NOTE: Xardalas told me it's no longer possible for him to play.
Speedster's spot is now open! Those who sign up for it will appear where the Xardalas's speedster was, with the same inventory as he was, but with all other details - such as the character's name - decided by the player.
[Turn 3: Missing Someone]
"Two-Face -drops on knee for better shot and reloads crossbow- Lets keep this sorry Schmuck dead, hm? Ah yes, and pick a new name, I know you can still talk, you don't decay and you didn't get your windpipe cut."
Open fire on the Corpse of Imigo, then steal his robes to sneak into the Two Suns' Base
[1] vs. [6] You go out of your way to hit Imigo. Literally: you step off the trail while trying to get into a better aiming position. Imigo has a clean shot at you now...
[1] vs. [4] Which he foolishly decides to realize with a running roundhouse kick, missing you and landing right in the middle of the trail. [Roll against Instant Death: 1] This sets off the enchantments, and Imigo goes up in a column of white flames so bright that all undead in the vicinity, including Two-Face, are sent running away in otherworldly terror.
Two-Face will return to you eventually, but you're pretty sure the fear will make him forget to think of a new name while he's doing so. Also, Imigo's robe is now ashes along with everything else he had.
You feel the Hunger gnawing at you again, a reminder that you haven't fed back at the tower. Still, the Hunger might come in handy if you got into a fight on your way to the temple.
"That was a jolly good shot, sport! Now I'll show you how a real man shoots!"
Return fire at the Elf, with my Dwarven Crossbow!
'This would be pushing my luck, that arrow does hurt a lot and my daggers would be put to better use. Agh, holding this thing may be hard...'
[3-1-1 vs. 4] Your wounded arm gives under the crossbow's weight and throws off your already poor aim. Your opponent looks ready to burst laughing, but readies another shot nonetheless.
Guard Elf: [2+1 vs. 3] The elf's arrow misses your right cheek by fractions of an inch, nearly disrupting your perfect five o'clock shadow in the process. Man, that elf is lucky!
Your eye catches the covering of your blood all over your body. Just one drop of it entering the elf's bloodstream will be able to turn them - and their luck - onto your side...
Convert him then ask who he used to work for
[Loyalty: 6] You wait until the brute's so close to death he can feel it - and only then do you turn him. The less alive the thrall was at the time of conversion, the bigger his master's influence over him, which is useful when dealing with particularly rebellious converts.
Brute turned into Vampire Brute, 30/30 HP. Willing Thrall: compelled to see Augustine Volkar in positive light, -2 to disobeying Augustine Volkar.[First Impression: 4+1 vs. 3-2] [Critical Success!] When you ask the Brute your questions, he answers immediately. He also seems to state his loyalty to you whenever possible, which does get annoying rather soon. Maybe the delay before conversion damaged his mind a bit... but it's not like you picked him for his skill at chess, anyway.
"
Welcome to your new life, pal. What's your name?"
"
Sir, the name's Diego, sir! I'm honored to serve you, sir!"
"
Very well, Diego. I'm Augustine Volkar. I'm glad you agreed to join me as a friend of the night. Now, I need to know who sent you to assassinate me. Was it Julius Umbrento?"
"
Sir, no, sir! Umbrento only helped, sir! Direct order from the Twin Suns, sir!"
You remembered the Twin Suns. Your own master, Samuel Bel, liked to tell stories about them, to make sure you didn't mess around with the Old Gods... but they were dormant for over five centuries, ever since their shrine was broken in the Second Crusade! Did someone who remembered the Twin Suns reconstruct the shrine, or was it merely a demon posing as them?
"
Oh? How did you receive the order, Diego? Did the high priest tell you about it?"
"
No, sir! I heard them in my head, sir!"
Well,
that was bad news. Only genuine deities had the ability to communicate with their worshippers... that is,
if they were interested enough in the mortals' affairs to do so. That meant the Twin Suns were not only back in power - they were pissed off and ready to pass divine judgement on everyone they see. You
had to destroy the Twin Suns' newly-made shrine before they gained even more worshippers, lest they cause another catastrophic 'miracle' like in the days of old.
"
Then I might have to... deal... with your compatriots in person. Could you tell me where the Twin Suns' current shrine is? And how many worshippers they have?"
"
Sir, it's their old temple, sir! About ten people inside the temple, sir! Thirty more in the catacombs and around the city, sir!"
Well, it could be worse. Your master, Samuel, gave you a copy the temple's map once: it, indeed, had some labyrinthine catacombs, but at least there weren't many traps there. You lead Diego to the library so he could give you an oath of loyalty, and fetch the temple's map on your way. [Oath: 5+1 vs. 1-2] [Critical success!] Diego the Brute will never disobey you in the future. He's now sunk too deep in vampiric loyalty and personal sense of duty to even think of it.
Gained Henchman: Diego. 30/30 HP, wielding two Shortswords(two attacks, Strength-based -2 to hit, 1d6 damage) and wearing a Plated Leather Armor(-2 to received damage). +2 to Strength. Cannot disobey you.In all that, you didn't even pay attention to your wounds as the flesh restored itself and pulled together. You are fully healthy again.
Try as hard as possible to manipulate the weak-willed guard into removing the stake.
Dominated Guard: [3] The guard tries to wrench the stake out of your stomach, but between his comrade trying to slap him out of it and his hands slipping on the stake, the guard doesn't do much. In a panic, you order him to draw the sword and attack the other guard.
[5 vs. 1], [Critical Damage: (6+1)*2] The attack makes a wonderful, clean cut where the idealist guard's neck was; his head flies right off in a high arc, and the beheaded body falls onto the tunnel's floor in a heap.
[Roll against Domination: 5] Ironically, less than a few moments after the guard killed his colleague, your control over his will breaks. You feel a wave of palpable terror coming from the guard, and then your mind succumbs to the black unconsciousness.
Black robe and two spare changes of normal clothing. Don black robe.
[5] You buy the items and don the black robe as soon as you get out of sight. You wipe the bloodstains off your face, fit the hood closely and adopt that my-god-is-bigger-than-yours posture and attitude that seemed a necessary part of Archer and all other zealots. You're pretty sure you look indistinguishable from a Twin Suns' worshipper now.
Kal: Wearing Well-Fitted Black Robe(-1 to blending in with the crowd, +3 to passing for a zealot of the Twin Suns)[4] You head over to the tavern and ask a nearest drunk if he knows anything about the Twin Suns. Everyone in the tavern takes you for another preacher and looks the other way while the drunk rants about your order, your temple and where you can shove it. While definitely unpleasant, this conversation was informative: you now knew where the Twin Suns' headquarters was, and how much that drunk hated them. You bet you could recruit him if you chose your words well...
Speedster: Your wounds heal as you go to the old temple. It doesn't seem like the temple's inhabited from where you're standing: the same empty windows, the same wide-open doors, the same creepy silence about it. Still, you notice a lot of fresh trails in the ground near the temple: the majority of them leads out of the temple, and very few lead inside. It looked almost as if a small army departed from this place a few hours ago.
Once you enter the temple, you don't see anyone in particular, even though there are clear signs that this place is inhabited. However, very soon you hear a long, terrified scream coming somewhere from the temple's basements. Will you investigate it?
Player: Flintus
Name: Samuel Bel
HP: 14/20
Status: Comatose
Abilities:Eternal Leader: +1 to all leadership.
Dominate Will: can put mortals under your control.
Inventory:Punctured Noble's Dress
Advisor's Wig
Heavy Pouch of BlingPlayer: antlion12
Name: Augustine Volkar
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(3 turns left)
Abilities:Spin Doctor: +1 to persuasion and changing people's opinions. Can persuade other people even when under attack.
Inventory:Bank Account: 1200 gold.
PouchHandkerchief
Torn and Burnt Expensive Clothing
Map of Twin Suns' TempleHenchman:Diego. 30/30 HP, wielding two Shortswords(two hits, Strength-based -2 to hit, 1d6 damage) and wearing a Plated Leather Armor(-2 to received damage). +2 to Strength. Cannot disobey you.
Player: IronyOwl
Name: Kal
HP: 20/20 HP
Status: Full(2 turns left)
Abilities:Regenerator: restores 2 HP every turn. Restores full HP in Adrenaline Rush and when feeding.
Inventory:Torn and Bloodstained Performer's Suit
Well-Fitted Black Robe2 changes of Normal Clothing
Heavy ShortswordPouchStake-Arrow(coated with Survivalist's Blood)Player: ?
Name: ?
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(2 turns left)
Abilities:Blinding Speed: gets +2 to hit and all actions relying on speed.
Inventory:QuarterstaffAdventurer's Leather ArmorPouchPlayer: empfan
Name: Antora Darklance
HP: 20/20
Status: Hungry(6 turns left)
Abilities:Necromancer: Can raise dead.
Inventory:A Bottle of Dwarven Wine
CrossbowSecrets of Life and Death: The Book(authored by Antora Darklance)
Undead Servant:Two-Face. +1 to Damage, +1 to Strength. Wields: Mace and Shield(+0 to hit, 1d6 damage, +1 to defense, negates armor)
Player: Tiruin
Name: Eldrin Faenir
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(3 turns left)
Abilities:Sneaky: +1 to stealth, stealing and lockpicking
Assassin: Stealth attacks always hit.
Inventory:Dual DaggersDwarven Crossbow2 Poison VialsGem of AnrathaFirestarting Kit2 Pouches(35 gold total)
An Unhealthy Covering of Assassin's Blood
Summarized combat rules. Put them there so as to set them in stone once and for all.
General Combat Roll Structure: [Hit vs. Defense], [Damage], [Roll Against Instant Death].
If the difference between the hit and defense rolls is 4 or higher, then hit or miss becomes a critical one. The damage from a critical hit/miss is twice that from an original strike.
Dual-wielded weaponry attacks twice a turn at the cost of a Strength-based penalty to hit. Strength-based penalty cannot be resolved by bonuses to Speed, and vice versa.
Weapons:
Unarmed: +0 to hit, 1d4 damage, misses against you damage enemies, hits cause debilitating side effects, critical hits can cause instant death.
Dagger: +1 to hit, 1d6-1 damage, critical hits can cause instant death, can be dual-wielded at a -1 Strength penalty to hit.
Shortsword: +0 to hit, 1d6 damage, can be dual-wielded at a -2 Strength penalty to hit.
Longsword: +0 to hit, 1d6+1 damage.
Mace: +0 to hit, 1d6 damage, negates 2 points of armor.
Quarterstaff: -1 to hit, 1d6+1 damage, negates 1 point of armor, all hits can cause debilitating side effects.
Spear, Axe: -1 to hit, 1d8 damage.
Maul: -2 Strength penalty to hit, 1d6+2 damage, negates 3 points of armor.
Greatsword, Greataxe: -1 Strength penalty to hit, 1d6+2 damage.
Bow: +0 to hit, 1d6 damage.
Crossbow: -1 to hit, 1d8 damage.
Elven Bow: +1 to hit, 1d5+1 damage.
Dwarven Crossbow: +0 to hit, 1d6+2 damage.
Armor:
Shield: +1 to defense, -1 Strength penalty to hit.
Dwarven Shield, Tower Shield: +2 to defense, -2 Strength penalty to hit.
Clothing: -0 to incoming damage.
Leather Armor: -1 to incoming damage.
Reinforced Leather Armor: -2 to incoming damage.
Chainmail: -3 to incoming damage, -1 to defense.
Platemail: -4 to incoming damage, -2 to defense.