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Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

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And the final boss of Persona Q is...


-Vote Closed!-​


A pair of Captor Spiders! Who, for sanity reasons, have split the stats of the original Captor Spider among themselves. And whose legs make up part of their Max HP totals, but are also not getting their own attacks the action economy would never recover.

I mean, the action economy was fucked to begin with, but it's the principle of the thing.
 
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Footsteps of Time- Part One
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    • The final floors feel like they pass by in a blur. You dodge the Reaper, duck under more spiderwebs, step away from Elizabeth whenever lightning starts to crackle around her. Climb a set of stairs that feels like it stretches up forever. Stab a Shadow or two.

    Don't talk to anyone, because that means thinking about what comes ahead. No thinking about what comes ahead, because between everyone's different skillsets, their different levels of power, the fact that you'll be splitting up... It's going to be a mess. And there's nothing you can do about it if you want your friends to be saved.

    You can at least rest assured that your side of the battle will have Elizabeth on it. When you consider that, you're not particularly afraid of losing.

    It's just a question of how much effort it'll take to get that far.

    When you reach the top, the first thing you see is Lavenza and Morgana suspended in spiderwebs. Neither of them appear to be conscious. On a platform of webs above them sits a pair of spiders. The same pair that attacked all of you in the school earlier.

    There is no sign of the Clockwork God. But Zen is leading the group against him, and you trust him to have an idea of where his other self must be hiding.

    The leader of your group is Narukami-san. Out of everyone who decided to try dealing with spiders, he's the only one anyone trusted to have command.

    It's a good thing he's here, really. The second choice was Elizabeth.

    For now, the spiders just stare down at you. Watching. But you know that, the second you step closer, everything is going to burst into action.

    "We'll need to cut them down," Narukami-san says, gesturing to where Morgana and Lavenza are trapped. "If we can get them somewhere safe, we won't have to worry about them getting hurt as we fight."

    You aren't sure anyone here's in a good position to do that. Either their weapons aren't good for it, or they have another role to play, like making sure no one trips over each other in the rush to kill the spiders, or just keeping everyone alive in general. But if you don't do anything, it increases the chances that someone will do something risky, like light the web on fire, even on accident.

    You aren't sure it'd be lethal to your friends if that happened, but it'd definitely be painful.

    Not that you can worry too much about that yet.

    The spiders would have to be distracted for that.

    So, how are you going to start the fight with them?


    HP: 460/460
    SP: 520/520
    Nihil Spear Power: 92
    Nihil Spear Accuracy: 48

    (Four turns until the webs go up in flames.)

    [ ] Bless attacks won't work. But you can bombard them from a distance with something else.
    -[ ] Electricity.
    -[ ] Psychokinesis.

    [ ] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
    -[ ] Stab them in the kneecaps.
    -[ ] ...Can you cut them off with a card? Bless doesn't seem to work...
    -[ ] ...What happens if you try running a current through them?
    -[ ] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?

    [ ] Run past the spiders to the webs. (2D100, DC 195)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Psi is probably our best option for magic - Yu has zio and we know bless doesn't work, so psi is pretty much the only useful magic we have here, provided zio isn't their weakness.
     
    [X] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
    -[X] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?
     
    [X] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
    -[X] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?

    If we can hit the legs the spiders are going to be less mobile. Less mobile - able to get around them and rescue the hostages and let the bombardment really begin.
    Elizabeth for example I think is holding her fire because her sister would get hit.
     
    We really need to step up Ken's training specially the PSI element is too usefull to not do it.
    [X] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
    -[X] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?
     
    [X] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
    -[X] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?
     
    Adhoc vote count started by SeekerofDreams on Feb 5, 2023 at 4:26 PM, finished with 6 posts and 4 votes.
    • [X] The spiders' legs seem to be a weak point. If you can disable them, it'll give you a massive advantage.
      -[X] How good at using Psio would you have to be to rip them off? And are you that good already?
    Click to expand...
     
    Footsteps of Time- Part Two
  • Threadmarks
    • You take a moment to observe the spiders. There are two of them, and no signs that any more are going to be showing up. They have the same base level of strength, each about as strong as you would expect to see from an enemy on the full moon. This strength is divided evenly across their bodies, with most of it concentrated in the center.

    It's probably the same with their weight. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to have so many legs.

    It does mean that you'll probably have to take off multiple legs to throw them properly off-balance, but there's plenty of people here. If enough people aim for it, it's very likely to happen.

    You decide not to think about the likelihood of others deciding to try it just yet. You're pretty sure they'll go along with it if you can prove it gets results.

    So that's your first step. Prove that the legs can be either destroyed or seriously inconvenienced. You lift your Evoker and press it to your head. "Kala-Nemi! Psio!"

    You reach out for one of the spider on the right's left legs. It has a lot of them. And you grab for it with your mind, try to imagine it twisting like that one assassin's gun.

    You... don't manage to twist it that far on your first attempt. You do pull the leg off the ground, pointing away from the body, but you can't make it contort in any of the ways that it probably shouldn't, but that you'd like it to.

    Still. You think you can work with this. "I have an idea!" You announce to anyone who's willing to listen, a list that is hopefully longer than zero. "I'm going to try to drag its leg out again. If someone could hit it while it's held in place..." You aren't sure how much attacking just one leg is going to do, but it'll do more than nothing.

    Without really waiting for a response, you yank the leg out again. If the spider's trying to keep control of its limbs, it's not firing massive barrages of elemental magic. Or, at least, it's using fewer of them.

    Satonaka-san summons her Persona, and it crashes down on the exposed leg, multiple times, even after you've lost your grip on it. By the time it backs away, the leg is shattered, and Satonaka-san is applying medicine to her many newly-opened wounds.

    As if you've given him an idea, Narukami-san summons Izanagi. An electrified sword cuts through one of the legs of the spider on the left. Sparks bounce off, though only one of the legs to the side has any reaction to it. It seems that, aside from yourself, everyone is focusing on their melee options.

    It's probably for the best. Whatever new power Elizabeth has obtained, you aren't sure it needs to happen around witnesses. Or in a fight as important as this one. She's using Ouyamatsumi instead. And punching the spiders in the face.

    You suppose that, even if you fail at ripping their legs off entirely, you can always just try to give them concussions.

    You draw out a second leg, and a large number of Personas instantly descend on it. One of the spiders retaliates with an ice spell, which clips your arm. You... think it's going to be fine?

    Just in case, you heal immediately. You mostly feel all right after, just a bit cold, so it's probably not an issue anymore.

    But... you don't really like how the spiders' eyes are on you right now. If something doesn't change, you think you'll have to heal yourself a lot more.


    HP: 450/460
    SP: 470/520
    Nihil Spear Power: 75
    Nihil Spear Accuracy: 73

    (Three turns until the webs go up in flames.)

    [ ] If they're going to be looking at you, you may as well go for the eyes.
    -[ ] With Psio.
    -[ ] With Mapsi.
    -[ ] With Zionga.

    [ ] Keep doing what you've been doing. You'll get through all those legs soon enough!

    [ ] Maybe if you don't attack them anymore they won't focus on you? You should focus on healing for a bit, and hope the others can distract them.

    [ ] Run past the spiders to the webs. (2D100, DC 165)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Honestly I think we need to double down on the attacks.

    Those flames are going to go up quickly - and Ken is the one setting up the leg smashes.

    Even if we are effective enough to take out the eyes - we'd have to actually blind them to make enough progress for the mad dash.

    And I'm not sure we have the oomph to pop spider eyes.

    Also someone else can do the healing if Ken is setting up the team for taking down legs. And the less legs there are the less the spiders are able to retaliate.


    [X] Keep doing what you've been doing. You'll get through all those legs soon enough
     
    [x] Keep doing what you've been doing. You'll get through all those legs soon enough!
     
    Important thought - spiders have eight legs. Hopefully Ken is focusing on one side of a spider .

    Table can stand with three legs. Two maybe if it's the right combination and proper points for balance.

    But if all the legs on one side are shattered - that spider is not going to be moving well. Which is the goal because not only does it make combat easier - the goal is to get the DC down low enough to get to the webs before the fire starts.
     
    [x] Keep doing what you've been doing. You'll get through all those legs soon enough!
     
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    Jack of Olives said:
    [x] Maybe if you don't attack them anymore they won't focus on you? You should focus on healing for a bit, and hope the others can distract them.
    Click to expand...
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    Usually Ken being the healer is a solid play but this time there's a clock.

    SeekerofDreams said:
    (Three turns until the webs go up in flames.)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    SeekerofDreams said:
    [ ] Run past the spiders to the webs. (2D100, DC 165)
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    Click to shrink...

    Quick back of the napkin math has it at something like 17.5 % success chance. Which is better 2.5 success from before.

    And one of the remaining turns is going to be getting over there. There's not the wiggle room for a non aggressive play.
     
    Footsteps of Time- Part Three
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    • The others, having seen your approach, have gone about targeting the legs of the spiders in their own ways, often by getting closer than is strictly safe. It's probably going to be fine so long as nobody takes an Agidyne to the face.

    But this was your idea first. So you're going to keep going with it. After all, it's only an issue once you've run out of legs! And it'll be more convenient to anyone who's paying attention!

    This time, you aim for a leg towards the back of the spider- one that the others would have trouble getting at without your help. This one is sliced off by a large chunk of ice. The kneecap remains within the ice. You decide to look away from it so you won't have to see it anymore.

    Akira is gripping his summoning knife in one hand, and his stabbing knife in the other. "Do you think I could-?"

    "Not with the Personas you've got right now." His are the small ones that Makoto-san used towards the beginning of the year, with the most basic of spells. "Just... keep doing what you've been doing?"

    What he's been doing is taking potshots with Pyro Jack's Agi, since he's not really ready to do anything else, and Arsene's Eiha does as much as you using Kouha would- absolutely nothing. Still, every bit counts. It should be fine as long as he doesn't miss and hit something flammable.

    Maybe, if you're lucky, he can toss a fireball into their eyes or something. You've been focusing on one of the spiders, but the other one's taken a bit of damage, too- now that people know to go for the legs, they're doing it with maybe more enthusiasm than is necessary.

    Again, you're not going to worry unless someone takes a spell directly to the face.

    "Do you think you can hit one of the legs from here?" You ask.

    Akira looks down, then looks up again. "...I'd like to try."

    His aim's a bit off, but he does still manage to singe the end of the next leg you drag out. It's not nearly enough to disable it, though, and it tears itself away from your control just before a powerful wind rips through the space where you kept it.

    "That... didn't go well." Akira doesn't dismiss Pyro Jack, but he also doesn't move to attack again.

    "You still did something!" You remind him. "Maybe you can practice by trying to hit them in the eye?"

    "...Okay." And so he moves to doing just that.

    You think he's gonna be fine.


    HP: 450/460
    SP: 442/520
    Nihil Spear Power: 55
    Nihil Spear Accuracy: 34

    (Two turns until the webs go up in flames.)



    [ ] The spider you're targeting is already mostly on one side, but there's no reason not to finish the job. If only one of them can move, it'll be really easy to work around them!

    [ ] They're spiders. Make like Akira and go for the eyes.
    -[ ] With lightning.
    -[ ] With Psio
    -[ ] With Mapsi
    -[ ] Stabby stabby.

    [ ] Now that lots of attacks are being thrown around, you should make sure no one's badly hurt. Healing whoever you need to will make sure there's plenty of people to be hacking off legs!

    [ ] Run past the spiders to the webs. (2D100, DC 135)
     
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    • is dc fifferent if we tell someone else to ran past spiders to webs?
     
    Alright so three options here.
    Hitting the legs have been bringing down the DC for getting past them by 30 though we may be at the point of diminishing returns.

    Switch for the eyes will hopefully get similar returns to the Spiders.

    Thing is - we do have have two turns to get over there. 135 DC with roll max of 200 - odds of us failing twice in a row is 45%.

    For us to get similar odds for the last run we need to bring down the DC 44 points or more.

    N0Way said:
    is dc fifferent if we tell someone else to ran past spiders to webs?
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    Click to shrink...

    Is the DC different if we ask Liz to try and gouge out the Spiders' eyes? Thing is Ken has the card scalpel to cut Lavenza and Morgana out. Other option is Akira. I think the main limiter is the cut down portion of the proceedings.
     
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    Storyteller said:
    Alright so three options here.
    Hitting the legs have been bringing down the DC for getting past them by 30 though we may be at the point of diminishing returns.

    Switch for the eyes will hopefully get similar returns to the Spiders.

    Thing is - we do have have two turns to get over there. 135 DC with roll max of 200 - odds of us failing twice in a row is 45%.

    For us to get similar odds for the last run we need to bring down the DC 44 points or more.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Using 2D100 instead of a single dice does mean the chance of rolling 135 is about 22% and not 32%.

    And I wouldn't say we're at the point of diminishing returns, because we're close to taking one spider out, which should lower the difficulty by a lot.
     
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