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>>583431
"Keep those weapons /down/," you warn the surviving soldiers as you limp through their kneeling ranks. You've taken more cuts than you wanted to in that fight and you're pretty sure that's a broken rib on your right side (and thank the gods for chain armor) but right now, with your shadow unshackled and your blood up, you really could give less of a fuck.

"Kat, /stand down/!" you order, again. The ice-clawed shadow spares you a glance and sees your own shadow interpose itself between her and the soldier. "He's surrendered! Brianna wouldn't want this!"

Kat lashes out at a surviving wall, leaving spreading ice and deep, clawed gouges. She shrieks, looking from your shadow to you.

"Stand. Down," you order, firmly. "Brianna will be back. She promised." Your expression softens when you see the scorched holes in Kat's tenebrous flesh. "...You're hurt. You need healing, Kat."

The shadow lets out a low, spectral whine and nods.

"We can go find River, but I need you to /stand down/," you repeat.

Kat shivers, and then sinks to the ground. Meekly, she glides to the bottom of your feet and takes up a place there, just opposite your own shadow. She sniffles, miserably, while you let out a relieved breath.

The soldier drops his shovel and puts his hands on the back of his head.

"WHORE!" Eric roars. "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST THROW DOWN AND GET AWAY WITH THIS?"

Gods, fucking. Why? Of all the people to survive this mess, why her?

> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
> Let it happen. You'll just get hurt stopping the teamster and right now you just spent the very last fuck you had to give

>>583463
>> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later

Man fuck being a Paragon

>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
Fuck being a Hero with a capital H, but this is what Brianna would want.

>>583463
>Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later
Hero's gonna hero.

Also, interrogation and have River check her for The Mark.

>>583463
>> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later

Honestly if I was Nate I would pick the second choice, but the man is made of better moral fiber than I.

>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later

>>583463
> Stop Eric. You can't have this surrender interrupted by his bloodlust; she'll have to face justice later.
> Remind him, and her, that the Angel shall have her retribution against those who wronged her and the innocents of the Dungeon.

Called, writing.

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>>583463
You grab the soldier under arm and help him up. That broken leg is no joke, and you're not gonna leave him in the forge and watch the rest of the building fall on him. Eric has a middle-aged woman by the front of her armor, a knife in his other hand.

"Verve," you order. The saber interposes itself between Eric and the officer, gleaming and bright. The teamster gives you a hateful glare, and you can see him weighing the odds that you're bluffing.

"The sword is too stupid to be tricked," you tell him. "It will cut you down like wheat, Eric. And I will not feel even a little sorry. These soldier surrendered."

"To save their worthless hides," Eric spits.

Calmly, gently, you set the soldier you're supporting back down. You pat him on the shoulder and slowly limp towards the teamster.

He could have been expecting the punch that lays him out, but he wasn't.

"They. Surrendered," you repeat, taking Verve's hilt so you can point the blade down at Eric. "You don't kill men after they've surrendered. This is a matter of justice now."

"And who's going to judge the witch who took my son from me?" the teamster demands.

"The angel," you answer, simply. "Now help me tie them up. We need to get back to River.

You take Brianna's body with you. She might need it.

> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)

And now I'm going to sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

We don't get to play as Nathan very often

>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward).
haven't been Nate in awhile.

>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

>>583812
>> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)

c'mon, you want revenge? You want to slake your pain with cruelty and the death of not innocents, but people who are incapable of fighting back?

Shankbird is your gal.

>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)
Some spice in our life

>>583812
> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)
Time to Hero

>>583812
>You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)

Though I'm hoping the salt miners don't hit a fresh vein with her again.

>>583952
there are salt veins everywhere, especially in that and this statement

>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)

>>583812
Huh, Bri's epithet changed.

It's no longer 'No good deed goes unpunished'.

Instead it's about rebirth. Which kind of has some worrying implications given what just happened.

Thinking about it, if I were Dick and I was running into a wall stopping Bri from resurrecting, and I didn't immediately just shoot myself for being such a massive dick, I'd probably start trying to mess with the conditions of the resurrection. Part of how it works is that we essentially get 'reset' to our state before we entered the Dungeon...

... Could he reset Bri to her mental state before entering the Dungeon? We've gotten a lot of experience and training down here, and made lots of friends and bonds. If we got memory wiped each time we died, then that'd be a huge set-back as well. On the other hand, that'd be... kind of extreme for Vox to deal with, if we died again.

>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

>>583995
That's not Bri, you know. That's Rivers.

>>583995
He can't mess with the Heritor, or give orders that interfere with her directly. He can keep Lora so busy she can't leave in the middle of something that might, you know, destroy the world if she did so, but he can't force her to harm or cause the heritor trouble directly.

>>583998

Oh, oops. Thanks for catching that! I genuinely didn't notice until you mentioned it.

>>584004

A fair point, but we've been told that he's been looking for a way to stop Lora from rez'ing Bri, which would definitely qualify as interference. If he can't stop it outright, or is having too much trouble with it, he might look for ways around it. It's no good coming back from the dead every time Bri dies if she can't remember what happened each time.

On top of that, we're /still/ going to be waking up with the same gear as when we started, rather than what we had. So... that'll be interesting.

And because I didn't vote before...

> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

>>583812
>> You are River la Croix (You Must Die To Be Reborn)

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>>583991
>>583952

It's like, you faggots don't even know the first rule of 4chan. Which is if you don't want shitposting, don't feed trolls

But hey, since we're on the subject, What is it with GMs and always trying to make the Paladin fall? It's even worse when they have their own homebrewed gimmick, because you know they're just dying to test out their cool idea and that they'll shove it in, even if it doesn't fit.

They'll look at it, cock their head, and say "Well, it looks like it can fit"and then when it doesn't they just shove it in anyways regardless.

They're like the worst moving company on the planet. Can you imagine if a mover did that with your couch? What am I talking about, they're moving companies, of course you've all had that happen in real life.

I wonder if moving companies and GMs come from the same place.

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>>584167

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>>584167
Nathan isn't a paladin except by nature.

And if he slips up, he's got his lovers to help him get over it. shit happens, and he knows it. I doubt he'll angst for too long.

He's got shit to get done.

I'm awake, but I won't have time to update before work. I'm see y'all around 7 PM or so.

In the meantime, still open for votes, questions, and discussion.

>>584422
O'll have that review of Nate up for you somethign in the middle of the California night.

Hope the full moon and eclipse didn't curse you.

>>584437
Only thing that cursed me was some delicious, delicious applejack.

>>584400
Its like the Anon didn't plan ahead and stash a assault rifle in the dumpster to kill the paladins from behind. Do you even /k/ommando?

>>584478
That's why anon always posts the mastermind threads. He was bullied by paladins.

>>583812
> You are Amy the Dungeonbreaker (What Falls May Rise)

>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

>>584195
>>584400
Make no mistake, I'm still salty as fuck about Bri dying like that.

But I figure if we're going to bitch about it, we might as well have fun too!

I can't wait until I'm healed enough to go outside.

>>584730
I too remain mildly upset

Mostly over the fact that it was basically a nameless mook and there was no warning or any chance for us to counter or correct

I would be much less bitchy if this was the result of a die roll to be honest, but it kind of grates me that Vox decided to do this by narrative

In hindsight blinding him may have been the non-trap option, tough the mention of chance may have discouraged us from it.

>>584748
I mean, when Silence died I wasn't too upset. We knew that we were going to be risking people in The Roost because of our choices. The fact that Silence was there was kind of wonky, I honestly expected one or both of Amy's parents to die.

But here, with us, I expected sending Kat to result in either Nate or Eric getting hurt as opposed to completely saving one of them, and us not knowing who. Or something.

Sure as fuck wasn't thinking that it was the "we die" choice.

But you know, Vox has this whole death mechanic set up and he forced us into it once already for narrative purposes at the beginning.

Guess it would be a shame if we went the whole quest without using it.

And it might go away soon, so gotta get it in while he can.

>>583812
>> Remain Nathan Bookchild (Valor Is Its Own Reward)

out of curiosity vox where did you get the idea that a shoulder wound was lethal?

I mean getting shot anywhere is generally bad, but the shoulder is generally a good bet for non fatal wounding, even if the artery just underneath the armpit is pierced or cut

>>584877
Probably hydrostatic shock from gunshot wounds.

Which wouldn't apply to a crossbow, and in fact crossbows are notably less than lethal a lot of the time when it comes to things like hypovolemic shock because the arrow itself blocks the wound and impedes bleeding.

That's why he had it be a "straight to the heart, do not pass go, do not collect necromantic dollars."

>>584877
not immediately lethal =/= not lethal
That's where movies always put non-lethal injuries, but there's all sorts of crap in your shoulders that isn't easily fixed, especially with medieval mundane medicine. Heck, getting shot anywhere in the revolutionary war was at least 50/50 going to kill you. Infection and disease kill more soldiers in any war than combat.

Also, you know, bleeding out. So it probably comes from "lethal without treatment"

>>584877
Pretty much this >>584980.

>>584980
We live in a world full of Magic though?

And it isn't like we're Peasant McScrub living in his hovel o' filth.

And even then, that's mostly a misnomer and treatment was usually available for shit like that.

>>585471
>treatment
You mean "cut off infected part" or "bleed out the bad blood"? Other than herbal remedies (dubious at best), there wasn't any real non-drastic or worthless treatment for infection until 1910.

Yeah, there's magic, but we don't have a friendly healer nearby.

>>585628
> Making the mistake of thinking this world and ours are the same world

Dude.

Also, Rose Cult is like, right there. They don't like necromancy, and are all about fighting. Pretty sure they have some competent healers.

Home. Called, but will write in A Bit; I need to discover some food.

>>586518

Just so you know, Vox, this is the soundtrack to the charge as far as I was concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6EbatvP9f4

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>>586821

... I will admit that, much like this cat, it gets weird in the middle.

>>586832
Throat singing is awesome though.

>>586832
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zre6TreHfFg

Have some Vedic speed metal.

>>586832
How about some niggernoise?

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GR70byTwMOs

Straight from SA.

>>586832
Hooked on the folklore aspect?

I swear these guys are African. Even the lead singer. Ghana.

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hPe4aizlz9U

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>>586821
...

I am at their fucking show, right now.

>>587851
Tell them people on the internet think they're cool.

>>588007
They're a bit busy with the (I assume?) Coked up woman literally brushing her teeth onstage.

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>>588090

>>588090
Play around her. Fuck, if they can't handle that then it sounds like the perfect time to go up and tell them what the world thinks. Who do you think is getting tazed first, Cokey McOralFixation or some husky longhair cheering them on?

I like to call Metalheads Husky Longhairs because it sounds like a breed of dog.

>>588114
Fatty needs to do more blow.

>>588131
>>588120

They did a Harambe tribute. I'm s I fucking confused. Which part of this is real life, and which part is 4chan?

>>588424
Let me tell you a secret there hasn't been a difference for some time. Meme magic is real, and Trump will bring your waifu to life.

But seriously, 4chan isn't some edgy underground place and hasn't been for a while. People come here from tumblr, and stay because the shitposting is addictive and freeing thanks to anonymity.

Screencaps go to reddit, redditors come here, tumblr users get offended at screencaps and come here and leave and people from here false flag as tumblr users which encourages them to come back because they're "winning" and they start with /int/ and /pol/ and some find other boards like /tg/ and /co/ and /cgl/ that overlap with their interests and stay . . . .

4chan is pretty much a hot topic, but like an off-brand one that's poorly run and kind of shitty but still a hot topic, and you used to be able to buy acid and coke when it was an independent record and cd store, but the cops came down hard so now teenagers smoke pot while people who grew up and got lives still come back because they always came here and they like to pretend that they're still rebellious on the weekends.

>>586518
For future reference when Vox says 'a bit' he means 7 hours. I can't stay awake anymore so don't you guys get any of our heroes killed or amputated while I'm unconscious.

>>588826
He's been more distracted recently; sometimes life happens.

Good night, Anon.

>>588826
>>588839
Yeah, I. Have kinda been fuckin' out of it of late. You have my apologies; I'm writing now.

>>588852
something something just run like a normal quest something.

>>588973
I like this style.

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>>583812
You catch the harpies fleeing from the level, past the Rose Cult's lines, as you're moving to meet up with Amy and River. You link up at the Seedhouse. The place is still a wreck after the evacuation but the storage is still intact, which is the important part.

Amy has to walk away for a minute when she sees Brianna's body. Ash and his men trickle in, after about an hour of you, Amy, and River tying up prisoners, seeing to the wounded, and taking stock. It isn't looking good - you've got maybe twenty lizards left, total, along with the much-injured boar, Kat, Fetch, the two hands, and most of Ash's men.

"Meanwhile, the Lush and an entire century of his men are holed up in the Theater, waiting for us to go and die," Ash says with a sigh. "And make no mistake, that'll be his holdout."

"We got the rakshasa," Amy brings up. "So that's settled. Broken Tooth did something to it that was kinda...mean."

"Did it involve being pulled apart?" River asks.

"...Yes."

"Yeah, it's dead," the elf confirms.

"I assume you have a plan?" Ash asks.

"What in the fuck makes you think we have a plan?" Amy snaps.

"You started a war -"

"This isn't a war," you interject, quietly. "This is a gang fight. Wars have rules. Wars have laws. And to be frank, we weren't expecting an honest-to-gods /army/. How many of his men have we killed and he still has a hundred more?"

"Was two," Ash says. "He sent half of them into the Broken Jaw for some reason."

You take a long, slow breath, close your eyes, and count backwards from ten.

Nope, still angry. But you don't have time for that right now.

"We're all running ragged," River points out. "We could use some rest, maybe let me try to patch up the boar."

"That just gives the Lush more time to prepare and rest too," Amy points out.

"Except for the bit where /he/ is a twenty foot horsefucker who's fresh as a daisy right now, and you all look like you're about to drop dead," Eric says, cynically. "As amusing as watching the Hero learn to fly would be, it seems counterproductive."

"He has a point," Ash says with a sigh. "Why are those cultists not helping?"

"We're not leaving the Roost undefended," you answer, flatly.

> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
> Push on once you have a plan settled

>>589009
> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
But make sure to establish a solid perimeter with guards posted at all times.

Also, this will give us time to stay with Amy and give her a shoulder to cry on, until Brianna finally comes back in one piece (hopefully). Are we going to see a conversation with Lora while she fixes up a new body for Brianna? It would be interesting to see how the Divine Tongue creates life (and if we can somehow turn this against Dick).

ALSO, I would like to see Natalia and the Geargrinder army surprise the Heroes by showing up and curb-stomping the other half of the Lush's army.

>>588764
So which one are you? The teenage stoner, the adult having their midlife crisis (or still looking for one), or the cop?

>>589009
>Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.

>>589009
>> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.

We should also take the time to secure Bri's body. Get River to check with Robert about possible ways to do that. Last thing we need is a "Fight the body of your undead lover".

Maybe also check the Scale isn't on her as well, just in case?

And someone should check in with the necromancer. Inform him of Briannas death, and that we're still going to honour her wishes and the deal with Ash and give him the chance to walk. Not free, and not out of the dungeon, but to head to Glen or something to wait it out.

Maybe mention that if you lose, the world gets destroyed by Dick.

And that Brianna was setting up a college of sorts for legalizing Necromancers, so the situation he was so bitter about is changing and maybe part of his atonement could be making that a success and a good thing as much as he made the situation here an atrocity of suffering.

No sense stopping the Hero train now, god knows we've accepted the surrenders of worse people.

But this is his one chance, and if he refuses it then it's going to be a fight, and not a fair one.

But it would be really fucking nice if he didn't make shit harder on you all right now.

Maybe make sure that he doesn't get any ideas of fighting River in her stead, or killing the crossbowman who killed Bri.

>>589051
>Sounds good to me, seconding

>>589038
I guess I'm the adult looking for a midlife crises?

God knows there are better places to go for stuff like this, and better communities.

But this place is nice and comfy. Like an apple product, I'm just so used to the layout.

And as there are better communities, there are worse ones. I actually like the IDs, its a nice compromise between complete anonymity and a persistent identity.

Still, with the split between /tg/ and /qst/ I'll probably just follow the quests I do and slowly disengage. I really only enjoy the world building and creation threads on /tg/.

Too much /pol/ and lefty-/pol/ drama about gender, I find Generals to be mostly cancer, I don't play MTG except with my nieces and nephews using my old decks and have no desire to get into the new cash grab, feel the lore is best read once in a while and not discussed because the M:TG community has ALWAYS been a cesspool of people.

All the threads about D&D are either "Rule Zero!" or "It's broken if you have to use Rule Zero" and always comes down to people telling each other they're doing it wrong.

I would like to see more stuff about Degenesis and the like, campaign settings and game write ups etc. but the fact of the matter is that not enough people seem to actually play those games, and there's only so much you can talk about the setting as-is.

And /tg/ storytime is almost no OC and either thinly veiled trolling, or one-sided begging for validation (and there's never a response to "talk to your group/GM/Player like a fucking adult, and either compromise or leave.")

Drawfags are almost never seen anymore either.

I feel the fun, the community went out of the board. At least the Penal Legion threads are still allowed.

I would have liked if they let spontaneous or one-shot quests stay up for world building or testing out ideas or just for something to feel involved in while checking out other threads.

I'll probably still check in once in a while when bored, but without the quests to give me a regular reason to go . . . ehh. But hey, that's just me, and it's not like I don't literally have a whole world of stuff to do and a live to live outside the board.

>>589009
>Rest up.
Stay alert. Plan. Think. And Pray to Lora.

>>589081
The best part is that it's all stuff we can do while resting.

Oh, we should also use those fucking bells we have to communicate with Natalia in the Broken Jaw and see what's going on, and if anyone can spare men or aid to go help her out.

> "He has a point," Ash says with a sigh. "Why are those cultists not helping?"

> "We're not leaving the Roost undefended,"
you answer, flatly.

Well, if the Lush's soldiers ARE attacking the Broken Jaw, and we're between the Roost and the rest of them, and we have air superiority with the Harpies now that the Necro-bats are mission killed -

Clarify, who is defending the entrance from the cornucopia? Because that's kind of a pointless defence now. Leave a reduced guard I say, make sure we have eyes tracking the remaining enemy forces just in case, and we still have Lizards for rapid response and they don't because we stole them.

Get the bulk of the defenders to hustle over and meet up with us while we rest, the Cornucopia is small enough that they won't be fresh but they won't be exhausted either.

>>589009
Oh, wait, one more idea. While we're resting, get the Rose Cult dude who threw the explosive gas to prep some more of that good shit and give it to the Harpies to drop onto the Lush's forces.

Air superiority is a *bitch* in open terrain.

Also we should check and see what Ash can contribute to the fight with his Revanents. They're abominable existences anyways, could we use them as shock troops or suicide troops or get the Harpies to ALSO drop them by commanders and such?

Even just a couple dropped behind their ranks to disrupt their formations would be plenty.

>>589009
>Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.
Exhaustion kills in the long run.

Aight, I gotta hit bed. The good news is I don't work tomorrow, and the bad news is I'm gonna take the chance to get in some hard core sleep. Votes remain open.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

My phone has my sign off spiel memorized and suggests it through autocorrect. Have. Have I lost control of my life?

>>589281
You had control to start with?

>>589281
See >>589306

>>589281
Have you lost control, or are you finally gaining control? Where the universe just starts to work with you in a way that seems random and coincidental, but is actually the result of you creating your optimal reality through subconscious acceptance.

Welcome to the future promised you by The Secret.

>>589281
>finally wrangled the predictive algorithms into working exactly the way you need them to
>"losing" control

>>589373
Well, is it him in control or the algorithms? When the universe aligns, are you moving it or is it moving you?

It's arguable that because the algorithms are locked into GIGO, direct cause and effect, what's actually happened is that they haven't made the predictive algorithms fit him, but they've trained him to standardize his input so that the algorithms can predict it.

>>589009
>> Rest up. You need it more than you need the Lush's forces to still be tired.

Man if the Lush gave any fucks about his soldiers he would've mentioned that Bri gets back up when you kill her. Maybe we can use that to our advantage when talking to the survivors

>>589009
>Supporting
>>589051
>and
>>589127

>>589009
> Rest up.

>>590402
Seconding both.

>>589127
Weren't the harpies leaving once they took care of the bats?

>>590469
Correct.

>>589103
The fear is another strike by the Librarian. You do not meaningfully control this level, and the Lush being on his back foot doesn't necessarily mean you're free of that worry. Once you've got a hold of the place, securing the area is easier, especially if Natalia gets the Broken Jaw up and running rather than leaving it.

Called, writing.

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>>589009
"Eric is right," you decide. "We need rest. And to process some...events."

"I am sorry," Ash murmurs, looking at Brianna's corpse on the back of the boar.

"She gets better," Amy says.

"If she isn't turning into a lich already -" Ash begins, but he stops when you shake your head.

"She gets better," you echo. "Just trust us on this one. Ash, we had a bit of a confrontation with your master, and he ended up banishing the draugs. What's his next move?"

"Did he say he's joining us?" Ash asks.

"No," you answer.

"Then he'll stay right where he is and see who wins," the elf says with a sigh. "He's not big on idealism, my master."

"Sounds like a jerk," Amy mutters sullenly; the half-harpy pulls her knees to her chest and folds her wings protectively in front of herself, leaving only her eyes exposed.

"Why don't we take some time to rest, eat, and then plan?" River proposes.

You all nod. Ash arranges for a perimeter while you guide Amy into a small home and sit her down on the bed. She cries gently into your shoulder while you stroke her hair and let it happen. You have faith in Bri. She's coming back.

She wouldn't just lie to you like that, right?

"Here," you murmur, offering Amy your waterskin. She takes a drink and recoils; you feel a flash of pain, like dehydration, and she flings it away in shock and anger.

"The curse," you murmur.

"/Fuck/," is your lover's answer.

"C'mon Ames," you tell her. "We can get some sleep at least. Right?"

She nods, distantly, and snuggles in so you can catch some shut-eye.

This is gonna suck.

* * * *

You are Brianna la Croix, currently 'the late', and you are feeling remarkably better. Must be a side-effect of the whole 'being a soul' thing, especially considering that your body can't bitch to you about how much it hurts any more.

Lora does not have a comfortable expression on her face.

"You died," is her soft greeting.

"Please tell me it's not too late already," you plead.

"Not...exactly," Lora says carefully.

"What do you mean, not exactly?"

The angel takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "If I bring you back, Richard is going to know the secret of it, and prevent another attempt. So this is the last one. But...there are other factors. He has a proposal for you."

"And I shouldn't reject it out of hand because...?" you ask.

"Because I have been both permitted and ordered to speak freely about its merits and flaws."

You get a sinking feeling in your gut. "Alright. Let's hear it."

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>>592111
Lora shifts in her place and lights a cigarette. You dig out your pipe - you never did get to smoke it the last time you cleaned it - pack it, and light up yourself. You take a few puffs while the angel gathers her thoughts.

"The Master proposes that you not come back at all," she says at last. "In bringing you back, as you know, reality is...pushed...to make it possible. Things are forgotten, or remembered differently. They get changed or subtly edited. You've done a lot of very positive work on the surface, work which may not survive your resurrection. What's worse, the change in circumstances may make redoing that work harder, or even impossible, as people react freshly to new events and experiences which no longer have your influence."

"You'd said that the stronger ties to the Dungeon could shield from that," you point out.

"I did, and it's still true, but I don't know for certain," Lora answers. She blows smoke from her nose, in frustration. "Previously I wouldn't have said anything, but I know you've worked hard to do good up there, and I...I don't want to undo that good without at least asking."

"You support this?" you ask, quietly.

"Not exactly," your friend answers, shaking her head. "I'm just done forcing you into this. Into...into this hellhole. I know you've said before that you don't want out, but now more is at stake."

"What does Richard get out of this?" you ask, pointedly.

"He eliminates you as a threat," Lora answers simply. "He feels your companions will lose their cohesion and the benefit of your leadership, and as a result be unable to stop his research."

"Then why the fuck would I take the deal?"

"He thinks you disagree."

You take a puff on your pipe, take off your hat, and put it on your knees. "If I take the deal, that's it, isn't it? No ghost, no revenant, just the Sunless Lands."

Lora nods. "That's one of the conditions, yes. But he's willing to sweeten the pot by betraying the Lush. Stay dead, and he'll order me to eliminate the giant while sparing your friends and any remaining innocents, subject to my discretion."

"Why should I believe his word?"

"I can certify it," Lora says uncomfortably. "I...I can seal the deal. If you take it. Or you can return to life and brave the unknown. Your friends...your lovers...would be left to face the Lush, but..."

Gods above.

> Take the deal (Brianna dies and stays dead)
> Return to life

>>592183
> Return to life
We didn't make contingency plans to give up, we made contingency plans to make sure as little as possible would get fucked up if we croaked and came back.

>>592183
>> Return to life

Anything we have done on the surface that has made the world a better place is nothing but gravy on top of saving that world from whatever the hell it is Richard is plotting down there.

Even leaving Glen a shattered wasteland would be preferable to giving up the fight and risking Richard succeeding in his plan, which, so far as we know, is very likely to bring about the end of the world.

>>592183
>> Return to life
Nah, fuck you master and fuck the LOL PLOT CROSSBOW BOLT

>>592183
> Return to life
That deal has no merits.

>>592183
>> Return to life

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>>592183
>Return to life
FUCK GOING SOMEWHAT QUIETLY!

>>592248
This, bullshit choice is bullshit. CHOKE ON IT RICHARD!

>>592183
>Return to life
Ordering Lora to kill the Lush like that isn't the justice she needs, it just leaves a bad taste. And we started this as Bri, we are damn well finishing it like Bri!
I would be lying if I said the soldier had nothing to do with my choice.

We made a promise to Lora too and fuck me sideways if we're going to let death get in the way of that especially since we've always been pushing forward on the premise of resurrection being available. We simply chose to not throw our life away left, right and center. Every life is sacred even if you're allowed to cheat.

>>592183
>>592242
> Return to life

This, basically. We're playing for bigger stakes than necromancer's rights. Plus, I'm... I'm pretty sure he's right. Bri is the lynchpin of this whole "saving the dungeon" thing. She's the one Lora contacted, and is her only real contact with the rest of the Dungeon.
Would Lora have to (or at least be able) to choose a new heritor?

Also, if you wanted us to seriously consider letting the MC die, you shouldn't have had a scene immeadtily previous showing our lovers weeping our corpse.

There is one sweaty Dick down the lowest level of the dungeon, an offer like that seems pretty desperate to me.

>>592417
Or he's playing mind games. He's been wholly unconcerned with his allies dying and losing ground ever since we entered.

>>592398
Weeping or no weeping, I figured the chance to change the quest MC would appeal to some people.

>>592438
Not after the bullshit plot bolt you fucking nigger.

I wasn't there to reee initially but that was quite possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in a quest.

In a novel? Sure it'd be poetic, but in a quest?

nah fampai, you fucked the bed on that one.

Also crossbows are hilariously inaccurate, even modern ones have a max accuracy range of 20-ish meters.

>>592183
>> Return to life
We still have a job to do, and frankly, it's bigger than everything we've got going on the surface. Hopefully we can salvage some of that, but it was never priority one.

>>592438
After all the effort to make Bri the person she is right now? Heck no.

>>592474
>I wasn't there to reee initially
You shouldn't ree now either. It's not going to change anything. It's just going to frustrate you and annoy others.

>>592474
Inaccuracy doesn't mean that they HAVE to miss when fired at the good guys. It was badly telegraphed but that's the pettiest of reasons you can complain about.

>>592438
This>>592474
What the hell man, did you not learn from River? Hell we can pick a different MC when we finish sense this is so much fun(fuck ups not withstanding). We aren't quitting chocolate love, best hero, and fluffy bird.

>>592438
Everyone else in the story is a supporting character, and wouldn't stand well on their own as a MC, not with a fair bit of character development. If we got to pick from some better options however... Such as the other options at quest start, I might take it.

>>592524
Okay, I've kept quiet about this whole thing up to now, but I do want to say I strongly disagree with the idea that character death should have to be telegraphed just because it's a narrative quest. Quite the opposite, I think if death is telegraphed, we lose the incentive to think through our decisions. Obviously one can go too far, killing off characters for things people could not possibly have foreseen, but... both the deaths people have gotten salty about were foreseeable risks, even if we didn't expect those particular outcomes.

>>592524
It was a perfect heart shot, so much bullshit man. Honestly

>>592522
I honestly give zero shits about annoying anyone, I'm no vaelys who'd demand a retcon or something retarded, I just need to be here when Vox makes a newbie QM mistake.

>>592569
>I just need to be here when Vox makes a newbie QM mistake.
Ah yes, the classic mistake of foreseeable but unlikely consequences. How could one forget.

>>592597
You never kill your MC like that, ever.

It leads to predictable salt, especially when it only serves to fuck up work that the MC has done.

And it wasn't foreseeable in the fucking slightest, maybe just maybe she'd get shot in the arm or leg, no one expected the fantasy equivalent of

BOOM HEADSHOT

>>592569
No, it was a perfect lucky shot.

>>592560
I'm perfectly fine with the events, but everyone who complains interpreted the option to mean something completely different from what happened. It's one thing to put a warning "NOTE: THIS WILL KILL BRI" and quite another to present options with too many possible interpretations and result in player death. You know what I'm saying?

>>592597
>>592560
>Calling the heart shot with a crossbow while in the middle of a large battle from the other side of the fight is a foreseeable consequence.
Sure, if that helps you sleep from the second most badly telegraphed choice so far.

>>592619
We chose to get the sniper's attention. I thought that he would be distracted with fending off Kat, but I guess she didn't get to him in time.

>>592569
> It was a perfect heart shot, so much bullshit man. Honestly

> heart shot

The heart's on the left side of the chest, anon. Bri took the bolt mid-chest, through her breastbone, through a lot of things she was using to live at the time. Combined with the shock, she went down. I, again, stopped to consult with nurses and soldiers (my Dead Motherfuckers Consulting Team) before writing the description out to be sure I'd have the cause and rate of death correct.

>>592619
>It leads to predictable salt
That's not a problem, though, because being salty doesn't matter and won't change anything, nor should it. If people want to scream at a wall, that's hardly going to be a problem for the wall.

>>592646
Why would people being salty keep me up in the first place?

>>592622
I'm not sure I do know what you're saying. We explicitly sent Kat at the guy with the intent to distract him. He was smarter and more coolheaded than we anticipated, and knew to shoot the necromancer rather than the shadow. He was then a good shot, which we did kind of expect going in. I don't see how any of that is anon being confused about the choice. Can you clarity what you mean when you say people interpreted the option differently?

Incidentally, a quick google search shows plenty of people getting 1" groupings with modern crossbows at ranges from 40-80 yards, so the idea that a highly competent marksman might hit us that accurately from across a small battlefield doesn't seem particularly ridiculous to me. It does seem impressive, certainly, but hardly impossible.

>>592708
Huh, I didn't think about the army of the dead that work for you. Got anyone famous?

>>592183
> Return to life
DO NOT GO GENTLE, MUTHAFUCKAS

The death itself doesn't really bug me the way it does some people. It's a little irritating but I'm not going to agree with every decision anyone makes. I can deal.

Personally I just really dislike the resurrection mechanic from how I understand it. I would much rather see any character stay dead then have their actual personal impact on the world get wiped away by the universe so they can get back up again.

I would vote to stay dead but it doesn't really seem like it would mesh with Bri's character as well so I'll sit it out.

>>592708
Same difference vox, it was a perfect lethal shot. That doesn't excuse the bullshittery you performed.

>>592749
Not really? But somehow I woke up one morning with a goddamn Illuminati network so now I get advice on just about anything from people in those fields. EMTs, head nurses, Army, Marines (former), etc, so forth. It's handy.

Plus for some reason I can summon cookies from Australia which has gotta be the oddest use of networking in my life.

>>592744
The crossbow he used isn't a high-tech modern weapon. It is most likely a simple wood or maybe metal crossbow. Unless it can stand and be drawn up to his thighs, there is no way in hell he could take a pot shot, reload, and then immediately kill with the next shot. He would need a winch to reload something for that distance in an active fight even with height advantage, Kat should have gotton to him before he could reload.

>>592744
>modern
>40-80 yards

That's a fucking reach, you have to take into account similar levels of skill with a better weapon.

Also dude's in the middle of a fight with a fucking shadow monster screaming at him, it's a little hard to believe.

I think that's the biggest issue, if it was more believable it wouldn't be an issue.

>>592771
That's...odd. The cookies any good?

>>592785
This, fucking this

>>592765
The good news for you is that we're losing the resurrection mechanic after this one.

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>>592785
And before this guy or anyone else says>>592744
>>592622
it could have been a gun and it wouldn't matter, I call bullshit because these people only have flintlocks for the grunts at best and Lora destroyed everything that was advanced enough past that. There is no way the fucker would have something like a lever action as just a grunt. Unless Richard pulled some motherfucking Aizen tier bullshit and placed him there for this exact reason.

>>592872
This would also imply that Richard is now able to see into the fucking future, or at least a lesser version of what Nate's mom had. Which is fucking terrifying.

>>592785
>>592792
Obviously, the situation is hardly identical to the modern examples. My comment was more directed at the anon who claimed that even modern crossbows are only accurate to roughly 20 meters. The one seen here will, of course, be less accurate than the ~80-yard-range that seems to be the vague consensus for modern crossbows, but it's not like we were told this guy was was 200 feet away, either. As for Kat getting to him first, I just went back and checked the archives, and he was literally aiming when we sent Kat at him.

>>592708
Some advice about being a QM, (I've never been one but do listen to what others have said) It's your job to be our eyes and ears of this world. Unlike in a book where you can be ambiguous and the reader can pick up something they missed after the fact, a quest needs the details understood a great deal more so that proper choices can be made on our part.

I'm not saying put in "Doing this kills you!" but make it so we don't confuse how far away the guy with a crossbow is for instance. If we have him imagined a mile away pointing at us as opposed to across the street pointing at us it changes how we would react. I think the biggest source of salt is because we, the readers, aren't on the same page when important choices need to be made.

I just feel you need to convey the situations a bit better so we can react as such. LIke, use a medium sized red flag instead of a small one but at the same time don't use XXL ones.

>>592900
That 80 yard range? That's bullshit in the extreme.

I've actually handled crossbows, mostly for hunting, you will never, ever hit a mark that far away with one.

>>592900
True he was aiming but it might not have been at us, unless he was still focusing us regardless, I don't remember if he was or not, but it is still bullshit because even the best crossbowmen with replicas of these old crossbows couldn't reload as fast as this motherfucker did and shoot as accurately, and the only way I could even consider that it was possible for him to pull it off that fast is if the fucking crossbow was enchanted to auto reload, which is also fucking stupid. We know the Lush banned crossbows(for some fucking reason) so the chances of the admittedly competent grunt, to have something like that is fucking ridiculous.

>>592961
I can't claim any similar expertise on the subject, but I can point out what I found with like 30 seconds on google. You want to prove me wrong, I welcome it. I'm only arguing from the information I was able to find.
http://www.bestcrossbowsource.com/how-far-can-you-shoot-a-crossbow/
http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1819010

>>592976
I don't think it takes that long to switch targets with a loaded crossbow, anon. I actually agree that he seemed to reload that thing awfully fast, but it was established as being loaded before the choice.

>>593028
If you actually read your second link you'd see the hunters and enthusiasts actually corroborating my assertions. The optimal range is 15-20 yards with it getting exponentially more difficult the further you are away.

They also don't move as fast as bullets, which gives your target a heads up.

>>593066
Just read through it a second time, and tried a few word searches in case I missed anything. I can see a lot of people reporting a lot of different ranges from their own experience, including some very tight groupings in the 40-80 yard range. Would you care to point out to me where, exactly, you feel that's contradicted by better evidence?

Definitely agree that bolt travel time is a big factor if you're trying to hit a moving target. No idea how much Bri was trying to dodge and weave here.

It's also worth noting that this guy had hit us before. So while we didn't have any concrete numbers for the distance, we did know that we were in range.

>>593184
>word searching

So instead of reading it you're cherry picking?

Also in almost every post it's explained.

>>593066
I read through that entire page and saw nobody corroborating that. I did see multiple claims of 1" inch grouping at ranges from 40-80 yards, with several of the 40 yard claims being mentioned as off-handed, as well as video links to what I believe are 150 and 200 yard target shots with a crossbow.

>>593205
Read through it, and then word searched. I did not just word search. Please actually tell me where you feel the 40-80 yard groupings were contradicted by better evidence.

>>593230
It's possible he misread the third post.

>>593209
>>593230
I'll admit I may have fucked that up.

All I have to offer you are my own experiences and knowledge with crossbows. So dismiss it if you want, I'm not going to spend hours searching for the exact piece of evidence that helps me, honestly because this conversation/argument doesn't even matter.

Largely because these are modern crossbows

Is everyone forgetting that the space we were fighting in had enough room to comfortably have enough space to fight 100 armed soldiers and big fucking zombie lizards? That is defiantly at around the max range of a normal medieval crossbow.

>>593274
> Largely because these are modern crossbows
Very true. What does matter is that he had just shot us in the shoulder, demonstrating that we were at such a range that he could a) hit us, and b) penetrate our armor, at least at the joints.

You know the difference between this and the River death? River and Jack dying was from us doing what we could think was right in the circumstances, we wouldn't know what would happen to other characters or even the story at large. We had one character doing actions that we couldn't predict the outcomes off. But this? We have literally no way to tell being a distraction would get us instant killed, especially in light of things like this>>593288 and this>>592976
While having unforeseen consequences is normal and something we can all get past, the fact that this was so sudden and precise kill when he already (dubiously) hit us. Screams that he was either toying with us or missed to injure us to bring in for the Lush, which doesn't make sense seeing as the Lush banned the weapon he is currently using.

>>593365
River is still alive. Do you mean Silence?

>>593365
Or, you know, he isn't a 100% consistent shot at that range in the middle of a battle. Just because you can hit someone dead center mass doesn't mean you will with every shot.

>>593365
Or that he got lucky. And what's dubious here? Other than citing yourself, I mean. We definitely did get hit.

>>593381
That's what I meant yeah, bit tired at the moment.
>>593397
He got lucky twice in a row. That doesn't fucking happen. This guy was obviously supposed to kill us and I refuse to believe he has the equipment to pull off this shit while planning to take out a companion. His skill is not the question here but the fact that a banned weapon from his, well might as well say master, would not be capable of what he pulled off in the obviously large space we were in.

>>593430
> He got lucky twice in a row. That doesn't fucking happen.
Putting aside the question of why you assume he got lucky twice in a row, as opposed to, say, unlucky then average, or average then lucky, or unlucky then lucky...

Yes, getting lucky twice in a row does happen. Come on, anon, you've rolled double 20s at least once in your life, right? Random events don't tend to clump, but they also don't tend to spread out as much as we expect them to, which means they do clump sometimes.

Called, writing, and then I have some Professional Writing to attend to.

>>592183
As nice as some restwl would be.
>return to life.
We still have a job to do no telling how much harm ol' Dickie's going to do if he succedes.

>>593481
I didn't assume he got lucky, you did>>593397
and it still doesn't answer the fact that weapon he uses shouldn't be able to make do the shit he has regardless of quality, because the Lush banned the things.
>>593511
Cool, awaiting what will happen.

>>593511
Sorry for the complaining

still love you, you crazy person

>>593530
>I didn't assume he got lucky, you did>>593397
First off, that's not me. Note that we have these fancy ID codes now. Second, that anon is merely suggesting he got lucky at least once, not that he necessarily got lucky twice.

> and it still doesn't answer the fact that weapon he uses shouldn't be able to make do the shit he has regardless of quality, because the Lush banned the things.
Yes, because as we know, weapon bans are always 100% effective in real life.

>>593555
> Constantly ask for feedback
> Anon apologizes for offering feedback

Pls. /Pls/.

>>593430
>This guy was obviously supposed to kill us
They probably have standing orders to kill on sight at this point, so obviously, yes.

>I refuse to believe he has the equipment to pull off this shit while planning to take out a companion
Okay.

>the fact that a banned weapon from his, well might as well say master, would not be capable of what he pulled off in the obviously large space we were in.
It demonstrated that it was immediately beforehand.

>>593530
>I didn't assume he got lucky, you did
>you did
We literally have IDs specifying us as different people as different colors above every single post.

>because the Lush banned the things.
Okay.

>>593574
Forgot the id things>>593570
need to sleep soon. But for the ban, what makes you people think the Lush doesn't make, VERY good examples of people that disobey him?

>>593572
But you aren't responding to me.

notice me

>>593596
I believe the man's own response to such regulations being pointed out was "eat a cock". Now, you're right, the Lush's punishments were probably pretty draconian, but we know like two things about this guy, and one is how he feels about anti-crossbow regulations.

>>593596
Has making examples out of people ever managed to prevent them from doing something, historically? Discourage, certainly, but prevent?

>>593693
How many had magic? And was a literal giant?

Anyways passing out folks. Be back soon. or not

>>593714
Depends on if the belief that the ruler was magical or not counts.

>>592708
It's the same difference man

you killed Bri off with no warning, and no way for us to save

not even a saving throw

This is some shit that wouldn't fly in even a basic DND game. I'm kind of reminded of that Chick Tract scene actually

>>592792
also take into consideration he had just fired off a shot

so he needed to reload his weapon and basically aim on the fly in the space between Kat getting his attention and reaching him

>>593572
why are you ignoring the feed back we are giving you then?

Didn't all the pushback from when you killed off Silence without any warning mean anything to you?

>>594490
>>594502
>>594521
And I thought the yellow guy was salty.

>>594537
I only just got home, and I feel like a lot of points have been raised that Vox seems to be ignoring.

>>594552
They've also been shot down by other players, for the most part.

>>594609
From reading over the comments I'm getting the feeling that the other participants all feel like Bri's death was BS on varying levels

>>594615
Now I'm wondering if it's confirmation bias or illiteracy.

>>594631
look you don't have to agree with me but don't try to belittle the point I'm making.

>>594640
You're not making a point.

>>594615
I am not a fan of it. I can deal with it though

>>594651
The point I'm trying to make is that Vox has had a problem with killing off characters with little or no warning, and that Bri's death feels like another case of this. It's unfair to the players to spring consequences on us when we don't have enough information to adequately predict the outcome of possible choices

>>594615
I thought it was odd that the guy reloaded that fast, but given that that was already established when we made the decision, I'm not calling bs on the death.

Which doesn't mean I'm happy that it happened. But I don't think it was unfair, and I think fiction without teeth (or where all teeth are telegraphed) is pretty uninteresting.

>>594684

I disagree, personally. I don't expect to see much telegraphing for consequences.

Just my two cents, I have no interest in joining this salt mine otherwise.

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>>592183
You think about it.

For all of maybe a minute.

"No deal," you tell Lora, firmly. "I'm in this to the end. My /actual/ end, if need be, but I can warn people about that one."

"Why?" Lora asks, not accusingly but with an odd look of curiosity. "Duty?"

You stand, cross the room, and put a hand on Lora's shoulder. "Well, the reason is simple. I want to /fucking live/."

Lora chokes on her cigarette laughing, and you crack a grin at her. "Seriously Lora," you continue. "I can talk about all of the really good reasons to turn this deal down, but honestly, at the heart of it? I want to live. And I'm okay with dying if I'm dying fighting, dying /trying/, but dying like this? No. That's not worth giving up the chance at raising kids. That's not worth a lover's embrace or a warm cup of coffee by the fire. It certainly isn't worth leaving Jewel and Cherry alone, or not seeing my story told in Scribbles' book. I'm not going to lay down and die for the calculus of war."

"I guess...I guess I never thought this was personal for you," Lora admits.

"It's always been personal for me," you tell her softly. "But I appreciate the thought, Lora. You're a good friend."

"Alright. Get ready, this is going to get...interesting..."

"Is he going to try to interfere?" you ask, worried.

"I hope he does," Lora says with a vicious edge. "I'd love to be able to drop the hammer on him for being that stupid."

"...That's not reassuring, Lora."

"You'll be fine."

* * * *

You are Nathan Bookchild, and you are still alive when you wake up. You have to admit, you're a bit surprised by this. You'd half expected to get stepped on while you were asleep or, hell, betrayed. Ash seems like a mostly okay guy but you're getting this sinking feeling that you're going to end up stabbing Eric to death.

Amy's already awake. She's sulking on a chair next to the bed.

"Pretty bird?" you ask, reaching out to take her hand. She sighs and squeezes yours.

"Talked to the guy that shot Bri," she says. "Not mad at him. Mad at myself for not being mad, and then mad at myself for that because it's stupid but..."

"Maybe walk me through it?" you suggest.

"...Well, in his position I'd've shot her too."

You sit up the rest of the way and set your feet - real and prosthetic - down on the floor. "...I can get that. But he also shot /Bri/."

"Yeah, but..." Amy shrugs, morosely. "She wasn't Bri to him. Y'know?"

> I think I do, yeah
> No. I'm still mad
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?

Here's a thought. What if, instead of engaging, those of us who ain't digging in the salt mines just posted "not salty" when these waves hit? By definition, the only people making noise are the three or four salty people and the people engaging with them.

Out of the 43 posters in this thread, or the 80 in the last one.

>>594727
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?

>>594750
I feel like this is a problem of the chan format. Maybe if there was a way for us to talk to Vox directly like an email address or something?

>>594727
>> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
Gotta worry about best birb.

>>594750
That seems needlessly passive-aggressive.

>>594521
It meant quite a bit, anon. I'm reading everything that gets posted, even if I don't necessarily reply to it. This is still a learning experience for me, still my first actual quest. This is part of why I do essentially nothing when the arguments break out - they're educational.

>>594727
>> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
Ruminative coping style is not best coping style.

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>>594770
Nah, I'm not saying give him feedback directly instead of publicly, I just mean to put the salt in perspective.

>>594776
Why'd you do it again then?

>>594727
>Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?
>>594771
Is right

>>594727
>I think I do, yeah.

>>594805
Do what kill a character? The big thing with everyone said last time was that silences death happened too quick, happened without us being able to see it at the time, and happened without a clear choice in the moment. As far as I could see, none of that happened here. Maybe your issue is that it wasn't telegraphed enough, with which I disagree, but this isn't anything like silence.

>>594727
>> I think I do, yeah
> Didn't you get /any/ sleep, Ames?

>>594805
Anon, this salt mining has been going to for 2 days now. Deal. With. It.

>>594830
>>594842

Kill a character without warning, there's an important difference

>>594830

Side note, this is the anonymous whose girlfriend is also reading. We are going ahead and posting from our phones when we do post, off the Wi-Fi, to avoid same fagging.

>>594864

I don't mean this in a confrontational way, but I literally have no idea what you mean by that. Try rephrasing?

>>594871
>implying anyone here has a girlfriend.
that's nice, but please keep the joking down to a minimum.

>>594883
ok. When Jack chose not to kill the Roost we had no idea that it would mean Silence's death and by the time we found out it was already over. We had no idea that the choice not to warn the Roost would result in her death and no way to predict that it would happen.

When we chose for Bri to send Kat directly after the crossbowman rather then try to defend Nate or Eric there was no indication that doing so would make HER a target or that it would result in her being shot again

And once she was shot there was literally nothing that could be done to try to lessen the impact, just instantaneous death.

How are we as players supposed to create plans if we are literally only one decision away from death and, more importantly, we don't know that the decision we are making increases or decreases the likelihood?

I'd need a little to get all my thoughts in order but this is pretty much the crux of disappointment with how things have turned out

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>>594927

>implying we're all as lonely, broken, maladjusted, and sad as you are.

>>594974
Pretty much

Hey Vox, I've been lurking for a bit, but I caught all the way up recently, and I've been enjoying DLQ a lot! Honestly I'm enjoying the increased lethality with Silence and now Bri. It was getting to a point beforehand where I was disappointed in how low the stakes seemed.

As for my other impressions, it's been an awesome run overall. Jewel and Cherry fighting Seraphina was awesome. Definitely a high point. I do wish we'd been able to spend longer in New Hell.

I'm excited to see where this will be going!

>>594974
>And once she was shot there was literally nothing that could be done to try to lessen the impact, just instantaneous death.
>How are we as players supposed to create plans if we are literally only one decision away from death and, more importantly, we don't know that the decision we are making increases or decreases the likelihood?

I understand your argument. On a certain level, though, isn't that just, you know, life?

Like... we have the choice to rescue one or the other of our allies that fight. Instead, we chose to distract the crossbowmen. Even though we weren't intending that, a perfectly logical consequence of that choice is that we were shot again. We died.

There are always unintended consequences. You plan the best that you can around them, but what fun would it be if there weren't?

>>594974
The shooter knew what a shadow was. He works with a necromancer that has a shadow. He wasn't gonna try shooting it when the actual necromancer is wide open on top of a huge boar. That's why he yelled "why isn't it dissipating!" when Kat continued to ravage his anus.

>>595032
>>594974

To be clear, I'm not bring confrontational here. I'm trying to grok your mindset on this, because it's very different from mine.

>>595032
That may be more realistic but there's a time and a place for that. Narratively it's a real kick in the balls for us the players because we have spent A LOT of time and effort in making sure that Bri stays alive. We've chosen options again and again that were more difficult and required the significant investment of resources and endurance of pain to ensure that Bri stays alive and the temporal effects weren't invoked so we could make an impact on the surface

And now it's all been swept away. Not by a character we know who was established as a threat like the lush or the wyrm or even a captain or named man

it was by a random mook. A random mook like the hundreds of other mooks who've shot at us before and who we've managed to survive being wounded by a hundred times before.

Bri is the main character and while yes she is mortal she is also the heritor of the dungeon, a woman who's gone up against monsters like the Priestess and dueled with the Baron and broke the diviners own magic. Theese are all things that would have killed and in fact HAVE killed lots of other people, so surviving that leads us to assume that, barring a major catastrophe like being stabbed in the back or a series of total failures that lead to a total route, we don't have to sweat every single combat encounter

>>595047
I'm not going to argue that there wasn't logic for us being a target, but there was a severe lack of communication in stressing the amount of danger we were in. if the players knew that Bri was apparently fatally wounded and that kat wouldn't be able to act as a barrier if we WERE shot, like some of us were assuming, then we might have just let Eric or Nate take the hit

>>595124
B-but my low lethality, I NEED STAKES

>>595124
>we don't have to sweat every single combat encounter

Didn't bri herself say that treating every situation like it could kill her was good practice for Richard taking away our rezing ability?

A Mook with a crossbow - a sniper, on a rooftop, during a pretty fucking lethal looking ambush of soldiers - seems like the kind of thing that should be an every-choice-could-be-lethal situation, for us or our comrades.

Does it help if, instead of thinking of it as A Mook that killed us, you recognize that it was the unit of soldiers who did? That the lush threw enough men at us, and at the right time, to be lethal?.

>>595124
>Narratively it's a real kick in the balls for us the players

I notice, by the way, that you're saying "us," which includes me - this wasn't a kick in the balls for me.

You're speaking for you, here - which is fair, you're entitled to your opinion and I'm interested in hearing it, but call a spade a spade.

>>595188
no it was pretty much that one crossbowman who killed us. The rest of the soldiers didn't do anything other then kill some lizards.

Again, it seemed stressed to us that this guy wasn't even that much of a threat because crossbows are against the Lush's own regulations.

This is why there is an implicit assumption built into most RPGs. While random chance can kill almost anyone in the right circumstances, the player characters can survive being stabbed and shot and kicked off a building even though in real life just one of those things could realistically cripplea person for the rest of they're life if not out and out kill them.

Having a character die out of the blue without any saving throw is generally considered a no no by GMs precisely because of this. This is why players are asked 'are you sure you want to do this?' when they're about to embark on something that will ensure their deaths.

And if the players ignore this tiny warning and continue down that road then the GM is fine to fuck with them. But not offering that small warning makes all the difference in the world

>>595006
Welcome to the quest, anon! I appreciate the feedback I fucked up with New Hell and the Roost and I'm trying, consciously, to relax and not fret so much - hence the longer interlude and look forward to havin' ya around.

I must also ask - who are your most and least favorite supporting characters?

>>595259
now where are you getting the idea that New Hell and the roost were bad arcs?

>>595268
My general dissatisfaction with them as an author and anon's general dissatisfaction with them as an audience?

>>595253
I'm not entirely sure the assumptions built into games with dice are valid for games without dice. With dice, the element of risk in each encounter is "you might get unlucky, or not lucky enough." Without dice, the element of risk is "you might make the wrong choice." When the choice is, in itself, the main element of risk in the system, I'm not sure a "are you sure you want to do that?" is warranted unless the character in question has access to vital information that the players do not, which I really don't feel was the case here (risk of crossbows having been communicated by the crossbow bolt in our shoulder at that very moment).

In other words, I feel like the negative reactions are due to something fundamental about the nature of narrative quests. I dunno, maybe it's time to revisit the dice thing. I prefer the narrative stuff myself, but then, I also don't have a problem with the recent deaths.

>>595278
We liked them just fine, it was the sudden loss of Silence that was the issue. Other than that, no one here would say it was a bad arc.

>>595278
I didn't really pick any of that up? The roost was a little bit weirdly structured but it wasn't bad

If anything I'd have to rank the warehouse as the worst arc so far because of it's disjointed nature

>>595321
Anon, I meant the plot arc "Rule the Roost".

>>595253
>assumption

I do not share that assumption, especially not here, where our repeated death was an explicit assumption of and mechanic for the quest. Hell, I feel like we've been doing this like a pacifism run through dishonored, seeing how much we can do to avoid the assumed frequency with which we should be dying.

And again, you're saying "us" and "we" a lot, when I really think you mean "I" or "me." I'm trying not to let it bother me, but it feels like you're trying to speak for me. I've been here since the lichyard. I'm as much a part of this as anyone else, and I don't agree with you.

I do appreciate being able to talk through that disagreement, though.

Also, I think you misunderstood my point. I don't mean to say the rest of the ambush was what killed us. I mean rather that part of the issue might be too narrow a focus. It's not one Mook that killed us, any more than it was a bit of iron and wood - seriously, how could a bit of iron and woos kill the heritor of the dungeon?

The one Mook - the bit of iron and wood, in the form of the crossbow bolt, the vanilla mortal soldiers, the ambush, the necromancer, they're all part of a larger attack. They are, collectively, one single swing from the lush... and it hit. We died. We'll be bsck.

>>595320
I feel like precisely because this is a diceless quest the fact that a random nameless soldier managed to kill the MC is even worse. In a narrative quest all we have to go by for threats is what the author tells us is threatening

In a dice based game there's always the chance no matter how small that an action might result in a critical fuck up

in a diceless quest we do away with that assumption so the narrative can proceed unimpeded by the tyranny of the dice gods.

No warning from the GM in a diceless narrative quest for an action that is lethal and that the players cannot grasp IS lethal is the worst kind of betrayal, because it means we now have to second guess not just ourselves but also what the QM is telling us

>>595352
And my point still stands.

>>595278

I wasn't dissatisfied - I just felt they moved too quickly, personally. I wanted more time fighting for ground in new hell, more time maneuvering the politics in the roost.

I, for one, hope port atrium and the sunless sea is a long, involved adventure, with multiple groups in the city and surrounding areas interacting in interesting ways.

>>595388
>and that the players cannot grasp IS lethal

Anon? Me. I grasped that it was potentially lethal. I helped pick it, knowing that.

>>595374
How many times have we died though?

Once and because of author fiat.

I agree with you that the perhaps the cumulative effects of the ambush were what killed Bri but that's not how it was presented to me in the text.

Bri didn't do something monumentally stupid or anything that she hadn't done a million times before. She didn't ride in unprotected and alone, she didn't try to go one on one with a heavily armored melee killer. She had back up and bodies that were supposed to be absorbing the fatal stuff for us.

>>595388
I'm trying to figure out how getting shot in the shoulder in literally the same post as the decision, by literally the same guy, doesn't communicate danger. And I'm not coming up with anything, anon. Don't get me wrong, I voted to send Kat after the guy with all the others. I thought it was a good idea too. But I feel like the danger was signaled plenty clearly, and if we evaluated it wrong, that's on us.

>>595419

But... we were. We were doing something dangerous. We were being ambushed. Instead of fighting defensively, we chose to try to defeat it... and we died. Just like we did with jack, we tried to fight something that turned out to be more than our equal.

>>595433
You feel one way, others feel a different way.

That's life

>>595418
You knew that by picking the option Bri was going to die from it? or that there was an even chance that she could die?

I think how anyone would expect Bri getting wounded fatally would go is- she gets shot and put out of the fight but now comes a really hard part. She has to stave off death long enough for nate to finish the fight and avoid taking a coupe de grace blow, and if she fails THAT then she is well and truely dead

By making her death instantaneous, especially in a situation narratively where there is enough leeway for us to get that extra space to fix our mistake, we are robbing the actual villain of the arc impact on the story

LUSH is the villain here, not random crossbowman. If random crossbowman injures Bri then it should make her more likely in an actual confrontation with the person who this entire arc is supposed to be about

>>595455
You can't be serious, it was some no name fucking soldier.

I'm not buying what you're selling man.

If you think this situation is in any way comparable to jack's you clearly don't understand.

>>595470
>we are robbing the actual villain of the arc impact on the story
Good.

>>595475

That's like saying that its bills hit that some random mundane bolt out of a thousand like it managed to kill us.

My argument is that the soldier was a part of the ambush, and the ambush was a single attack from the lush. I expect a dozen more, none of them easy to overcome.

>>595460
Obviously. I don't mean to suggest that other people's feelings on the matter are somehow less important than my own. I do question the narrative that somehow we had no way of knowing it was dangerous, but I understand that people felt it was very sudden, and happened without warning. And my argument, at this point, is that I don't think that's avoidable in a narrative quest without signaling everything all over the place and losing all possible tension in the process. Which, yes, is a problem with narrative quests, because people's emotional reactions to things are important, and this is clearly not a good emotional reaction.

>>595491
>>595509

no, that's a bad thing from a story perspective. Han Solo's death in the new star wars movie would have been seriously less impactful if he had died to a random stormtrooper rather then to Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren is still responsible but the narrative focus is no longero n him

it's on that idiot spinning the stupid baton around like a varsity cheer leader

anyway, I guess that's all I have to say for right now. vox, give me an email address or something if you want to hear the rest of my opinions, I gotta focus on my dark heresy game now.

>>595470
>You knew that by picking the option Bri was going to die from it? or that there was an even chance that she could die?

Yes.

I know that we can die. An ambush of professional soldiers, from a prepared position, catching us unawares, and backed by an enemy necromancer, is the kind of thing I expect to be able to kill us.

>>595537
I honestly prefer the open discussion, anon. I only rarely end up asking folks' private opinions, and even then it's usually because they're either lurkers that I know personally (and I have to ask because they don't post here) or they're someone who's catching up, and I know them personally, and I'm peeling their souls for delicious in-progress reactions.

>>595259
I totally understand. No bitterness here. I thought it was a cool as hell level and wanted to let you know

Amy's my favorite POV character. I'm enjoying River come into her own as well. Non-POV, Jewel/Cherry as a unit is fascinating. Both characters on their own are interesting, but the two of them together make something kinda unique, and that's awesome. I'm really interested in Natalia's character development too. And Cooke is hella cool.

>>595537
I'd rather Vox not give any of us an email address. Feedback should be held in an open forum where it can be debated, not behind closed doors.

>>595601
THIS!

>>595601
pretty much

>>595601
>>595610
>>595597

It feels kind of like I'm ragging on him rather then having an actual conversation. Hell I'm talking to him right now and i"m still referring to him in the third person.

>>595601

And, as someone who is taking part in the conversation here, I'm appreciating the civility of it at the moment. It's been too salty too often, but we we're actually able to hammer out something here. There's a fundamental difference in how some of us are viewing the structure or purpose of the game, and that's something for vox to keep in mind.

Productive conversation, and nobody got called a shitdick niggerfaggot. Call that a win.

Don't give out emails., Vox, it encourages idiots like Vaelys to be stupid.

>>595259
Vox, I thought that New Hell and the Roost felt maybe kind of rushed? Like more detail and/or interaction might have helped.

Also, your supporting characters have been pretty great; the ones I'd say I like the least are the ones we interact with the least, because we don't get the chance to like them if that makes any sense. I don't think every charachter needs a ton of detail, though.

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>>595470
random crossbowman was actually the villain the whole time

>Didn't you get any sleep, Ames?
Nate's conflicted, but that's okay. He can decide how to feel about the soldier later.

>>595320
Shut bro, this isn't a choose your own adventure book.

We should be able to jew the fuck out of shut by making plans.

Like, that's why I'm trying to get harpies to fucking drop bombs and revenants and shut while we blare out that we're accepting the surrender of regular troops.

It's why I wanted to burn the whole damn thing down, because fuck armies that shut is dangerous. Let me tell you about friendly stabs.

They happen.

So could we start doing shut like going into ghost form because fuck armor we a ghost nigga.

Blinding cunts at range, and we gotta get Kat smart enough to be stealthy again this screaming ain't doing it for me.

Maybe we could try lobbing corruption, if snipers are in a melee they're officially dealt with.

Maybe we should stop and discuss tactics instead of shutting ourselves over waifus and trust other people to fucking help like the theme of this quest has been.

Vox, you're still kind of crap at describing options so that we have a clear understanding of what will happen. Use your words, we ain't telepathic.

Fuck it. I'm just going to spam a list of shut we can do after each vote.

>>595597
Do not give out your email. The email field is a trap.

Jesus you're frustrating sometimes at your stubborn refusal to integrate.

Do you want gore and animal abuse and shut emailed to you or something?

I just want to take a moment to stress that I'm not just some fair weather friend or some newbie who only just started following or has a bee up his bonnet over something inconsequential like that entire stupid Crescendo argument

I've been posting in these threads since the very beginning, following the story, keeping the thread bumped, coming up with stuff

This is the first thing that honestly has really made me upset. Like, I didn't LIKE when Silence died but I understood that there are lots of different factors at play and that we can't account for everything all the time

The instantaneous nature of the death is what really gets me

Apart from the one instance of author fiat in the beginning, we have never ever been in a situation where death was literally only one bad choice away. Suddenly springing it on us for what feels like a relatively mundane action seems like a really bad choice

>>595751
>Shut
...why are you doing that?

>>595780
Not him but I'm guessing he's on a phone with predictive.

>>595771
I guess we could have been and not realized if we made the right choice but if so we've probably had an impressive string of good luck.

I always kind of figured that was what the rare hidden checks were for mostly though. Checking to see if something really horrible happened suddenly when it was a major risk.

Looking back I don't think that was ever clearly stated though and that's probably just an assumption on my part.

>>595804
That's what I was thinking too. The dice rolls were for risky stuff that could backfire on us spectacularly. But we didn't even get a dice roll for this

you have to admit vox that in comparison to all the other non-boss combat encounters you significantly ramped up the lethality here

>>595826
>you have to admit vox that in comparison to all the other non-boss combat encounters you significantly ramped up the lethality here
This is definitely true. While I remain not especially upset, I'll throw my voice behind this bit of criticism.

>>595771
Actually I went and re-read the last thread. I have to say, while Vox isn't always consistent at explaining the ramifications of the given choices, we gotta step it up too.

We sent our meatshield Boar off to go ramming.

And we had already been shot ONCE in the shoulder by the sniper. Probably should have gotten into cover there.

Silence dying was acceptable I feel. We were playing as Jack, and we knew that not warning the Roost meant SOMEONE was going die. And I would honestly prefer to have it be Silence than the hatchlings.

I think I've figured it out. Vox is unable to handle the 4chan questing format and the linear way votes come in after he posts.

So we gotta step up, slow down, and start having actual discussions about what we're going to do like we were all present at the same time.

That's going to be fucking hell, because Vox leaves votes open for fucking ever, and we're all NOT going to be here at the same time anyways.

So Vox, since you have your own unique way you want to run your quest, you have to start working with use here.

You hate twitter, okay. How about you set actual times for the vote to be over after the post? 30 min, an hour, whatever.

Look, this quest is your baby. You can just half-ass it because "you don't like it" other ways, but the forums here do have limitations you need to work around.

Or not. And we'll keep having this issue again and again and you might as well just write a fucking novel at that point, because I don't want to feel like I'm reading a "Choose your Own Adventure" book.

Please, give us some structure so we can have a discussion time and then a consensus time instead of "Sorry, the first 10 people voted before you pointed out that we should probably take cover so that's not happening."

>>595889
there wasn't an option for us to get into cover though

Vox gave us three choices, and none of them included protecting ourselves. If it was reasonable for Bri to be worried about her health maybe that should have been included in our choices.

>>595913
This is valid, bit write-ins have been effective in the past. Still, in retrospect, it does seem like the kind of situation where a "take cover" option would've been warranted.

>>592183
>> Other
Ask about a delayed return. 'camp out' for a while; if thats possible, and how badly it'd fuck up, more or less, the world upon her return if she did that.
(Perhaps with some aid from River to pull her back in a non-world-reset way? Collaboriation with Lora's Chosen, perhaps?)

>>595889
>How about you set actual times for the vote to be over after the post? 30 min, an hour, whatever

I don't see that helping with the problem you describe. What sounds like would help, though, is a vote /delay/. Let's say a fifteen minute (for instance) period after you post where /no votes/ were made ir counted, that was just for discussion.

It'd be experimental, but this whole quest is too.

>>595951
Ooo~

That could be...interesting.

>>595972
any particular reason why you decided that the forge encounter was going to be so deadly?

>>595972
Wouldn't make any difference with as slow as the updates tend to be, in my opinion. Vox has been tolerant about acceptign vote changes after discussion so far, after all. If he had not been, that might be different.

>>595972
>>595989
I'm not so sure. Updates are pretty slow, but the first round of votes is often quite fast, and not being able to immediately vote might make those first people (myself included, on many occasions) more inclined to, well, discuss, since they can't put their energy towards anything else. I don't know for sure that'd happen, it might just be 15 minutes of silence, but it'd be interesting to try.

>>595913
>>595989
The other problem is people who vote and then do shit like go to bed or work, or live their life.

Because the vote takes so long, a lot of people seem to just cast their vote and peace out. Like, I have shit to do besides argue for the three to twelve hours between posts.

>>596084
Also a fair point. I'm gonna call and write here in forty or so; life got me.

>>596145
>> No. I'm still mad
Voting for therapy sex before sleeping.

>>596145
Or, alternatively, dressing Brianna up silly while she's dead because we're kind of pissed she got herself killed and scared us like that. She has to take more care of herself, and let US take care of ourselves as well.

Or maybe dress up and a revenant and get River pretend we died while Brianna was dead. See how SHE likes it.

Since we can't be mad at the crossbow dude.

Therapy through sex or pranks. That's my life.

>>595989
I'm thinking the same. If this was a rapid fire quest, story posts coming fast and heavy, a forced discussion period would slow things down, forcing people to think before they vote. But here? There are several hours between posts.

>>596247
>Therapy through sex or pranks.
sounds... unhealthy. But, yaknow, It's 4chan; Everything here's unhealthy.

>>596247
>>596233

... will bri's body still be here when she gets back?

Because reanimation on our own corpse while we were still alive sounds like the kind of thing that would tickle bri's fancy, AND, go down in family legend.