Hm, that actually wasn't clear from the text. Still, I'm not at all inclined to give Mr. Wizard all that power if the thing he intends to do with it is torture children, so:
I think jadecriminal just said that doing it before the ritual would fuck this world over and doing so during the ritual might not fuck it over.
I get why the wizard suck and all, although "torture teenagers" might be a bit too much unless I'm missing something, but apparently we'd need his help to actually pull the ritual with the least possible risk.
I think jadecriminal just said that doing it before the ritual would fuck this world over and doing so during the ritual might not fuck it over.
I get why the wizard suck and all, although "torture teenagers" might be a bit too much unless I'm missing something, but apparently we'd need his help to actually pull the ritual with the least possible risk.
Basically the walls are real but the damaged section not having any debris clued her in: they've been created or transmuted magically and are still settling in. Based on Alice's know how this dungeon is a few hours old at best.
Dispelling a wall won't work but transmuting it would be somewhat easier for example.
In other words, this little shop of horrors, which includes a knock-off mindflayer that just sucked on Jynx's brain, only exists to harrow these three teenage children. Someone that would use their power to do something like that does not deserve power in the first place.
[1] Hold off on deciding wether to absorb the Spark or not until we're actually starting the ritual.
[2] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[3] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
IF i understand things correctly, our current options are
1) Deliver egg to the wizzard that he performs the ritual
2) Take the spark and reduce this world chances against unspecified threat (that may be not here yet)
3) Perform ritual without a wizzard using temporary powerup from spark-taking process (presumably will be roll-of like with Greater Curse)
and maybe
4) Find the wizzard, but perform ritual yourself to increase survivalbility.
According to the out-of-band comment that @jadecriminal made (it isn't in an update yet, but it's supposed to be soon so we may as well use it here):
In other words, this little shop of horrors, which includes a knock-off mindflayer that just sucked on Jynx's brain, only exists to harrow these three teenage children. Someone that would use their power to do something like that does not deserve power in the first place.
[1] Absorb the Spark from the Egg during the ritual to help power it.
[2] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[3] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
[1] Absorb the Spark from the Egg after finding the Candle; use the powerup to get through the ritual
[2] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[3] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
[1] Absorb the Spark from the Egg after finding the Candle; use the powerup to get through the ritual
[2] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[3] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
Wait, does this accomplish the same thing as my vote, which is to absorb the spark only when enacting the ritual? I can't tell if the wording supports that idea, or if it just refers to doing so beforehand.
Wait, does this accomplish the same thing as my vote, which is to absorb the spark only when enacting the ritual? I can't tell if the wording supports that i idea, or if it just refers to doing so beforehand.
I'd say it does. In either case it's more of a directive for the future and so might be too early to mention here; we'll need to see more about what's going on before we can make a final decision.
I'd say it does. In either case it's more of a directive for the future and so might be too early to mention here; we'll need to see more about what's going on before we can make a final decision.
Thanks.
[1] Absorb the Spark from the Egg after finding the Candle; use the powerup to get through the ritual
[2] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[3] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
I'd say it does. In either case it's more of a directive for the future and so might be too early to mention here; we'll need to see more about what's going on before we can make a final decision.
Hm. It occurs to me that what we should be doing is asking @jadecriminal if my vote is clear. The intent is:
1) Hold off on reading the Name for now (it's in the book so we can carry it with us after all). We can do it after finding the Candle.
2) At that point, once we presumably know more about the ritual, evaluate the best time to absorb the Spark from the Egg, read the Name, the perform the Ritual, and do it in whatever order is best.
The thing is, if we're absorbing the Spark from the Egg I'm not sure we'd be the best person to read the Name and perform the Ritual after all; that might need to be Hermione, while Alice hangs back and holds off whatever Ṅ̷̴̢̡͍̥̯̼́͛ͤ̂̈́̄ͧ̄ͥ̂̄͐͗̚ ̄ͯ͑̏̎͟҉͖͍̺̜̳̜͈̼͖ͅǍͣ͌̃҉̷̛͚̖͙̯̺̘͎̠̫̯͓̯̣͚ ̷̧̫̱̤̥̺̖̰̞̰͕̭͉͙̘̗̳ͬ͆͊̿ͭͦͮͦ̄̑̓͐́̀̚ͅM̶̸̼̯̣̰̜̽̂̔͗ͯ́̀͟ ̸̛͍̝̤̾̔̀ͮḘ̱̟͇̝ͨͪͩͪ̌̓͛ͧ̄ͮ̎̋̒̄̀̕͞ is until the ritual is done. All I do know is that the person who created this dungeon is not a person who can be trusted with a Spark, and so a big priority is going to be ensuring that person can't get ahold of the power in the Egg.
[1]Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[2]Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
[1] Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[2] Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
[1]Read the name. It should provide youinsight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
[2]Let one of the others volunteer. (NotJinx though. She had enough)
Options:
Absorb the Spark from the Egg after finding the Candle; use the powerup to get through the ritual
Hold off on deciding wether to absorb the Spark or not until we're actually starting the ritual.
Let one of the others volunteer. (Not Jinx though. She had enough)
Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
Winner: Read the name. It should provide you insight into what you are facing. (Costs 1 Will. Up to 5 Willpower checks.)
"Ow." Alice hisses sitting on the large skull of the heavy duty skeleton. Jinx just finshed pulling out a the spear that had managed to get through all of Alice's defenses and break off in her thigh.
"Don't be a baby," Jinx jokes, holding out the large blade by the broken wooden heft, almost a sword, or at least a dagger in it's own right. "It's barely ten inches."
Alice shakes her head with a tired chuckle and drinks down a yellow potion. That last fight took a lot of out of her when the attackers ganged up on her right after her alpha strike splattered uselessly against a barrier. Temporary barriers being what they are it'd take more than a souped up cantrip to penetrate it. Sure it faded out soon after but by then the enemy had the advantage.
They might have been following the "gank the wizard first" philosophy. Which is pretty sophisticated for a bunch of skeletons. Skeletons.
From playing vintage video games Alice came to consider skeletons as mooks but these... These were more equal to an adventuring party. Sure they were kind of... uncoordinated but they had the numbers advantage, as wizard and a tank.
She looked over to where Hermione was mending her clothing. One of the four smaller skeletons managed to get through your defensive magic and give her a serious gash on her off hand. A basic potion healed that and her repair spell took care of the rest.
"Good as new?" Alice asks and Hermione smiles looking around in disbelief at bones now littering the bridge.
***
The bridge that everyone was standing on, over a chasm was where the the team of well equipped skeletons had appeared. No place for ambushes or fancy tactics. Just a stone door slamming shut behind you, an invisibilty spell fading and a come an get some by the skeletons.
They were led by a large brute of a thing wielding a shield and a giant spear. Four smaller faster ones covered it's flanks were dual wielding clubs and what was obviously a wizard of some sort covering their backs.
The wizard had been good. It basically raised it's staff and blocked everything you threw at them in that first moment. The costly spell was a perfect defense and moments later the five melee skeletons rushed at everyone. Billy did his job and rushed ahead to meet them but was basically ignored by as they rushed past him. He clipped one of them as they passed.
Suddenly finding yourself in melee was pretty scary. The smaller skeletons batons felt like light punches and you aren't sure how long you spend doeging d and defending. You know actually managed to deflect a spell by the wizard guy. It cost you though, the big guy basically struck so hard that it went straight through the armor on your thigh and out the other side.
You though you were in for some serious doo-doo but one of JInx's purple blast broke the shaft of the spear though you would have prefers that to happen earlier or later. Whichever didn't leave you with a ten inch blade through your thigh.
The large skeleton looked confused for a moment... and stayed that way because Billy hit it in the back with some sort of magic ray. Yup. The same staff he basically stole from the wizard skeleton dude.
You were kind of out of it and there was too much blood to pay attention but apparently when you were busy Billy, now finding himself with a clear path called a battle cry "Gank the wizard first" and rushed in. It wasn't exactly the plan but you did agree that you can take over tanking duty if you get split up. It was a good call. You don't resent it at all.
"His impenetrable defense didn't do much for me basically shoulder tackling him over the railing." Billy shrugged as he finished explaining. "I managed to yoink his staff and the rest is history."
You eye the large wooden staff about twice as you are tall, with a claw on top holding a crystal ball sized orb. Not very wieldy but it has it's own reservoir of power and comes with a mental interface when you wield it. Which isn't all that reassuring. Billy does seem to have no issues with, dropping and not using the staff which is comforting.
The bridge ends in a stone portcullis with a lever on the side which would trigger the mechanism above you and raise the stone slabs barring your way.
"So.... What now?"
(Numbers)
[]Move onward. The magic will hold for another encounter. Lingering might not be the best idea.
[]Take a short break. That fight was tiring and this place is as secure as they come... You know, if nothing comes from below (1 hour)
[]Take a long break. Everyone is tired and while you can help them stay energetic there is mental strain involved that you can't quite heal easily. . A nap will do the trio good. You are still somewhat fresh. (4 hours. Regain min 1 MP.)
###
A lot of things are happening any my usual writing time got eaten by a grue. I'm also working on an urban fantasy game and interviewing players takes time. (See signature for details)
I literally cobbled this together during my break at work so it's probably even more riddled with mistakes and devoid of coherence than usual. Let me know.
-1 MP Missile Storm now costs 1 MP to cast, within the dungeon. (Ambient magic is lessening the deeper you go. Didn't really know where to put that in but you noticed it in the last half an hour or so and it finally came in to the threshold where you can't gather ambient mana fast enough to make the spell "free")
-1 Yellow potion. -1 red potion (for Hermione)
You'll get a very short update and further options depending on the pick above.
Wounds: none.
Mana
MP: [][][x]
Ring MP: 4/10
Mana potions: 5 left
Staff MP: ???/???
Edit:
Aaaand I also did a thing out of sequence. I was supposed to put in "read the name" at the opening there and then proceed with the encounter but I basically forgot in my rush to put out an update without delaying it for another few days.
[1]Move onward. The magic will hold for another encounter. Lingering might not be the best idea.
[3]Take a short break. That fight was tiring and this place is as secure as they come... You know, if nothing comes from below (1 hour)
[2]Take a long break. Everyone is tired and while you can help them stay energetic there is mental strain involved that you can't quite heal easily. . A nap will do the trio good. You are still somewhat fresh. (4 hours. Regain min 1 MP.)
[1]Move onward. The magic will hold for another encounter. Lingering might not be the best idea.
[3]Take a short break. That fight was tiring and this place is as secure as they come... You know, if nothing comes from below (1 hour)
[2]Take a long break. Everyone is tired and while you can help them stay energetic there is mental strain involved that you can't quite heal easily. . A nap will do the trio good. You are still somewhat fresh. (4 hours. Regain min 1 MP.)
[1]Move onward. The magic will hold for another encounter. Lingering might not be the best idea.
[3]Take a short break. That fight was tiring and this place is as secure as they come... You know, if nothing comes from below (1 hour)
[2]Take a long break. Everyone is tired and while you can help them stay energetic there is mental strain involved that you can't quite heal easily. . A nap will do the trio good. You are still somewhat fresh. (4 hours. Regain min 1 MP.)
[1]Move onward. The magic will hold for another encounter. Lingering might not be the best idea.
[2]Take a short break. That fight was tiring and this place is as secure as they come... You know, if nothing comes from below (1 hour)
[3]Take a long break. Everyone is tired and while you can help them stay energetic there is mental strain involved that you can't quite heal easily. . A nap will do the trio good. You are still somewhat fresh. (4 hours. Regain min 1 MP.)
