Sorry for the wait.
Turn 9
Loot both of the needle guns and all of the needlegun ammo from the guards (kill them if they are still alive). Put on their body armor wherever I can make it fit (the torso parts can probably fit around my limbs, for example). Search for a medkit and use it to heal my hand if I find it. Return to the prisoners, who should be about to recover right around now.
"Follow me if you wish to be free."
Head to the lab, shooting anything that isn't a prisoner on my way there.
(4) You try to emit retro-spores which undo the effects of your spores. They should work, but the symptoms seem to be persisting. Perhaps the prisoners still think they are affected.
You walk back into the cellblock. Your spores have really done a number on the other prisoners. Some of them are even coughing blood. Not
all of them were bad people, but...
The rifle guards have disappeared. Their bodies are gone. What the hell.
There is a circular hole in the floor in the laundry section, about a meter wide. Through it you can see...
Space.
There's a hull breach.
Dice queue (You have 0x 20's, 2 free picks): [-] [-] [-] [-] [-] [-]Miniquests: all completed
Status Effects: Torso Wounds (-5 to wrestling, -1 to Strength)
Missing fingers on right arm (-4 accuracy on two-handed weapons, -1 accuracy on pistols)
Skills:[10]
Persuader: Bonus to persuasion checks.
[10]
Charisma: Helps improve opinions.
Traits:Oversized: -1 Received Accuracy Reduction, +1 Strength
Space Mushroom Physiology: -1 Strength for each day that passes without sleeping in soil.
Max -20 Strength. You get +3 Strength back each day of soil-sleep.
Emotion Spore: Can release AoE spores which incrementally apply Emotion effects
Body Slam: If you wrestle multiple people at once, you now use the lowest defense roll for all of them.
Nightstalker: Defense rolls for alerted enemies are now worst-case during stealth attacks.
Artifacts:Sanguinem, the Altar of Enchantment[/color]
Demands Sacrifice: -10 / -10
Inventory: Prisoner tag (attached to arm/limb)
Food tray
Water bottle
0x zIF-22 Rancor (Accuracy: 10/8/10/14) (Power: 14/12/10/8) (Current Stun Setting: Medium)
I should have one free pick. Which I use to turn my 20 into a skill point. 1+ True Steel.
Staring into the child's eye, the knight imparts these words, "You seek blood? I have no blood to shed." The knight lumbers towards the child.
"My soul is silent. It dwells with a flesh. It is fixated on distant glimmers." The knight kneels, lowering his head to be the the level of the child's. "My soul is not interested in life, in death, in birth, in vessels; this soul is intent on grace that only comes from the spirit."
Grabbing the child by the cloth near his neck, the knight lifts him up, "Gold? Do you consider yourself a king? Arrogance. Silver, if you were wise. Look into these eyes. Tell me, do you perceive the name inscribed here? Do you?"
"On white stone it abides. But enough." The knight drops the child.
"You came here seeking blood from the bloodless and claiming grace for that which has none. Absurd." The knight draws his sword. "I shall grant your wish, all of the blood between us shall be shed."
Engage in combat with the child, kill him, then consume his sword.
Star-Child: You speak large words! (He slices the strip of cloth you hold with his sword, freeing himself and flying into the air. Somehow, he glides away, landing several meters farther.)
Star-Child: ...for one so lost as yourself. You are a toy in the hands of masters. You think you are free, but I tell you: we are all pawns. If not for your masters, then of mine. Men have no reason to search. All is vanity under the stars. We are puppets.
He raises the blade, which seems fit for two hands. He wields it with one. In his other arm he holds an hourglass, which you are sure you never saw before.
Star-Child: If you have no blood, then your head will do. The stars demand atonement.
(His mobility is 3. Yours is 2. He attacks first.)
The child throws the hourglass into the air and cleaves it in half with the sword. Glittering dust fills the sound-transmitting vacuum, falling by gravity toward the greater mass of the ship (you stand on a freefall section of the ship).
(20-4) He moves faster than a bullet, slashing at your torso and running you through. [11] It cleaves through your metal body, but it only leaves a gash in your side, failing to separate your two halves. But there seems to be another effect. You feel no pain, but it seems that the metal is rusting near the point of contact. It stops spreading after a few inches.
(Note: I will introduce a new mechanic here. You can use a free pick to designate a die to be used for defense. You can also choose your next die to be used for defense without using a free pick.
But I won't use your dice for non-deliberate rolls.)
[Attack: 11-3 (Enemy dexterity)] You swing your sword, hefting effortlessly the weight of a whole man. It clips your attacker narrowly, (Defense: 2-4) but narrowly is enough. The child is thrown a short distance by your attack, but as you look upon him it becomes clear that the wound was fatal. Black blood spills out over the pristine starship hull.
You raise the sword to your chest. It vanishes, along with the entirety of the child's body. The robes and black bloodstains are left behind. [13] The child's power surges through you and you are able to identify a few of his core abilities.
Dice queue (0 free picks): 1 3 5Miniquests: The Butchererer: Commit violent acts of justice two more times (Reward: You unlock the ability to use both hands in unarmed combat (you can attack twice))
Status Effects:
none
Skills:
[4] Dexterity: +Melee Received Accuracy Reduction
[2] Agility: +Mobility rolls
[4] Crit: +Target Defense Reduction
[3] Mind
[2] Charisma: Helps improve opinions
[1] Appearance: +First impressions
Traits:
Torso scar
Artifacts:
a ghastly knight of black armor
Violent: +3 / -6
[+2] True Steel: Affects the knight's Strength and melee attacks
[+0] Live Matter Absorption
[+0] Necro Matter Absorption
[+0] Artifact Synthesis
[+0] Bodily Restoration
Arinthnir, Vanguard of the Second Dream
Intent: Unknown
[+0] Muramasa: An alternate sword. Its attacks cause entropy in the target.
[+0] Sands of Time: You can break a timepiece to stop time until the debris settles.
Inventory:
Electrode Jumpsuit (can be used to measure biosigns)
Prisoner tag (attached to arm)
Food tray
If the scientist is able to respond, ask about what that message on the intercom meant.
"That seemed a bit... premature. They're trying to study the dangerous prisoners, not the ones like us. Speaking of danger, I assume that intercom signals something astronomically bad has happened."
Oh totally. Laughing gas is a depressant, but it doesn't put people to sleep or anything.
Scientist: I will tell you. Human artifacts are not humans. Have you wondered why your artifacts seem to have minds of their own? That's because they do have minds. Most have some sort of subsurface etching that simulates a brain. Since it's a mind it's unaffected by starvirus. At least, we're not aware of it if they are.
Scientist: But all their abilities, their powers so to speak, are extensions of thought. Have you wondered what happens when an artifact sleeps? Or if even...
Scientist: Human artifacts are able to dream like humans. Except that their thoughts have the ability to affect reality. So when a human artifact is knocked unconscious it starts dreaming up a sort of pocket reality, dragging the ship into it. Rai himself was found in a cruise liner, which I presume made use of the dream-reality as a sightseeing attraction. But really, it's dangerous. The dreamspace is filled with air. Incredibly dangerous. Do you know what happens when you ignite a fusion rocket in an atmosphere?
Dice queue (3 free picks): 12 10 20 14 18Status Effects:
none
Skills:
[2] Ground Vehicles
[1] Positioning (x2 Cost): +Defense on criticals
[1] Non-Automatic Weapons: +Attack rolls
[1] Predator: +Stealth rolls
[1] Construction/Modification
[2] Politics: +Political campaigning
[2] Power Systems: +Science rolls
[1] Business: +Finding jobs/deals
[2] Intellect: +Solving mathematical problems
[1] Charisma: Helps improve opinions.
Traits:
Blamed by Military
Artifacts:
Ardenn
Marshal: +3 / -6 (Modifying objects for military purpose)
[+0] Scaling
[+0] Transmutation
[+0] Weaponization
[+0] Armoring
Inventory:
Prisoner tag (attached to arm)
Food tray
Eisenhower interviews the scientist. (See above)
Dice queue (3 free picks): 4 16 12 11 4Miniquests: Dramatic Entrance: Subdue all who have been alerted by your presence. Non-lethally. (Reward: You are now unable to kill people unintentionally, unless you roll a 20)
Status Effects:
Stapled Arm (Slight bleeding. Nothing too serious. -1 to combat.)
Skills:
[2] Charisma: Helps improve opinions.
[1] Contacts: +Finding criminal zones
[1] Constitution: +Chance to resist debuffs
[1] First Aid: +Debuff/bleed removal
[1] Horticulture: +Interacting with flora
[1] Camoflague: +Hiding things, removing tracks
[1] Infantry Combat
[4] Close-Quarters-Combat: +<=Mid range attack
[2] Crit: +Target Defense Reduction
[3] Automatic Weapons: +Attack rolls
Traits:
Dashing Good Looks
Artifacts:
Heroic Cowl
Noble (+3 / -6) (bonus against criminals)
Underdog (+3 / -6) (bonus when outmatched)
Dramatic (+3 / -6) (bonus in narratively dramatic situations)
[+0] Dexterity enhancement
[+0] Dodge saves: You can replace your Defense roll with this special power
[+0] Environment modification
Inventory:
Heroic Getup
Prisoner tag (attached to arm)
Food tray
Think about a plan of action that will save these people's lives from bleeding out/being poisoned or diseased, and possibly revive the people who died with the power of 20.
If you can get your hands on you artifact, you could perhaps construct automatons resembling the dead's former selves. But the dead were shot with electrical pistols. Their brains are as good as fried for the most part. Necromancy? That's outside of your field of expertise... but you could try it. (It would only be possible with a 20 and your orb)
To your knowledge, there is no definite cure to anything inside your hazardsuit. It would take some effort in a lab to find a cure to your resident microbes, although antibiotics and generic antivirals
might have an effect.
Dice queue (3 free picks): 3 15 19 6 2 1 15 20Status Effects:
none
Skills:
[2] Medical
[2] First Aid: +Debuff/bleed removal
[1] Surgery: +Healing long-term damage
[2] Physician: +Medicines/poisons/antidotes
[3] Genetics: +Genemodding/genecrafting
[1] Conduct (Intimidation, Politeness, Elegance)
[2] Willpower: +Resistance to mind control
[2] Intellect: +Solving mathematical problems
[1] Persuader: Bonus to persuasion checks.
Traits:
Biohazard
Artifacts:
Orb of Mutagenesis
Perfection: (+3 / -6) (bonus to creating better creatures)
Transformative: (+3 / -6) (bonus to drastic, large-scale mutation)
[+0] Shapeshifting
[+0] Plaguecrafting
[+0] Extreme genetics
Inventory:
Biohazard Suit
Prisoner tag (attached to arm)
Food tray
Oxygen Tank
Electric Screwdriver
"Whuh...Huh?"
Wipe perspiration from my face with the Magic Space Towel, then sit patiently and wait for things to happen.
"Well. I'll just wait here. Space comet..."
Look at all the dice.
You wait for--
Two guards plop down in front of you. They came from the ship apparently. A pair of rifles then slams down on your head, first one and then the other. It hurts like hell.
But somehow they didn't break your skull or anything like that. It's almost like the bonds between your atoms are stronger in this towel dimension or something.
Dice queue (3 free picks): [?] [?]r [?] 10r [10] [2]Status Effects: Skills:[5]
Persuader: Bonus to persuasion checks.[5]
Politeness: Avoids offending people.[5]
Mediator: +Conflict resolution[5]
Bartering: +HagglingTraits:Perfectly Normal
Artifacts:The one, the only, the egregious, magic space towelUnnormalcy (+3 / -6) (Strange things, strange coincidences)
Inventory: Magic Space TowelPrisoner tag (attached to arm)
Food tray
Author
Topic: Space Wizards 4: Now with more rocketpunk. Turn 14 (Mar 25) (Read 23432 times)