Bay 12 Games Forum

Uhm no.

I couldn't tell you until it happened. At which point I was a little busy.

Wait, huh?
Alright, what did Sanure tell you not to do? Exact words, please.

They don't have to agree with me at all I already went over this. And yes I'm a summoner..... having summons that have skills is kind of the point of the summoner. Your angry at me because I chose a character that you could also have chosen but didn't?

I think he's more annoyed at Sanure for designing a system that makes 3.5 D&D look balanced. When your party is a druid, a fighter, a monk, and...um...another fighter specializing in archery?

I noticed the patrol. I followed the patrol. I returned to the camp a little behind you guys. My summon could speak Gnollish as could Kyles. We spoke. Solairi threatened her and battle commences. Thats it.

Mind if I ask why Torban didn't let us know "Hey, there's a patrol coming"? Carl is going to be asking that IC once this is over, so...

Since none of you would ask me I did it myself. And  was obnoxious because I was annoyed. 9 of you 1 of me and I have to be the one to grow up when it was your own fault you didn't know the plan.

Yes, how horrible of us all to lack telepathy.

I'm strong because it's necessary the weakest Gnoll summoner is far stronger then I am.

Reminds me of discussions on how the only way to deal with powerful casters in a party...is to send powerful casters AT the party.
There are definite balance issues here.

a) There really isn't a limited amount of summons. If a luck roll rolls a 20 and a summoner made the roll. Grats you found a stone that wasn't detectable.

And this does not add to the problem, how?

b) THe summons seem very OP. They aren't. When I said the summons have weakness I wasn't kidding. The gnolls have natural physical protection, so 8 blades attack is getting a nerfed amount of damage dealt to them. Throw in the mages having prebuffed (which I didn't mention on purpose due to karma) the entire patrol, Magmefrets Megido flame will deal little amounts of damage as well. The entire patrol attacking was because of Karma reasons. That and threating children. How could you Solairi...

Hold on. The summons aren't powerful...because the gnolls are stronger. Also note the highlighted bit; you know who else uses physical attacks? DAMN NEAR EVERYONE. And when 8-blades on his own is more powerful than a primary combat character...

c) Solairi could kill them all in one attack. Given that You missed a chance to gain your second special attack. Granted I need to give everyone their first and second special attacks here in a moment since tutorial mode is off...

...

Also, the entire reason I added in the summons, was because of situations like this. Solairi and Torban are out numbered. The gnolls, without the summons, will win without strategy. THe Gnolls are meant to be hard. as in, you could actually die from them.

So, you make ONE character strong enough that he can mostly defeat the gnolls on her own.

Also, Work as a damn team. You are not in this for yourself. That will get your characters killed if you act alone. I may be kind, but my games do have a sense of reality in them. and they are partly grimdark. Not terribly evil grimdark, but I may make you feel the feels about a character getting his arms and legs cut off before he is brutally killed.

Well excuse me for not activating my nonexistent teamwork benefits. The rules don't include anything on teamwork, we're going to need to devise strategies all on our own--and there aren't many when the enemy outnumbers you.

He did say you missed your second big attack.
I look so strong because I've been using all my characters talents and taking advantage when situations presented themselves. I've been pointing out for days that your missing or overlooking things because of this trying to get you to see things without having to tell you bluntly.

You've all been so busy being annoyed at me you ignored me trying to help you catch up.

Stop blaming us for things that are your fault. Now go find those "pointers" or whatever and bring them up to the top. Quote and post. Unless you want to be shown as a liar.

I'm pretty sure Ground Vehicle does not imply Machine. I don't have my copy of the rulebook on me, though, and I forget where my digital one is...

_{The miracle of another freaking sunrise.}

Journal of Jebediah Kerman, Kerbonaut Lost in Space
They tell me they're working on ways to get me down as soon as they can. I don't believe them. I'm here in the most advanced rocket we've ever made, and I could barely get here. Not much chance of anything else being able to make it to orbit AND reach me.

I've been keeping busy.


_{Science is pretty fun. At first.}

I've also taken to watching the surroundings. It's pretty awe-inspiring, but when you orbit every thirty-one minutes and forty-five seconds it gets old to watch the sun rise over Kerbin's curved horizon again, to watch the Mun and Minimus rise and fall. Even watching Ike, so mysterious and far away, gets old.


_{Why can we see Ike but not Duna?}

Even watching Kerbin crawl past gets dull after a couple orbits...worse, because it reminds me of just how close I am to home. I look out, it's like I can touch those mountains, those seas, those fields. I reach out...and I touch only glass. I am so close, yet...so very, very far.


_{Maybe he is poetic.}

---

We begin building the SciMax Mk 5+. It has another liquid-fuel engine and four big solid boosters.


_{Tip #3 in the KSSP Engineering Handbook: "If at first you don't succeed, stick some more engines on it and try again!" This tip has been known to cause a roughly even number of successes and explosions, each about 53% of the time, with a sad 12% not being either.}

We start worrying about how to fit more command pods on there, but our boys in R&D have a plan. They research General Construction, giving us tri-couplers. We also get new research options.
Out of these, Bob notes that Fuel Systems should allow efficient new rockets, Bill says aerodynamics should help us not crash, Jeb suggests that we stop worrying about future science and come get him before he goes crazy, Archibald recommends Advanced Contstruction because it's what Jeb would have wanted. (He also gives the opinion that we're too late for Jeb not to go crazy, an ambiguous comment that was ignored.)

Anyways. Tri-couplers.


<sub>"Sir, I can't get it to work! The tri-couplers only come in upside-down!"
"Kid, there's an obvious solution you're missing..."

"...turn everything else upside-down, so it matches!"

Yes, that is three command pods, oriented outwards, with an antenna on each. No, I did not think to delete the original pod and make the tri-coupler the First Part until I was done. Yes, I feel silly about that.</sub>

So. Bill is...convinced, shall we say, to fly the Mark 5+ to Jeb.


<sub>Bill Kerman, looking much as he always does when strapped into a moderately explosive vehicle.

With good reason, it seems.

...Okay, going back to the VAB so I can fix my mistake. You know, get the symmetry right. Made more difficult by not being able to make the Tri-Coupler the First Part...and let's add some launch stability enhancers...and don't forget extra parachutes...

Okay, maybe it looks silly, but just you wait until we save Jeb!

"Bill, you don't need to start your gravity turn just yet."
"AAAAAAAAAAHH!"</sub>

Okay, one more redesign. If the one with four big solid boosters doesn't work, we'll put off saving Jeb for now.


_{...That one didn't count.}

Somehow, the solid fuel boosters are not igniting. It's not a stanging issue, that's set up right.


_{A brave rocket scientist prepares to begin experimentation on how to fix the boosters.}

A number of struts are added, on the theory that the bottom stages are falling off. This appears to be correct, as the rocket takes off...straight up.


<sub>"We're taking off? Oh. Great."

"No, no, I'm...fine..."

"I don't wanna die..."

"Our Father, who Art in Kevin..."

"Wait, that's not right...oh no..."

Here, have a pretty picture.</sub>

The solid fuel boosters don't detach like they were supposed to--an error in construction? So it seems. Well, too late now.


_{"Wait, what? Guess Mom was right...I shoulda gone to church more often..."}

An executive decision is made to discard that stage to drop the weight. Hopefully, we made the right choice. We certainly seem to be rising a lot faster.


<sub>"Oh man...the ground's really far below us..."

Eh, you can still see KSSC.</sub>

The gravity turn is a bit slower and a lot clumsier that I would have liked, perhaps because we were still on solid fuel at that point. Still, we manage to get an apoapsis above 80km, which is when I usually stop the initial burn.
We drift through air and space to the apoapsis.


<sub>"Wow..."

Maybe space isn't so bad..."</sub>

It's 106,000* kilometers to Jebediah, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of gum, it's dark, and we're wearing spacesuits. Hit it.
*Number made up, but it's probably not THAT far off.


_{I hate Kerbin Nazis.}

I apparently screw up timing on the burn or something, because rather than coming into orbit we begin to circle past apoapsis to head for Kerbin.


<sub>Shut up Bill, imagine how Jeb feels!

One guess as to which direction we're going.</sub>

Remarkably, despite sliding back into atmosphere, I manage to pull our apoapsis out!


<sub>Pics, because even I'm not 100% sure how it happened. Well, aside from "I fired the rocket up".

Here's the whole arc....

...and here's why we're not going to try and get this baby into orbit...

...and HERE is a big dot where Ike is...

...and HERE is Bill, happy for some reason.

Probably the view.


Oh, look, we're almost hitting Kerbin.

Nothing fell off when the parachutes deployed and it looks like we're going to land on the coast.

You're almost home, Bill...</sub>

So. A rough landing on some hills far away from KSSC. Bill technically died from the pod falling over on its side, crushing the one command pod someone was in, so I reverted. This is probably why NASA tries to land its astronauts in the ocean and not in mountains.

So. We failed that time, so...what now?

GWG. As I pointed out earlier. I was not allowed to tell you. By GM orders. Because this was not supposed to happen until tomorrow.

...GM orders forbade you from telling us about the ambush when your character was three feet from us.

What the hell, Sanure.

I dunno 10+ at least. I ain't alerted people because I can't. A mage can detect magic use if I use magic to send the message the Gnolls will attack us and kill the girl. Sanure said this days ago...

"Hey guys, I'm back. Let Mamawhatever handle the girl. Oh, by the way, there's a patrol of thirteen gnolls following us."
WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THIS HAPPEN.

Alright, new problem.

Half of the players in Thawed need to amend their actions. All characters are capable of creating and manipulating a specific substance.

Kext of Moodus: Chatting with CO, ordered to either try to stop the spread of some slowly-spreading crystal or else try to find various lost members of his team.
Kuroe Emiya: Interacting with one of the lost members, a runaway. She bolted.
Logan Glast: Tried to make a light hammer to smash some crystals. Informed that their previous attempt sucked because the material he tried to make it out of, not some issue with his roll.

((Hold up. Holllllldddd up here. So Torban knows. ok. But he then rushed up, slowed to a walk, did his dramatic entrance, and did not bother to tell the 7+ other warriors, even with a shout (or his mental powers) about the gnoll patrol. Come on. ))

((Torban's magical senses are completely useless when the plot demands it. It balances out how absurdly useful they are when the plot demands that.
Or something.))

...Would that be plausible?