>>31138438
And I posted the actual story update instead of the header first, whoops.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaucyQM

Previous quests: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Bone%20Mage%20Quest

Your name is Volkov Marulovich, and you are a strapping young man of 18. You have been under the tutelage of your master for 4 years now. You are a bone mage in training and have specialized in the art of crafting and using artifacts. After putting down a minor rebellion with the help of your master, you were promoted to being an independent mage capable of taking on contracts by yourself.

Character Sheet (may contain spoilers for archive readers):
http://pastebin.com/KAtHATCu

Skill Tree Sheet
http://pastebin.com/ep6NtCmk

>>31138438
>Perform extra maintenance on gear
maybe even improvements?

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Awww shit Bone mage quest

>Re-supply in town

Whats or bullet count at the moment?

>>31138590
11 lead balls, 2 marrow pellets.

>>31138438
>>Perform extra maintenance on gear

>>31138515
>>31138665
Maintenance wins out.

TIME FOR BONEMAGE!!!!!

>>31138590
im thinking we just work on shaper leveling for now. any chance we get. i want to unlock a another tier.
>>31138610

When we get to the next level do we unlock all the skills in that tier via realization of efficiency ect..or do we have to gain skills in the teir one by one by doing shaper shit.

You decide to take a look at your gear while the ship is relatively still, the lack of motion helping to keep your hands steady. You start with the pistol, which seems to be handling the strain of the seismic charger accessory that you swapped in just fine, although the barrel is a bit scratched and gouged up from where you used it to block incoming attacks. Next up is your rifle, which performed beautifully the first time you used it. The wooden body of the rifle that you salvaged from the old arquebuss that you picked up seems to be holding up for now, but you figure in the future that will need to be replaced with something sturdier. Next comes the saber that you acquired in Danmorm. Despite having difficulty with the heavy mana cost on it, you have become much more comfortable with using it, and you feel like you are now able to use it much more effectively. Your trusty dagger is still in need of some metal work to bring it back up to peak shape, but it is still quite effective in its current state. Your gauntlets don't need any maintenance themselves as they haven't actually taken any damage in battle yet.

As you toil away performing maintenance on your gear you hear the crew outside wrapping up moving the cargo off board. You figure you at most have an hour left before they will be ready to depart.

(As a result of your careful ministrations, your gear is in tip top shape, granting you a small temporary bonus in combat when using it)

>Re-supply in town
>Read some of the books you brought along
>Other (write in)

>>31138871
Tier 1 skills you get automatically upon gaining the level for all trees.

For Shaper, you get the abilities as soon as you level because it's your specialty.

For Slayer and Speaker, you need to actually have someone teach you the skills of higher levels as you level up.

>>31138999
>Re-supply in town

>>31138999
>Re-supply in town
aren't we down to only 2 marrow pellets? either buy more, or buy the raw materials to produce more

>>31139054
>>31139072
Writing. Also you do have the materials to produce more pellets back at home.

You decide to head out to the market while you can to restock your supplies, namely your lead balls. To you, 11 would normally seem like plenty to have on hand, however the trip out used more balls than you though you would use total. With this in mind you walk into a general gunsmith's shop. Inside you see the shopkeeper setting up a new display, which seems to be focused around a new shape of ammunition. Instead of the typical perfectly round ball you are used to seeing it has more of a conical shape. Walking over to the display, you pick up one of the rounds and see that the bottom is cupped inward.
“Like what you see?” The shopkeeper asks you, seeing you examining the bullets.

“Those are brand new, just got them in today in fact,” he continues, “10 silver each.”

Intrigued by the shape of the bullet you ask the shopkeeper if he has any molds for sale of the new shape.

“I do, actually, they cost 2 gold. We also have standard lead balls in stock, 3 silver apiece.”

What do you buy?
>Mold [2 gold]
>Bullet [10 silver] (specify amount)
>Ball [3 silver] (specify amount)

>>31139498
>Inquire as to the benefits of the odd shape.

>>31139498
>Mold [2 gold]

So we can crate our own later
>Ball [3 silver] (specify amount)

Atleast 3

>Bullet [10 silver] (specify amount)

3 for our rifle specifically

objections?

>>31139517
The shopkeeper claims that this new shape is much more accurate at long distances as well as able to penetrate targets easier.

>>31139498
1xmold
4xballs
3xbullets

>>31139498
does he have a range? buy a couple, do a few test shots, if it performs as well as he says buy a mold and a few bullets (to use until we can make more).

>>31139186
>you do have the materials to produce more pellets back at home.
yea, but they aren't here with us and we might be attacked on the return trip

>>31139601
PS. if we get the bullets, we should not buy any more balls. Switch entirely to bullets, heck, melt and recast our balls as bullets

>>31139619
Were going to probs wait until we get back until then having back up ammo wouldnt be bad

>>31139601
You ask the shopkeeper if he has a range to test the bullets at. He shakes his head and says he doesn't.

>>31139549
>>31139583
Also, it seems like there's a trend forming for 1 mold and 3 bullets. If you do buy the mold, once you get home all of your balls will get converted into bullets.

>>31139821
Yup sounds good

You decide to purchase the mold as well as 3 bullets and 3 balls, bringing total cost to 2 gold and 39 silver. You pay the shopkeeper and head back to the ship, which you suspect is almost ready to depart. Upon arriving back at the ship's dock, you see that the last of the cargo is being loaded on board. You head up the gangway onto the ship and settle back in for the trip back to Xel'Karth. The first two days of the voyage are without incident. As you enter the last day of the voyage you near the area of the sea that you were initially attacked, passing by that small island chain that was pointed to you on the map prior to leaving. Acting on a hunch, you ask the captain if he can give the chain as wide of a berth as possible. He thinks about it for a moment before agreeing and changes course a bit. Still, the possibility of being attacked again weighs heavily on your mind.

Where will you focus on patrolling the most?
>The bow, in case they come from the front
>Midship, near the entrance to getting below deck
>Stern, in case they try to sneak up from behind

>>31140247
midship

>>31140247
>Midship, near the entrance to getting below deck

>>31140338
>>31140337
Midship it is.

>>31140395
I assume we have our rifle and pistol loaded ready for battle?

>>31140497
Of course.

>>31140541
alright! just read up on the archive and have half and hour before the drinking starts! lets do this!
oh btw, how about we load one of the new bullets. additionaly i would like to place sailors at guard at the other two places and have us actively scry the horisont using our scope

>>31140589
since im not here long im just gonna contribute as much as possible. what i am thinking is that if we see one of their boats early enough we can shoot it under the waterline and sink it.
additional additional: why havent why implantet our mana implant into our selves yet?

Not wanting to take chances, you decide to focus your attention on patrolling the middle of the ship while two of the crew members cover the ends of the ship. You instructed them to come get you in the event that they see anything suspicious at all. Several hours into the night your patrol is uneventful until you hear a shouting coming from the bow. You rush towards the bow and see that a pair of smaller ships materialize out of the night. On the decks you can see several members of the same cult that you dealt with several nights ago. Amongst their ranks you can see a handful of the larger types of warriors, similar in build and size to Cord although not quite as big. One of the men on board one of the ships takes notice of you and creates a commotion, pointing at you and shaking one of the bigger men.
You pull out your rifle, loaded with one of the new bullets that you bought.

What do you aim at? There are maybe 5 of the bigger men that you can see between the two ships. You can also see a handful of robed members amongst the general rabble as well, indicating that they might be mages.

>>31140790
Gank the Mage first

>>31140790
hmmm again i would vote try to sink the boats, but im just an old mariner set in his way. all these young people with their ra-ti-ta-ta music and the shooting people in the face instead of at their seabarring vessels. tsk tsk tsk, this wouldnt have happend under Bismarch.

but sryly: shoot the mages they are long ranged. Shoot them right in the stupid mage faces!

>>31140790
Robed ones first

>>31140876
actually, I like this. Try to sink their boat with a marrow charged shot? Let the fuckers swim

>>31140790
Can we observe any form of leader or chain of command ?

It is certain that a vessel like this would have a store of blackpowder for their cannons, but where?

>>31140924
If not load a marrow shot and sink the boat

>>31140876
Sink ship an d or mages first priority.
II'd try to get the kill shots with the pistol though. Less mana we need to spend.

>>31140899
>>31140957
>>31140962
excatly let the assholes find out how hard it is to swin while burdend with armor and the knowlegde that they are complet fucktards to try and stand against the might of!.... DUM! DUM! DUUUUM! THE BONER GUN!

I'm seeing a lot of votes for attempting to sink one of the ships, so we'll go with that.

Roll for it.

Rolled 19

>>31141040
a d20?

Rolled 8, 6, 5 = 19

>>31141003
boner gun... pffff! i destroy everything i love. oh well time to start drinking. good luck guys i will check up on you on sup tg.

and yay! just in time - dice+3d10 right?

>>31141057
3d10, best of 3.

Rolled 2, 6, 2 = 10

>>31141040

>>31141057
3d10 is standard

Rolled 9, 7, 10 = 26

>>31141040
rolling

Rolled 2, 1, 2 = 5

>>31141040

Oh shit, we need better rolls. Load a mana pellet in our rifle if it'll help.

This is going to be a tough

Rolled 4, 4, 8 = 16

>>31141040

Rolled 7, 4, 7 = 18

>>31141080

>>31141093
well done anon, well done

>>31141093
>>31141057
Huh, I usually don't roll this well. The dice gods approve of me tonight

>>31141093
>>31141073
>>31141083
Writing.

Rolled 9, 7, 3 = 19

>>31141093

*phew* Thank god.

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>>31141093

>>31141093

Looks like Saucy didn't anticipate us trying to sink one of the ships.

Maybe we should've gone for the...engines? Are there engines?

Anyway, who else has a bit of trepidation about killing multiple Cord-tier guys and facing who knows how many Speakers.

>>31141464
I do, although these guys are smaller than cord, and the last one was a speaker apprentice, much lower level than us.
Actually if they are the same level as him then the guys with the weapons are actually more dangerous.

Also, maybe we should snipe the enemy melee dudes, then melee their mages.

... PS. we never did get a look at the loot from the enemy mage we killed last time

>>31141507
>Actually if they are the same level as him then the guys with the weapons are actually more dangerous.
Doh, that is OOC knowledge. Please excuse my faux pas there.

Your fingers nimbly pop in a marrow pellet into the chamber, bringing you down to a single pellet in your inventory. You decide to activate the seismic charger as well, intending to maximize the power of your shot. At first you take aim at one of the robed men on deck, but then you get the idea to aim a little lower. You line up the shot to hit just below the waterline, but not far enough down that it loses all of its energy prior to impacting the ship. Bracing yourself, you pull the trigger.

The bullet launches out of your rifle with a loud report, speeding towards the ship with more power behind it than a round of it size has any right to have. You hear rather than see where the bullet strikes the ship, the loud splintering of wood and gushing of water alerting you to the level of damage sustained by the ship despite the size of the projectile you hit it with. The people on board panic as the ship shakes and shudders from the rapid flow of water entering the open hole. On of the mages on the intact ship begins to cast a spell to attempt to stabilize the sinking ship, however you decide you won't have any of that and draw your pistol. You quickly line up a shot and fire it at the mage, taking him down before he can finish. Before you can line up a shot to take out the sister ship, one of the warriors is able to leap, no doubt due to the assistance of some of the mages, the distance between his ship and yours and lands with a heavy impact, shaking the deck.
What do you do? Your weapons have been reloaded prior to the warrior jumping on board.

>>31141507
>>31141526

We could've been able to gauge his power by the amount of mana in his bones and see that he was a relatively weak mage.

Anyway, yeah I was surprised that people were so eager to snipe the mages. I prefer your suggested strategy and I'm surprised other people weren't more for it.

>>31141544
Shoot him with the pistol.

>>31141544
Shoot him with the pistol

>>31141544

Pistol him, then rifle AT one of the other melee dude on the non-sinking boat.

>>31141544
Go full commisar on his ass and blam him in the head if that doesnt work Rip and Tear

>>31141544
it occurs to me, a boat is gonna be worth some good dosh. If we kill all the dudes on the non sinking boat we can:
1. harvest them for valuable bones
2. loot them for valuables to sell (like their weapons)
3. claim their boat itself as salvage and convince some of the sailors on our current ship to sail it back to port for us in exchange for a cut of its sale price.

>>31141599

I completely agree, though the boat would probably be submitted as evidence and we'd get it after the investigation. If the first boat actually does go down then I'm all for keeping this one intact.

Two boats of dudes was too scary a prospect though.

On another note, should we tell the crewmen that was stationed here to rouse his fellows so that they can stand on the edge of the ship and make sure any climbers from the sinking boat don't get onboard?

>>31141649
The crewman that was stationed at the bow already ran off to warn the rest of the ship.

>>31141649
IIRC stuff submitted as evidence is returned to us at the end of the investigation. So we will get it eventually

So you want to engage the melee man with your pistol, do you? Roll for it, 3d10.

>>31141544
use the sword. We don't have time to reload a second time before the others start boarding. Save the ammo for the people still on the boat.

>>31141599
The boat is probably not high quality judging by the character descriptions in the last thread.

Rolled 4, 9, 5 = 18

>>31141757

And shoot at another melee guy on the boat afterwards, if possible.

Rolled 10, 4, 1 = 15

>>31141757

Rolled 9, 4, 6 = 19

>>31141757
>>31141767
Damn it, guess I was too late to vote for sword.

>>31141767
>The boat is probably not high quality judging by the character descriptions in the last thread.
so it will sell for less, probably still worth something

>>31141777
>>31141810
>>31141816
Writing.

>>31141718
The bone armor we already have definitely won't fit us since the guy wearing it was over six feet tall. And, Saucy said that the quality of the bone armor was shit.

Armor sounds like a good idea but it is probably heavy and will slow us down a lot. I'm not sure we should wear the armor even if we get one that fits.

>>31141816

Using the sword would mean us getting into this guy's zone of specialty, and it'd take longer than a successful pistol shot (doubt he'll go down in one hit from our sword like most other mooks, seems like the magi buffed him).

If we can manage to take him down with the pistol though, we'll be able to shoot at the (relatively barrel full of fish target) boat with our rifle, then retreat to another section of the boat and snipe them as they come up the length of the deck.

This is presuming they don't go the smart (and fucking dastardly) route of splitting up and hiding in rooms individually to try and fuck us up in a room-by-room search that only we are strong enough to do.

>>31141878

It's really a pity that the bone armor was shit. Oh well, we can at least melt it down (probably) for parts.

You sling the rifle back over your back and draw your saber with your dominate hand. You raise your pistol and fire at the man as he raises his weapon, a heavy looking iron war hammer. You pull the trigger on the gun and see the ball tear off a chunk of flesh from the man's gut, causing him to bleed heavily and fall to his knees. You decide to charge in with your saber raised and finish the man off quickly before he gets some assistance from his allies. As you near him he lunges at you, no doubt using the last remnants of strength he has. On instinct you duck under his lunge and run him through with your saber, not even bothering to power the Fraying module in it. You twist it in place before pulling it out of the man, who collapses into the pool of his own blood. Panting and shaking with adrenaline, you turn your attention back towards the ship, still approaching. It seems the mages are preparing to launch the last of the warriors onto your ship but have yet to cast the spell.
What do you do? Soon the other ship will be in boarding distance, but for now it's still too far for the majority of their forces to jump the gap.

>>31141878
>>31142052
Just because the armor is shitty and too big right now doesn't mean that it has to stay that way.

>>31142167
Start picking the mages off
also exactly how many mages are out there

>>31142167
Snipe the mages with your rifle.

>>31142262
Sure, maybe it'll lure then in closer.

Do these ships have engines?

>>31142371
No, these ships are wind driven.

>>31142262
After you picked off that one mage, there are 3 remaining.

Also, if there are no objections, roll 3d10.

Rolled 10, 10, 3 = 23

>>31142469
Communing with the Dice Gods

Rolled 2, 3, 2 = 7

>>31142469

Rolled 10, 7, 7 = 24

>>31142469
let's do it

>>31142578
>>31142537
>>31142522
Excellent.

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>>31142522
Wow usually the dice would laugh at me

You reload your pistol and take aim at the mages preparing to catapult the last of the big warriors over to your ship. You take aim and fire just as the mages are about to finish casting their spell, critically wounding one of them. Unfortunately for the mages, the warrior more so, they are unable to stop casting in time and the warrior is launched with a wild trajectory, sailing clear over the bow of your ship and into the water on the other side. You reload the pistol once more and fire at the mages. This time they are prepared and cast a Barrier over themselves, which while it isn't strong enough to outright stop the seismic charger enhanced shot from your pistol is enough to deform the ball considerably as well as reduce the amount of energy it has at impact as it strikes on of the mages in the chest, not piercing the skin but definitely knocking the wind out of his chest. You reload once more as the ship nears enough for people on board to toss ropes with hooks tied to the ends around the gunwale of the ship and pull, bringing the ship into boarding range as some of the weaker members leap on to the deck.

What do you do? You have:
17/32 mana
10 lead balls (1 loaded)
2 bullets (1 loaded)
1 marrow pellet (unloaded).

So these boarders were kind of really dumb to just approach like this...look at the godawful horrific losses they're taking before they even get onboard.

>>31143103
cut the ropes

>>31143103
cut the ropes

>>31143103

Can I get a clarification of the situation...

The one ship we blew a hole in is down. Sunk presumably. The other one with (2 mages?) Is now boarding us with grapples and standard men (not enhanced like the big warriors)

>>31142200
i guess that is a project for later

>>31143127
They didn't know we had such powerful ranged capabilities. The guy that escaped only saw us defeat Cord in melee combat.

>>31143194
mmm, they launched one big guy whom we killed, and we disrupted the launch of the last big guy making him go overboard (he might still climb the ship).
How many big guys were on that boat to begin with? if there were 3+ it means they managed to launch 1+ while we were fighting who are currently on the ship somewhere and we didn't notice.

>>31143160
>>31143182
Also call out to the sailors for help

>>31143241
>(he might still climb the ship).
climb back on board the ship i meant
and it is a might, he might also drown. I don't know how cold the water are, whether the ship is designed to allow people to climb back on board, how heavy his gear is, etc.

>>31138438
so, we were supposed to get a list of loot from the battle 4 days ago (most importantly the stuff the enemy mage had). but we never actually got one. what did he have?

>>31143194
The other ship has pretty much sunk at this point, and everybody that was on board has been either trying to get over to the unsunk ship via ropes thrown down to the water. Out of the 4 mages they had on board, 1 is dead, 1 is critically wounded, 1 is lightly wounded and 1 is perfectly healthy. There were only 2 of the big men on that ship, the one that was sunk had 3.

Rolled 10, 3, 10 = 23

>>31143311
he only had a staff that has been taken for evidence by the local police. Have you been paying attention?

>>31143223
this makes the most sense.

>>31143103
Would you mind explaining the situation again?
Such as their remaining numbers and who is where. And if any of the men are missing.

>>31143314
I meant either trying to get to the other ship or trying to find some flotsam to cling to.

>>31143311
All the other mage had on him of any worth was his staff and a small vial of marrow. You did reduce all of the bones into meal and marrow from the dead cultists though, which yielded a fairly sizable quantity despite the amount you had to use to heal yourself.

>>31143223
Pretty much this, they also didn't know you would be ready for them this time.

>>31143361
Enemy forces, as far as you can tell at the moment are:
2 combat capable mages
15 "normal" cultists
and an unknown number of cultists in the water.

>>31143344
apparently i haven't, thanks for clarifying

>>31143250
someone is already alerting the crew.

>>31143344
It's not like they are going to have money on them. Who brings their wallet with them on a raid.

>>31143403
>and an unknown number of cultists in the water.
hehe, swim little cultists, swim like your life depends on it

>>31143429
>they swim to the ship
>they climb aboard and attack us

>>31143407
not wallets, weapons and armor.
even if mundane they are bound to be worth something if sold.

Also, since discussion is so lively I guess I'm going to extend the vote window another 10 minutes. Please link to this post for votes.

>>31143103
either, shoot the mages again with the rifle. (let's se their shield block the rifle) or cut the ropes

>>31143103
Well my vote is

Cut the Ropes

>>31143496
Call out for some support from the sailors.
15 normal cultist im sure the sailors can distract for a couple of minutes while you take em out here and there with you saber. but focus on killing off the mages.

>>31143589
>>31143496


I say shoot a mage with a rifle. Load a marrow pellet.

>>31143645
so basicly call out for help from sailors.
Focus taking down mages.
and helping out sailors when they need it.>>31143496

>>31141697
>The crewman that was stationed at the bow already ran off to warn the rest of the ship.

>>31143250
>>31143645
Why do people keep saying alert the crew. Did they not read the quest or something?. They are on their way but they're normal sailors not soldiers and most of them were sleeping. This was a surprise attack.

Alright, I'm seeing a plan of action here. Snipe the mages while working your way towards the ropes while the sailors engage the bulk of the basic cultists.


Roll 3d10, best of 5 this time.

Also, there's a pretty good chance that I'm going to be dragged away from the computer for a few hours. When it happens I'll post in the thread and then I guess we'll take a break. I'll return a few hours after that and resume running.

>>31143686
>>31143589

I'm down for these. Try not to blow a hole through that boat this time though. So no marrow pellet.

Afterwards go about slicing and dicing cultists as they climb aboard.

I want to save the marrow pellet in case these guys try running. Then we can shoot off their mainsail/mast.

>>31143686
I don't think we'll even need the pellet. TA normal shot from the rifle is more powerful than the pistol. And, they barely managed to stop the pistol.

>>31143752
What are sailors supposed to do? They don't have guns. If they have half a brain they're just going to stand on deck and attack who ever comes near them. Which is exactly what they're supposed to do. We don't need to give them directions.

Rolled 10, 5, 1 = 16

>>31143848

Rolled 9, 9, 1 = 19

>>31143848

Rolled 5, 4, 1 = 10

>>31143848

Rolled 1, 4, 8 = 13

>>31143848
fuck bitches, get paid

Rolled 1, 9, 4 = 14

>>31143879

Rolled 5, 5, 6 = 16

>>31143848
why 5?

>>31143945
Because this was a bigger action sequence than previous. Not that it really mattered with these rolls.

>>31143879

Most ships of the colonial time period had small armories, just in case. The sailors won't be completely unarmed.

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>>31143880
>>31143894
>>31143914
>>31143921
>>31143937
huh..

Rolled 5, 10, 1 = 16

>>31144033
pretty average rolls. the first 5 rolls average to 14.4
the average roll on a 3d10 is 16.5

>>31143879
cut the ropes if they get thier in time. and make sure they have the least amount of troops on deck.
Thats what. and sailors might not be soldiers but they're not some 10 year old with thier dick in thier hands all day long. im sure they can kill some time for us.

>>31144117
With multiple dice I dont know if its the sum of the dice or there individual rolls. Just them 1s set off some bells and whistles and hounds

>>31144270
IIRC it is the sum of the 3 dice. we got a few 10s and 9s, but more 1s than 10s.

>>31144270

The best sum is taken, and unless a roll is straight 1s/10s then 1s/10s don't matter, because 1s/10s happen a lot with 3d10.

Just as you see the cultists begin boarding the ship you see some of the sailors enter your field of vision, armed with heavy looking clubs and a healthy amount of rage. The captain himself makes an appearance, armed with a blunderbuss. The boarded cultists engage the sailors, deeming that the superior numbers are a bigger concern than a lone mage, leaving you free to focus your attention on the enemy mages.

You holster your weapons and draw your rifle, taking aim at the uninjured mage. You fire at the mage, although he's ready for you and has a barrier ready. The bullet strikes the barrier and pierces it, but not before being deflected, causing your shot to miss your intended target but striking the already injured mage, this time actually getting pierced by the your shot.

The uninjured mage glares at you with a fury intense enough that you can feel it despite not being able to see his eyes under his skull helm. He raises his staff and points it at you, a bolt of red energy launching from the tip and striking you in the chest. The actual impact does nothing to you but then you are quickly able to tell what type of spell you were stuck by.

Pain blossoms intensely throughout your body in random patterns, sometimes afflicting your chest but then drifting down to your legs and then elsewhere. You fall to your hands and knees, coughing a small amount of blood. As the pain of the Echo dies down you see a pair of cultists approaching you in your moment of weakness.

What do you do?

>>31144568
why did we even bother to buy shield modules if we never use them

>>31144732
They only protect against kinetic energy, not spells.

>>31144568
>in your moment of weakness.
>What do you do?
how much weakness are we talking about? can we move?

>>31144751
oh, I see.
we should buy some spell shields then

>>31144766
You're on your hands and knees but the effects of the Echo have pretty much dissipated, so you can move relatively freely.

>>31144568
I'm assuming both guns are unloaded. Pull out the sword.

>>31144845
Pistol is loaded, rifle is not.

>>31144805
saber to the face.
>>31144845
i think our pistol might still be good.
if not reload after we dispatch these fuckers.

>>31144805
exaggerate your symptoms, pull sword slowly, pretend to shake, fall down to one knee, fake coughs, etc... until they get close then burst into full speed and kill them quicklike

>>31144845
we shot the big guy with the pistol and the mage with the rifle. sword is the best bet right now.

>>31144867
oh, in this case nevermind on >>31144882
just shoot one with a pistol ASAP then get the other one with the sword.

I think from now on I'm going to change the voting window time frame to start from the first response to a post instead of the post itself.

So the plan is to shoot one of the cultists and then engage the other with your sword. Alright, roll 3d10, best of 3.

>>31145047

Rolled 9, 2, 6 = 17

>>31145047

Rolled 2, 8, 10 = 20

>>31145047

Rolled 9, 8, 3 = 20

>>31145047

Rolled 4, 5, 9 = 18

>>31145047

>>31145130
>>31145119
>>31145117
Writing.

>>31145148

So did you plan for us to take out a ship by sinking it? This encounter seems quite difficult.

>>31145241

Not that the difficulty is bad, mind you. In fact I like it.

Also, I like how our actions have characterized Volkov as a very smart bastard, especially in combat because he's neither the strongest nor the fastest.

Gate guards barring our way? Bluff and drop a name. Men try to rob us? lolno, stand right there and I won't shoot you. 2 boats worth of men attacking us? Haha, won't be 2 boats for long.

>>31145241
i think this is appropriate.
it's a cult that has amassed to such a point they need to steal resources. we cut em off. and now they send in their heavy hitters.
honestly this quest turned out to be higher than our pay grade. and with that said we should be seeling a better reward given we took one of em back and will have bodies as proof.
+ a decent amount of bones from them will be nice too.

>>31145389
To me succes in quest shouldn't always be skills that determine a plan cause dice will fuck your skills in the skull occasionally
But good plans and tactics are eternal

>>31145449

Oh yeah, 5 normal guards (which was our pricetag) wouldn't have been able to do this. That being said, we need to be tactful about asking for more. There's no reason to be mean/uncivil about it, just "hey, now this assignment was a helluva lot more than I signed up for. I defended your boat against a raiding crew, and managed to capture a shitload of guys alive while losing only (x) number of your sailors. The Captain will vouch for me on this. I'm not trying to swindle you, but I'd like a bit more pay."

You push off the deck with your arms, flinging yourself onto your back away from the approaching cultists and draw your pistol. The men charge forward as you raise your pistol, although that doesn't interfere with your aim as you pull the trigger, bringing one of the charging men down with a bullet to the gut. The other man swings down at you with his club but you block it your gauntlet, casting a light Barrier over it to lessen the impact. You push off against the club and draw your sword while getting to your feet.

The man hesitates, unwilling to close the distance while you show no openings. You decide to charge in, knocking the club away with the barrel of your gun as you run the man through with your saber. He coughs, blood pouring from his lips and stomach. You pull the sword out and collapse against the side of the wheelhouse, taking a moment to try and recover some of your stamina and mana. It seems that the sailors have managed to hold their own against the brunt of the cultists to the point were the remaining cultists decide to retreat, the loses too great to actually succeed in taking the ship.

What do you do? All of the remaining cultists have pulled back and have started to sever the ropes between the ships.

You have:

9 lead balls
1 bullet
1 marrow pellet

7/32 mana remaining

>>31145630

Do we have enough mana to fire the rifle full blast left? You said the ship was wind-drive, so they have a main mast that their sail is connected to?

>>31145551
see, I am not sure we can even do this
they went through the guild, they didn't hire us directly as an adventurer. also we basically accepted the risk of there being more than we bargained for. Heck for all we knew it was a giant monster.

We could have gone and taken the more straightforward mission of hunting wild animals.

besides, we can hawk all the loot (their weapons, possible their boat) after investigation is complete

>>31145630
Try to snipe their remaining mage with the rifle. if we take him out its just normal cultists and we stand a chance of taking the boat. Otherwise we let them escape.

we could also "rescue" and tie up anyone in the water who hadn't drowned yet.

>>31145658

If this is the case then I say we load the rifle with a pellet, and shoot it full blast and try to break their main mast. Then they won't be able to move, we can snipe the mage at our leisure and capture all of them.

>>31145630
I say we sink their last ship
also we heal and tie up that any body who isnt on the verge of death we could p4obs squeeze out some more money with a live captive

>>31145722
>>31145734

I suppose whichever of these I vote for depends on whether or not we'd be able to catch up to them as-is. Consult the captain?

>>31145551
while we should ask more, we can certainly try and have

we already delivered a bunch of live captives to the authorities in the last city we stopped at.

>>31145241
When I first planned out this mission I wasn't planning the return trip to be this difficult. However that nat 3 kind of threw those plans out the window. The one cultist getting away to tell the others made them have backup for this.

>>31145551
>>31145666
You'll get a bonus for your hard work, don't you worry about that too much.

>>31145658
You have just enough to fire one more full power shot, seismic charger and all.

>>31145786

They weren't nearly so high-ranked. I think they we'll get a hella bonus if we can manage to keep one of the mages alive.

>>31145734
oh yea, they are wind powered...

>>31145734

I'm down for this. The mage will put up a barrier around himself, but he won't expect us to shoot the mast.

>>31145630
Time to sink that ship.

>>31145793
>You'll get a bonus for your hard work, don't you worry about that too much.
now that i think about it, master didn't extort a reward from the town knowing she will get rewarded by the crown for "keeping the peace". there is probably something similar here for stopping and exposing cultist pirates

>>31145885

And also, if they're dead in the water then they have no choice but to negotiate with us.

>>31145885
if we take out their mast they will just board us again, and this time they will be desperate, and this time we will be completely out of juice while their mage isn't.

If we kill the last mage we MIGHT get away with boarding them

if we sink their ship, only a few will make it back to ours and would be easy to capture. and we could go around picking up anyone holding onto driftwood and capture them one by one (with the aid of the crew).

>>31145932
they can resume the boarding action, only now we would be out of magic.

PS. we already used a super shot on the rifle, if we do another so soon we risk damaging it

It seems you plan to cripple the retreating ship.

Roll 3d10, best of 3.

>>31145972
The rifle can handle repeated powered up shots, but the pistol couldn't.

>>31145972

No, if we used 2 mana pellets at once we risk damaging it.

They have <15 normal cultists left, shittons of men floundering in the water, a guy who just massacred half their group on the ship, and they're being offered a chance for life.

I'd be willing to bet they'll surrender. How would they resume the boarding action when they're detached anyway?

Rolled 4, 2, 10 = 16

>>31146018

>>31146027
they haven't detached yet

Rolled 8, 1, 4 = 13

>>31146018

Rolled 1, 3, 1 = 5

>>31146018

>>31146075
>>31146069
>>31146053
It seems the dicegods are merciful to your enemies.

Rolled 8, 5, 8 = 21

>>31146018

>>31146105
oh well, they escape today...
i bet there is going to be a nice bounty put on them later on for clearing out their nest

>>31146105

That's a pity. Another day, though. And goodness know those two injured mages are going to die from lead poisoning and gangrene if nothing else.

And the cult didn't manage to capture this supply ship, so they'll be starving.

>>31146105

Shout that they'll be hearing more of Volkov Marulovich soon.

>>31146105

Well we'll be sure to inform the guy who hired us that we'd love to volunteer in advance for any follow-up work.

>>31146166
the healthy mage will probably heal them.

Also, we still might collect a few cultists holding on to floatsum from the first boat we sank.
If we bring them in one at a time and have multiple crew members menace them with weapons at once we can probably get them all to surrender and strip them of weapons, armor, and then tie them up

Well, now's the time that break's gonna happen since I'm getting called away. I'll resume in a couple hours with a story post.

>>31146343
There will be a follow up job to this that should be pretty fun for you guys.

>>31146380

I dunno, they seem to be pretty basic mages, and Speaker didn't seem to have much emphasis on healing.

Yeah, they'll all probably just be grateful to not be stuck floundering in the open ocean.

>>31146423
see you in a few

Bump

Bump.

You reload your rifle with the last bullet in your possession as well as loading in the last marrow pellet with shaking hands, the mana drain and general fatigue of battle wreaking havoc on your fine motor skills. Taking a deep breath, you raise the rifle and take aim at the retreating ship, moving unnaturally fast for a ship that size moving only on the power of wind. You brace yourself against the wheelhouse and take aim at the mast of the ship as best you can, your vision coming in and out of focus as you raise the rifle. You take a deep breath and try to focus on steadying your weapon, the mast of the ship jumping around in your scope. Once you line the shot up as best as you can you fire, the bullet missing the intended mark of the mast. As soon as you pull the trigger your legs give out, the toll of battle draining you completely. Before you pass out you swear you can see a fountain of red erupt on board the ship as it sails away from you, disappearing into the night.

You slowly open your eyes to see the ceiling of your cabin, the light of day pouring in through the window. You sit up slowly, feeling your body ache particularly bad despite the lack of external injuries. You climb out of the bedding that you were provided and get dressed, finding all your gear has been deposited along with you in your room. Out on the deck you can see that you have yet to arrive at your destination, however you can faintly see the familiar shapes of Xel'Karth's towers poking up above the horizon. Your stomach grumbles, reminding you that you haven't eaten since long before your patrol last night. You make your way towards the galley on unsteady feet.
[1/2]

>>31149073
As you enter, you are greeted to a hail of cheers from what few crew are there. Grabbing some food, you begin to eat voraciously as they begin to get you up to speed on what transpired since you passed out last night. Apparently the captain had the crew fish what cultists they could find still treading water out of the sea and had them bound and placed into the hold. As for what remained of the injured-but-still-living cultists on board the ship, the captain had them patched up as best as possible before having them bound and placed with the others. You soon finish eating and, feeling much better, head for the wheelhouse to report in to the captain. As you enter the wheelhouse, the captain greets you enthusiastically, but basically only recounts what you just heard. You ask the captain about the bodies of the fallen cultists and he tells you that he had the bodies thrown overboard after being stripped of their possessions. The news disheartens you a bit but you decide that it's not a total loss.

The rest of the trip continues without incident and soon you make it back to port. As soon as the ship pulls into its dock one of the crew members disembarks, saying that he'll go get the authorities to take the cultists into custody. With that, you are free to do as you please.

So, What DO you do?
>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement
>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment
>Go do something else, you don't want to deal with this business right now (write in)
[2/2]

>>31149092
>>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment

>>31149092
Let's be smart about this
>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement

>>31149092
>>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement

>>31149092
>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment

>>31149092
>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement

>>31149092
>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement

>>31149092

Wait for the authorities. We have info none of the sailors do.

>>31149073
>>31149092
so, using up all our mana causes us to pass out. worth keeping in mind the future

>>31149092
>Wait for the authorities to show up and give a statement

>>31149281

I was about to mention that. Makes sense from the in-universe explanation of what it is.

Alright, it looks like sticking around for the authorities has won out. Writing.

>>31149073
>>31149092
Do we have any internal injuries? Something we can heal with our magic (we did get hit with that one spell that made us cough blood)

>>31149281
>>31149309
Could have been a combination of the spell we got hit with and running out of mana.

>>31149425

On another note, Speakers seem to be adept at anti-mage duty.

>>31149486
they all have anti mage stuff.
we have been kicking mage ass with shaping, master and the armored monstrosity that marked us have been slaughtering with slayer branch. seems pretty balanced so far, and also to synergize well

>>31149516

Heh, fair enough. I had completely forgotten that our tally of mages is technically at like 6 or 7.

>>31149516
I would very much like to be followed by 3 dwarf sized skeletons all named Ulrist who we call the 3 musketeers
We should start training speaker

>>31149516
in retrospect, that armored monstrosity we saw was using all 3 branches
he teleporter (speaker), he had super armor (shaper), and he consumed the skeletons of his enemies for mana (slayer).

>>31149603

I feel like he just moved very fast instead of teleporting. I also feel like he wasn't a shaper at all, but that he and a group of others had discovered an ancient cache of the Spine-Eater implants and decided to become them in a group ritual.

You decide to stick around for the authorities to show up, seeing as you had the most contact with the cultists you would have important information to give them. You don't have to wait very long for the authorities to show up, in this case a combination of the town guard as well as what you guess are naval officers, judging by their deep blue uniforms. Most of the men head down into the hold to take the captives into custody, however a pair of them hang back on deck after one of the crew points you out to them. They introduce themselves as lieutenants of Kyelma's navy and have you recount your experiences of the past few days.

For the most part they silently take down what you say on a piece of parchment, although at a few points of the story they gasp, especially when you get to the point where you face down Cord and his axe. You even go as far as to show the men the scar from where you became acquainted with the slab of iron Cord called an axe. Soon you finish recalling the rest of the last few days. The officers thank you for your time and tell you that they'll be in touch in the future.

What do you do now? It is mid day.
>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment
>Head back to HQ to close out the job officially and have them deal with payment themselves.
>Other (write in)

>>31149692
>>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment
Lets go get paid then go home

>>31149668
QM already explained that there is nothing at all preventing us from learning all 3 branches of magic and combining them.
Also, its easier to master the lower levels of a branch than the higher levels. And you get more mana too so it pays off even if you don't use it

>>31149692
>>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment

>>31149692
>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment
disregard bitches acquire currency

>>31149692

Shipping office.

>>31149692
>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment
>Head back to HQ to close out the job officially and have them deal with payment themselves.
do we know which one of those is the standard thing to do?
I mean, we have seen master take on missions before, right? and as a member we must have read the orientation pamphlets

>>31149692
>>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment

>>31149692
Head back to HQ to close out the job officially and have them deal with payment themselves.

>>31149692
>Head back to HQ to close out the job officially and have them deal with payment themselves.

>>31149692
>>Head for the shipping company office to discuss payment

>>31149746

This is a prudent question.

>>31149746
You technically don't have to deal the with the client about payment, all you need to do is present proof of some sort about completion of the job to HQ and they will handle getting you paid. The upside to dealing with the customer in person is that you can negotiate bonuses and such yourself, as well as receive payment immediately as opposed to taking a few days by going through the Association.

>>31149873

Sounds like we're talking to the customer.

I guess dealing with the client personally is the selected course of action, then.

>>31149981
Indeed.

This is going to be a lengthy update so I'm still writing. This isn't the last update of the night, however.

>>31150489
good to hear. im waiting on the next update so i can run and take a shower. lol

>>31150539

Seemslike you should just go take one now.

>>31150890
yeah i guess. watch him update soon as i walk away

You decide to go deal with the shipping company itself about matters of payment, not wanting to deal with waiting for the Association to get you paid. Fortunately for you, the office is in close proximity to the dock you came into. A quick walk later and you arrive at the same office that you were at not a week earlier. As you enter the building you can hear the man that you talked to previously engaged in conversation with the captain of the ship you were on. As you approach the source of the talking, you are able to discern that the captain is demanding compensation from the company owner for the crew, stating the danger of the job was misrepresented to them. When you enter the room both parties cease talking to greet you.

“So he's here, the man of the hour,” the owner stands to shake your hand and offers you a seat next to the captain. You accept it and he sits back down as well.

“I do believe some thanks are in order, I suppose. I never dreamt in my wildest dreams that my ships were being attacked by savages. From what James here tells me, you saved the crew multiple times. As a token of my appreciation, I'm willing to offer you a 50% bonus on top of the stipulated payout on the contract.”

You thank the owner for his generosity and say that if he has any further work for you to request you specifically at the Association. The owner writes up a receipt for you as well as hands you your payment, 75 gold coins. You deposit the payment into your bag and head off, exchanging another round handshakes before leaving.
[part 1/2]

>>31150921

That IS how these things seem to work.

And the reason I suggested you do it.

And it worked.

>>31150937
From the office you walk to the Association building towards the center of town, the onyx colored tower reaching above all other buildings acting as a guidepost for you. You enter the building, the polished marble floor gleaming in the afternoon sun. You head over to the contract room that you took your job from originally and hand in the receipt to the receptionist there. The man takes the receipt and gives it a quick read, asking you to verify that payment has been received. You do so, showing him the bag that you were given. He grunts in approval and jots down some information on the receipt before filing it away and telling you you are free to go.

As you are leaving the building you run into Liam.

“Volkov! I've been looking for you,” he says excitedly.

“Oh hey, Liam, what's going on?”

“You remember what tomorrow is, right? I was worried you wouldn't be back in time for it,” he says, taking on a more somber expression. It takes you a moment but you remember what he's referring to.

“Oh, wow, is it that time of year already? Thanks for reminding me, I'll be there. Usual time?”

“Yeah. I have some business to take care of now, so we'll talk later, alright, Volkov?”

“Sure,” you say before parting ways, the matter of tomorrow weighing on your mind as you make your way home.

When you arrive, you find that the door is unlocked for once, indicating that your master is actually home. As you enter the building you can faintly hear your master downstairs in the cellar training.
What do you do?
>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).
>Read/study a book (train Speaker or Shaper)
>Perform maintenance on gear
>other (write in)
[2/2]

>>31150961
I'll throw in a vote for training speaker

>>31150921
I am so sorry anon, I didn't mean to do that to you.

>>31150961
>>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).
Might as well tell her about our first solo mission and ask if she knows anything about sea fighting

>>31150961
>Perform maintenance on gear

>>31150961
>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).
Slayer training is good.

Also, we are at 0 marrow pellets, we should make more ASAP

>>31150961
>Read/study a book (train Speaker or Shaper)

Speaker skelebros when?

>>31150961

>Read/Study a book (Train Speaker)

>>31150961
>>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).

>>31150961

Speaker training. I wants it.

>>31150961

Go downstairs and get roped into slayer training. Might as well make use of our master's legendary skill.

>>31150961
>>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).
>>Read/study a book (train Speaker or Shaper)
Say hello then go speaker training

>>31150961
>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).

>>31150961
>Read/study a book (train Speaker or Shaper)

>>31150961
>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).

>>31151001
>Didn't mean for him to bathe.

Yeah, I understand people around here are afraid of that.

Rolled 1

By my count it's an even tie between Speaker and Slayer training, so:
1-Slayer
2-Speaker

File: 1396153302742.jpg-(16 KB, 400x300, i111467697_36120_5.jpg)

16 KB JPG

>>31150961
>Go downstairs and greet your master (and most likely get roped into Slayer training).
Let's do this!

>>31151254
1

>>31151254
1

>>31151254
>>31151256
lol I posted a second late

>>31151284
>>31151300

No, he's rolling the die to choose. This has previously not been a high population quest.

>>31151231
I didn't mean to update literally less than a minute after he left, but bathing is also scary.

>>31151254
Looks like you are set for a regularly scheduled ass whoop-err, kind and gentle instruction from your master.

>>31151284
>>31151300
When I do that I'm not calling for a vote, I'm flipping a coin to see what course of action is going to happen.

>>31151318
>Looks like you are set for a regularly scheduled ass whoop-err, kind and gentle instruction from your master.
Made me smile OP

>>31151318
lol, thanks anyhow. I know you didn't do it on purpose.
>>31151254
sounds good. It'd be nice to be able to hold our own in close combat.

>>31151574
plus i like master, she is a fun character

>>31151574

I'm not sure where you get the idea that we don't hold our own in close combat is. We've sort of slaughtered our way through dozens of people.

>>31151627
That was fighting some rag tag group of cultist, that i doubt had years of training.
Look at the time we ran into the guy with the saber.

>>31151737

Well, we only had a dagger when we faced him.

>>31151754
the dagger wasn't the reason we lost it was his years of experience and how he handled the sword.
>In terms of pure combat prowess, the vice-captain far exceeds your abilities

This update's also a bit long. However, it's nearly done and is also the last for the night.

>>31151851
that was also before he hulked out

Also, our dagger was actually on overdrive and more magically powerful than his sword, albeit with shorter reach, but we had guns with longer reach. He was able to deflect bullets via being badass normal (it was NOT an enchantment on the sword that did that)

>>31151973

I don't think our dagger was more powerful than his sword. From the description, his sword was on overcharge too. It's just that we were facing a seasoned warrior who had superior weapons, and we had nothing to mitigate his advantages, so we noped out and let our Master handle it.

You are feeling particularly masochistic today and decide to greet your master while she's in the middle of training. You first stop by your room for some loose fitting clothing that's easy to move in in while at the same time dropping off the rest of your gear. Heading down into the cellar you see your master in the middle of a fight against a large skeletal construct, her preferred target for training and working out aggression. You call out to her just as the construct swings at her with what appears to be a cattle's femur being used as a club. She catches the femur with her natural arm before yanking it away and then using it to strike the construct, breaking it into pieces and shattering the femur at the same time. Looking at her you can tell she's running at near full power with most of her Slayer abilities active. The only ability that you can't tell is active from looking at her is the most important one. She turns towards you, smiling as innocently as she can and gives you a friendly greeting. So far you seem to be in the clear.

“Volkov! How'd your first job go?”

“Pretty well, actually,” you say, beginning to relax.

“Does pretty well include getting almost cleaved in two with what I'm guessing is a greatsword?” She says, still smiling.

“It was an axe, actually,” you correct her before realizing the extent of your mistake. It's too late for that, though. You curse yourself for forgetting that she's observant enough to notice the types of injuries inflicted on someone's skeleton with just a glance, especially yours from all the time you've spent near her. Before you can escape she grabs a hold of you on the shoulder that you were stuck on and drags you into the center of the room, ready to give you a more comprehensive lesson in Slayer magic.
[1/?]

>>31152020
>had superior weapons, and we had nothing to mitigate his advantages,
We brought a gun to a sword fight.
>gun > sword
my point just remains that we could use a little more experience in close combat. and try and make that gap smaller.

>>31152096

After what feels like an eternity has passed, your master deems you suitably educated for the day and heads up the stairs to prepare dinner. You lay on the cold dirt floor of the cellar feeling broken and bruised.

Level gain, Slayer 2!
Abilities gained:

Stitch – Force a severe wound temporarily closed, doesn't actually cure the wound. Combined with Salve, major wounds can be healed much more easily. (Costs 4, closes wounds for 5 rounds in combat)

Expand – Temporarily increase the size of some bones for a sustained cost. (limbs cost 5 each, torso 6)

Leech – Absorb some of the mana from bones of deceased beings, very inefficient at first. (gain 20% of stored mana)
Current levels:
Slayer 2
Shaper 2
Speaker 0

Mana pool: 37/37

You stay there in the cellar reflecting on the past few weeks of your life and how much busier you have been than normal. You also reflect on the lives you were forced to take, although the thought leaves a bitter taste in your mouth so you try to push it away before the guilt crushes you. Fortunately, you are pulled away from that line of thinking as your master comes down and fetches you for dinner, scooping you up onto her shoulder. Over the course of supper you tell her in great detail the events of the past week, having gotten quite good at it as this was the second time you've retold the events in their entirety.
[2/3]

>>31152120
After dinner you wash up in the restroom, the salt, sweat and blood coating your body starting to become a bit much for you. After that you collapse into your bed and pass into a dreamless sleep. You awaken to a pounding on the door to your room. You groggily get up and see what the commotion is.

“You have a friend here to see you, that scrawny fellow with the blond hair,” your master says to you, annoyed at how long it took to get you up. With a start you realize you overslept and hurry to get dressed, eventually rushing out the door dressed in the best suit you have. Liam chastises you for taking so long before breaking out into a smile, glad to see you. The two of you walk and chat idly, you talking about some of your recent adventures while he talks about the work his master has him doing. Before long, you arrive at your destination.

The city cemetery.

[3/3]


Alright, that concludes the 12-but-really-10 hour super thread, time for your regular dosage of Q&A.

>>31152152

What are some common uses of Expand? I can't say I can think of an immediate application.

>>31152174
It's a way of beefing up your bones temporarily, increasing the amount of strain they can handle as well as increasing the size of your fist/striking surfaces. It also layers well with Quicken and Reinforce.

>>31152174
i can see that as being a nice bonus to slayers. who use thier fist when attacking.
and you could also use your bones a a shield after reinforcing em.
>>31152152
leech I take it is almost instantaneous?

>>31152205
Does it work on cartilage as well?

>>31152152

Leech is very inefficient at first...so you can increase its efficiency. How?

>>31152224
It's not instant, but it is very quick.

>>31152242
As you level up a tree, the base skills you acquired at earlier tiers also get better.

>>31152230
Yes.

>>31152230
dude...
>>31152205
the bullets, we can make bone bullets from the mold.
btw what major differences are there between using metal balls/bone balls for shots.
and I assume the bullet does as much damage as the others but just has more penetration power along with better accuracy?

>>31152281
Bone by itself isn't dense enough to cause the kind of damage that you can inflict with lead, although it is capable of being enchanted so you can have spell bullets. Ideally you would want a bone core surrounded by lead or another dense metal.

>>31152281

They might acquire enhanced effects from things like the Seismic Charger or the Flame module we didn't pick up.

But bone isn't nearly as dense as lead so it might not be so wise.

>>31152120
>You lay on the cold dirt floor of the cellar feeling broken and bruised.

L-lewd

>>31152331
Could we do that with our new bullet mold?
im sure we have some bone left over from our trip. even though the fuckers threw over our bodies on our way back.

>>31152338
That's not nearly as lewd as expand working on cartilage.

>>31152362

We'd need to advance in Speaker before we can do any serious enchanting.

>>31152409
Im getting to chivalrous for this shit

>>31152417
are you saucy?
cause if not... I would kind of think it still has nothing to do with enchanting we're encasing bone in a metal.
sounds like a smith could do that for us. unless i am missing something.

>>31152456
I think he means that using bone is kinda pointless unless you enchant it, and since we can't do that due to no Speaker levels it would be better to just use metal for now.
I think

By the way, I'm going to handwave the implant being installed as well as your balls into bullets conversions and marrow pellet making as shit you get done before going to bed the night you get home.

>>31152456
Enchanting stuff is a tier 4 Shaper ability to begin with, but you also need to know the spell that you're enchanting into something first, which requires Speaker levels.

>>31152533
You a cool QM OP

>>31152533

Although depending on how Gild is handled exactly we could avoid using bone at all and just apply spells to bullets out of combat. If necessary we could probably develop some means of loading them without touching them too.

>>31152693
On your end that will end up costing more mana while also lowering the maximum damage that can be inflicted.

The maximum damage of course referring to the fact that something can only hold a single spell via Gild. theoretically, the highest possible damage you could get via spell and ability stacking would be to layer the same spell or a complimentary spell over an object with an module by using Gild and then Empower over it. The mana cost is huge but the sheer amount of power put out would be far greater than what could be normally achieved.

>>31152821
Saucy did you update the character sheet?
You didn't put our new gold on it if so

>>31152901
Ah, I did but I forgot to add that in while I was handwaving the other shit in, thanks for reminding me.

>>31152821

We'll go ahead and do that in preparation for fighting the Spine-Eater.

But we'll do it to several different module-cored balls.

And they'll be the buckshot in a shotgun.

>>31152821

What was the ability that it was important we determine if our master was using or not?

>>31153060
Frenzy. You later determined by the severity of your ass-kicking she wasn't using it.

>>31153084
oh god