Ordinarily, one of the reasons why mages were so powerful was because both the shield and the weapon of a warrior were viable targets for their spells, forcing them to dodge if they wanted to avoid the spell. With the sword and shield being the most popular weapon combo, the shield served mostly as a giant target for the spell casters. However, with either a sword, shield, or ring of minor spell reflection, neither the sword nor shield counted as targets, meaning you could block spells that came towards you.
A major ring of spell reflection actually let you bounce back any spell you blocked right back at its caster 3 times a day, but the minor ring was still much more powerful than someone like me deserved. I also determined that the ring with three red gemmed was in fact a unique one, which was at least better than being unsure about it. Placing both rings on my fingers, I thanked Selenia, gave her the gold piece and explained that I was using it to buy her silence, and then dug into my small closet nest.
An hour later, her boyfriend marched inside, waking me from my light sleep. He seemed rather angry, and I quickly learned why. He and the rest of the nobles had been staying at the inn, waiting for an ambush they were expecting to come, but only a handful of ratfolk ever made their way to the inn after the first initial wave. Ulcik eventually ended up breaking character, calling the Cave, and finding out that all the monsters were too tired to go and attack the inn.
All the players who had stayed up all night at the inn were furious, having been denied what was supposed to be a fun and easy battle. Selenia explained that it had been me that had been fighting hundreds of ratfolk, and he quickly demanded to know how she knew. She explained that one of the monsters who was going back to his cabin had told her what had happened, and her boyfriend ranted and raved for a little longer before he collapsed into his bed.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:50
I returned to sleep, but with the urgency that comes from understanding I only had the rest of the day to complete my goals, I woke up after only another three hours of sleep. If my guess was correct, most of the players would still be sleeping at this time, especially since they had practically spent the entire night guarding the inn. After eating a pathetic breakfast, I looked out of the closet into the cabin. Selenia and her boyfriend were sleeping, in what I noticed were seperate beds. Looking at the gear her boyfriend had carelessly tossed to the ground, including a clearly magical two-handed sword, I wished vehemently that you didn't need a sanctioned witness in order to steal things. Just as I was about to leave the cabin, a dirty little rule suddenly entered my mind.
With the rulebook within reach, I went ahead and made sure I had read it correctly. I read it again to make sure that I had not ommitted anything. I then struggled slightly with my decision.
Available to all players was the ability to deliver a finishing blow to a fallen enemy. Dropping a monster or player to 0 HP meant that it had only fallen unconcious, and that it would still take the fifteen minutes for it to die. However, by delivering a coup-de-grace, a declared attack that you had to wait five seconds before you delivered it, you bypassed the whole fifteen minutes and just instantly killed your opponent. And, the rules made certain to say that this finishing blow could be used on sleeping people, making it possibly the best way to assassinate someone.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:51
I wondered at first if I was betraying Selenia's trust by murdering her boyfriend while he slept, but knowing that he was from house Ulcik made my decision very simple. With sword in hand, I declared my attack, counted the five seconds out loud, and gently tapped his shoulder.
I then gently woke him.
He did not awaken gently.
He knew full well what I had done even before I told him. He threw a fit, loud enough to wake Selenia, but I calmly showed him the rules I had followed, and told him that he had died in his sleep, not even knowing who had killed him. He had no choice but to accept his character's death, but I knew for certain that when he went back to the inn to get ressurected, he'd tell everyone that I had killed him.
I then almost ran right out of the cabin, before realizing something very important. I turned to the guy, and told him I was taking his stuff. With him being a fallen enemy, he would act as the witness as I looted his gear. He turned to Selenia, and he knew better than I did that she had no way to stop me. Emptying a pouch that held over fifty gold(!) and grabbing the two-handed sword, I felt somewhat reluctant about parting with my old sword. I asked him if he wanted to keep the physical weapon, an overly ornate and tacky piece, and he agreed that he'd prefer it if I just took the two ribbons that told people that his sword was both +3 and made of enchanted silver.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:52
Hoping my tiny bit of revenge against the noble house would not backfire on me, I ran off. Keeping to the smaller paths, I briefly considered going into other cabins and killing other people while they slept. This plan dissolved rather quickly, as within the half hour I managed to find two people talking at a crossroad. Moving off the path, I listened and discovered that the boyfriend and not even waited to tell people at the inn, but had warned a fellow noble, who was now rousing everyone awake. At first I felt bad that potential victims were now gone, but I realized this was better for me. They'd be weakened by lack of sleep, and more importantly they'd be active, giving me something to do.
The two people then parted and ran off in opposite directions, leaving me to figure out a plan. Attaching the two ribbons to my sword, I could now deal 7 damage, and double damage against creatures weak to silver. Since it was a brand new day, I had my full 14 HP, along with my one 7 damage fire spell and my three 4HP heal spells. I felt ready to take on the world.
While feeling pretty good about my newfound and restored power, I spotted Vlaine heading towards the cave. Seeing that he wasn't a monster just yet, I went up to him, and asked him what he was doing so early in the morning. Vlaine explained that all the monsters were gathering together in the cave, preparing for a huge battle.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:54
Questioning him further, he explained that this battle was somewhat unplanned, and was basically being cobbled together because last night's big battle didn't go as planned. While the monsters had had their share of fun, the players in the inn felt like they had just wasted their time. The funny part was that they couldn't really complain, because in a way I had been defending the inn, and would be considered a hero in the game. I explained I definitely would not be seen as a hero, especially since I had just killed a noble this morning.
Vlaine found this news very amusing. He, and most of the people who played monsters, all really hated the nobles, and this was only good news to them. My gears turning, I asked for more details about the upcoming battle.
This time, they wouldn't just be weak little ratfolk. They were going as various types of giants, including trolls and ogre mages. Vlaine was one of the few monsters who was actually good at casting spells, so he knew that he'd be chosen to play the part of an ogre mage. Since he was a mage, he'd probably be put in charge of a small squadron, probably of younger monsters.
I then told him what I was planning. He stopped me short, telling me that most of the monsters would not agree to doing anything like that, because they knew that a monster's role was not to kill, but be killed. I felt disheartened for a second, before Vlaine also explained there were definitely a few monsters, if not a few players, who would want nothing more than to help me accomplish my goals.
We planned quickly. The huge battle would take a lot of preparation, about two hours or so. During that time, Vlaine would talk to some of the younger monsters that he thought would be on my side. He said that was a pretty easy step, since I had managed to get a lot of respect through killing so many ratfolk by myself. After that, he himself would go on patrol, using the freedom of being a monster to look for players. He would then lead them to me.
Within an hour, there were six teenagers sitting around me inside a wooded glen. Asking them a few questions, it became quite clear that they hated the nobles, not just the ones from Ulcik's house. They told me themselves that they had heard I had defended the inn despite being a fugitive, none of them realizing that all I did was stop the nobles from having a chance to show off. Thankfully, whether or not they were trustworthy didn't matter, I explained what I wanted them to do. Handing them each a gold piece, I promised them another if things went as planned.
I met up with Vlaine fifteen minutes before the big battle was supposed to start, and he said that everything was ready. He even said that he had gone one step further than we had planned, and managed to convince a particular person to join us. It was the guy who I had been forced to resort to relying on statistical advantage in order to defeat. After that first battle where he had figured out to use the low stance to counter my attacks, I recieved the chance to fight him several more times. He was easily one of the most skilled fighters that was here, and it was only towards the end of that night that I felt like I had grown to be able to fight him purely with skill. Even by then though, I felt that had we both been outfitted with the same weapon, I would have lost each time.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:58
Vlaine then explained that that man was going to be playing a summoned air elemental, a creature that could walk right past a shield wall just by saying that he was flying. This meant that the battle could very quickly turn into the perfect situation for me.
As he ran back to the cave in order to get his costume on, I ran towards the large field where the battle would take place. I moved into the woods that lined the field, preparing a makeshift blind to conceal my position. What I needed to do now was just watch and wait, until the perfect moment presented itself.
The two armies soon gathered at opposite ends of the field. The giants were organized in loose squads, and were clearly out numbered almost two-to-one. However that was only in reality, while in the fantasy world there were more giants than there were players. When a giant would fall, he would go to the edge of the woods, wait a few seconds, and then come back as a new giant.
Typically, they had a set number of times they respawn, depending on how strong of a giant they were, with weaker giants respawning more times than stronger giants. However, this number would likely change as the battle went on, as the old man (the battle coordinator) would see how many mages still could cast spells on the players' side. If there were only a handful of mages left, the coordinator would just tell the monsters to stop respawning, and the battle would soon be over. Everything was geared in the player's favor, and there was absolutely no chance that they would lose.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:00
The players were organized by noble house. Those who were not part of a noble house were conscripted into one for the duration of the battle. Their strategy was simple. The warriors would form a shield wall, with the mages behind them as support. A few of the noble warriors were already in the front lines, with pocket mages already behind them. They would just let the waves of giants crash onto the shield lines, which would undoubtedly hold (the strong warriors would never fall because of their pocket mages, while the weaker warriors would just be replaced as they fell). Everything about the battle seemed to have already been decided.
I spotted Ulcik, safely in the back, with a large entourage. Among them, I spotted Hardule, Lith, and even Selenia and her newly resurrected boyfriend. Knowing that that could turn into a very complicated situation, I hoped that the battle would press the entourage to spread out.
As the battle began, the air quickly filled with shouts. The nobles shouted orders at the other players, while the giants simply shouted. I watched intently, seeing the players shift around, until I saw what I was looking for. Six players, with shields forming a line, were directly in front of Vlaine's squad of giants.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:02
I stood up, and walked out of the forest, behind the players' forces. Vlaine, who had been fighting lazily, spotted me, and with a great shout, lifted his staff into the air with both hands. Responding to this signal, the six players moved out and to the sides, forming a massive gap directly in the center of the shield wall formation. Ignoring those six, Vlaine and his squad marched right past the sheild wall, striking down mage after mage.
It all happened in an instant. The scripted battle, with it's foretold conclusion, turned into absolute chaos. The players tried at first to close the gap, but the other monsters knew an advantage when they saw one. They poured into the gap, striking the almost completely defenseless mages, dropping one after the other. With no healer support, the front line began to crumble and a complete rout seemed likely.
That was, until Ulcik and the other nobles decided to step up.
With a single spell, Ulcik obliterated Vlaine's entire squadron, stopping the spearhead formation that had managed to create such a large gap. As he continued to throw spells with abandon, the other nobles began activating their special abilities. Some became invincible, others exploded in damage, and one managed to revive ten of the mages who had fallen. The battle quickly turned against the giants, who were pressed back until the shield wall reestablished itself.
I watched all this with anticipation.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:03
No one seemed to notice me, or at least, they didn't seem to care about me. No one except Lith. As soon as he spotted me, he knew my intentions. He moved towards me, away from Ulcik, and confronted me.
There was no point in words. This wasn't a matter that concerned House Ulcik or this game, all that mattered was that this was a rematch, a moment for Lith to restore his lost honor. As he moved towards me, I threw an Ice spell at him, hoping to pin his legs. Without flinching, he simply replied "Minor Immunity" and continued forward.
This was fine by me. Being immune to all low level spells (which were all of my spells) made this into a straight sword fight. The only thing that irked me was that it was most likely Ulcik who had cast it on Lith, but even that meant one less spell Ulcik could cast today.
We were a bit of a distance away from the rest of the battle, and while I desperately needed to pay attention to it, I couldn't afford to. Lith was earnestly trying to kill me, and this time I was ready to respond in kind.
Anonymous, 07/23/2010, 00:04
He had not been through what I had been through. His sword was slow in comparison to the daggers I had faced, and his shield seemed to trouble him more than me. My sword sang, slicing through the air and then into his leg, and again into his shoulder. He was shocked when he heard me call out 7 damage, and now he was at best two hits away from dying. He didn't say a word though, and charged forward, slamming me with his shield.
I fell back, not expecting the illegal strike, but complimenting him on his willingness to use it. He wasn't holding anything back, and I was glad he had decided to take this so seriously. As he tried again to slam his shield into me, I used all of my strength to whip my sword into his, disarming him and tossing his sword away. I followed the blow with a light tap to his shoulder, before letting him pick up his sword.
Three times seven was 21, while he only had started with 22 HP. With his single HP left, I decided to remind him of our earlier battle, by telling him to run off to the inn to find a healer.
These might have been some kind of magic words. As soon as I said them, he shouted, threw down his shield, and leapt at me with his sword.
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u/Vinccool96 Transcriber Oct 15 '18
Image Transcription: Greentext
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:48
Ordinarily, one of the reasons why mages were so powerful was because both the shield and the weapon of a warrior were viable targets for their spells, forcing them to dodge if they wanted to avoid the spell. With the sword and shield being the most popular weapon combo, the shield served mostly as a giant target for the spell casters. However, with either a sword, shield, or ring of minor spell reflection, neither the sword nor shield counted as targets, meaning you could block spells that came towards you.
A major ring of spell reflection actually let you bounce back any spell you blocked right back at its caster 3 times a day, but the minor ring was still much more powerful than someone like me deserved. I also determined that the ring with three red gemmed was in fact a unique one, which was at least better than being unsure about it. Placing both rings on my fingers, I thanked Selenia, gave her the gold piece and explained that I was using it to buy her silence, and then dug into my small closet nest.
An hour later, her boyfriend marched inside, waking me from my light sleep. He seemed rather angry, and I quickly learned why. He and the rest of the nobles had been staying at the inn, waiting for an ambush they were expecting to come, but only a handful of ratfolk ever made their way to the inn after the first initial wave. Ulcik eventually ended up breaking character, calling the Cave, and finding out that all the monsters were too tired to go and attack the inn.
All the players who had stayed up all night at the inn were furious, having been denied what was supposed to be a fun and easy battle. Selenia explained that it had been me that had been fighting hundreds of ratfolk, and he quickly demanded to know how she knew. She explained that one of the monsters who was going back to his cabin had told her what had happened, and her boyfriend ranted and raved for a little longer before he collapsed into his bed.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:50
I returned to sleep, but with the urgency that comes from understanding I only had the rest of the day to complete my goals, I woke up after only another three hours of sleep. If my guess was correct, most of the players would still be sleeping at this time, especially since they had practically spent the entire night guarding the inn. After eating a pathetic breakfast, I looked out of the closet into the cabin. Selenia and her boyfriend were sleeping, in what I noticed were seperate beds. Looking at the gear her boyfriend had carelessly tossed to the ground, including a clearly magical two-handed sword, I wished vehemently that you didn't need a sanctioned witness in order to steal things. Just as I was about to leave the cabin, a dirty little rule suddenly entered my mind.
With the rulebook within reach, I went ahead and made sure I had read it correctly. I read it again to make sure that I had not ommitted anything. I then struggled slightly with my decision.
Available to all players was the ability to deliver a finishing blow to a fallen enemy. Dropping a monster or player to 0 HP meant that it had only fallen unconcious, and that it would still take the fifteen minutes for it to die. However, by delivering a coup-de-grace, a declared attack that you had to wait five seconds before you delivered it, you bypassed the whole fifteen minutes and just instantly killed your opponent. And, the rules made certain to say that this finishing blow could be used on sleeping people, making it possibly the best way to assassinate someone.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:51
I wondered at first if I was betraying Selenia's trust by murdering her boyfriend while he slept, but knowing that he was from house Ulcik made my decision very simple. With sword in hand, I declared my attack, counted the five seconds out loud, and gently tapped his shoulder.
I then gently woke him.
He did not awaken gently.
He knew full well what I had done even before I told him. He threw a fit, loud enough to wake Selenia, but I calmly showed him the rules I had followed, and told him that he had died in his sleep, not even knowing who had killed him. He had no choice but to accept his character's death, but I knew for certain that when he went back to the inn to get ressurected, he'd tell everyone that I had killed him.
I then almost ran right out of the cabin, before realizing something very important. I turned to the guy, and told him I was taking his stuff. With him being a fallen enemy, he would act as the witness as I looted his gear. He turned to Selenia, and he knew better than I did that she had no way to stop me. Emptying a pouch that held over fifty gold(!) and grabbing the two-handed sword, I felt somewhat reluctant about parting with my old sword. I asked him if he wanted to keep the physical weapon, an overly ornate and tacky piece, and he agreed that he'd prefer it if I just took the two ribbons that told people that his sword was both +3 and made of enchanted silver.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:52
Hoping my tiny bit of revenge against the noble house would not backfire on me, I ran off. Keeping to the smaller paths, I briefly considered going into other cabins and killing other people while they slept. This plan dissolved rather quickly, as within the half hour I managed to find two people talking at a crossroad. Moving off the path, I listened and discovered that the boyfriend and not even waited to tell people at the inn, but had warned a fellow noble, who was now rousing everyone awake. At first I felt bad that potential victims were now gone, but I realized this was better for me. They'd be weakened by lack of sleep, and more importantly they'd be active, giving me something to do.
The two people then parted and ran off in opposite directions, leaving me to figure out a plan. Attaching the two ribbons to my sword, I could now deal 7 damage, and double damage against creatures weak to silver. Since it was a brand new day, I had my full 14 HP, along with my one 7 damage fire spell and my three 4HP heal spells. I felt ready to take on the world.
While feeling pretty good about my newfound and restored power, I spotted Vlaine heading towards the cave. Seeing that he wasn't a monster just yet, I went up to him, and asked him what he was doing so early in the morning. Vlaine explained that all the monsters were gathering together in the cave, preparing for a huge battle.
Anonymous, 07/22/2010, 23:54
Questioning him further, he explained that this battle was somewhat unplanned, and was basically being cobbled together because last night's big battle didn't go as planned. While the monsters had had their share of fun, the players in the inn felt like they had just wasted their time. The funny part was that they couldn't really complain, because in a way I had been defending the inn, and would be considered a hero in the game. I explained I definitely would not be seen as a hero, especially since I had just killed a noble this morning.
Vlaine found this news very amusing. He, and most of the people who played monsters, all really hated the nobles, and this was only good news to them. My gears turning, I asked for more details about the upcoming battle.
This time, they wouldn't just be weak little ratfolk. They were going as various types of giants, including trolls and ogre mages. Vlaine was one of the few monsters who was actually good at casting spells, so he knew that he'd be chosen to play the part of an ogre mage. Since he was a mage, he'd probably be put in charge of a small squadron, probably of younger monsters.
I then told him what I was planning. He stopped me short, telling me that most of the monsters would not agree to doing anything like that, because they knew that a monster's role was not to kill, but be killed. I felt disheartened for a second, before Vlaine also explained there were definitely a few monsters, if not a few players, who would want nothing more than to help me accomplish my goals.
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