The following is a follow up to my Weekly Manga Recap thoughts on Full Metal Alchemist—particular the ending and my thoughts that not enough happened during the initial invasion. I post this to clear confusion, and to admit to some mistakes. Also to make my stance on character death hopefully a lot clearer. Be warned that the following will contain spoilers for Full Metal Alchemist, along with small spoilers for One Piece and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Character death is an important part of story telling across all mediums. It’s a sure fire way to grab the reader’s attention, for better or worse, and is a great tool to use during the conclusion of a story. A death has impact and adds weight to a situation. To use some common manga examples, would Marineford had meant anything if Whitebeard hadn’t died and symbolically set an end to the last generation? In contrast what are we to take from the Fake Kakura Town arc in Bleach when at the end of the story only the evil characters suffered any losses? Doesn’t that just prove that in the end the greatest threat not only against the Soul Society but even reality ever faced was completely ineffectual? A character death is a very important factor to me for a lot of reasons. The emotions they can draw can truly define a story, again for better or worse. I apologize for the spoilers below (and possibly above), but to make my point I need to reference some actual examples of death in character.
A death is not as simple as “Character A dies”. The length, emotion, circumstances, and cause are all keys in determining if a death was justified or not. I read a lot of manga, and I’ve seen death abused for the right and wrong reasons, so let me identify some of the more severe examples I’ve seen. I don’t like it when characters are simply killed for no purpose. A series like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure both abuses and subverts this in liberal fashion. A character death like Kakyion who died after having his final technique destroyed by Dio served two purposes: the first was to show Dio was a threat—one that couldn’t be stopped and one that was a legitimate threat to the entire cast. The second was to show his commitment to his friends and that even as death was taking him, his last act on this earth was to help his friends figure out the power behind Dio’s stand.
Then let’s look just one fight earlier against Vanilla Ice (just roll with it) the Stand, Cream, killed Abdul and Iggy. Their deaths served little point other than to draw some character development out of Polnareff, but did both of them have to die to show that Cream was dangerous? I don’t think so, and personally I wish the two had survived the fight as their deaths, while noble (or at least in Iggy’s case) felt largely unnecessary. Now let’s compare this to Part 4 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure where death was decisively avoided. In total only a couple of characters died through the course of the story, and I enjoyed that. It meant that when death did happen, it mattered, and in some cases drew a lot of emotion out of me when I believed a character had finally met their maker.
Let’s return to Full Metal Alchemist as it’s the crux of this situation. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the manga-ka treated the gravity of the situation through 90% of the story. Nina was murdered and I felt legitimate sadness. Hughes died and while I didn’t really feel like we knew him, it still was sad (though I still feel like we should have had more time to really know him). Gluttony is another example. His death drew regret out of me. I couldn’t help but feel that Gluttony was an innocent victim in the story. Sure he was a serial killer, but unlike Barry the Chopper, he didn’t choose his life. He was created to eat and he did just that. It’s like making a dog with a bladder control problem, then shooting it when it takes a piss on the rug. You really can’t help but feel that wasn’t totally his fault. Even though he was a villain I felt bad that Gluttony died—to contrast I wanted to fucking toast Kimblee dying as that piece of shit didn’t deserve the slightly redeeming death he got. He was a horrid monster.
Of course death isn’t the only emotion that you can draw from this story. I felt deep sorrow when Havoc found himself paralyzed. There we have a soldier stricken down in the line of fire, but he has to endure living believing he is useless to his comrades who must carry on the war without him. He believes he’s failed them, and this development was quite strong. In another example Lan Fan sliced her arm off to fool Wrath and keep them off their trail. That noble sacrifice endeared her character to me and I began to enjoy her character for that reason. These are all sacrifices meant to show that this is a conflict that requires them. Yes, the point of many stories today is to create a world without sacrifices, but a story that plays itself straight is one that is hopelessly idealistic. FMA was not that. It proved time and time again that sacrifices (sins) are made and that redemption comes not from forgiveness but rather from tolerance and progress. That’s a good message, and eventually the point comes around that they won’t be able to stop the entire central army without a fight (rather they won’t be able to kill the Homunculi without a fight). Once that starts the story again becomes fantastic. Mustang faces a sacrifice he didn’t deserve, Scar and Wrath have a bloody fight between two unnamed warriors, and the entire county faces extinction at the hands of a mad homunculi. This is all very tense and interesting. This is what I enjoy from a story. A story without tension or suspense becomes banal and predictable. Until Wrath showed up in Central, this is what the final arc was boiling down to. Once he did, the story got better, but until he did I found myself bored to tears and really wondering what happened to the serious nature of the story. That feeling, like the feeling of a character’s death, stayed with me. I felt like the manga lost what made me enjoy it, and when it came back I enjoyed the series again, but I won’t forget how I felt for those few chapters.
I’ll admit that the way I felt skewered my enjoyment of the ending, and I’ll admit I didn’t give the ending the thought and reasoning it deserved. I was overly ignorant to the message the ending tried to convey, and for someone trying to finish up and gather my thoughts on a very long manga to prepare to discuss it that weekend, I failed to give it the appropriate attention. I’ll admit that and confess that was probably rather unprofessional of me. I will ensure that doesn’t happen again. Still, I want to defend that I’m not unjustified in the way I saw the ending. I still maintain the story took a lot of missteps towards the end of the series. I still maintain the story included too many characters and made many of the human villains out to be irredeemable fuck wits only serviceable to be a feast for the otherwise ineffectual puppet army.
I don’t want to say anyone commenting on my video was wrong—quite the opposite; I was the one who was wrong. However I want people to know my stance on character death and understand that I enjoy rich characterization and conclusion rather than “die die die”. Maybe this was an extremely long winded and ineffectual way to do it, but gagoosh—it’s there. I hope to improve my analysis of series as time goes on and maybe in time I’ll reread the ending and do a follow up with a clearer head. Until then, I apologize for the confusion and for being overly hasty in my judgment. Also, why does Bleach have to come back? I was kinda getting used to not reading it.
Until next time, Namaste!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
D&D Lessons: Druid Class Review
I’m returning to my class review series with a class you guys probably know about. Each week you see her punch people and turn into a fish to use Savage Rend. Sadly, awesome imaginary bear companions named Captain Bearbossa are not a standard in this installment’s class: the Druid.
Flavor
One of the stranger parts of 4E D&D is the power sources. While I haven’t a single problem with their choices of power sources, I do question how many classes take their powers from the same source. In the case of the Druid, she is one of five different classes based around Primal powers. My problem is that with so many classes taking their powers from one source the lines separating them start to blur a little bit. In 3.5 the Druid was your all purpose “nature” character. They controlled nature, got an animal companion, and could turn into an animal. In 4E the Druid loses a lot of this unique charm as the Shaman and Warden essentially play as the same thing: nature themed warriors.
The best way I’ve found to separate the classes comes down to their main mechanic. For the Warden it’s all about using nature to strengthen oneself, for the Shaman it’s about communion with the spirits, and for the Druid it’s all about animals. Look at it that way and you get a bit more defined flavor, but it feels a little too pigeon holed. Pretty much the only thing separating the Druid from the Warden is that she can wildshape, and she commands nature via spells as opposed to the Warden who uses weapons. This is a case of too many classes trying to do the same thing: fight with nature. 3.5’s Druid dabbled in a little bit of everything, but now she feels less unique when (after the mechanics are stripped away) she’s no different than the Warden and the Shaman.
Ironically, the Druid does feel distinctly different from the other Primal Controller, the Seeker. Where the Druid is fighting using nature directly, the Seeker is more like a tribesman who reveres nature and uses it to his advantage when hunting. Heck if the Primal classes were limited to Barbarian, Druid, Seeker I’d be fine, but I suppose I’ve gone on enough of a rant. The Druid isn’t bad at all. She still maintains her charm and if she’s the only Primal character in your party then there’s no problem. It’s only when the Shaman or Warden joins the group that you’ll start to feel a little less unique.
Mechanics
Two features define the Druid: Wildshape and Primal Aspect. Wildshape is the power all Druids have and is the class defining ability. Flavor wise it means you can turn into an animal, but mechanically what it means is that you can switch between melee and ranged at ease and you are perhaps the most versatile character when it comes to combat situations. Basically with a minor action (and with Paragon level feat, a free action) once per round you shift between your natural form and your “Beast Form”. The two forms work separately, and no power that works in one form will work in the other. Essentially Druid powers may or may not contain the term “Beast Form” in the keywords. If it does, you can use it in Beast Form, and not natural form; if it doesn’t, then vice versa. Making both forms competent is the key to the Druid, and as such all Druids are allowed to pick three At-Will powers (four if you’re human) under one condition: One must have the Beast Form keyword, and one must not. Thus no matter what form you are in you’ll be able to fight.
Making this mechanic work is the primary duty of the Druid. If one part of the Druid isn’t up to par then her usefulness decreases. What truly makes the Druid frightening is that she can be a huge impact on the battlefield either at range or at close range without the mess of changing weapons or managing implements. One implement (either the Totem or the Staff) and that device works in Beast Form as well. Since Wildshape has no limit to how many times it can be used per encounter (once per round however) a truly frightening Druid can effortlessly shift between the two forms to control the battlefield as she sees fit.
The Primal Aspect is the class feature chosen at the beginning of character creation that defines the character. This choice can never be changed, and will define the way the character is played and which powers are strengthened. For the Druid there are three: Primal Predator, Primal Guardian, and Primal Swarm. All three have a unique benefit and play to a secondary role. First up is the Primal Predator which is a mobile Controller that functions as a secondary Striker. Whenever a Predator isn’t wearing heavy armor their base speed increases by one, so for an Eleven Predator they can have a base speed of 8 at level 1! Mobility is their strong suit and they will often use beast form to move through the battlefield dealing damage.
Primal Guardians lean more towards spellcasters who excel in repositioning powers making them good secondary leaders. As long as they don’t wear heavy armor they get to add their CON score to their AC as opposed to the DEX/INT that other classes use. This makes them burly spell casters who spend most of their time in their natural form casting spells from afar. The last aspect is Primal Swarm with the idea being that instead of turning into a single animal you turn into a mob of smaller animals (like insects or snakes). This makes it so every attack that hits them while in Beast Form is reduced by the Druid’s CON modifier. Their powers help them function as secondary defenders, though their generally low AC keeps them from full timing in tanking. Still, they have plenty of powers to ensure their foes stick with them.
So the choice in Aspect will define the Druid, but all of them still find their abilities rooted in a balance between forms. They have the ability to use simple melee and ranged weapons, but this is next to useless considering you have melee and ranged options built right into your powers.
Learning Curve
Like all Controllers the Druid is tough to play without spending time to learn what they can and cannot do. Even if you can play a secondary role, you’ll never be as good as a full time member of that role, and building a Druid can be difficult. The number one thing to boost is Wisdom as that is their attack score for every power they have. Predators should then place a good amount of points (16 – 18) into Dexterity while Swarm and Guardians should put those points into Constitution. The remainder of points should go into boosting the NAD their Druid is weakest in—so for Predators put a few points in Strength or Constitution (probably the latter), and for Swarm and Guardians put them in either Dexterity or Intelligence (preferably the former). Charisma will be your dump stat as your Will defense is already high to begin with (class +1 bonus and you’re attack stat is Wisdom), but some may keep it so they have good diplomatic skills. That’s the only reason to keep it.
Playing the Druid can be a complicated and sometimes overwhelming process. You are far from simple, so if you want to play something as simple as “swing and kill” then try the Barbarian. Here you need to plan your turns out in advance and think how you can make the biggest impact on the field. Is it killing a monster? Is it shifting the battlefield? Is it locking down a big Elite? Your versatility means that you should never find yourself in a situation where you can’t do something. Like all Controllers, don’t think “how do I kill that”, think “how can I stop that guy from doing what he wants?” Finding the balance between forms can take some work but eventually you’ll learn when you’re needed in combat, and when you aren’t.
A common theme you’ll find with Druid powers is “zones”. Learning how to manage zones can be a difficult part of playing the Druid, but used effectively you may just turn the entire tide on a battle. In addition Druid have access to summoned creatures as a daily power, but unlike other summons the Druid’s are useful without wasting actions on them. Every summon has a built in instinctive effect that activates if you don’t give them any commands on your turn, so it’ll be worth it to at least invest into one or two of these guys to help in controlling. My personal early favorites are the Giant Toad (Reach 3—meaning it can attack enemies within three squares), the Shadow Ape (grants concealment to all allies on a hit), and the Crocodile (large, and he grapples the enemy with a hit). Remember that a Druid’s daily power should help change the flow of battle, so don’t be afraid to change your Daily out after leveling up if it’s not working out.
Overall
I still like playing the Druid in 4E even if I find the flavor a bit too… common. They’re fun classes to play albeit a tad bit confusing. Sadly that’s the state of most Controllers, but hey you should know what you’re getting into already. Learning the balance takes time, but there’s always something inherently enjoyable about turning into a wolverine and ripping your opponent’s face off. Or turning into a bear and punching people*.
Alright, well that’s my review of the Druid. Next time I’ll take a look at the Warlord—everyone’s favorite commanding asshole.
Until next time, Namaste!
*Warning! Punching people as a bear is apparently NOT a good way to stop a panic attack. Use at your own risk.
Flavor
One of the stranger parts of 4E D&D is the power sources. While I haven’t a single problem with their choices of power sources, I do question how many classes take their powers from the same source. In the case of the Druid, she is one of five different classes based around Primal powers. My problem is that with so many classes taking their powers from one source the lines separating them start to blur a little bit. In 3.5 the Druid was your all purpose “nature” character. They controlled nature, got an animal companion, and could turn into an animal. In 4E the Druid loses a lot of this unique charm as the Shaman and Warden essentially play as the same thing: nature themed warriors.
The best way I’ve found to separate the classes comes down to their main mechanic. For the Warden it’s all about using nature to strengthen oneself, for the Shaman it’s about communion with the spirits, and for the Druid it’s all about animals. Look at it that way and you get a bit more defined flavor, but it feels a little too pigeon holed. Pretty much the only thing separating the Druid from the Warden is that she can wildshape, and she commands nature via spells as opposed to the Warden who uses weapons. This is a case of too many classes trying to do the same thing: fight with nature. 3.5’s Druid dabbled in a little bit of everything, but now she feels less unique when (after the mechanics are stripped away) she’s no different than the Warden and the Shaman.
Ironically, the Druid does feel distinctly different from the other Primal Controller, the Seeker. Where the Druid is fighting using nature directly, the Seeker is more like a tribesman who reveres nature and uses it to his advantage when hunting. Heck if the Primal classes were limited to Barbarian, Druid, Seeker I’d be fine, but I suppose I’ve gone on enough of a rant. The Druid isn’t bad at all. She still maintains her charm and if she’s the only Primal character in your party then there’s no problem. It’s only when the Shaman or Warden joins the group that you’ll start to feel a little less unique.
Mechanics
Two features define the Druid: Wildshape and Primal Aspect. Wildshape is the power all Druids have and is the class defining ability. Flavor wise it means you can turn into an animal, but mechanically what it means is that you can switch between melee and ranged at ease and you are perhaps the most versatile character when it comes to combat situations. Basically with a minor action (and with Paragon level feat, a free action) once per round you shift between your natural form and your “Beast Form”. The two forms work separately, and no power that works in one form will work in the other. Essentially Druid powers may or may not contain the term “Beast Form” in the keywords. If it does, you can use it in Beast Form, and not natural form; if it doesn’t, then vice versa. Making both forms competent is the key to the Druid, and as such all Druids are allowed to pick three At-Will powers (four if you’re human) under one condition: One must have the Beast Form keyword, and one must not. Thus no matter what form you are in you’ll be able to fight.
Making this mechanic work is the primary duty of the Druid. If one part of the Druid isn’t up to par then her usefulness decreases. What truly makes the Druid frightening is that she can be a huge impact on the battlefield either at range or at close range without the mess of changing weapons or managing implements. One implement (either the Totem or the Staff) and that device works in Beast Form as well. Since Wildshape has no limit to how many times it can be used per encounter (once per round however) a truly frightening Druid can effortlessly shift between the two forms to control the battlefield as she sees fit.
The Primal Aspect is the class feature chosen at the beginning of character creation that defines the character. This choice can never be changed, and will define the way the character is played and which powers are strengthened. For the Druid there are three: Primal Predator, Primal Guardian, and Primal Swarm. All three have a unique benefit and play to a secondary role. First up is the Primal Predator which is a mobile Controller that functions as a secondary Striker. Whenever a Predator isn’t wearing heavy armor their base speed increases by one, so for an Eleven Predator they can have a base speed of 8 at level 1! Mobility is their strong suit and they will often use beast form to move through the battlefield dealing damage.
Primal Guardians lean more towards spellcasters who excel in repositioning powers making them good secondary leaders. As long as they don’t wear heavy armor they get to add their CON score to their AC as opposed to the DEX/INT that other classes use. This makes them burly spell casters who spend most of their time in their natural form casting spells from afar. The last aspect is Primal Swarm with the idea being that instead of turning into a single animal you turn into a mob of smaller animals (like insects or snakes). This makes it so every attack that hits them while in Beast Form is reduced by the Druid’s CON modifier. Their powers help them function as secondary defenders, though their generally low AC keeps them from full timing in tanking. Still, they have plenty of powers to ensure their foes stick with them.
So the choice in Aspect will define the Druid, but all of them still find their abilities rooted in a balance between forms. They have the ability to use simple melee and ranged weapons, but this is next to useless considering you have melee and ranged options built right into your powers.
Learning Curve
Like all Controllers the Druid is tough to play without spending time to learn what they can and cannot do. Even if you can play a secondary role, you’ll never be as good as a full time member of that role, and building a Druid can be difficult. The number one thing to boost is Wisdom as that is their attack score for every power they have. Predators should then place a good amount of points (16 – 18) into Dexterity while Swarm and Guardians should put those points into Constitution. The remainder of points should go into boosting the NAD their Druid is weakest in—so for Predators put a few points in Strength or Constitution (probably the latter), and for Swarm and Guardians put them in either Dexterity or Intelligence (preferably the former). Charisma will be your dump stat as your Will defense is already high to begin with (class +1 bonus and you’re attack stat is Wisdom), but some may keep it so they have good diplomatic skills. That’s the only reason to keep it.
Playing the Druid can be a complicated and sometimes overwhelming process. You are far from simple, so if you want to play something as simple as “swing and kill” then try the Barbarian. Here you need to plan your turns out in advance and think how you can make the biggest impact on the field. Is it killing a monster? Is it shifting the battlefield? Is it locking down a big Elite? Your versatility means that you should never find yourself in a situation where you can’t do something. Like all Controllers, don’t think “how do I kill that”, think “how can I stop that guy from doing what he wants?” Finding the balance between forms can take some work but eventually you’ll learn when you’re needed in combat, and when you aren’t.
A common theme you’ll find with Druid powers is “zones”. Learning how to manage zones can be a difficult part of playing the Druid, but used effectively you may just turn the entire tide on a battle. In addition Druid have access to summoned creatures as a daily power, but unlike other summons the Druid’s are useful without wasting actions on them. Every summon has a built in instinctive effect that activates if you don’t give them any commands on your turn, so it’ll be worth it to at least invest into one or two of these guys to help in controlling. My personal early favorites are the Giant Toad (Reach 3—meaning it can attack enemies within three squares), the Shadow Ape (grants concealment to all allies on a hit), and the Crocodile (large, and he grapples the enemy with a hit). Remember that a Druid’s daily power should help change the flow of battle, so don’t be afraid to change your Daily out after leveling up if it’s not working out.
Overall
I still like playing the Druid in 4E even if I find the flavor a bit too… common. They’re fun classes to play albeit a tad bit confusing. Sadly that’s the state of most Controllers, but hey you should know what you’re getting into already. Learning the balance takes time, but there’s always something inherently enjoyable about turning into a wolverine and ripping your opponent’s face off. Or turning into a bear and punching people*.
Alright, well that’s my review of the Druid. Next time I’ll take a look at the Warlord—everyone’s favorite commanding asshole.
Until next time, Namaste!
*Warning! Punching people as a bear is apparently NOT a good way to stop a panic attack. Use at your own risk.
Monday, September 27, 2010
D&D Log: Session 14
Like a bolt from the blue, it’s the D&D recap! Sorry, that was an obscure The World Ends with You reference. Great game by the way.
So if we pick ourselves up from last week we’re back at the charred remains of the farmstead where the few surviving family members were. As Juliet and Viktor started preparing graves for the fallen, Garrett started to go through crazy mental flashes (*sigh* again) seeing an enormous army to the north I believe. Before passing out he went all Super Satan and warned us that “she built them for war” and that “she’s coming” or something to that effect. Everyone freaked out and wanted to leave, but Juliet was adamant about burying the bodies. Now I should mention I had reasons for doing this both in and out of character. In character this incident affected Juliet quite personally, and I’ll be mentioning it in character when the time is right. Out of character I remembered Spoony saying that the army was passed a major road, and I figured that road would be at least a day’s travel away. Well uh… der I was wrong out of character as our party went to sleep and before we could finish our last shift we found ourselves surrounded by elves. I think they outnumbered us by three or four, and I thank God Joe wasn’t here yet because I can guarantee Lord Vane II wouldn’t have surrendered like the rest of us did. So not long after starting the session our group was captured. Fantastic.
All of us were tied up and stripped of our weapons and armor, and the spell casters were gagged. Considering this is the second time we’ve been captured like this, I think in the case of Juliet, Viktor, and Garret this could be a running… gag. See, get it? I can make bad puns too. But seriously, we were ushered into a camp where more elves and machines started to pile in until almost 3,000 units were in the camp. As they began to loot our stuff they found the Word of Morgana, and predictably Darstine began to howl like she’d just been stabbed in the heart with a burning hot pike. Hmmm, that was too graphic. Alright she screamed like someone told her they were going to force her to watch Ultraviolet. Oh man, that actually seems worse. Well this prompted the lead elf to question the book, and we noticed then that the head elf was Tamier, Lord Esgalion’s squire. He held ill will towards Viktor. Surprisingly little towards Juliet who carried around his lord’s head for about half a month. Dodged a bullet there I guess.
We learned the army was an advance wave that was on route to Sarmanath, but they were quite eager to send us back to suffer the Witch Queen’s wrath. Garret managed to convince Tamier to let us get the Well of Souls however or else Tamier would never have the book, and as such we remained prisoners of the elves for the night. Thank God word doesn’t travel fast about Grae inciting racial riots against the elves or Juliet carrying around lobbed off parts of elven lords. Truth be told for being prisoners things weren’t too bad. It mostly just amounted to spending an evening bound and gagged, and for Juliet that’s nothing new. Hey~Oh!
We woke up, they cut our bonds, and gave us our equipment back—except Lilea who was kept as a hostage. Spoony said in any other situation Juliet would have been the hostage, but fuck that, Juliet ain’t no damsel in distress (well, I guess excluding the two times she’s been taken prisoner, but let’s ignore those). Had he done it you’d have seen Juliet throw down! I’d have gone all bear form and started fighting like they did in the 1920’s. You know, like how the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fights? I’d have gotten myself a novelty oversize cigar and started calling people palooka, and then Captain Bearbossa my awesome bear companion (who totally exists!) would have shown up and we’d have gotten into a rumble, a tussle, a scrap, a box social even! Yeah, who’s the damsel now? Tamier knows he was scared. Punk.
Anyway, we were led due west to the Fiery Plains, though the journey proved difficult for the iron constructs in the army. They continued to get stuck in the crumbling landscape, and many were left behind. The longer we traveled the more casualties the army suffered, so uh… go nature? Before long even Lilea was freed and re-equipped as Tamier, I assume, wanted to give us every advantage. Tamier is kind of stupid though because now he doesn’t have anything to use against us. Oh wait, he still has an army. Crap.
Well we entered the Aberhold Keep which is rumored to be where Galendread’s tower was and thus where we can find the Well of Souls. The castle, predictably, was mostly destroyed but with large stacks of rubble placed curiously around the courtyard. The ground itself was unstable, and the heat was so intense that we’d be asked to make Endurance checks every few hours. So our plan is to be in and out, right? Nah, I think we’re trying to explore the entire castle to give us time to escape. I’ve got a few ideas myself, though truth be told I kinda want to talk to Tamier again. The guy said some things I’m interested in learning more about. S’well, we shall see what happens there. Our adventure ended after an encounter. We came upon a set of steel door beneath one of the corner towers of the castle. We opened the door only to find a room of cobwebs and a creepy laugh not unlike a child. At this point I was booking it towards the exit…
BUT WAIT! Grae is here to save us as he’s already got his bedroll cocked and ready to hurl it into the chamber. It succeeded and the room was lit ablaze, and we promptly shut the doors so we could let our good friend Mr. Fire sort things out. Done and done. Oh wait, they could teleport. That’s right. Yeah, so these fuckers teleport out of the room and then actually proceed to teleport us back into the room, well at least Grae. Poor Grae got manhandled by those creepy mantis things. The rest of us squashed some bugs, and the session ended after Lord Vane killed the last mantis and then my Storm Spike made the bug explode afterwards. I was easy to please by the end of the night.
This was a rollercoaster of a session. Looking by the end when we were slaying bugs and throw burning sleeping bags you’d almost forget that like two days earlier we all spent the night tied half naked to wooden poles. Good times, good times. We’re to play again next week, so stayed tuned for the continuing adventures (and inevitably dehydration of) “TEH GREATEST PARTY EVAR!!!” That’s our name now.
Until next time, Namaste!
So if we pick ourselves up from last week we’re back at the charred remains of the farmstead where the few surviving family members were. As Juliet and Viktor started preparing graves for the fallen, Garrett started to go through crazy mental flashes (*sigh* again) seeing an enormous army to the north I believe. Before passing out he went all Super Satan and warned us that “she built them for war” and that “she’s coming” or something to that effect. Everyone freaked out and wanted to leave, but Juliet was adamant about burying the bodies. Now I should mention I had reasons for doing this both in and out of character. In character this incident affected Juliet quite personally, and I’ll be mentioning it in character when the time is right. Out of character I remembered Spoony saying that the army was passed a major road, and I figured that road would be at least a day’s travel away. Well uh… der I was wrong out of character as our party went to sleep and before we could finish our last shift we found ourselves surrounded by elves. I think they outnumbered us by three or four, and I thank God Joe wasn’t here yet because I can guarantee Lord Vane II wouldn’t have surrendered like the rest of us did. So not long after starting the session our group was captured. Fantastic.
All of us were tied up and stripped of our weapons and armor, and the spell casters were gagged. Considering this is the second time we’ve been captured like this, I think in the case of Juliet, Viktor, and Garret this could be a running… gag. See, get it? I can make bad puns too. But seriously, we were ushered into a camp where more elves and machines started to pile in until almost 3,000 units were in the camp. As they began to loot our stuff they found the Word of Morgana, and predictably Darstine began to howl like she’d just been stabbed in the heart with a burning hot pike. Hmmm, that was too graphic. Alright she screamed like someone told her they were going to force her to watch Ultraviolet. Oh man, that actually seems worse. Well this prompted the lead elf to question the book, and we noticed then that the head elf was Tamier, Lord Esgalion’s squire. He held ill will towards Viktor. Surprisingly little towards Juliet who carried around his lord’s head for about half a month. Dodged a bullet there I guess.
We learned the army was an advance wave that was on route to Sarmanath, but they were quite eager to send us back to suffer the Witch Queen’s wrath. Garret managed to convince Tamier to let us get the Well of Souls however or else Tamier would never have the book, and as such we remained prisoners of the elves for the night. Thank God word doesn’t travel fast about Grae inciting racial riots against the elves or Juliet carrying around lobbed off parts of elven lords. Truth be told for being prisoners things weren’t too bad. It mostly just amounted to spending an evening bound and gagged, and for Juliet that’s nothing new. Hey~Oh!
We woke up, they cut our bonds, and gave us our equipment back—except Lilea who was kept as a hostage. Spoony said in any other situation Juliet would have been the hostage, but fuck that, Juliet ain’t no damsel in distress (well, I guess excluding the two times she’s been taken prisoner, but let’s ignore those). Had he done it you’d have seen Juliet throw down! I’d have gone all bear form and started fighting like they did in the 1920’s. You know, like how the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fights? I’d have gotten myself a novelty oversize cigar and started calling people palooka, and then Captain Bearbossa my awesome bear companion (who totally exists!) would have shown up and we’d have gotten into a rumble, a tussle, a scrap, a box social even! Yeah, who’s the damsel now? Tamier knows he was scared. Punk.
Anyway, we were led due west to the Fiery Plains, though the journey proved difficult for the iron constructs in the army. They continued to get stuck in the crumbling landscape, and many were left behind. The longer we traveled the more casualties the army suffered, so uh… go nature? Before long even Lilea was freed and re-equipped as Tamier, I assume, wanted to give us every advantage. Tamier is kind of stupid though because now he doesn’t have anything to use against us. Oh wait, he still has an army. Crap.
Well we entered the Aberhold Keep which is rumored to be where Galendread’s tower was and thus where we can find the Well of Souls. The castle, predictably, was mostly destroyed but with large stacks of rubble placed curiously around the courtyard. The ground itself was unstable, and the heat was so intense that we’d be asked to make Endurance checks every few hours. So our plan is to be in and out, right? Nah, I think we’re trying to explore the entire castle to give us time to escape. I’ve got a few ideas myself, though truth be told I kinda want to talk to Tamier again. The guy said some things I’m interested in learning more about. S’well, we shall see what happens there. Our adventure ended after an encounter. We came upon a set of steel door beneath one of the corner towers of the castle. We opened the door only to find a room of cobwebs and a creepy laugh not unlike a child. At this point I was booking it towards the exit…
BUT WAIT! Grae is here to save us as he’s already got his bedroll cocked and ready to hurl it into the chamber. It succeeded and the room was lit ablaze, and we promptly shut the doors so we could let our good friend Mr. Fire sort things out. Done and done. Oh wait, they could teleport. That’s right. Yeah, so these fuckers teleport out of the room and then actually proceed to teleport us back into the room, well at least Grae. Poor Grae got manhandled by those creepy mantis things. The rest of us squashed some bugs, and the session ended after Lord Vane killed the last mantis and then my Storm Spike made the bug explode afterwards. I was easy to please by the end of the night.
This was a rollercoaster of a session. Looking by the end when we were slaying bugs and throw burning sleeping bags you’d almost forget that like two days earlier we all spent the night tied half naked to wooden poles. Good times, good times. We’re to play again next week, so stayed tuned for the continuing adventures (and inevitably dehydration of) “TEH GREATEST PARTY EVAR!!!” That’s our name now.
Until next time, Namaste!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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