No, Seriously, Why Did Only One Person Go For It
Festi uses Earth Magic to force himself out of the ground and then kinda calmly walks over to the gem.
[3] Festi tries to get himself out by pushing up the ground underneath him, but it isn't working very well—the dirt is taking too long to compress. Frustrated, he forces the surrounding dirt
away from him, instead, leaving him, after a short fall, at the bottom of an inverse cone. He climbs the slope without any trouble, covered in dirt and gloomy about the less-than-optimal expenditure of magic power. [-2 MAG] [+1 XP]
His unhappiness vanishes as he approaches the ruby. Even without any sort of mystic analysis, he can tell that the gem is magical; it
is floating in midair, after all, and mundane gems of its size simply don't exist.
Infighting Amongst the Forces of Evil (And Science, I Guess)
1st - Blabert: 6 + 0 = 6
2nd - Thragnar: 1 + 0 = 1
3rd - Jack Bones (major distance difference + slow projectile)
"Hey! No, bad specimen." Inject Thragnar with a weakness formula.
[1] Somehow, Blabert fumbles his syringe badly enough to inject
himself with the dose of weakness formula. He was pretty weak to begin with, though, so it doesn't have much of an effect. [-2 STR]
[Weak (3)] [-1 Empty Syringe][-1 Weakness Formula] [+1 XP]
RAAAGH!!! THRAGNAR NAZZASH CUT LITTLE MAN IN HALF AND CHOP LITTLE MAN UP INTO LITTLE PIECES AND THEN EAT LITTLE MAN LIKE CANDY!!!
[4 vs. 3] THRAGNAR CHOP AT LITTLE MAN'S ARM WITH AXE. LITTLE MAN'S ARM FALL OFF. THRAGNAR TOO FOCUSED ON COMBAT TO MAUL AND/OR EAT ARM. [-1 STR]
[Blabert: Severed Left Arm (5)] [Thragnar: +2 XP]
I Throw a Necromantic Missile at the ork, Because why not end the First guy to fight?
[6 vs. 6-1] Drawing upon more than half of his magical power, Jack Bones launches a massive, purple energy missile. As it soars through the air, crackling, bits of mana fleck off of it; where they land, the grass dies. After several seconds of flight, it collides with Thragnar, whose flesh immediately begins to rot off; the orc roars, and the effect stops there—begins to revert, even?—but the damage has been done. [Jack Bones: -4 MAG][Thragnar: -2 VIT]
[Thragnar: Rotted Flesh] [Jack Bones: +2 XP][Thragnar: +1 XP]
Interdimensional Booze Cruise
"Oh sweet mercy, familiarity! Um, you two" he points at Tim and Varies "seem like you don't want to kill me, so you can follow me if you want." Lonnie climbs in the portal. "Hello? Anybody here?" Use 1 Luck to search for any people in the bar, and a weapon. A gun would be preferable, but any weapon will do.
Taking a deep breath, Lonnie steps through the portal.
...
[4] The bar is empty of both people and loose objects; all the furnishings one would expect are present, but there is nothing atop any of them. Grumbling, he steps through the only door into a storage room, which is similarly empty—save, at a second glance, for a single broken bottle. That sorta counts as a weapon, maybe. [+1 Broken Bottle]
...Now that Lonnie thinks about it, it's pretty weird that the bar has no exits (portal aside). A look at the walls confirms that it also lacks windows, a chimney, and any other obvious links to the outside world. It has electric lights, though, so power has to be getting in somehow...
Other People Doing Other Things
Step back a little, Attribute Shift 1 block of charisma into speed, and Body Shift into a wolf.
Attribute Shift! Over the next few seconds, Varies grows uglier—but also leaner. [1 CHA → 1 SPD]
[4] Next, Varies' body begins to change more drastically. His arms and legs shorten, his hands and feet become paws, and he grows a coat of fur; before long, he's a wolf. A veteran shapeshifter like him can resist the urge to howl, of c—
aroooooo! [-2 VIT, -2 LCK] [Form: Wolf] [+1 XP]
"I'll stay here for now. If that's truly a bar, I'm sure you'll find your element in no time! By the way, I am Ted, student of the great ancients! That's an impressive talent, Various!" More pleasantries and observation. Watch the arena for anything interesting.
What makes one human: body, or mind? Does Varies not challenge many of the assumptions one has about humanity? Or should one not consider him to be human at all?exit through the hole in the fence and head toward the road leading outside, checking to see what those buildings are about along the way.
After exiting the clearing through the hole in the fence, Joseph crosses the street (looking both ways beforehand, of course; a Paladin must always do their best to follow the rules), since the buildings he wishes to examine are on the far side. The first, situated directly across from the hole, appears to be a store named ClassMart; a sign attached to the building's roof gives a slogan.
The only vocational vendor in Levelopolis! Here, it's no hassle to get supplies unique to your class... -le!
Finding it unlikely that they'd have any Bahamut-blessed items, Joseph moves on to the next building... except that it's not really a building. As far as he can tell, it's a tall—twice as tall as the surrounding buildings!—and perfectly-formed block of stone. There might be something on the far side, but
this side is honestly kind of creepy so he strides over to the next building right away.
Unfortunately, it isn't very interesting—it's just a house. A sign proclaims it to be for sale—which could be useful, since he needs lodging—but he doesn't have enough money to even
consider purchasing a house. Heck, he doesn't have
any money.
He comes to a stop in front of a dim alley. It practically screams "shady"; no doors exit into it, and—though the poor lighting makes it difficult to tell—it seems to end in a wall. It would probably be wisest to ignore it and head west.
Stats & Stuff
Blabert: -
Festi: +1 MAG
Lonnie: +1 LCK
Jack: +1 MAG
Joseph: -
Ted: -
Thragnar: +1 STR
Varies: +1 LCK
Blabert, Biologist: 0/0.5 STR, 1.5/1.5 VIT, 2/2 SPD, 3.5/3.5 MAG, 3/3 CHA, 2.5/2.5 LCK | [-2 STR]
[Weak (3)][Severed Left Arm (5)]Festi, Earth Mage: 2/2 STR, 3/3 VIT, 0/0 SPD, 2.5/4.5 MAG, 0.5/0.5 CHA, 2/2 LCK | Fine
Jack Bones, Necromancer: 0.5/0.5 STR, 1.5/1.5 VIT, 2.5/2.5 SPD, 3.5/5.5 MAG, 0/0 CHA, 2/2 LCK | Fine
Lonnie, Barkeep: 1.5/1.5 STR, 2.5/2.5 VIT, 2.5/2.5 SPD, 1/1 MAG, 3.5/3.5 CHA, 3/3 LCK | Fine
Joseph D., Paladin: 3/3 STR, 4/4 VIT, 0.5/0.5 SPD, 3.5/3.5 MAG, 3/3 CHA, 0.5/0.5 LCK | Fine
Ted, Philosopher: 0.5/0.5 STR, 1.5/1.5 VIT, 1.5/1.5 SPD, 2.5/2.5 MAG, 5/5 CHA, 2/2 LCK | Fine
Thragnar, Barbarian: 5/5 STR, 2/4 VIT, 2.5/2.5 SPD, 0/0 MAG, 0/0 CHA, 1/1 LCK |
[Thragnar: Rotted Flesh]Varies, Shapeshifter: 2/2 STR, 0/2 VIT, 2/3 SPD, 2/2 MAG, 1/1 CHA, 1/2 LCK | Fine
Look out for %$$#^! They're very dangerous.
Please tell me if you see any mistakes! There were plenty of places where I might have made them.
Edit: Just to be clear, the noise in the Turn Tip isn't an expletive or anything. It's just a secret.