Adventurer Quest

veekie · Apr 20, 2017

[X] Plan Scarab

Kolarthecool · May 4, 2017

--==+++==--
Adventurer Quest
Arc 1: A New Frontier
Chapter 10
--==+++==--

Day 278 of the Year 290 AW.
Early Afternoon.
Weather: Overcast.

[X] Plan Scarab.

Looking down at it from high above, one would think of the Frontier Town as a quaint little village in the middle of nowhere. You'd certainly thought that yesterday, with how empty the walkways and skies had been. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Your path through the town yesterday had taken you directly from the southern entrance of the swamp, to the Foreman's office. From there, you'd gone to the shopping district, then the inn, then the crafting district, and finally, to your little cabin in the adventurer's quarter. That should have covered the entirety of the town right? Wrong.

As it turns out, the Frontier town is a great deal larger than you'd first imagined. Larger than the shoddy map you'd been given had revealed. Due to the nature of its construction, that of treehouses, walkways and scattered islands, the entire town is spread out over a greater area of space than another town of the same capacity would occupy. This makes it difficult to gauge the full size of the town from an aerial perspective. Something you only realized as you walked around looking for a particular pair of cabins, as well as the agreed upon meeting spot.

Leaning against a wooden signpost near the western entrance of the town and watching the vast crowd of individuals going about their day, you can't believe you'd ever considered this to be a small village. According to one of the guardsmen that you'd asked, Mires' End -the actual name of the town as it turns out, is currently home to just under five thousand individuals. Adventurers, laborers, guardsmen, and civilians alike. All under the purview of the overworked Foreman/Mayor, Hedmick Coalflayer. Further, there's a pair of much smaller outpost villages of five hundred or so people out in the Peat Bog and Deep Marsh.

The town has apparently grown at an unbelievable rate since its inception and seems to be single-mindedly focused on a continuous expansion towards the Misty Woods and the lands beyond. This focused expansion has left much of the surrounding area unexplored however. Which is where adventurers like yourself come in. To explore the surrounding environs and cull the population of dangerous monsters. Something that was the original purpose of the town, before orders came down from on high to rapidly expand.

As it turns out, Mires' End was originally just a small village bordering the swamp. Then, just five years ago, the mayor recieved a royal decree and things changed. Adventurers flocked to the town by the dozens, the nearby monsters were wiped out and construction efforts began to expand the town. Next came the wagons of merchants and a contingent of trained soldiers from the capital. After that came a constant stream of people interested in a new home. No one you've spoken to is quite certain why the kingdom is set on expanding in this direction -it's not like there isn't plenty of empty, richer land to go around, just that they are handing out great incentives to those civilians, soldiers, merchants and crafters willing to that do so. Adventurers, as always, are easily drawn to the thought of treasure and strong monsters so little incentive is needed for them. From what you can see of the western quadrant, there are many people willing to take them up on the offer.

Where the southern and central portions of the village seem to be dedicated to the crafting district and administrative buildings, and both the northern and eastern sections appear to be for adventurers and their requirements, the western section of the town seems to contain the residential and business areas for the townsfolk. Thousands of homes encircle, or in some cases are built right into, the massive trees that populate this quarter of the village. What few patches of solid ground there are seem to be taken up by what looks to be an open air marketplace. The chain of scattered islands playing host to a variety of large, open tents that are all connected by a series of walkways. You also spot a number of taverns and inns about the place but much like the shops, these seem to cater solely to civilian needs. You won't be finding any mission boards, enchanted equipment or adventurer grade remedies and items here.

Nonetheless, you find yourself liking this sector of the town much more than any of the others. It reminds you of home... sort of. The style of construction, overcast weather and smelly marshland is nothing at all like the sprawling, salt scented, port town that you'd grown up in but watching the various people happily going about their day and the children running about and playing, you can't help but ignore those minor details and smile.

Your home. How far away it all seems. Your leaving was a barely thought out but still a somewhat joyous affair. You'd had vague plans to return. To start up your adventurer career in a familiar place. Maybe try your hand at conquering the dungeon that had popped up nearby. Yet here you are, out in the middle of nowhere with no idea when you'll be able to return home, if ever. No idea when you'll be able to see the ones you consider friends and family again.

Well, it's been over a week now but you guess it's never too late to be homesick. Thankfully, you're distracted from your descent into brooding by the lumbering form of Sen approaching the signpost. The crowd of townsfolk part like water before his fearsome form, not really in fear but still a touch intimidated. You can tell the moment he spots you leaning against the post as his head perks up and a toothy grin spreads across his face. His pace picks up and he's soon standing before you.

"Hey big guy, glad you could make it." You greet, standing up and waving with a smile of your own. "All set to go?"

He nods eagerly.

"Sssen isss ready to hunt."

You frown slightly.

"You sure? I know Scarabs aren't usually a huge deal and all but these are probably tougher than the types you'd see back home. You might want some armor or something." You suggest, looking him over because yes, he's still in the simple cloth and bone loincloth from the inn.

He looks down for a moment before shaking his head and thumping a fist against his chest. The sound of the impact is like that of stone striking stone.

"Sssen isss a new adventurer yesss, but alssso an adult now. Armor weak and ssslow. Ssscales ssstrong." He replies and it takes you a few moments to parse out what he means by that.

Right. Lizardman. From what you've heard, they tend to have an overconfidence in the toughness of their scales versus that of armor. One that usually sticks about until they're either older and wiser, or suffer a grave enough injury to drive the point home. Despite his formidable stature, Sen isn't that much older than you. Barely an adult as far as the world is concerned. Heck, he's only a handful of levels higher than you too. It's highly likely that he only recently shed his adolescent skin. Of course he's going to be confident in the toughness of his harder, adult skin.

Lizardman Fighters like Sen would also detest heavy armor due to the weight, and consider both light and medium armor to be pointless because of the material. Never mind the various useful enchantments on adventurer gear compared to regular civilian wear.

"Er… alright. " You hum thoughtfully. Changing his mind might be too difficult to accomplish in the little time that you have right now. You can give it a shot later, if this first foray into the swamp doesn't do it for you. "What about the axe though? You can easily get something better than stone from any of the shops here."

His grin widens and it takes you moment to realize that the rumbling growls you are hearing is him chuckling. Faster than you can follow, the battleaxe is off his back and right in your face. You startle and stumble back with a squawk, causing him to chuckle again. Your face reddens but just as you're about to shout at the big lump for surprising you, he holds the weapon up and gives it a look of significance.

You look over and gasp as you notice the intricate lines of glowing blue runes that now decorate the shaft and blade of the weapon. You can't help but stare as the previously simple looking weapon transforms into a great sword in the blink of an eye. Then a spear. Then a warhammer. Then a halberd. The weapon goes through ten more weapon forms before settling into its original form of a battleaxe.

"Thisss isss Harvendar, Sssoul Weapon. Belonged to father. Belongsss to Sssen now." He explains, returning the now revealed Soul Weapon to his back.

[History Check: 16 + 0 = 16. Great Success]

You try to resist but you can't help but gape in shock and wonder. Where in the three hells did he get something like that? Soul Weapons are ancient artifacts that bind themselves to the souls of their wielders, making them unusable by all others until the current wielder is dead. Each is an extremely powerful weapon but much of that power is locked away and only becomes accessible as the wielder levels up and is more able to withstand more of the strain the weapon places on their soul. With something like this in hand, Sen will never have need of another weapon till the day he dies. No other weapon could possibly hope to compare. You're really jealous.

"Holy Light Sen, where did you get that!?" You hiss, pushing his hand down while looking around to see if anyone else heard or saw.

[Perception Check: 5 + 0 = 5. Great Fail]

It doesn't appear so. You seem to be just far enough away from the main crowd to be heard and Sen is positioned in such a way that his body is blocking most of their field of view.

"Do you know how rare something like this is? You can't just be showing it off like that!" You continue in a heated tone.

He frowns and looks chastised. Good. You can literally count on one hand the number of known Soul Weapons in the entire kingdom and all of those belong to the royal family, important nobles or powerful adventurers. Saying they're rare is a massive understatement. Revealing something like that where anyone can see is just asking for trouble.

"Clan weapon." Sen replies after a moment of silence. He seems to understand the seriousness of the moment at least. "Old Druid Ssslane gave to Sssen. Sssaid it wass the will of the great ssspirit."

Okay. Ignoring the question of just where a Lizardman clan would even get their hands on something like this, why would they let a newbie adventurer just leave with it?

"And they just let you take it with you? What if you lose it or something?" You ask, not going into detail on just what 'losing' something like this would entail. He should know that already.

Sen just shrugs. Shrugs!

"Life bonded. Will return to clan if Sssen diesss." He hurries to explain after seeing your twitching brow.

"Alright. Alright. That's not too bad then. It's not great per se but it's not as big an issue now." You huff. Like your adventurer plate, the weapon is spelled to return to a certain location if the holder dies. It's not the best protection, given that he'll still be dead, but at least there's no chance of a small war breaking out as everyone in the region tries to claim the weapon for themselves. "Still, you need to keep this a secret big guy. A lot of people would be willing to try and steal it and they won't know, or care, about the spell -people too strong for even you to handle so don't even think about it."

He shrugs again and nods, looking sheepish that you'd cottoned on to his thoughts so quickly. You're not sure he understands fully just how bad that situation would be. Geez.

The thought occurs, that now that you know of the spell, you could easily find away around it…

[] Yes. A weapon like that is far too rare and powerful to pass up. It has to be yours. Even if you have to pry it out of his cold dead hands.
[] No. Sen is a sort of friend and even if he wasn't, something like that would be evil. You'll keep this a secret and do your darndest to watch his back. If that fails, at least the weapon will return to its rightful owners.
[] Maybe. Hey, if his clan is stupid enough to risk an artifact like this then they deserve whatever happens. You won't go out of your way for it but if something happens to Sen, you'll be ready to give Harvendar a new home.
[] Write in.

You sigh. Only your second day here and things are becoming overly complicated.

"So, I guess that transformation thing is Harvendar's ability?" You ask, choosing to change the subject. You'll just have to trust that he understands the severity of the situation.

Now that you've calmed down, you find that you're quite interested in the now revealed Soul Weapon and its capabilities. Every known Soul Weapon is a unique treasure with a special ability of its own. No one knows why that is or even how the things were created in the first place but it is universally agreed that no other weapon or tool out there can compare to a fully unlocked Soul Weapon. Attempts have certainly been made to replicate the weapons, and some have come close, but all resulting products are officially classed as failures. A chance to actually see, and perhaps even study, a Soul Weapon is something countless adventurers and crafters would die for. And here you are, just stumbling across someone that owns one. How lucky.

Sen nods to your question and holds the weapon so that you may better examine it. It looks just like any old battleaxe. Nothing about the wooden haft or stone blade looks special now that the runes have faded. If Sen hadn't shown it off like that, you never would have suspected it was such a special item.

"Harvendar can take on any form Sssen wantsss. Enchantmentsss change too. Dependsss on form." He informs you, returning the weapon to his back. "Sssen ssstrong. Axe or hammer bessst form."

"Huh." You nod as you consider that. A weapon that can take on any form the user desires. More than that, each form seems to also have it's own share of enchantments. Enchantments that probably work best for that particular weapon type... that's all sorts of unfair. "Kind of perfect for you then."

The Lizardman nods with a toothy grin. He's a Fighter after all, a class that specializes in mastering different weapon types as well as using spells that augment their basic attacks. Harvendar is a perfect fit for him.

Further conversation along this vein becomes unfeasible as a figure approaches the two of you. The person is an Owl-aspect Avian in long, lavender robes bound by a teal sash and an inventory pouch around the waist. An equally teal, wide brimmed, pointed hat sits on their head with what might be one of their own feathers striking out of it. A similarly colored mantle is draped over their shoulders, extending down to their knees and partially covered at the top by a green scarf. Simple looking leather gloves and boots adorn their hands and feet but the shifting of a sleeve reveals a shiny, white bracer covering a portion of the long gloves and protecting their arms. Held in one hand and thumping on the ground with every step is a tall staff, looking freshly picked off the ground with the lively green leaves still decorating the branches at the top and the vine curled around the shaft. An uncut crystal of some kind has been fitted in the crook of the staff, illuminating the upper portion of the weapon with its faint green light.

This, you assume, is the air mage and final member of your party. You didn't get to meet them when you finally found their cabin an hour ago, they'd been asleep then. Thankfully, their cabinmate, a flirty wolf-aspect Canine was willing to pass on the message. You weren't certain they would actually make it but apparently, you shouldn't have worried.

"Adventurer Lireal?" The mage asks, coming to a stop a few feet away. You nod in reply and he bows "Greetings ~hoo. I am Apprentice Cadmus of the East Hollownest Academy. I look forward to working with you today ~hoo."

"Oh, uh, don't mention it." You reply, taken off guard by his overly formal actions and introduction. An academy apprentice? That means he's not a full adventurer then, just capable of accepting certain missions in the aid of his studies and experiments. "Uh, I'm Lireal… which you already know.... uh... this is Sen. He's going to be joining us today too."

Sen grunts and nods in greeting. You look over with a frown, that wasn't very polite. You see Cadmus' eyes dart over to the large Lizardman for a moment as well before returning to you with a short nod.

"Very well, that is acceptable ~hoo. Shall we exchange information about our capabilities before we begin?" Cadmus asks, head cocking to the side. Having encountered a few Owl-aspect Avians during your time as a guard, you're not startled as his head turns much further than anyone else would be capable. This particular habit of his species had completely unsettled you the first time you saw it.

"Uh, I guess?" You ask, looking to Sen in confusion. He just shrugs. "We're both sort of new to this."

Cadmus' eyes narrow.

"How new?"

You shrug and laugh sheepishly.

"This is only my second mission and Sen's... first?" You reply, looking to the Lizardman again. He nods. "Yeah, his first mission. We both became adventurers like a week ago and were sent here right away."

Cadmus is silent for a moment, seemingly thinking, before he sighs.

"Very well. This is not optimal but the task today should be easily handled ~hoo. As you are new to these matters ~hoo, I shall provide you with the needed details " He says while nodding, his tone changing to one more suited to a lecturer. "Now then, it is customary ~hoo for adventurers to share a general overview of their capabilities upon first joining forces. You need not go into detail, simply provide a summary of what you are capable of in relation to the mission at hand ~hoo. Allow me to demonstrate."

He pauses, waiting for you to nod in understanding, or permission, before continuing.

"As you may have determined, I am an apprentice ranked student of the arcane arts. My main element of study is air and I have recently reached my twelfth level ~hoo." He begins. "I am primarily a scholar but recent events have seen to my becoming a support type combatant. My main area of focus is in denying movement and battlefield ~hoo control via pushing enemies towards or away from myself and allies."

He pauses in thought before continuing.

"That should be all you require for a mission of this type ~hoo but if we were partied for another sort of mission, I would also mention my considerable knowledge in ~hoo Arcana related matters, as well as my skill in the crafting and enchanting of basic equipment." He finishes with a nod.

"Oh, alright. I guess that makes sense." You reply, digesting the information. "Well, I'm a Summoner. I only just got to level four yesterday and I don't have a lot of combat experience. I guess I'm a support type too but my summon is really strong and I just got a new one yesterday that's supposed to be stronger. Oh! I can heal too. Nothing super great in a fight but I can patch us all up afterwards."

Cadmus nods and you both turn to Sen. The big guy just shrugs again and remains silent. You jab him with an elbow and immediately yelp in pain from jabbing what feel like a slab of solid stone. Sen chuckles and grins.

"Sssen isss a Fighter, level eight. Sssen ssstrong. Can make ssself ssstronger. Hit thingsss with axe." The Lizardman informs you before looking out towards the Quag. You turn back to Cadmus.

"Excellent ~hoo. Now we must discuss the choice of leadership and division of loot." Cadmus begins, head cocking too far to the side again.

"Leadership and loot?" You ask, confused.

He nods.

"Yes. Such matters ~hoo must be decided beforehand to avoid infighting during the mission." He explains. "You, as creator of this party, are the automatic leader ~hoo but since you are lacking experience…"

He trails off but you get the gist and nod.

"I do not mind following your lead, such a simple mission is of little danger ~hoo but you may choose to have myself or Adventurer Sen lead." Cadmus continues. "It is the responsibility of the party leader ~hoo to decide how the mission is carried out, what is done if issues crop up and how any extra treasure is divided."

You consider his words. Looking to Sen, you only receive another shrug. Cadmus seems to be waiting for you to decide. A few moments pass before you decide to:

[] Remain the party leader. This is a simple enough quest, you might as well rack up some experience leading while you can.
[] Make Cadmus leader. He seems to have the most experience of the three of you, you can just hang back and learn from his example.
[] Make Sen leader. Uh… he wants to kill things and that's what the mission calls for?

"Very well ~hoo." Cadmus replies with a nod. "Next is the issue of loot ~hoo. While the party leader has final say on the division of all treasure, an item dependent mission such as this ~hoo should have an agreed upon division of resources before it begins."

"What do you mean?" You ask.

"Well ~hoo, the both of you require a number of Scarab shells for your mission correct?" He asks in return and you nod. "I, in turn, require a number of shells, wings and antennae from the ~hoo white variety of Scarab to further my studies as well as craft the next tier of my equipment."

You nod slowly in understanding.

"Well then, I propose ~hoo that you take the shells of all other Scarabs. I will claim all parts from the White Scarabs." He continues. "As for the remaining resources ~hoo, we can divide them up equally. Excepting treasure of course, that ~hoo will be divided up by the party leader afterwards."

Again, you consider his words and look to Sen for his opinion. Again, he simply gives you a shrug of indifference. Cadmus just stands by and waits for your answer, again. Sighing, you decide to:

[] Agree. Cadmus will get all wings, antennae and shells from White Scarabs. You and Sen will get all shells from Green, Red and Blue Scarabs. Antennae and wings from Green, Red and Blue Scarabs will be divided by three.
[] Disagree. All resources will be divided equally (haggle check).

[] Politely (diplomacy check}
[] Aggressively (intimidation check)

[] Write in.

Cadmus nods in acceptance.

"Very well." He comments, stepping up to your side and looking out towards the Quag. "How should we proceed? I am uncertain of our ~hoo overall combat ability. Even if the Scarabs are relatively weak, they travel in great numbers and could overwhelm us if we are not careful ~hoo."

Sen snorts.

"Ssscarbasss weak. Ssstrike hard and kill fassst. Easssy, peassy."

You look between the two, considering their opinions:

*only make this vote if you choose to remain the party leader.
[] Stay on the outskirts and pick off stray Scarabs. Smaller but safer fights. Low resource collection. (Cadmus' choice)
[] Head straight into Scarab territory and kill everything. Larger fights. High resource collection. (Sens' choice)
[] Write in.

Choice made, the three off you set off into the Quag. You take to the air a few minutes outside the town, flying low and acting as a scout for your party. The whole while, your heart is beating fast in excitement. Once again, this is what being an adventurer is all about!

[Fighter Lv 8 Sen has joined your party]

Regen: 1/hr

Ap: 6.
Mp: 34.

Str: 40 (+8) = 48.

Melee Damage: +48.
Melee Power: +4% (+30%) = 34%.
Earth Damage: +48.
Earth Power: +4%

Armor: 2 (+5) = 7.
Trained Stats.

Pwr: 10 (+10% physical damage).
Con: 10 (+100 Hp).
Spd: 4 (+4 Mp).

Extra Stats.

Water Resistance: +5%.
Earth Resistance: +5%

Equips.

Harvendar (Soul Bound) | Lv: 8.

Damage: 16 Neutral - Physical (Crit: 2x).
+1 to Hit Chance.
+8 Str.
+4% Melee Power.
+4% Earth Power.
Cost: 4 ap | Range: 5 ft.

Fur Loincloth (light - waist) | Lv: 1.
+5% Water Resistance.
+5% Earth Resistance.

Skills.
Waterbreathing: +3.
Endurance: +2.
Athletics: +2.
Intimidation: +2.
Stealth: +1.
Perception: +2.

Spells (1 pt saved).
Other Spells.
Evolve | Lv: Max.

Allows the user to evolve into a new subrace (Lizardman) at level 20.

Scaled | Lv: 1.

Reduces incoming damage by 5%

Cannibalize | Lv: 1.

The user absorbs the remaining life energy of a recent corpse to recover 1d20% of their max hp.
Gain 1d5 ranks of Erosion.

Cost: 3 ap | Cd: 1 turn.

Blessing of Solaire (Expires in 24 hours).

+5 to Hit Chance and Armor.
+30% Melee Power.
+30% to all crafting efforts
Gain Temporary Spell: Aura of Solaire.

Aura of Solaire | Lv: N/A.

User gains +15 to Hit Chance and Armor (2 turns)

Cost: 3 ap | Cd: 1 day.

Class Spells.
Vitality | Lv: 1.

The user gains +100 Vit (2 turns).

Cost: 2 ap | Cd: 3 turns.

Power | Lv: 4.

Increases targets damage by 200% (2 turns).

Cost: 2 ap | Range: 10 ft | Cd: 8 turns.

Earthly Weapon | Lv: 2
Surrounds the users weapon with an earthen aura.

+1d12 additional Earth Damage to regular attacks (2 turns).
+15% chance to inflict Crippled status on a limb (2 turns).

Cost: 4 ap | Cd: 5 turns.

All-mighty Pull | Lv: 1.

Pulls a target up to 15ft closer to the user.

Cost: 3 ap | Range: 30 ft.

Burning Weapon | Lv 1: surrounds the weapon in a fiery aura for 2 turns.

+1d6 additional Fire Damage to regular attacks (2 turns).
+15% chance to inflict Burned status (2 turns).

Cost: 4 ap | Cd: 5 turns.

[Mage Lv 12 Cadmus has joined your party]

Regen: 1/hr

Ap: 7.
Mp: 45.

Vit: 88.

Healing: 88%

Agi: 110 (-22) = 88.

Air Damage: +88 (+5) = 93.
Air Power: +0% (+20%) = 20%
Crit Chance: +0.88.
Armor Rating: +0.88 (+5) = 5.88.

Trained Stats.

Con: 11 (+110 Hp).
Spi: 15 (+15% (+5%) = +20% Magic Damage).
Spd: 10 (+10 Mp).

Extra Stats

Air Resistance: 35%

Equips.

Minor Ash Wood Staff of Air (1h - Staff) | Lv: 5.

Damage: 3 to 8 Neutral - Physical (Crit 1.5x).
+5 Agi.
+5% Air Power.
Cost: 5 ap.

Apprentice Robes (light - chest & legs) | Lv: 5.

+2 Armor.
+5% Magic Power.
+5 Fire, Earth, Air and Water Damage.

Novice Wind Sash (light - waist) | Lv 5.

1 of 3 parts of the Wind Novice set.
+10 Agi.
+12 Vit.
+6% Air Resistance.

Novice Wind Hat (light - head) | Lv: 5.

1 of 3 parts of Wind Novice set.
+1 Armor.
+8 Agi.
+6 Vit.
+5% Air Resistance.

Leather Boots (med - feet) | Lv: 5.

+5 mp.
+15 Vit.

White Scarab Gauntlets (med - arms) | Lv: 10.

1 of 5 parts of the White Scarab set.
+2 Armor.
+15 Vit.
+15 Agi.
+10% Air Res.

Novice Wind Mantle (back) | Lv: 5.

1 of 3 parts of the Wind Novice set.
+5 Agi.
+5 Vit.
+5% Air Resistance.

Minor Ring of Action (ring 1) | Lv: 10.

-100 Str.
-100 Int.
-100 Agi.
-100 Cha.
+1 ap.

White Scarab Ring (ring 2) | Lv: 10.

1 of 5 parts of the White Scarab set.
+10 Vit.
+10 Agi.
+5% Air Power.
+5% Air Resistance.

Wool Scarf (neck) | Lv: 1.

+5% resistance to air borne status effects.

Sets.

Wind Novice Set (3/3).

+15 Agi.
+15 Vit.
+6% Air Power.

White Scarab Set (2/5).

+10 Agi.
+10 Vit.
+4% Air Power.
+4% Air Resistance.

Skills.
Arcana: 5.
Acrobatics: 3 (+2) = 5.
Stealth: 3.
Thievery: 3.
Insight: +1d6.
Investigation: +1d6.
Perception: (+1d6)

Spells (1 pt saved).
Levitate | Lv: 1.

Target gains Flight (3 turns).

Cost: 2 ap | Cd: 10.

Air Barrier | Lv: 1.
Creates a shield of air around the user.

Negates 10% of incoming damage (3 turns.)

Cost: 3 ap | Cd: 5 turns.

Air Shot | Lv: 1.
Fires a fast ball of sharpened air at the target.

Damage: 1d6 Air - Magical (Crit: 2x).
15% chance to inflict Bleeding status.

Cost: 3 ap | Range: 30 ft | 2 uses per target per turn.

Haste | Lv: 1.

Target gains +10 mp (2 turns).

Cost: 2 ap | Range: 15 ft | Cd: 5 turns.

Gale | Lv: 2.
Strikes the target with a wall of solid air.

Damage: 1d4 Air - Magical (Crit: 2x).
Pushes the target back 10 ft.

Cost: 3 ap | Range: 10 ft | 1 use per target per turn.

Zap | Lv: Max.
Strikes the target with a bolt of lightning.

Damage: 5d10 Air - Magical (Crit: 2x).
Target losses up to 30 mp.
30% chance to inflict Paralyzed status.

Cost: 4 ap | Range: 30 ft | 2 uses per target per turn.

Blade Storm | Lv: 1.
Creates a large storm of wind blades centered on the target.

Damage: 2d6 Air - Magical (Crit: 2x)
15% chance to inflict Bleeding status.

Cost: 5 ap | Range: 30 ft. 10 ft AoE | Cd: 3 turns.

--==+++==--
Voting is Still Open.

veekie · May 4, 2017

[X] No. Sen is a sort of friend and even if he wasn't, something like that would be evil. You'll keep this a secret and do your darndest to watch his back. If that fails, at least the weapon will return to its rightful owners.
[X] Remain the party leader. This is a simple enough quest, you might as well rack up some experience leading while you can.
[X] Disagree. All resources will be divided equally (haggle check).
-[X] Politely (diplomacy check}
--[X] He gets first pick from the Whites, but the loot should be divided by value, then assigned by whoever needs it the most. This would be the fairest for all in case we run into either too many or too few White scarabs.
[X] Stay on the outskirts and pick off stray Scarabs. Smaller but safer fights. Low resource collection. (Cadmus' choice)
-[X] Familiarize ourselves with the terrain first, then slowly move in as we get to know it and ensure that we have an escape route. Penetrating deeply is good, but we need a way out.

Summoners make good leaders. Just far enough from the fight that they can oversee it while their summons get stuck in.

Varano · May 4, 2017

[X] No. Sen is a sort of friend and even if he wasn't, something like that would be evil. You'll keep this a secret and do your darndest to watch his back. If that fails, at least the weapon will return to its rightful owners.

[X ] Remain the party leader. This is a simple enough quest, you might as well rack up some experience leading while you can.

[X] Agree. Cadmus will get all wings, antennae and shells from White Scarabs. You and Sen will get all shells from Green, Red and Blue Scarabs. Antennae and wings from Green, Red and Blue Scarabs will be divided by three.

[X] Stay on the outskirts and pick off stray Scarabs. Smaller but safer fights. Low resource collection. (Cadmus' choice)
-[X] Familiarize ourselves with the terrain first, then slowly move in as we get to know it and ensure that we have an escape route. Penetrating deeply is good, but we need a way out.

NaanContributor · May 4, 2017

[X] No. Sen is a sort of friend and even if he wasn't, something like that would be evil. You'll keep this a secret and do your darndest to watch his back. If that fails, at least the weapon will return to its rightful owners.

Helllllll No! Aside from the provided reasoning, if we're willing to kill our new party member for this thing, you can bet our wings that others would do the same to us afterwards. The way I see it, fighting alongside Sen and keeping him alive gets us the same benefits from having Harvendar without the massive permanent target on our back.

It's also not really suited for us since we only need whip type weapons, and having god tier equipment from the get go takes all the fun out of gear upgrades and management.

[X] Remain the party leader. This is a simple enough quest, you might as well rack up some experience leading while you can.
[X] Disagree. All resources will be divided equally (haggle check).
-[X] Politely (diplomacy check}
--[X] He gets first pick from the Whites, but the loot should be divided by value, then assigned by whoever needs it the most. This would be the fairest for all in case we run into either too many or too few White scarabs.

While I'm not desperate for White Scarab parts, @veekie's got a good point about how the shares would be skewed if the proportion of Whites is too high or too low.

[X] Stay on the outskirts and pick off stray Scarabs. Smaller but safer fights. Low resource collection. (Cadmus' choice)
-[X] Familiarize ourselves with the terrain first, then slowly move in as we get to know it and ensure that we have an escape route. Penetrating deeply is good, but we need a way out.

Also a good compromise. Start off slow so we can get familiar with fighting as a team, then build momentum.

NaanContributor · May 4, 2017

@Kolarthecool, I have some rambling questions that I'll try to make understandable.

So I was wondering what determines AP, and how we might increase ours. Looking at Cadmus' Minor Ring of Action, I guess we can only do it through equipment? Is a single AP really worth all those stat penalties? That ring seems to cancel out a lot of the benefits from the rest of his equipment.

Speaking of equipment, we'll probably want to make our own with the professions instead of buying them. But in order to make stuff, we need to gather materials. To gather decent amounts of quality materials, we need higher ranks in the professions. And to increase our profession ranks, we need to make stuff. It's kind of a cyclical problem.

I suppose we can circumvent this by either buying materials or using monster drops. But what kind of equipment can we make with them? For example, since we're probably going to get a decent amount of Scarab parts from this quest (BTW, do we get to keep the parts afterwards or do we have to give them to the quest giver?) what profession should we use to make armor like Cadmus' out of them? Tailor? Artificer? Which profession do we use to make a better whip?

And we were talking with Sen about armor weight. Is that actually a mechanic we need to consider? Like what are the differences between leather armor and metal armor apart from general stats based on quality? As a flier, would we want light-medium armor, or could we fly just fine with heavy? If we made Scarab armor, would it be categorized as light armor?

Kolarthecool · May 5, 2017

NaanContributor said:
@Kolarthecool, I have some rambling questions that I'll try to make understandable.

So I was wondering what determines AP, and how we might increase ours. Looking at Cadmus' Minor Ring of Action, I guess we can only do it through equipment? Is a single AP really worth all those stat penalties? That ring seems to cancel out a lot of the benefits from the rest of his equipment.

Speaking of equipment, we'll probably want to make our own with the professions instead of buying them. But in order to make stuff, we need to gather materials. To gather decent amounts of quality materials, we need higher ranks in the professions. And to increase our profession ranks, we need to make stuff. It's kind of a cyclical problem.

I suppose we can circumvent this by either buying materials or using monster drops. But what kind of equipment can we make with them? For example, since we're probably going to get a decent amount of Scarab parts from this quest (BTW, do we get to keep the parts afterwards or do we have to give them to the quest giver?) what profession should we use to make armor like Cadmus' out of them? Tailor? Artificer? Which profession do we use to make a better whip?

And we were talking with Sen about armor weight. Is that actually a mechanic we need to consider? Like what are the differences between leather armor and metal armor apart from general stats based on quality? As a flier, would we want light-medium armor, or could we fly just fine with heavy? If we made Scarab armor, would it be categorized as light armor?

Ap is a stand-alone stat that can only be increased through the use of certain equipment. Once you get into the higher levels it will be easier to increase your base Ap, Cadmus' ring has so many defecits simply because it is such a low level item thay gives Ap. Most +ap items will be like regular equips. All amulets past lv 50 or so will give +1 ap and some sets will give +1 as well. Around the 100+ level range, you can easily get up to 10 ap without too many losses.

Leveling your professions is easy. You can already gather low level mats, simply doing that and making stuff to use or sell will get you all the xp you need to improve. All you need to do is dedicate a day or two to gathering mats and you'll gain more than enough to speed level your way up. It's like Skyrim, just craft like a 1000 variations of a simple item to power level. You don't have to mix in variety and such, all you really miss out on is time as there are hidden deadlines for certain events and quests going on in the background.

On the other hand, you can just adventure, save up gold, and hire someone to craft gear for you. They'll send you off to gather some mats sure but the ones you can't drop from monsters can be bought from shops or other people.

You will get to keep your mats yes. The item drops will tell you what professions they can be used in but primarily, non-metal equips will be the Tailor profession for armor, capes and hats, and the Shoemaker for boots and belts. Making a whip is the Artificer as it is a non-standard weapon. Anything made of wood is the Carver, while metal is the Smith.

Armor types do matter. Armor check rolls are 1d20 + any Hit Chance bonuses versus the characters Armor rating + any bonuses. Light armor has a max armor rating of +3, Med maxes out at +5, and Heavy at +8. Heavier armor can also apply penalties to attack speed (when you get to have your turn), movement speed or flight based on your Str stat. High enough Str and you can ignore the penalties on weak enough armors.

As a magic type with flight, you should focus on light armor and only use medium armor if it doesnt apply a penalty. Scarab armor is mainly medium armor but two of the five parts dont count since they are an amulet and ring.

NaanContributor · May 5, 2017

Kolarthecool said:
Ap is a stand-alone stat that can only be increased through the use of certain equipment. Once you get into the higher levels it will be easier to increase your base Ap, Cadmus' ring has so many defecits simply because it is such a low level item thay gives Ap. Most +ap items will be like regular equips. All amulets past lv 50 or so will give +1 ap and some sets will give +1 as well. Around the 100+ level range, you can easily get up to 10 ap without too many losses.

Leveling your professions is easy. You can already gather low level mats, simply doing that and making stuff to use or sell will get you all the xp you need to improve. All you need to do is dedicate a day or two to gathering mats and you'll gain more than enough to speed level your way up. It's like Skyrim, just craft like a 1000 variations of a simple item to power level. You don't have to mix in variety and such, all you really miss out on is time as there are hidden deadlines for certain events and quests going on in the background.

On the other hand, you can just adventure, save up gold, and hire someone to craft gear for you. They'll send you off to gather some mats sure but the ones you can't drop from monsters can be bought from shops or other people.

You will get to keep your mats yes. The item drops will tell you what professions they can be used in but primarily, non-metal equips will be the Tailor profession for armor, capes and hats, and the Shoemaker for boots and belts. Making a whip is the Artificer as it is a non-standard weapon. Anything made of wood is the Carver, while metal is the Smith.

Armor types do matter. Armor check rolls are 1d20 + any Hit Chance bonuses versus the characters Armor rating + any bonuses. Light armor has a max armor rating of +3, Med maxes out at +5, and Heavy at +8. Heavier armor can also apply penalties to attack speed (when you get to have your turn), movement speed or flight based on your Str stat. High enough Str and you can ignore the penalties on weak enough armors.

As a magic type with flight, you should focus on light armor and only use medium armor if it doesnt apply a penalty. Scarab armor is mainly medium armor but two of the five parts dont count since they are an amulet and ring.

Hmm, so we'd probably want to only invest in one or two professions that we'll use a lot, three at most. And for our other needs we'll have to either commission them from other crafters or buy them wholesale. The time investment causing us to miss events and deadlines sounds bad, but we've apparently already missed some just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so...

I don't know about the power leveling, that part of Skyrim was kind of dumb (there's a reason it's a bit of a meme). As it is, prepping/refining cheap materials until we hit Grandmaster is just as viable as actually making items (Distilled Water and Herbal Concentrate for Alchemist, Magic Powder -> Magic Crystal-> Magic Stone -> Jewelry for Jeweler, etc.).

We don't have much incentive for making proper items at low ranks, aside from selling the creations we don't want, which might not be worth the time investment compared to adventuring depending on how long the crafting takes. Maybe if making higher level items gave more experience than the basic stuff?

And wouldn't this be a lot of work on your part? For example, if we wanted to power level Tailor and fill up our empty gear slots, we'd acquire a crapload of cheap cloth and/or leather and make as many head, chest, hands, legs, back, and neck equipment as we can, keeping the best results for ourselves and selling the rest. Would you really have to roll all those dice mentioned in the mechanics post for each item?

Kolarthecool · May 5, 2017

NaanContributor said:
Hmm, so we'd probably want to only invest in one or two professions that we'll use a lot, three at most. And for our other needs we'll have to either commission them from other crafters or buy them wholesale. The time investment causing us to miss events and deadlines sounds bad, but we've apparently already missed some just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so...

I don't know about the power leveling, that part of Skyrim was kind of dumb (there's a reason it's a bit of a meme). As it is, prepping/refining cheap materials until we hit Grandmaster is just as viable as actually making items (Distilled Water and Herbal Concentrate for Alchemist, Magic Powder -> Magic Crystal-> Magic Stone -> Jewelry for Jeweler, etc.).

We don't have much incentive for making proper items at low ranks, aside from selling the creations we don't want, which might not be worth the time investment compared to adventuring depending on how long the crafting takes. Maybe if making higher level items gave more experience than the basic stuff?

And wouldn't this be a lot of work on your part? For example, if we wanted to power level Tailor and fill up our empty gear slots, we'd acquire a crapload of cheap cloth and/or leather and make as many head, chest, hands, legs, back, and neck equipment as we can, keeping the best results for ourselves and selling the rest. Would you really have to roll all those dice mentioned in the mechanics post for each item?

Maxing out one or two professions at a time is one way to go sure. You can also just work at keeping them within your level range as you level up. The first twenty or so levels will pass really quickly but once you start to slow down, you can choose to focus on leveling your professions up too. There are some important events that I will force on you sure but this is still a quest and you guys are welcome to do whatever you want. You dont have to focus on questing and fighting. Some voters might be fine with just completely ignoring the profs too. Like I said, make enough gold and you can just commision stuff or buy directly from the shops.

The easiest route would be to just gather a ton of your main stat relevent monster drops and hand them plus a sack of gold over to the Crafters and wait for them to pass back some equips and remaining gold. Making your own gear is nice sure but there are plenty of Master level crafting npcs out there for you to take advantage of. The main benefit of professions would be if you want to take some crafting related quests later on, getting items and gold to make stuff for others in the same fashion.

If you guys decide to make stuff in bulk for the purpose of leveling, I'll only roll for a handful of good items that you might want to keep and just put the rest as a bulk item that you can sell off. If you're making gear that's far below your level for the sake of leveling a prof, then it's all just going to be junk that you can sell.

NaanContributor · May 5, 2017

So the mechanics say that we can use tools to improve our material gathering. Since I didn't see any in the general store, I guess we're supposed to make them ourselves using Artificer? Can we make our own Adventurer Sacks to expand our inventory?

Using a pickaxe for ore makes sense, and we'll probably want a woodcutter's axe for wood, but what would we use for leather? A carving knife, a tanner's kit? Since getting leather probably involves hunting animals, would we also get meat from it? And how would we "gather" things like cloth or wheat, since they probably can't be found in the wild?

And if we wanted to use the Scarab parts we're going to get to make medium armor, either by making it ourselves or giving them to a Tailor, how much Strength would we need to wear it without penalties? If it's not too much we might want to invest in it after leveling up, even if it diverts a bit from our min-maxing. Some Strength will still be useful, since we still have to hit stuff with our whip when our summons are on cooldown anyway.

Kolarthecool · May 6, 2017

NaanContributor said:
So the mechanics say that we can use tools to improve our material gathering. Since I didn't see any in the general store, I guess we're supposed to make them ourselves using Artificer? Can we make our own Adventurer Sacks to expand our inventory?

Using a pickaxe for ore makes sense, and we'll probably want a woodcutter's axe for wood, but what would we use for leather? A carving knife, a tanner's kit? Since getting leather probably involves hunting animals, would we also get meat from it? And how would we "gather" things like cloth or wheat, since they probably can't be found in the wild?

And if we wanted to use the Scarab parts we're going to get to make medium armor, either by making it ourselves or giving them to a Tailor, how much Strength would we need to wear it without penalties? If it's not too much we might want to invest in it after leveling up, even if it diverts a bit from our min-maxing. Some Strength will still be useful, since we still have to hit stuff with our whip when our summons are on cooldown anyway.

Tools are sold at the weapon shop... adventurers eh. Artificer can also make or improve them. The Tailor can make backpacks, which expand your inventory.

A hunting weapon allows you to more easily gather meat and skins for leather, they can favor meat gathering over skinning or vice versa. For the Tailor and Alchemist, you get shears for gathering wool or plants. The Baker will get you a scythe for gathering wheat. It's a fantasy world lol, swamp wheat can totally be a thing. There are plenty of material substitutes I can use/invent if something doesn't fit the setting too. Dont worry about it.

Scarab stuff is low level and on the lighter side.. Str of 5 or more is enough to offset any penalties. It's a 5 piece set (chest, cape, gauntlets, amulet, ring) and only 2 of the items (gauntlets and chest) count as med armor. Also the color of Scarab determines the stats you get (Red for Int/fire, blue for Cha/water, etc) and you can't mix and match colors for a full set.

Kolarthecool · May 15, 2017

--==+++==--
Adventurer Quest
Arc 1: A New Frontier
Chapter 11
--==+++==--

Day 278 of the Year 290 AW.
Late Afternoon.
Weather: Overcast.

[X] No. Do nothing about the Soul Weapon.
[X] Remain the party leader.
[X] Disagree. Politely (Diplomacy check: 13 + 2 = 15. Success).

[X] Loot will be divided equally but Cadmus gets first pick of all White Scarab resources.

[X] Play it safe.

[X] Scout the terrain first, then slowly move in. Keep an escape route open.

Your second foray into the Quag proceeds at a much slower pace than the first. The Scarab nest is just a handful of kilometers out from the town proper but due to the natural dangers of the area, you're all forced to proceed at a moderate pace while keeping an eye out for monsters, deadly flora and dangerous fauna. Both ahead of you and sneaking up from behind. Regardless, your party manages to cover a great deal of distance in the first hour.

Of the three of you, Sen is the only one that seems to have absolutely no trouble at all with the swamp. The bulky Lizardman is somehow able to glide across the muddy ground and through the dark waters with unexpected grace. The only time he seems to slow is when a tree blocks the path and even then, it's only so that he can scamper over the roots and branches in order to dive back into the marsh. You have no idea where exactly his Clan is based but you're willing to bet that it's in another swamp.

Cadmus, while much slower than the Lizardman, manages to keep pace with an ease borne of experience with the area. His magic staff, turned walking stick, and light frame allow him to easily seek out and hop across the more solid patches of land. If it were that alone however, then he would have been quickly left behind by the rushing Lizardman. What allows him to keep pace with Sen, are the sparse uses of some sort of spell that let him leap off the ground and glide across the air for several seconds. Using this method, he is able to quickly catch up whenever Sen gets too far ahead.

As for yourself.... well, you're flying. Even while having to keep an eye out for aerial threats, as well as going out of your way to avoid flying near the taller trees, you still have to hang back so as to not leave your allies behind. You accomplish this by flying in a wide circle centered on the two, so as to scout the surrounding area. A maneuver you were taught in the Guard but never really got a chance to use. Well, at least you're putting that training to use now.

Another three quarters of an hour pass like this before you manage to spot something. In the far distance, you spot what can only be the Scarab nest. It's a mighty structure. A mound of dirt, wood and other detritus standing at almost twenty feet tall and shaped similar to a volcano. You might mistake it for a natural formation if not for the dozens of small dots crawling all over it and flying around the area. That hill is the entrance to the Scarab nest and given the numbers you are seeing outside of it alone, you're willing to bet it stretches far underground in a complex tunnel system.

Winging around for one final pass, you descend towards your party members. An unnecessarily loud flap of your wings draws their attention and they pause to watch your approach. You land near Sen, perching on the gnarly root of one oversized tree as Cadmus draws closer.

"I spotted the Nest." You explain, pointing in the correct direction. "It's about ten or fifteen minutes that way."

Sen grins toothily and looks ready to bound off but a quick tug on one horn stops that from happening. He frowns. You grin back cheekily.

"Excellent ~hoo." Cadmus replies, ignoring the little by play. "Did you spot any patrolling swarms?"

You recall what all you saw of the nest and nod.

"A few. There were a number of small groups flying around the area and a few dozen crawling all over the hill."

He nods and strokes his chin with a taloned hand.

"Drones and Workers then ~hoo, maybe the odd Soldier or two." He says after a moment of thought. "Nothing we can't handle."

[Dungeoneering Check: 11 + 1 = 12. Minor Success]

You nod in hesitant agreement. From what you can remember, Scarabs are broken up into different castes. Drones are essentially scout units. They are relatively weak but are able to fly a great deal of distance before tiring. They are also the ones that transport food and supplies about, often working in tandem to carry large items back to the nest. Workers are just that, workers. They build, fortify and repair the hill, as well as dig the tunnels and chambers of the nest proper. Workers are incapable of sustained flight but are able to naturally jump far distances and glide. These two castes are the ones you are used to, the only breeds sometimes seen in towns or near roads.

Other than those, there are a few more units that you know very little about. Soldiers, you recall, are basically the infantry units of a swarm. You don't remember much about them, only that they can't fly either but are much stronger than the other two castes. There are two or three more castes as well, including the Queen, but you're not able to recall them right now. Something to look into you suppose.

"Very well." Cadmus continues at your nod. "Our plan of attack is still viable ~hoo, I will trust you to keep an eye on our lane of egress adventurer Lireal."

You nod and extend your wings. This is your plan and you're the scout after all. It's your job to make sure your party doesn't get surrounded and swarmed by the whole nest.

"Then we may as well proceed ~hoo." Cadmus says. The words are barely out of his mouth before an excited Sen leaps into the water and dashes off. You both exchange a look, sigh, and move to follow.

--==+++==--

Roughly five minutes later, you spot the other two cresting a particularly large root and catching sight of the hill in the distance. They pause for moment before looking up at your circling form. Taking a careful look around-

[Perception Check: 14 + 0 = 14. Success]

-you direct them towards a small and solitary group of the creatures.

As you descend towards the mob and your party approaches, you frown upon noticing something that you'd missed. What you'd taken for a mob of five Scarabs is actually a mob of seven creatures. Low to the ground and partially covered by mud are a pair of slug like creatures, if slugs were over a meter long and half as thick. They seem to be travelling with the Scarab group and working together. You wrack your brain in thought.

[Dungeoneering Check: 16 + 1 = 17. Success]

Oh, right! Black Devourers. Damn. How did you almost forget those?

Black Devourers, also know as Hell Leeches, are an giant-sized breed of leeches often found in swamps, marshes and other wetlands. They are also always in the presence of Scarabs, other Insectile monsters or golem-type creatures. These creatures, while generally weak and slow combatants, have a film of poison coating their skin, a strong, muscular frame with a spike-laden underbelly, and a viscous maw filled with steel-hard teeth. This allows them to easily bite onto and wrap around prey, latching on until they've drained it dry. A process that can take anywhere from a single, excruciating minute to a number of seconds based on the size and number of leeches.

They can be quite the terrifying beasts for the unaware. Also one of the reasons you're glad you avoided the trees like Alog suggested. They're known to hang onto branches in groups and drop down on their unsuspecting prey.

As for these two traveling with this group of Scarabs. Well, the Leeches are poisonous through and through, and Scarabs have little to no viable blood in their exoskeletons. As most monsters are want to do after discovering they have no reason to prey on the other and vice versa, the two races have established a somewhat symbiotic coexistence. After all, the Leeches dont need the meat of their prey and the Scarabs have no need for the blood.

Thankfully, there's only two of them. Keep your distance and avoid the mouths, and they should be easy pickings. Oh, and fire. Lots and lots of fire. You remember the leeches are weak to that… well, who isn't really but that's besides the point.

As for the Scarabs. There are only five of the creatures, so you got that right at least. Three of the monsters are clearly Drones. Each is roughly the size of your head and is flitting around the group on buzzing wings. Two are red and the last one white. The final two, land-bound Scarabs must be Soldiers. They look exactly the same as all other Scarabs you've seen, excepting their differing colors of blue and green, but are far too large to be Workers.

Where the average Worker might come up to your knee, mid thigh at a push, these two Scarabs stand at almost waist height at their highest. Their shells also look thicker and more durable than those of the Drones and Workers you've seen in the past. These two right here are true Scarabs, the monsters that require an adventurers might to put down. Not the buzzing pests that can be easily shooed away with a broom.

All of this passes through your mind in the few seconds it takes to glide down and land before the mob of monsters. You certainly startle them with your action as they recoil back and bunch together. They become further unnerved when Sen and Cadmus appear at your sides with a crash for the Lizardman and a soft thump for the Avian, the pair having closed the final distance with a bounding leap. Still, the monsters have the number advantage and don't look like they are about to flee. Good.

"Watch out for the leeches. They have poisonous skin and can drain you dry in seconds if they latch onto you." You advise, mainly directing the comment at the close combatant Sen. "Try not to get too close to them."

The Lizardman snorts and draws his axe.

"Sssen hasss ssseeen bigger at home. Easssy fight."

Well, that's good then.

Cadmus nods and the gem on his staff glints with an inner light.

"A small group like this should be no problem ~hoo. Watch out for elemental attacks however. These Scarabs are certainly matured enough to utilize them ~hoo." He advises in turn.

You nod and uncoil your whip.

A beat.

Then the battle is joined.

Round 1 Start
Cadmus (Lv 12): 298 / 298 hp.
Lireal (Lv 4): 190 / 190 hp.
Sen (Lv 8): 200 / 200 hp.

White Scarab Drone (Lv 5): 60 / 60 hp.
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 6): 75 / 75 hp.
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 5): 65 / 65 hp.
Blue Scarab Soldier (Lv 10): 180 / 180 hp.
Green Scarab Soldier (Lv 9): 165 / 165 hp.
Black Devourer (Lv 8): 120 / 120 hp.
Black Devourer (Lv 7): 105 / 105 hp.

The scene.
All enemies are roughly 45 feet away from your party. The Drones are hovering about 10 feet above the ground while the Leeches are quite low to the ground. The sky is clear of enemies.

There is a massive tree 60 feet behind you, it's roots are large and numerous enough to use as cover. The tree branches are thick with leaves and extend up to 10 feet away from the main trunk. A number of smaller trees are to the sides and behind the monsters.

The ground around you for 60 feet looks solid enough but there are a number of swampy latches and probable sinkholes dotting the area. Every thing past this space is water and mud.

The order.
Cadmus → White Scarab Drone → You → Red Scarab Drone → Sen → Red Scarab Drone → Leeches → Blue then Green Soldier.

Turn order is based on who has more Agi or Speed, alternating between the teams. Killing an enemy does not affect the turn order or move other enemies up. Ex: if you kill the white drone, you get to go right after Cadmus until the fight ends.

You have 6 ap and 35 ft of movement speed. What do you do?
[] Write in (mention which you want to target if you attack).

Available actions.
Basic Attack: 5 ap.
Healing Word: 2 ap.
Radiance: 3 ap.
Flame Whip: 4 ap.
Green Ostrid: 4 ap.
Animal Healing: 4 ap.
Iron Crackrock: 4 ap.
Use an item (1): free.
Talking: free.

--==+++==--
Voting is Closed.

Khepri14 · May 15, 2017

[X] Summon Green Ostrid
-[X] Then summon Iron Crackrock
--[X] After that, move 25ft towards the big tree.

Kolarthecool · May 15, 2017

Khepri14 said:
[X] Summon Green Ostrid
-[X] Then summon Iron Crackrock
--[X] After that, move 25ft towards the big tree.

You lack the Ap to do two summonings. Unless you want to take up two rounds on this vote.

Varano · May 15, 2017

[X] Target Red Scarab Drone
[X] Summon <Green Ostrid>
-[X] Use <animal healing> whenever necessary
--[X] If <animal healing> not necessary then summon Iron Crackrock
---[X] If <animal healing> not necessary then advance towards the enemies to use <Flame Whip>
----[X] If health reaches a dangerous point, retreat towards closest cover

NaanContributor · May 15, 2017

We're doing this by round guys, a long term plan won't account for changing circumstances.

[X] Summon Iron Crackrock
-[X] Use Healing Word on whoever is hurt by White Scarab Drone.
--[X] Move 25 feet to the tree.

veekie · May 16, 2017

[X] Summon Iron Crackrock
-[X] Use Healing Word on whoever is hurt by White Scarab Drone.
--[X] Move 25 feet to the tree.

Kolarthecool · May 25, 2017

--==+++==--
Adventurer Quest
Arc 1: A New Frontier
Chapter 11.2
--==+++==--

Day 278 of the Year 290 AW.
Late Afternoon.
Weather: Overcast.

[X] Summon Iron Crackrock
-[X] Use Healing Word on whoever is hurt by White Scarab Drone.
--[X] Move 25 feet to the tree.

Round 1 Start
Cadmus (Lv 12): 298 / 298 hp.
Lireal (Lv 4): 190 / 190 hp.
Sen (Lv 8): 200 / 200 hp.

White Scarab Drone (Lv 5): 60 / 60 hp.
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 6): 75 / 75 hp.
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 5): 65 / 65 hp.
Blue Scarab Soldier (Lv 10): 180 / 180 hp.
Green Scarab Soldier (Lv 9): 165 / 165 hp.
Black Devourer (Lv 8): 120 / 120 hp.
Black Devourer (Lv 7): 105 / 105 hp.

Cadmus: 13 vs 12, 10,10, 8, 8, 8, 8. All Hit.
Blade Storm: 5 + 93 = 98 + 20% air power = 118 + 20% magical damage = 142.

White Scarab Drone (Lv 5): -111 hp (15% air res and -10 from Shelled spell)
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 6): -116 hp (10% air res and -12 from Shelled spell).
Red Scarab Drone (Lv 5): -118 hp (10% air res and -10 from Shelled spell).
Blue Scarab Soldier (Lv 10): -122 hp (-20 from Shelled spell).
Green Scarab Soldier (Lv 9): -160 hp (25% air weak and -18 from Shelled spell)
Black Devourer (Lv 8): -142 hp.
Black Devourer (Lv 7): -142 hp.

You: 16. Success.
Iron Crackrock: 10 vs 8. Hit.
Crusher: (8 + 44) = 52 + (52*0.33) = 69.

Green Scarab Soldier: -16 (50% earth res and -18 from Shelled spell)

Sen: 18. Success. +200% damage.
Sen: 11 vs 8. Hit.
Attack: 16 + 48 = 64 + (64*0.34) = 86*2 = 172.

Blue Scarab Soldier: -152 (-20 from Shelled spell)

You have but a split second to formalize a plan of action before things descend into chaos. The monsters hiss and screech before charging your much smaller group with fervor. Sen, the big, bloodthirsty lug, rushes past you with an excited bellow of his own. You, in turn, bring your empty hand up to point towards the approaching monsters.

You quickly start chanting the activation words of your newest spell, only for Cadmus to step past you with his staff extended and a litany of arcane phrases already spilling from his beak.

『Blade Storm!』He exclaims at the end of the chant, the jewel of his staff glowing intensely with a pale green light. The target of his spell, the Green Scarab Soldier somewhat in the center of the mob, glows with a matching aura of light.

A beat.

Everything seems to still. All sounds vanish, as if you are suddenly struck deaf. You find it hard to move, hard to breath. Then, in an instant, it all comes rushing back with a blast of air, sound and light. A tornado of green wind springs into existence around the targeted Scarab.

The earth trembles and the air roars as blades of wind tear into the entire mob of monsters. The spell only lasts for a split second but even then, it is a second too long. By the time the summoned tornado fades away, the ground has been churned into a fine dust and the advancing monsters devastated.

Of the seven creatures that were bearing down on your party, only two survive that initial, devastating spell. Of those two, only one is in a well enough state to continue fighting. In that single moment of wind and sound, the three Drones and two Devourers were completely slaughtered. All that remains of the Drones are split husks, the creatures having been sliced open and their insides scattered around the area. Of the Devourers, only a pair of deflated, worm-like corpses remain. A deluge of blood pours from the dozens of lacerations on the bodies, soaking the surrounding ground and turning it a muddy red.

The main target of the spell, the Green Scarab Soldier, manages to somehow pull through and survive. Even if just barely. One eye has been gouged out, an antenna and wing sliced off, and its entire form is littered with deep, oozing gashes. It is barely able to stand, let alone continue the fight. The Blue Scarab Soldier on the other hand, seems to have weathered the storm relatively unscathed. It is also littered with a great number of cuts but these are much shallower than those on the Green Soldier, only leaking a few drops of its insectile blood. It is still standing strong.

Even as your eyes widen in shock at the sudden devastation, your mouth and magic do not falter to finish the spell you'd started casting. Though you dont much see the point now.

『Iron Crackrock』

Still, you can't hold back your excitement as a circle of dark, murky green light over a meter in diameter appears on the ground a few feet away. Once more, the earth trembles as a massive hand thrusts itself up out of the spell array and slams down on one side of the circle. A second hand follows soon after, the ground shaking again as this one slams down on the opposite side of the circle. Then they grip down and lift. The creature that rises from the circle is as magnificent as it is intimidating.

Standing at well over ten feet tall, even while hunched over, your summoned monster towers over every other being in the clearing. It's appearance is that of a broad golem formed of various sized boulders and rocks. There is a barely perceptible, metallic sheen to it that suggests it is constructed of more than mere stone. A glowing blue gem is set in the chest of the summon, the same color glow illuminating its empty eye sockets.

A deep, grinding rumble sounds through the clearing as the massive creature takes a few lumbering steps forward. It's speed is nothing compared to that of your Ostrid, not even close at all, but it manages to cover quite some ground with its long strides.

Stopping before the critically injured Green Scarab Soldier, it lifts both hands above its head and brings them down in an earthshaking hammer blow.

-squish.

The Scarab's shell breaks without resistance, splattering your summon and the surrounding ground with its contents. You gag at the sight and smell but your summon doesn't even pause as it turns towards the final monster. Only for Sen to dart past, his entire form ablaze with a crimson aura.

"Mine!" The Lizardman shouts, leaping towards the Blue Soldier with his weapon raised. The Blue Scarab, seeing its allies devastated in but a handful of seconds, has apparently decided to flee the fight. Sen doesn't allow it the opportunity.

Landing beside the Scarab with a loud thump, the Lizardman lashes out with a powerful, downward swing of his battleaxe. The blow passes right through the Scarab without slowing, cleaving the creature, and even the ground below it, open. A moment passes. Then both halves of the Scarab fully separate and fall to the ground.

Sen stands upright and brings the haft of the weapon onto his shoulders, a wide grin on his face as you and Cadmus approach.

"Well, you handled that easily enough. Did you even need the help?" You ask the Avian, watching as your summon vanishes into motes of brown and green light.

He shakes his head.

"Yes, it was easy ~hoo but that was but a small patrol. It will become much more difficult once their numbers rise." He replies, looking around the clearing. The monster corpses are already beginning to deteriorate and rot. Only the most magically saturated parts will remain past five minutes from now. "If we kill many more ~hoo or approach the nest, they will send out more Soldiers."

A pause as he bends over to pick up a bloody wing with white flecks. He examines it closely before tucking it into his pack.

"It does not help ~hoo that the ones I need are resistant to my element of choice. Things will grow more difficult for us three as we proceed ~hoo. I would never think to try it alone as I am now."

You nod in understanding and turn towards the still grinning Sen.

"Have fun big guy?" You ask, smiling in turn.

He grunts and shakes his head, grin fading.

"Too easssy. Sssen needsss more challenge!" He replies, turning to look in the direction of the Scarab nest. "Sssen wantsss to hunt nesst."

You look towards Cadmus and he shrugs.

"The Scarab Queen will have sensed those deaths so close to the nest ~hoo. More patrols will come this way. If we kill them, the rest will retreat to the nest ~hoo." Cadmus replies, also looking to the distant hill. "If we attack the nest then, we will be met with the Soldiers and Knights. Those should provide a great enough challenge ~hoo, and an abundance of resources."

You nod and Sen grins.

"Then let usss go!" The Lizardman cheers, bounding off into the swamp. Cadmus is much quicker on the uptake this time and follows right after.

You sigh and take to the air.

--==+++==--
Cadmus: +6875 xp
Sen: +9792 xp

Lireal: +12708 xp
Items Gained.

+3 Scarab Shell (material).
+3 Scarab Antenna (material).
+3 Scarab Wing (material).
+1 Devourer Toxin (consumable).
+1 Devourer Skin (material).

Scarab - Drone has been added to the Bestiary.
Scarab - Soldier has been added to the Bestiary.
Black Devourer has been added to the Bestiary.
--==+++==--

Just as Cadmus predicted, various Scarab patrols are rerouted to seek out and attack your party. You end up battling and defeating another four patrols before the creatures stop coming. When you take to the air after the last battle, you find that there are no more patrols within sight and even the workers that were crawling all over the nest are gone.

You report this to the other two.

"Hm, that was far sooner than expected. Perhaps this nest is smaller than we believe ~hoo." Cadmus says after your report, brow furrowed.

You shrug.

"The Scarab mission was up when I went in yesterday, maybe another party has been hunting them?" You propose.

He nods slowly, still thinking.

"It would make sense if their numbers have been depleted beforehand ~hoo." He replies before opening his pack and looking at the various items within. "I still require a great deal more Scarab particulars. I propose that we launch the assault on the nest."

You frown and look up. You've been at this for a few hours now but between the three of you splitting the loot, you have very few shells to turn in for the quest. It's going to be sundown soon too, monsters are always more ferocious at night.

You look to the other two. Sen, of course, looks ready to run off and wreak havoc on the monsters. Still, he has been following your lead all day. If you decide to turn back for the night, he's sure to follow. Cadmus too, looks ready to continue but he's also wise enough to not go it alone. If you and Sen decide to return to the town, he will follow as well.

Making a decision, you decide to:

[] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

[] Turn back: you will return to the town for the night and reconvene in the morning.

[] Set up camp: you can set up a temporary camp near the nest for the night and attack in the morning. (Requires a Survival check for all parties)

[] Use Survival Kit.

[] Write in.

--==+++==--
Cadmus: +21,625 xp.
Sen: +30,376 xp.

Lireal: +39,124 xp.
Items Gained.

+6 Scarab Shell.
+7 Scarab Antenna.
+5 Scarab Wing.
+3 Devourer Toxin.
+3 Devourer Skin.

--==+++==--

You have reached Level 9!

Distribute Stat points (25)
*Use a number instead of an X (ex: [3] Vit. [2] Int).
[] Str.
[] Vit.
[] Int.
[] Wis - costs 3 points per 1 Wis.
[] Agi.
[] Cha.
[] Save points.

Distribute Training points (15)
*Stats under 10 take 1 hour per point to train. Stats over 10 take an additional 10 mins per point. Training will take place after other actions are taken.
Use a number instead of an X.
[] Pwr.
[] Con: 7.
[] Spi: 10.
[] Spd: 5.
[] Save points.

Spell(s) unlocked: Quagmire, Animal Vigor.

Quagmire | Lv: 1 / 5.
Creates an area of thick mud that slows all within.

-10 mp (2 rounds).
Iron Crackrock is not affected by the effects of this spell.
Cost: 4 ap | Range: 10 to 30 ft (20 ft AoE) | Cooldown: 8 rounds.

Animal Vigor | Lv: 1 / 5.

Target: +20 Vit (2 rounds).
Target Summon: +100 Vit (3 rounds).
Cost: 2 ap. | Range: 30 ft | Cooldown: 4 rounds.

Distribute Spell points (5)
*It costs 1 extra point for each additional skill level.
[] Healing Word (+1d6 hp healed).
[] Flame Whip Lv 2 (+1d6 damage. +5% chance to inflict Burned I).
[] Green Ostrid Lv 2 (Better stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[] Animal Healing Lv 2 (+1d12 hp healed).
[] Iron Crackrock Lv 2 (Better Stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[] Quagmire (+5 mp reduction, +1 turn duration, +5 ft AoE, -1 round cooldown)
[] Animal Vigor (Doubles the effect)
[] Save points.

Sen levels up to 10.

--==+++==--
Voting is Closed.

Khepri14 · May 25, 2017

[X] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

[X] Plan Khepri
Distribute Stat points (25)
[6] Str.
[6] Vit.
[4] Int.
[6] Wis - costs 3 points per 1 Wis.
[3] Agi.

Distribute Training points (15)
[7] Pwr.
[3] Con: 7.
[5] Spd: 5.

Distribute Spell points (5)
[1] Healing Word (+1d6 hp healed).
[1] Green Ostrid Lv 2 (Better stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[1] Animal Healing Lv 2 (+1d12 hp healed).
[1] Iron Crackrock Lv 2 (Better Stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[1] Quagmire (+5 mp reduction, +1 turn duration, +5 ft AoE, -1 round cooldown)

Varano · May 25, 2017

[X] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

[X] Plan NaanContributor

NaanContributor · May 25, 2017

[X] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

As for the level up plan, even though stat minutiae isn't really my thing, I don't fully agree with Khepri's plan. For one, all Spd does is give us more Mp, and we barely use what we have. So unless it has a hidden benefit, like the 5 Strength needed to wear Medium Armor without penalties, we don't need to invest any points into it, let alone 5.

By that same token, Quagmire isn't that attractive to me, and Animal Vigor is just plain better than a measly +1d6 on Healing Word. And our summons are our greatest assets, so improving them should be the priority.

As a magic based summoner, Pwr is useless to us, unless again it has some kind of unknown benefit besides physical damage. (Also the 6 Cha we got last time doesn't seem to be doing us much good unless we go dungeon delving, since monsters apparently don't drop gold.)

[X] Plan NaanContributor
Distribute Stat points (25)
[5] Str.
[3] Int.
[13] Vit.
[4] Agi.

Distribute Training points (15)
[10] Con: 7.
[5] Spi: 10.

Distribute Spell points (5)
[2] Green Ostrid Lv 2 (Better stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[2] Iron Crackrock Lv 2 (Better Stats. -1 round of cooldown).
[1] Animal Vigor (Doubles the effect)

veekie · May 25, 2017

[X] Set up camp: you can set up a temporary camp near the nest for the night and attack in the morning. (Requires a Survival check for all parties)
-[X] Use Survival Kit.
[X] Plan Actual Summoner Levelup
-[5] Str
-[1] Vit
-[15] Wis
-[4] Cha.
-[10] Con: 7.
-[3] Spi: 10.
-[2] Spd: 5.
-[X] Iron Crackrock Lv 2 - 2pts
-[X] Quagmire - 1pt
-[X] Quagmire Lv 2 - 2pts

Fighting into the night is not a very good idea I think. We know there will be elemental resistances to wind showing up next, and adding that to the nighttime strength boost is a good way to get killed.
Set up camp so if we do wind up fighting, it's in prepared ground.

XP plans so far are kind of missing the point of our build I think.

Stat points:
-Str - Ups melee attacks we don't use, and Earth element damage...which we don't use either(summons don't work on our stats).
-Vit - HP and healing. We use both. Get more.
-Agi - Boosts Air, which we don't use, crits, which are nice but which we also don't use(see summons), and armor, which is sort of handy if we could wear anything heavier than paper.
-Int - Fire/Light/Dark damage. We do use this a bit.
-Wis - Always valuable since we use it a lot.
-Cha - Loot!

Summoners don't need Str, and our light armor makes Agi a crappy investment.
We only really need Wis, Vit and Cha. So my investments reflect that.

Training points:
-Pwr - Physical damage. We don't even use physical damage at all.
-Con - HP never goes amiss
-Spi - Ups magic damage, but we're both pretty good there and not going to focus on it this fight.
-Spd - Ups speed, but we don't need a lot of it...unless we need to disengage from a swarm. So a bit.

As such, most of it goes into Con for HP, then split the rest between Spi and Spd

Spell wise:
-Healing Word is handy as we are the only source of healing at present, and for action economy, the more you can heal in one shot the less you'd need to waste actions catching up to enemy action.
-Flame Whip is not important at present, we have a dedicated party blaster.
-Green Ostrid is pretty good, but it shares elemental typing with our blaster(i.e. either we can let the wizard do wind damage or we can summon the Ostrid, both is redundant)
-Animal Healing is pretty good as well, but we don't need it as much.
-Iron Crackrock comes with the Quagmire combo: it's immune to the debuff of the zone, AND it's our strongest combatant.
-Quagmire is essential for a Summoner strategy, the spell prevents enemies from swarming past our summons...like you know, the upcoming hive battle could. Glue them to the floor and pound them at a distance.
-Animal Vigor is...well it's a nice buff but not urgently useful in a more than general sense

So it's the Crackrock lv 2 + Quagmire lv 2 combo for me.
D&D players of druids should recognize the strategy: Entangle and then drop a heavy into the cagematch while standing to the side.

Incidentally the stat votes will be a mess to count but @Kolarthecool can probably use -[X] Str 3 instead of -[3] Str if you want the tally scripts to work right.

NaanContributor · May 25, 2017

veekie said:
[X] Set up camp: you can set up a temporary camp near the nest for the night and attack in the morning. (Requires a Survival check for all parties)
-[X] Use Survival Kit.
[X] Plan Actual Summoner Levelup
-[6] Vit
-[15] Wis
-[4] Cha.
-[5] Con: 7.
-[3] Spi: 10.
-[2] Spd: 5.
-[X] Iron Crackrock Lv 2 - 2pts
-[X] Quagmire - 1pt
-[X] Quagmire Lv 2 - 2pts

Fighting into the night is not a very good idea I think. We know there will be elemental resistances to wind showing up next, and adding that to the nighttime strength boost is a good way to get killed.
Set up camp so if we do wind up fighting, it's in prepared ground.

XP plans so far are kind of missing the point of our build I think.

Stat points:
-Str - Ups melee attacks we don't use, and Earth element damage...which we don't use either(summons don't work on our stats).
-Vit - HP and healing. We use both. Get more.
-Agi - Boosts Air, which we don't use, crits, which are nice but which we also don't use(see summons), and armor, which is sort of handy if we could wear anything heavier than paper.
-Int - Fire/Light/Dark damage. We do use this a bit.
-Wis - Always valuable since we use it a lot.
-Cha - Loot!

Summoners don't need Str, and our light armor makes Agi a crappy investment.
We only really need Wis, Vit and Cha. So my investments reflect that.

Training points:
-Pwr - Physical damage. We don't even use physical damage at all.
-Con - HP never goes amiss
-Spi - Ups magic damage, but we're both pretty good there and not going to focus on it this fight.
-Spd - Ups speed, but we don't need a lot of it...unless we need to disengage from a swarm. So a bit.

As such, most of it goes into Con for HP, then split the rest between Spi and Spd

Spell wise:
-Healing Word is handy as we are the only source of healing at present, and for action economy, the more you can heal in one shot the less you'd need to waste actions catching up to enemy action.
-Flame Whip is not important at present, we have a dedicated party blaster.
-Green Ostrid is pretty good, but it shares elemental typing with our blaster(i.e. either we can let the wizard do wind damage or we can summon the Ostrid, both is redundant)
-Animal Healing is pretty good as well, but we don't need it as much.
-Iron Crackrock comes with the Quagmire combo: it's immune to the debuff of the zone, AND it's our strongest combatant.
-Quagmire is essential for a Summoner strategy, the spell prevents enemies from swarming past our summons...like you know, the upcoming hive battle could. Glue them to the floor and pound them at a distance.
-Animal Vigor is...well it's a nice buff but not urgently useful in a more than general sense

So it's the Crackrock lv 2 + Quagmire lv 2 combo for me.
D&D players of druids should recognize the strategy: Entangle and then drop a heavy into the cagematch while standing to the side.

Incidentally the stat votes will be a mess to count but @Kolarthecool can probably use -[X] Str 3 instead of -[3] Str if you want the tally scripts to work right.

As I explained before my plan, I assigned 5 points to Str because that's the minimum amount we need to wear medium armor without penalties. And aside from being a better class of armor, it's also the category that Scarab armor falls into. With the parts we're getting from this quest, we can either pay a Tailor to make Scarab armor for us like Cadmus is doing, or grind the profession and make it ourselves.

Agi doesn't just improve our armor and crit values, which will be more relevant with better equipment, but it also determines our place in the turn order of battles. The sooner we can summon our monsters, the sooner they can kick ass and draw aggro, the less damage we have to tank while waiting for our turn. Wis is very useful, but it's unfortunately our dump stat (a big chargen mistake), and I don't want to funnel x3 points into it so early in our build.

I'll grant that Quagmire is more useful than I initially gave it credit for, but we already have it. This is just a choice on what to improve. And while leveling Quagmire will make it 1/3 more useful, leveling Animal Vigor doubles it. Since it only costs 2 Ap, in our first turn we could bring up a summon and give it +200 Vit, basically turning it into an unstoppable juggernaut at this level of combat. We'd still be able to cast Quagmire, but not in the same turn as a summon due to the 4 Ap cost.

giodan · May 25, 2017

[X] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

[X] Plan NaanContributor

atrophy · May 26, 2017

[X] Assault the nest: night is approaching. Monsters will be stronger at night, but will also give more xp.

[X] Plan NaanContributor

Adventurer Quest

Hiding from the light of day.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Hiding from the light of day.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Hiding from the light of day.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Hiding from the light of day.

Hiding from the light of day.

Thus kindly I scatter...

Hiding from the light of day.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Hiding from the light of day.

Thus kindly I scatter...

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.

Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.