion (mainly to gain damage resistance) and ready an action to attack when it is flanked. Ra fal casts Healing Word, charges in for the flank and attacks, we kill it in melee. Loot normal bladder, fur, and meat.
Retreat to safe island to set up camp for Short Rest. Start potions and ointment with Mary and Sof. Doctor takes over, Socialite assisting.
Mary: "So will this really cure any disease?"
Speak. "Disease has very specific meaning for adventurers. Basically only infectious pathogens."
Mary: "So what can't it cure?"
Speak. "Genetic deformities. Nutrient deficiencies. Repetitive stress injuries. Lifestyle illnesses. Anything related to aging or senescence."
Mary: "I don't know what most of those words mean."
Continue lesson. Discuss how spells and items patch up things that affect adventurers but don't have much effect on normal civilian ailments.
Mary: "But when I got my ankle sprained, a cleric was able to cure that with a spell."
Speak. "That could have been a Lesser Restoration spell, or it could have been a Medicine check and a basic healing spell, or maybe just the healing spell. Depends on the whim of the Fates that day."
Mary: "It is odd that you are unsure."
Speak. "There is no consistency in how magic reacts to basic little things like sprained ankles. It is like the rules of the universe do not cover it, and Fate has to decide on the spot.
Mary: "That seems like a strange oversight. The way you talk, there seem to be fixed rules for all kinds of bizarre things, but a common thing like a sprained ankle is an unknown mystery?"
Speak. "Know that. It sucks."
Lesson over. Time for dinner. Check owlbear steaks for parasites or persistent bioaccumulative toxins. Nothing found. Mab cooks steaks for dinner. Delicious.
Bad rolls on my hit dice recovery, Ra fal needs to burn another spell slot to heal me.
Poet: Once more unto the breach!
Next (Ra fal)
All for one and one for all
Showing posts with label Gladys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gladys. Show all posts
4d: Gladys Centipedes
The party is flying on broomsticks in an asteroid field. It is an older field in a stable configuration. All surfaces of the asteroids are fully covered with moss and lichen, and in most places a layer of loamy soil has developed. Grasses and flowers are growing in this soil, their roots holding it in place in the absence of gravity. In some places the soil is thick enough to support vines and shrubs. We see birds and butterflies flying around.
Marching order: Tsinta and Sofonisba in front, Mary and Mabellyne behind them, Ra fal and Gladys in rear. Sofonisba navigating, Tsinta and Mary on lookout, Mabellyne mapping, Gladys looking at plants. Ra fal coordinating.
Suddenly, six giant centipedes burst from burrows in the asteroids. They are evolved for zero gravity; long, light, and thin, with most of their legs transformed into flat thin membranes like dragonfly wings. Their mandibles click and their leg-wings buzz as approach the party from all directions, hungry for protein.
We react and take the initiative.
Sofonisba shoots one with an arrow, killing it.
Mary steadies herself and readies to attack anything that comes next to her.
Ra fal casts Vicious Mockery on a centipede and it dies. Still not sure how exactly that works.
Mabellyne scores a critical hit with a crossbow bolt. Three down.
Move forward and attack. Critical hit slices centipede head off.
Tsinta casts Eldritch Blast. Hit and kill.
Final centipede moves in to attack Ra fal. Mary reacts with a scimitar attack. Another critical hit, another clean kill.
That was easy.
'Loot' bodies. Inject with preservative. Four of them will be edible, the others already ruined. Strip off legs, add to backpack.
Continue exploring, same marching order.
Another brood pops out of rocks to attack. Nine of them this time. Five in a cluster, four coming from other directions. We have worse initiative reactions this time. Could be trouble.
Sofonisba reacting quickly again. Shoots one with an arrow, killing it.
Move to protect Mary and Mabellyne from the cluster, ready action to attack.
Mary readies an attack.
Eight Centipedes move in. Kill one with readied action. Mary crits and kills her centipede with her readied action. Nice.
Get targeted by four remaining centipedes in the cluster. Two of them flank for advantage on their attacks. One bites through armor joint, but the venom does not penetrate tough skin. The other three miss, their jaws scraping harmlessly off armor.
One attacks Mabellyne. Miss, she dodged away.
One attacks Ra fal, bites only armor.
Tsinta casts Eldritch Blast at the one next to Mabellyne, misses.
Ra fal casts Vicious Mockery at the one next to Mabellyne, it dies.
Mabellyne shoots and kills the one next to Ra Fal.
Party has killed all centipedes except the four attempting to eat face. Do not know if should be annoyed or flattered.
Sofonisba shoots and kills one.
Attack another one. Critical miss, overextend, fall off broom. Broom still on wrist strap, scramble to regain saddle, succeed. Still surrounded by three bugs.
Mary flies in, flanking and attacking one of the bugs. Just barely hits it and does enough damage to kill it.
Am attacked by remaining two, with flank. Get bit twice. Still no effect from poison, thanks to drug-enhanced resilience. Have suffered enough damage from bites to make most civilians or rookie adventurers pass out or even die, but not even feeling bloodied.
Tsinta's eldritch blast kills one, Ra Fal's Vicious Mockery kills the other.
We win. More looting. Five more bodies in pack.
Go back to ship for feast and short rest.
Go to sleep to sound of Ra Fal's Song of Rest pounded out on orcish war drums. Wake up mostly healed, find that party (minus Mary, who guarded ship while resting) has killed remaining small brood using fly-and-shoot kiting tactics, taking no damage.
Party has finished off half a dozen Level 1 encounters and a Level 2, without using up any spell slots and only costing about 1/3rd of tank's natural healing ability. Lots of practice developing tactics and teamwork. Good start to the adventure.
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
Marching order: Tsinta and Sofonisba in front, Mary and Mabellyne behind them, Ra fal and Gladys in rear. Sofonisba navigating, Tsinta and Mary on lookout, Mabellyne mapping, Gladys looking at plants. Ra fal coordinating.
Suddenly, six giant centipedes burst from burrows in the asteroids. They are evolved for zero gravity; long, light, and thin, with most of their legs transformed into flat thin membranes like dragonfly wings. Their mandibles click and their leg-wings buzz as approach the party from all directions, hungry for protein.
We react and take the initiative.
Sofonisba shoots one with an arrow, killing it.
Mary steadies herself and readies to attack anything that comes next to her.
Ra fal casts Vicious Mockery on a centipede and it dies. Still not sure how exactly that works.
Mabellyne scores a critical hit with a crossbow bolt. Three down.
Move forward and attack. Critical hit slices centipede head off.
Tsinta casts Eldritch Blast. Hit and kill.
Final centipede moves in to attack Ra fal. Mary reacts with a scimitar attack. Another critical hit, another clean kill.
That was easy.
'Loot' bodies. Inject with preservative. Four of them will be edible, the others already ruined. Strip off legs, add to backpack.
Continue exploring, same marching order.
Another brood pops out of rocks to attack. Nine of them this time. Five in a cluster, four coming from other directions. We have worse initiative reactions this time. Could be trouble.
Sofonisba reacting quickly again. Shoots one with an arrow, killing it.
Move to protect Mary and Mabellyne from the cluster, ready action to attack.
Mary readies an attack.
Eight Centipedes move in. Kill one with readied action. Mary crits and kills her centipede with her readied action. Nice.
Get targeted by four remaining centipedes in the cluster. Two of them flank for advantage on their attacks. One bites through armor joint, but the venom does not penetrate tough skin. The other three miss, their jaws scraping harmlessly off armor.
One attacks Mabellyne. Miss, she dodged away.
One attacks Ra fal, bites only armor.
Tsinta casts Eldritch Blast at the one next to Mabellyne, misses.
Ra fal casts Vicious Mockery at the one next to Mabellyne, it dies.
Mabellyne shoots and kills the one next to Ra Fal.
Party has killed all centipedes except the four attempting to eat face. Do not know if should be annoyed or flattered.
Sofonisba shoots and kills one.
Attack another one. Critical miss, overextend, fall off broom. Broom still on wrist strap, scramble to regain saddle, succeed. Still surrounded by three bugs.
Mary flies in, flanking and attacking one of the bugs. Just barely hits it and does enough damage to kill it.
Am attacked by remaining two, with flank. Get bit twice. Still no effect from poison, thanks to drug-enhanced resilience. Have suffered enough damage from bites to make most civilians or rookie adventurers pass out or even die, but not even feeling bloodied.
Tsinta's eldritch blast kills one, Ra Fal's Vicious Mockery kills the other.
We win. More looting. Five more bodies in pack.
Go back to ship for feast and short rest.
Go to sleep to sound of Ra Fal's Song of Rest pounded out on orcish war drums. Wake up mostly healed, find that party (minus Mary, who guarded ship while resting) has killed remaining small brood using fly-and-shoot kiting tactics, taking no damage.
Party has finished off half a dozen Level 1 encounters and a Level 2, without using up any spell slots and only costing about 1/3rd of tank's natural healing ability. Lots of practice developing tactics and teamwork. Good start to the adventure.
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
3d: Gladys First Flight
Mabellyne teaching spelljamming engine. Fun.
Mary: "I am surprised that an elf can handle machinery so well."
Sofonisba: (ಠ_ಠ)
Socialite: "Foot in mouth. Not mine this time. Potential conflict. Defuse."
Engineer: "Give technical details. Always helps, calms things down."
Speak. "Back in the Third Age of the world, engineering and magic were separate knowledge skills. But when Fourth Age dawned, the foundations of reality were altered, and knowledge became more unified. Now anyone trained in Arcana knows magic and machinery. They are all based on math and equations.
Sofonisba: (>_<)
Mary: Ages of the world?
Ra fal ovearhears, joins in: "The character of the gods determines the character of the world. Each new chapter of their story is a new age of the world. The Fourth Age happened when the modrons, unfathomable alien creatures of gears and clockwork, overpowered the gods and swarmed all over creation. They devoured almost all of the planes, vanquished most of the gods, gained control of the foundations of the universe, and started to rewrite the rules of reality. They tried to change the world into one that ran on their ideal of clockwork mechanical perfection, and as they did so, they drained all life and character from it. But when all hope seemed lost, the old gods returned from the void, shattered the power of the modrons, restored the planes, and returned life and joy to the world, forming the Fifth Age in which we now live."
Metaphysician: "Wrong. Correct error."
Socialite: "Be polite."
Ego: "Sustained."
Nod. Speak. "Yes, the Modrons nearly ate our world before all of the gods, both good and evil, combined forces to defeat them. But to the best of our knowledge, events in our world do not determine when Ages change. Ages change in many worlds at once, driven by vast unknown forces even larger than the gods.
Ra fal shrugs, wanders off.
Mary: "Other worlds? Do you mean like the feywild?"
Speak. "The feywild is just another plane in our world. I mean other worlds entirely."
Mary: :-/
Sofonisba: "Imagine a large picture book. Everything we see, all the world we live in, is one page in that book. The feywild is on the next page, and after that there are pages for the realms of the gods. Each page is called a plane. With effort, we can move to other planes, other pages in our book. But there are also other books, ones that we can never travel to."
Engineer: "Just said that."
Anthropologist: "Good analogy for explaining. remember it."
Mary: So how do we know anything about those worlds?
Speak. "In the second age, people could use spelljamming ships to travel to them. That stopped in the third age, but information still leaks through in dreams and visions. And some special people seem to have information from beyond this world. Usually they are normal, but at other times, special times of drama and crisis, they act differently, almost as if they are being inhabited by spirits from beyond. They say strange things, things that make no sense to us, but that give glimpses of other worlds. We can learn about the nature of our world and others by watching them. I think that Martin and his companions are people like that."
Sofonisba: "That is just superstition."
Speak: "Knowledge is that which can make accurate predictions about reality. I predict that if you listen to Martin talk with his party when they think nobody else is around, you will hear them speak of things not of this world."
Sofonisba: "Every group has in-jokes and stories that make no sense to outsiders. The group has several people not native to the Gray Ridge, and they have famously explored many places, talked to many peoples, read many ancient tomes. Do you know all of the myths of the Zhonghua Empire and the Svirfneblin? Things from other cultures often appear otherworldly."
Logic: "From an outside perspective, her probabilistic logic is sound. Hearing a group talk of strange things is not strong evidence for the outworld-control hypothesis."
Metaphysician: "Have accumulated evidence that encourages much higher prior on outworld-control."
Socialite: "Now is not the time to discuss such evidence, others not receptive."
Engineer: "Concur. Want to learn spelljamming engine."
Adventurer: "Concur."
Socialite: "Exit conversation gracefully. Concede point and move on."
Metaphysician. "Do not tell any lies about belief probabilities! Have good evidence for them!"
Logic: "Crafting suitable response."
Socialite: "Hurry. Taking too long, others staring."
Speak. "I understand why you would think that. I have more evidence that supports my beliefs, but I understand that this is not the time for that talk. Mabellyne, I am sorry for interrupting, please continue."
Mabellyne teaching spelljamming engine. Fun.
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
Mary: "I am surprised that an elf can handle machinery so well."
Sofonisba: (ಠ_ಠ)
Socialite: "Foot in mouth. Not mine this time. Potential conflict. Defuse."
Engineer: "Give technical details. Always helps, calms things down."
Speak. "Back in the Third Age of the world, engineering and magic were separate knowledge skills. But when Fourth Age dawned, the foundations of reality were altered, and knowledge became more unified. Now anyone trained in Arcana knows magic and machinery. They are all based on math and equations.
Sofonisba: (>_<)
Mary: Ages of the world?
Ra fal ovearhears, joins in: "The character of the gods determines the character of the world. Each new chapter of their story is a new age of the world. The Fourth Age happened when the modrons, unfathomable alien creatures of gears and clockwork, overpowered the gods and swarmed all over creation. They devoured almost all of the planes, vanquished most of the gods, gained control of the foundations of the universe, and started to rewrite the rules of reality. They tried to change the world into one that ran on their ideal of clockwork mechanical perfection, and as they did so, they drained all life and character from it. But when all hope seemed lost, the old gods returned from the void, shattered the power of the modrons, restored the planes, and returned life and joy to the world, forming the Fifth Age in which we now live."
Metaphysician: "Wrong. Correct error."
Socialite: "Be polite."
Ego: "Sustained."
Nod. Speak. "Yes, the Modrons nearly ate our world before all of the gods, both good and evil, combined forces to defeat them. But to the best of our knowledge, events in our world do not determine when Ages change. Ages change in many worlds at once, driven by vast unknown forces even larger than the gods.
Ra fal shrugs, wanders off.
Mary: "Other worlds? Do you mean like the feywild?"
Speak. "The feywild is just another plane in our world. I mean other worlds entirely."
Mary: :-/
Sofonisba: "Imagine a large picture book. Everything we see, all the world we live in, is one page in that book. The feywild is on the next page, and after that there are pages for the realms of the gods. Each page is called a plane. With effort, we can move to other planes, other pages in our book. But there are also other books, ones that we can never travel to."
Engineer: "Just said that."
Anthropologist: "Good analogy for explaining. remember it."
Mary: So how do we know anything about those worlds?
Speak. "In the second age, people could use spelljamming ships to travel to them. That stopped in the third age, but information still leaks through in dreams and visions. And some special people seem to have information from beyond this world. Usually they are normal, but at other times, special times of drama and crisis, they act differently, almost as if they are being inhabited by spirits from beyond. They say strange things, things that make no sense to us, but that give glimpses of other worlds. We can learn about the nature of our world and others by watching them. I think that Martin and his companions are people like that."
Sofonisba: "That is just superstition."
Speak: "Knowledge is that which can make accurate predictions about reality. I predict that if you listen to Martin talk with his party when they think nobody else is around, you will hear them speak of things not of this world."
Sofonisba: "Every group has in-jokes and stories that make no sense to outsiders. The group has several people not native to the Gray Ridge, and they have famously explored many places, talked to many peoples, read many ancient tomes. Do you know all of the myths of the Zhonghua Empire and the Svirfneblin? Things from other cultures often appear otherworldly."
Logic: "From an outside perspective, her probabilistic logic is sound. Hearing a group talk of strange things is not strong evidence for the outworld-control hypothesis."
Metaphysician: "Have accumulated evidence that encourages much higher prior on outworld-control."
Socialite: "Now is not the time to discuss such evidence, others not receptive."
Engineer: "Concur. Want to learn spelljamming engine."
Adventurer: "Concur."
Socialite: "Exit conversation gracefully. Concede point and move on."
Metaphysician. "Do not tell any lies about belief probabilities! Have good evidence for them!"
Logic: "Crafting suitable response."
Socialite: "Hurry. Taking too long, others staring."
Speak. "I understand why you would think that. I have more evidence that supports my beliefs, but I understand that this is not the time for that talk. Mabellyne, I am sorry for interrupting, please continue."
Mabellyne teaching spelljamming engine. Fun.
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
2d: Gladys Meeting
Reading book. "Turathian Food Bureau Field Inspection Manual, Volume 5: Procedures for Allergen Testing" Very helpful. Making note of additional reagents to purchase before leaving.
Everyone here now. People doing social stuff. Trying to convince each other to not backstab anyone. Duh. Of course not going to do that. Intraparty conflict sucks. Drama is boring. Proper way to adventure is to look at everyone's fighting style and skills, decide tactics and roles, then fight and solve problems as cohesive collective. In short-term groups, roll randomly for loot. Why change procedure when loot is a person?
Ra fal is making big loud speech proclaiming honor. Being asked for standard oath of not causing problems. Give it.
People seem friendly now. Chatting, swapping stories. Watch, listen, learn. Extract stats, build, and skills from unstructured messy data. Requires attention.
Ra Fal. High strength, good constitution and charisma, bad dexterity. Bard, interesting build. Focused on valor, fighting instead of spells, heavily armored, strength based fighting. Skilled in insight, persuasion, politics and commerce, athletics, perception, navigation and boating. Can cast Mending spell at will; always handy.
Sofonisba. High dexterity, good intelligence and wisdom, low strength. Special longbow that doubles as arcane focus. Nonstandard armor that looks like it requires heavy armor proficiency, which means Fighter with some spellcasting rather than a primary caster. At-will fire and ice attack spells. Skilled in arcana, history, athletics, survival. Good perception because elf.
Tsinta. Tricky. Not revealing much. Initial guess from appearance and mannerism is high charisma, good wisdom and dexterity. Claims to be wood-elf but almost seems more like half-elf. Wonder what other half is, maybe naiad? Leather armor. Probably charisma based caster but cannot rule out wisdom. No holy symbol visible, though, and belt has empty holster for probably a rod, which means arcane caster. Could theoretically be sorcerer with armor training but don't smell dragon or wild magic and she talks of patron so Warlock it is, almost certainly Fae pact.
Mabellyne. Good intelligence and dexterity. Fights with rapier and crossbow, no magic. Skilled in insight, persuasion, investigation, and several technical skills. Clearly a Rogue.
Mary. All stats seem solid except strength. Admits to being a Noble, not an adventurer. Really hope she gains enough experience on this trip to become an actual adventurer; have never seen that happen from the outside. Fascinating data, to actually observe someone be molded into one of the Forms that the rules of the universe decree all adventurers must adhere to.
Tactical planning.
Unbalanced party. No divine caster. Ra fal must be healer, as well as utility support caster and also secondary melee fighter. Good thing she's higher level. Sofonisba, Tsinta, and Mabellyne are all primarily ranged fighters. Good for ship combat, but tricky in ground missions or if something boards. Hopefully Mary can be useful by being lookout, delivering supplies and maybe administering potions.
Will have to tank with minimal healing or flanking. Hopefully most fights are ship-based ranged engagements where mainly dwarfhandling ship's wings and sails. Will have to try to convince Sofonisba to switch to melee if things board, so don't get surrounded if Ra fal busy.
Mission planning
Nobody has actually flown spaceship before, but we will have enough skills between us to figure it out. Ra fal captains and navigates sailboats this size. Mabellyne knows engineering, and theory of space movement. Can learn from her, help with vector calculations. So can Sofonisba. Elves will watch and read environment and weather. Will supply necessary manual labor for sail and wing movement.
Nobody else knows alchemy or biology, but Sofonisba knows practical survival skills and foraging, so it will be us leading missions to find the turnips, test them, and gather good ones. Mary seems eager to help with this, hopefully she learns quickly.
Have plan. Doing this.
Everyone here now. People doing social stuff. Trying to convince each other to not backstab anyone. Duh. Of course not going to do that. Intraparty conflict sucks. Drama is boring. Proper way to adventure is to look at everyone's fighting style and skills, decide tactics and roles, then fight and solve problems as cohesive collective. In short-term groups, roll randomly for loot. Why change procedure when loot is a person?
Ra fal is making big loud speech proclaiming honor. Being asked for standard oath of not causing problems. Give it.
People seem friendly now. Chatting, swapping stories. Watch, listen, learn. Extract stats, build, and skills from unstructured messy data. Requires attention.
Ra Fal. High strength, good constitution and charisma, bad dexterity. Bard, interesting build. Focused on valor, fighting instead of spells, heavily armored, strength based fighting. Skilled in insight, persuasion, politics and commerce, athletics, perception, navigation and boating. Can cast Mending spell at will; always handy.
Sofonisba. High dexterity, good intelligence and wisdom, low strength. Special longbow that doubles as arcane focus. Nonstandard armor that looks like it requires heavy armor proficiency, which means Fighter with some spellcasting rather than a primary caster. At-will fire and ice attack spells. Skilled in arcana, history, athletics, survival. Good perception because elf.
Tsinta. Tricky. Not revealing much. Initial guess from appearance and mannerism is high charisma, good wisdom and dexterity. Claims to be wood-elf but almost seems more like half-elf. Wonder what other half is, maybe naiad? Leather armor. Probably charisma based caster but cannot rule out wisdom. No holy symbol visible, though, and belt has empty holster for probably a rod, which means arcane caster. Could theoretically be sorcerer with armor training but don't smell dragon or wild magic and she talks of patron so Warlock it is, almost certainly Fae pact.
Mabellyne. Good intelligence and dexterity. Fights with rapier and crossbow, no magic. Skilled in insight, persuasion, investigation, and several technical skills. Clearly a Rogue.
Mary. All stats seem solid except strength. Admits to being a Noble, not an adventurer. Really hope she gains enough experience on this trip to become an actual adventurer; have never seen that happen from the outside. Fascinating data, to actually observe someone be molded into one of the Forms that the rules of the universe decree all adventurers must adhere to.
Tactical planning.
Unbalanced party. No divine caster. Ra fal must be healer, as well as utility support caster and also secondary melee fighter. Good thing she's higher level. Sofonisba, Tsinta, and Mabellyne are all primarily ranged fighters. Good for ship combat, but tricky in ground missions or if something boards. Hopefully Mary can be useful by being lookout, delivering supplies and maybe administering potions.
Will have to tank with minimal healing or flanking. Hopefully most fights are ship-based ranged engagements where mainly dwarfhandling ship's wings and sails. Will have to try to convince Sofonisba to switch to melee if things board, so don't get surrounded if Ra fal busy.
Mission planning
Nobody has actually flown spaceship before, but we will have enough skills between us to figure it out. Ra fal captains and navigates sailboats this size. Mabellyne knows engineering, and theory of space movement. Can learn from her, help with vector calculations. So can Sofonisba. Elves will watch and read environment and weather. Will supply necessary manual labor for sail and wing movement.
Nobody else knows alchemy or biology, but Sofonisba knows practical survival skills and foraging, so it will be us leading missions to find the turnips, test them, and gather good ones. Mary seems eager to help with this, hopefully she learns quickly.
Have plan. Doing this.
1d: Gladys Intro
Hypercube Universe, Prime Material Plane, Meiguo Continent, Gray Ridge Region, Cerraitopolis, Goblin District, 12 Alchemy Lane, Apt 6
47 Autumn, Year 684, Fifth Age
Wake up. Energy level :-(
coffee + pills = breakfast. Per routine, slug down morning regimen of nootropics and strong goblin coffee with 40 ccs of butter.
Energy level now :-)
Take vital signs and jot in log book: waist and wrist circumference, pulse, respiration, left nostril dilation. Calculate 30-day moving averages and total factor score.
Doctor: "Everything continues to trend toward ideal mountain-dwarf physique."
Joy: "Life is good! Living proof of the potential of transgoblinism."
Logic: "Survivor Bias."
Doctor: "What worked for this body will, with enough study, work for everyone."
Logic: "Optimism Bias."
Ego: "Settle down. Although benefit from acknowledging and listening to many brain processes, need to get moving and get things done."
Dress. Civvies, not combat gear, but still packing easily-quaffable rage juice and a handaxe. And wearing broomer leathers. Because $#!7 happens.
Slow day; not much planned. Lab work mainly; Finish some brews. Funds running low, so start asking around for jobs.
First, Go to post office. Check mail.
You've got mail!
Fancy mail.
Envelope smells of wealth and status. Literally. Nice smooth rich thick white paper, recently produced. Bleached with alkaline hydrogen peroxide, magnesium salts, and sodium silicate. Pattern printed in it to prevent you from reading anything through the envelope. Sealed with the official League seal. Tamperproof wax with that special scent nobody has been able to duplicate.
Rip open. Read.
"Gladys Joyjuice,
You, along with the other people listed at the bottom of this letter, have been specially chosen for a mission for the Gray Ridge League..."
Adventurer: "Awesome!"
Logic: "Why? How have come to attention of League? Have done no missions for them, have no special fame."
Skip past legalese, mission description, conditions, reward, go directly to last paragraph:
"If interested, immediately contact the other people chosen for the mission, organize yourselves into an adventuring company, acquire transportation, and undertake the mission immediately."
Look at names.
Logic: "Puzzling. What do these names have in common?"
Anthropologist: "Names: human, wood elf, goblin noble, me, orc, high elf. No commonality there."
Adventurer: "Recognize the orc, Ra fal. She is realm-hero tier. Nobody else is. Know the high elf, Sofonisba, is the one who always takes books as her share of the loot. Never heard of the rest."
Socialite: "Wait, think know! Have heard all these names being gossipped about! These are people who have offered their hands in marriage to Martin Cooper!"
Joy: "Martin Cooper is interested in marriage!!!1!! And he is choosing an adventuring wife over a political marriage:‑O Might be married to the great and powerful wizard Martin Cooper, the Inventor of Cooper's Bent Lightning:‑D Could be his henchwoman, and go on epic adventures with him\o/"
Adventurer: "Agree completely. Adventuring as companion of high-level spellcaster is lifetime dream. More loot, more fun, better stories, better experience."
Doctor: "Agree completely. Martin's alchemical and arcane expertise would be invaluable for transgoblinist goals."
Anthropologist: "Agree completely. Martin's idea of marriage likely suits personality much better than goblin marriage norms. And would learn much about many things, and meet many interesting people, from traveling in Martin's circles."
Socialite: "Agree completely. Would become center of attention, gain much status. And Martin is potentially a person who could connect with and understand on a deep level."
Logic: "Agree completely. Low chance of success, but very high expected payoff and low opportunity cost of making an attempt."
Ego: "Doing this."
Adventurer: "Check mission description so can rebalance loadout appropriately."
Scan letter.
"The mission is to explore wildspace islands to find and harvest samples of hypoallergenic wildspace turnips. Preliminary scouting and ecological calculations indicate that suitable islands may be found at the following coordinates:"
Adventurer: "LOL WTF?"
Alchemist: "Martin obviously needs new ingredients for his multispecies meeting-place restaurant, to improve the quality of its cuisine. Things that anybody from any species will find palatable, or at least will not poison them. Got this."
Suddenly busy day. Break leases on apartment and lab space. Sell nonportable equipment. Rearrange remainder into ship-portable alchemy lab. Purchase reference books, supplies, and reagents for allergen and nutrient content analysis.
Follow letter's instructions to self-organize. How?
Logic: "Schelling point."
Adventurer: "Ra fal, as highest level adventurer."
Logic: "Does she have a permanent address that would be known to all letter recipients?"
Adventurer: "No, she moves all over, leaves confidential itinerary with post office to forward everything."
Anthropologist. "Boomport. Known by all to be goblin shipyards and spaceport, and home to League Space Command."
Adventurer: "The gnomish shipyards at Hazrad are known for making solid adventuring ships."
Engineer: "Goblin ships are higher-performance, preferred by skilled crews. The main advantages of gnome ships are cost, ruggedness, and being foolproof."
Anthropologist: "This fact would be widely known among adventurers, and few people self-identify as low-skilled."
Logic: "Two letter recipients have obviously goblin names, making goblin ship the focal point."
Socialite: "And Boomport is the home of Martin's restaurant. The happening place for meeting and making deals."
Logic: "That settles it. Shelling-point location is Boomport, Golden Mean Restaurant. Time?
Adventurer: "Standard practice for gathering is to post name on inn's message board when get in town, then check each night for other posted names. Meet for breakfast day after see all names.
Anthropologist: "Surely the Golden Mean has an appropriate message board or system. Use that.
Ego: "Have plan. Take next coach to Boomport. Get moving."
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
47 Autumn, Year 684, Fifth Age
Wake up. Energy level :-(
coffee + pills = breakfast. Per routine, slug down morning regimen of nootropics and strong goblin coffee with 40 ccs of butter.
Energy level now :-)
Take vital signs and jot in log book: waist and wrist circumference, pulse, respiration, left nostril dilation. Calculate 30-day moving averages and total factor score.
Doctor: "Everything continues to trend toward ideal mountain-dwarf physique."
Joy: "Life is good! Living proof of the potential of transgoblinism."
Logic: "Survivor Bias."
Doctor: "What worked for this body will, with enough study, work for everyone."
Logic: "Optimism Bias."
Ego: "Settle down. Although benefit from acknowledging and listening to many brain processes, need to get moving and get things done."
Dress. Civvies, not combat gear, but still packing easily-quaffable rage juice and a handaxe. And wearing broomer leathers. Because $#!7 happens.
Slow day; not much planned. Lab work mainly; Finish some brews. Funds running low, so start asking around for jobs.
First, Go to post office. Check mail.
You've got mail!
Fancy mail.
Envelope smells of wealth and status. Literally. Nice smooth rich thick white paper, recently produced. Bleached with alkaline hydrogen peroxide, magnesium salts, and sodium silicate. Pattern printed in it to prevent you from reading anything through the envelope. Sealed with the official League seal. Tamperproof wax with that special scent nobody has been able to duplicate.
Rip open. Read.
"Gladys Joyjuice,
You, along with the other people listed at the bottom of this letter, have been specially chosen for a mission for the Gray Ridge League..."
Adventurer: "Awesome!"
Logic: "Why? How have come to attention of League? Have done no missions for them, have no special fame."
Skip past legalese, mission description, conditions, reward, go directly to last paragraph:
"If interested, immediately contact the other people chosen for the mission, organize yourselves into an adventuring company, acquire transportation, and undertake the mission immediately."
Look at names.
Logic: "Puzzling. What do these names have in common?"
Anthropologist: "Names: human, wood elf, goblin noble, me, orc, high elf. No commonality there."
Adventurer: "Recognize the orc, Ra fal. She is realm-hero tier. Nobody else is. Know the high elf, Sofonisba, is the one who always takes books as her share of the loot. Never heard of the rest."
Socialite: "Wait, think know! Have heard all these names being gossipped about! These are people who have offered their hands in marriage to Martin Cooper!"
Joy: "Martin Cooper is interested in marriage!!!1!! And he is choosing an adventuring wife over a political marriage:‑O Might be married to the great and powerful wizard Martin Cooper, the Inventor of Cooper's Bent Lightning:‑D Could be his henchwoman, and go on epic adventures with him\o/"
Adventurer: "Agree completely. Adventuring as companion of high-level spellcaster is lifetime dream. More loot, more fun, better stories, better experience."
Doctor: "Agree completely. Martin's alchemical and arcane expertise would be invaluable for transgoblinist goals."
Anthropologist: "Agree completely. Martin's idea of marriage likely suits personality much better than goblin marriage norms. And would learn much about many things, and meet many interesting people, from traveling in Martin's circles."
Socialite: "Agree completely. Would become center of attention, gain much status. And Martin is potentially a person who could connect with and understand on a deep level."
Logic: "Agree completely. Low chance of success, but very high expected payoff and low opportunity cost of making an attempt."
Ego: "Doing this."
Adventurer: "Check mission description so can rebalance loadout appropriately."
Scan letter.
"The mission is to explore wildspace islands to find and harvest samples of hypoallergenic wildspace turnips. Preliminary scouting and ecological calculations indicate that suitable islands may be found at the following coordinates:"
Adventurer: "LOL WTF?"
Alchemist: "Martin obviously needs new ingredients for his multispecies meeting-place restaurant, to improve the quality of its cuisine. Things that anybody from any species will find palatable, or at least will not poison them. Got this."
Suddenly busy day. Break leases on apartment and lab space. Sell nonportable equipment. Rearrange remainder into ship-portable alchemy lab. Purchase reference books, supplies, and reagents for allergen and nutrient content analysis.
Follow letter's instructions to self-organize. How?
Logic: "Schelling point."
Adventurer: "Ra fal, as highest level adventurer."
Logic: "Does she have a permanent address that would be known to all letter recipients?"
Adventurer: "No, she moves all over, leaves confidential itinerary with post office to forward everything."
Anthropologist. "Boomport. Known by all to be goblin shipyards and spaceport, and home to League Space Command."
Adventurer: "The gnomish shipyards at Hazrad are known for making solid adventuring ships."
Engineer: "Goblin ships are higher-performance, preferred by skilled crews. The main advantages of gnome ships are cost, ruggedness, and being foolproof."
Anthropologist: "This fact would be widely known among adventurers, and few people self-identify as low-skilled."
Logic: "Two letter recipients have obviously goblin names, making goblin ship the focal point."
Socialite: "And Boomport is the home of Martin's restaurant. The happening place for meeting and making deals."
Logic: "That settles it. Shelling-point location is Boomport, Golden Mean Restaurant. Time?
Adventurer: "Standard practice for gathering is to post name on inn's message board when get in town, then check each night for other posted names. Meet for breakfast day after see all names.
Anthropologist: "Surely the Golden Mean has an appropriate message board or system. Use that.
Ego: "Have plan. Take next coach to Boomport. Get moving."
Next (Ra fal)
Next Gladys
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