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Questionably Soteriological: A Puzzle/Mystery Quest with Kids, Science, and Fun!

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Andelevion said:
....Oh hey.

Guess who succumbed to their art urges again.


It's me! :V
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THESE DUMB KIDS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!!! THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IMAGE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!
asdshkdsjdshkhad thank you so much... it makes me very happy that you like my silly adventure enough to draw them, I feel Blessed.

Okay, anyways, I've finally finished the last of my coursework, so expect {BELLIGERENCE} MOVEMENT II later today, everybody.
 
okay so i am having to vacate my room currently for insect-related reasons and so i will not have time to put out the update - it's almost entirely ready actually but the formatting somehow got completely fucked and i cannot stay in here a moment longer or indeed the several hours it would likely take to fix it, deepest apologies, will deliver update tomorrow as early as possible, bye
 
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{BELLIGERENCE} | MARS | {MOVEMENT II}
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    • {BELLIGERENCE: MOVEMENT II}
    ​
    TURN I: LUNA ASCENDANT (60 NIMBLENESS)(UNDETECTED)
    > <CLASS MACHINATION> [SNEAK ATTACK, BITCH]
    [Make two ATTACKS, using NIMBLENESS instead of FISTICUFFS for one of them]
    - > <ATTACK> MARS
    {ATK(17) ☽ NIM(60) | DEF(15) ♂ NIM(25)}
    {77☽|♂40}
    [ATTACK SUCCESSFUL: 60 DMG]
    - [CRITICAL HIT!: +60 DMG]
    - [PHANTOM THIEF: +30 DMG]
    [KALA is no longer UNDETECTED]
    [INVISIBLE INC] is no longer active! [-30 ÉLAN]
    - > <ATTACK> MARS
    {ATK(47) ☽ FST (25) | DEF 32 ♂ NIM (25)}
    {72☽|♂57}
    [ATTACK SUCCESSFUL: 25 DMG]
    (VIT: 200)
    (ÉLN: 10 [-30])
    (SG: 20)

    TURN II: MARS ASCENDANT (30 NIMBLENESS)
    > <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT> [READY, AIM...] (ST: 25)
    [+15 FISTICUFFS, +15 VIG, -5 NIMBLENESS for 3 MOVEMENTS]
    [...FIRE!] will activate automatically next turn!
    <Make one <ATTACK> on a random ADVERSARY>
    > <ATTACK> OWEN MARTINEZ
    {ATK(5) ♂ FST (80) | DEF (10) ☿ NIM (25)}
    {85♂|☿35}
    [ATTACK SUCCESFUL: 80 DMG]
    (VIT: ??? [-185])
    (ÉLN: ???)
    (SG: ???[-25])

    TURN III: MERCURY ASCENDANT (20 NIMBLENESS)
    > <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT> [SPEEDY THING GOES IN...] (ST: 10)
    [The next attack of the targeted enemy MARS will be absorbed!]
    [... SPEEDY THING COMES OUT] will activate automatically next turn!
    (VIT: 150 [-80])
    (ÉLN: 225)
    (SG: 30 [-15])

    TURN IV: SATURN ASCENDANT (0 NIMBLENESS)
    > <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT> [REWIND & RE-REVERSE] (ST: 15)
    - > MARS: <ATTACK> OWEN MARTINEZ has been [REWIND AND RE-REVERSED]
    - > [OWEN MARTINEZ: +80 VIT]
    (VIT: 300)
    (ÉLN: 157)
    (SG: 25 (-15)

    As Mars raises its warped, elegant, beautiful hand, a mass of bone and muscle and crystal, once more, you can't help but ask yourself where Kala is. Fortunately, it's only a few seconds before your question is answered - the air above Mars shimmers, a small and ragged figure flickering into place, still semi-translucent as she lifts a jagged SHARD OF GLASS above her head and drives it into the neck of the creature, lodging it between two plates of misshapen chitin, severing sinew and shattering some of the crystalline infection that bursts through the thing's flesh. Instead of blood, there's an explosion of RED DUST, and Kala struggles to hang on, seeking leverage on spikes and cartilage and exposed, grotesque, graceful bone. She manages to drive the SHARD OF GLASS back in, another puff of RED DUST releasing into the air as a shining, slick fluid starts to pour from the wound. It's bubbling and boiling and moving as it flows from Mars' back, like a living thing in its own right. Finally, Kala loses her grip, and the creature's violent, jerky movements knock her off her perch - she nearly falls prone, but at the last minute there's a flicker and she's on her feet, the red fluid coating her arms up to her elbows, SHARD OF GLASS still clutched so tightly you fear she might cut her palm open.

    Mars' rage doesn't end there, however. It screams, a sound that pounds through your head, a shrill, agonized shriek combined with a booming, majestic roar that leaves a painful ringing in your ears as you feel the room shake around you, like a thing in pain. Hunkering down, the protrusions of bone on its back begin to ripple and crack, sinew twisting in on itself as new growth of crystals erupt all over Mars' back, a group of razor-sharp red spines that twitch and fan out intermittently as if they have a mind of their own. Then, it swings, this time taking aim at Owen, and it -

    Hits, tearing through the flimsy hospital-gown like outfit he's wearing like paper, and his skin and like something only slightly less sturdy, leaving three gaping, bleeding gashes across his torso, a waterfall of blood washing over him -a waterfall like paper tearing -

    Misses, as you shove him out of the way, the claw raking through the space where he was a few seconds ago and leaving a nasty gash on the floor. Owen looks mildly surprised, looking over the creature with mild disinterest and perhaps slight annoyance, as if it's an inconvenient family member standing in front of the TV screen while his favourite show is on. Looking at Owen gives you a bit of a headache, as the trajectories and predictions swirl around him, blurry and imprecise, ready to tip either way at a moment's notice, uncertainty and possibilities mounting and folding in upon themselves into impossible shapes.

    Andelevion said:
    [X] Talk to Owen
    -[X] What was Moth like before the whole attacking people thing?
    -[X] Do you have any idea how this transformation happened? Or clues?[X] Talk to Moth
    -[X] Try to appeal to the kid inside if he's still there!
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    "Owen?" you call out, tentatively, not wanting to distract him from whatever he's doing to make things warp around him like they are.

    "Luce?" he replies, his calm and cheerful tone dissonant to the situation.

    "You wouldn't happen to be able to provide me with a psychological profile of our current adversary, would you?"

    "A psychic lodge what?"

    "What was Moth like?"

    He pauses, his brow furrowing slightly. "He was... really anxious. Scared of, uh, basically everything that was scary, which is fair, but also of all the things that weren't scary. He kept talking about how he, uh, wanted to go home, because this place made him, like, super anxious. Which is kind of fair enough, considering, uh, the number of things that want to kill us here, is like, way more than it should be, which is zero. Zero is the number of things that should, uh, want to be killing you, on your average day, is my personal opinion. Everything just made him, uh, freak out, until he just kind of, uh, snapped, like one of those bits of wood that karate guys punch. With the splinters in that case being, uh, going crazy at me. And then running away. Do karate guys even get splinters? I guess if they did they've have to just like... deal with it. That's pretty cool of them if they do..."

    While Owen rambles, you frown, wondering how on Earth you can use that information to your advantage.

    KALA (200/300)
    [] <ATTACK>
    [] <ITEM>
    [] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    [] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [] <ATTACK>
    [] <ITEM>
    [] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [X] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [] <ATTACK>
    [] <ITEM>
    [] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    [] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>

    During {BELLIGERENCE}, the CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] allows one to inspect an enemy's STATISTICS, MACHINATIONS & GAMBITS, which can often COME IN HANDY.
     
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    • causticAccolade said:
    During {BELLIGERENCE}, the CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] allows one to inspect an enemy's STATISTICS, MACHINATIONS & GAMBITS, which can often COME IN HANDY.
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    The enemy's statistics seems like they would be useful, except... would we actually change how we're fighting if we knew them? We might be better off looking at the MACHINATIONS or GAMBITS.

    Well, unless we can do something with his ÉLAN.
     
    causticAccolade said:
    During {BELLIGERENCE}, the CLASS MACHINATION [DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES] allows one to inspect an enemy's STATISTICS, MACHINATIONS & GAMBITS, which can often COME IN HANDY.
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    Ha, I was wondering about that, but the description mentioned it was only for what's in your inventory (and perhaps some self-reflection). A useful hint indeed. But for a FISTICUFF specialist I doubt he invested in VIGOUR much (and Owen's description makes him sound like a scaredy cat), in which case we can estimate he is down more than half of HPs already (and not big on ELAN either). In that case spending an action on confirming that might be a waste.

    Kala is on a verge of a breakdown as her ELAN hit 10. I suppose she could disengage? I can't see any way of making her feel better besides hiding and giving her a BIG PLUSHY CAT we are currently wearing.

    The fires of Mars look concerning. Might be an AoE, and might not count as Targeted for the purposes of our Gambits.

    Owen can shrug off half of environmental damage. If we wanted to lure Mars into a trap of some sort, the time would be now. Owen is uniquely positioned to plan something like this with his [UP ALL NIGHT TO GET LUCKY], [OH, NO, NOT AGAIN] and [OHGODWHAT].

    Edit: shouldn't Mars be down 40 SG? He used two Gambits already.
    For that matter, shouldn't his FISTICUFF stat be 95? It is naturally 60, has a +20 bonus since last turn, and now has an additional +15 added to it via a Gambit.
     
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    Lucy
    [X] DFD Mars
    [X] Talk to Owen
    -[X] Do you remember if Moth had anything with him back when you first met?

    Kala
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    -[X] Moonlit Melee
     
    KALA (200/300)
    [] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [] <ITEM>
    -[] <GIVE KALA VERY SOFT CAT [+25 ÉLAN]>

    Would this vote be valid?

    Kala can hit Mars for up to 100+ HP, which makes her even more powerful than Owen in terms of damage output. If she can hide and then sneak attack again, it might be worth it, provided we take care of the ELAN loss.
     
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    Lucy
    [X] DFD Mars
    [X] Talk to Owen
    -[X] Do you remember if Moth had anything with him back when you first met?

    Kala
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    -[X] Moonlit Melee
     
    Oh damn, I just looked over some prior notes, and noticed that so far each VIGOUR point translated directly to +10 HP. Which means that Mars just got himself 150 extra for 3 rounds. I wonder what happens if he dips into bonus ones and the buff runs out.

    Since stress seems to affect Ascendence, I would assume that running out of ELAN either adds a raises Ascendence counter by a hefty amount, or outright grants an extra Ascendancy Level. That might be how Mars has degraded (leveled up?) in such a short amount of time.

    Also, another question! I see ATK and DEF numbers alongside stats, and they are random each time. I would assume they are rolls of some kind, but on which die? d50? dStat?
     
    I think it is valuable to try to inspect Mars' stats. We could find out, for example, if he has temporary hit points or if he perhaps even regenerates and adjust our tactics.

    About Kala's action I am very conflicted. From a fluff perspective I want her to retreat. When looking at the stats, well, she has the best chance to dogde and more hit points than Owen. She has decent FISTICUFFS, too, so as long as no attack causes ELAN damage it seems a good idea to keep her in the fight.

    If there is a chance that she can sneak attack a second time, though, retreating makes a lot of sense.

    @causticAccolade, is it possible for Kala to retreat and hide and then sneak attack Mars again?
     
    Gingganz said:
    When looking at the stats, well, she has the best chance to dogde and more hit points than Owen. She has decent FISTICUFFS, too, so as long as no attack causes ELAN damage it seems a good idea to keep her in the fight.
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    Less, actually. She currently has 200 HP and 10 ELAN.

    Surprisingly enough, Luce is the tankiest kid of them all (after Mari, of course), which may be due to us raising her VIGOUR and wearing Henlsinki's garb.

    And yeah, I am worried about an attack causing ELAN damage as well. Massive damage and blood splattered everywhere tend to do that.
     
    Ah, I misread Owen's stat line and thought he had only 150 HP.

    I am still not sure, but for now I will vote:

    KALA (200/300)
    [X] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [X] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [X] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    -[X] DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES on Mars
     
    KALA (200/300)
    [X] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>
    OWEN (230/250)
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [X] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]
    LUCY (300/300)
    [X] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    -[X] DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES on Mars
     
    KALA (200/300)
    [X] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [X] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [X] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [X] <CLASS MACHINATION>
    -[X] DEDUCTION FOR DUMMIES on Mars

    Yup, this seems appropriate!
     
    Nevill said:
    Less, actually. She currently has 200 HP and 10 ELAN.

    Surprisingly enough, Luce is the tankiest kid of them all (after Mari, of course), which may be due to us raising her VIGOUR and wearing Henlsinki's garb.

    And yeah, I am worried about an attack causing ELAN damage as well. Massive damage and blood splattered everywhere tend to do that.
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    Helsinki protects.

    I'd agree that Deduction for Dummies doesn't seem to really do much here; the time to find out what [FIRE!] did would probably be last turn when we'd have time to come up with a plan to defend ourselves, not now when we're about to get hit by it. A second [REWIND AND RE-REVERSE] to stop the charge attack might be a better use of Lucy's time, especially since even Mars' normal attacks shred Owen like nothing.
     
    Is Owen set to absorb the charged attack, or did he absorb the attack we just negated?
    Basically I'm not sure when Pain Goes In triggers

    Also, I love everything about this quest and I wish I'd known about it earlier.
     
    The order of events is like this:
    - Mars hit Owen for 80 HPs.
    - Owen used a Gambit. Next attack of Mars will be absorbed.
    - Lucy used a Gambit, negating the damage from Mars' attack.

    This is the likely order of events for the next turn.
    -> Mars will attack (likely twice)
    -> His first attack will be absorbed and reflected by Owen. His second will likely hit.
    -> Lucy: ??? (still under debate)
     
    So some mathy thoughts.
    +nimbleness isn't going to do all that much good defensively here. An attack is a two die roll, so everything is center weighted i.e. your roll - opponent roll is likely to be close to 0. This means +nimbleness will be best when our defensive bonus is very near the opponent's attack bonus. This is not the case for anyone except Kala.
    Moth has 80 fisticuffs- Kala would go from a 32.4% dodge chance at 60 nimbleness to a 41% dodge chance at 70 nimbleness.
    Owen would go from a 10.35% dodge chance at 25 nimbleness to a 13.4% dodge chance at 35 nimbleness- note how small that increase is.
    Lucy... goes from 2.1% at nimbleness 0 to 4.65% at nimbleness 10.
    The point is Moonlight Melee is defs not worth using right now- the defence boost to the rest of the team is small enough that Phantom Thief is almost certainly a better idea
     
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    InterstellarHobo said:
    Lucy... goes from 2.1% at nimbleness 0 to 4.65% at nimbleness 10.
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    Not that it changes anything, but we don't use NIM to dodge at all. It looks like our [ANALYSIS FOR AMATEURS], which substitutes Acumen for Nimbleness whenever there is a danger present, is a passive skill in combat.

    That reminds me, I have not voted properly yet.

    KALA (200/300)
    [x] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [x] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [x] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [x] <ITEM>
    -[x] <GIVE KALA VERY SOFT CAT [+25 ÉLAN]>

    The last action is not because it's urgent, but more because I think it's the last round where we can afford to use an action on something else than Rewind. And if Kala wants to attack the round after next, she may need the ELAN.

    elenchus said:
    A second [REWIND AND RE-REVERSE] to stop the charge attack might be a better use of Lucy's time, especially since even Mars' normal attacks shred Owen like nothing.
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    Well... put it to a vote? The more the merrier.
     
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    So I'm suspecting you take elan damage when you attack.
    I'd really like to know exact health and sp numbers, since it would make for much better planning, but kitten delivery seems more important and the fight will hopefully be over by turn 4.
    KALA (200/300)
    [x] <DISENGAGE/HIDE>

    OWEN (230/250)
    [x] <SOTERIOLOGY GAMBIT>
    - [x] [... SPEEDY THING GOES OUT]

    LUCY (300/300)
    [x] <ITEM>
    -[x] <GIVE KALA VERY SOFT CAT [+25 ÉLAN]>
     
    InterstellarHobo said:
    So I'm suspecting you take elan damage when you attack.
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    I wouldn't be so sure about that. Kala is the only one who experienced that, which makes me suspect that she either has a problem with violence, or - and this appears most likely to me - has problems with coming out of hiding. Isn't she sticking to the shadows and blind spots to avoid conflict?

    I don't know if she regains ELAN whenever she hides back, though.
     
    As ever, I believe I maintain the crown for least consistent Quest Writer on this site. Nevertheless, now that I've mostly recovered, the next QS update will be up in the next few days, possibly even tonight. I can't thank you people enough for the patience you have with this story, and I hope you're all still interested.
     
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