A quick recap since it's been a while: You and some other mages have been contracted to protect a wealthy family's property and it has come under attack by forces hired by another family.
Looking closely at the armor, you can see that it is some sort of bone-based composite, one that you are unfamiliar with. The coloring of the material also seems to be natural and not a paint or dye. The figure straightens up, drawing a pair of curved short swords from under its cloak.

“Hand over Augustus Claine and his family,” the figure demands through a heavily distorted voice.

“Out of the question, I'm afraid,” Frederick replies, staff drawn and glowing with power.
Plan of action?
>Write in

>Currently it's just you, Amelie, and Frederick against this one opponent. Amelie is 1/3/1 and Frederick is 1/1/3 (notation is Slayer/Shaper/Speaker), and you are 2/2/1.

>>32307562
Bumping, I don't actually know the mechanics and abilities, but I enjoy reading the updates. Here's hoping someone more savvy comes along.

>>32307736
I guess that's fine, it has been nearly a month since I last ran. I guess I'll just update whenever people participate, so long as the thread is still here.

>>32307562
>Comment on how weak he looks compared to the skeleton slayer beast that I don't remember the name of
>Draw saber and prepare for glorious and totally honorable battle
>keep pocket sand at the ready

>>32307973
I guess I'll take it. Roll those 3d10s

Rolled 2, 9, 9 = 20

>>32308027

Rolled 6, 8, 1 = 15

>>32308027

Rolled 10, 10, 8 = 28

>>32308027
FUCK
this comes back just as I have to step out for a couple hours
Saucy y

>>32308035
>>32308151
>>32308166

Writing. This thread will probably be up until late tonight or even until tomorrow, judging by the pace of things, so don't worry too much.

>>32308166
dat 28

>>32308313
I deserve it, I'm the guy who rolled a 3 and a 4 in earlier threads

>>32308350
hahaha holy shit I was there for that too! You poor bastard, I'd be scared to roll after that

You draw your saber, unafraid of the being before you. Compared to that skeleton-man that branded you in Danmorm, or even Cord, the brute with the axe that nearly bisected you, this person isn't intimidating to you in the least.

The being crouches low and darts forward at you, blades crackling with electricity. Their speed catches you off-guard as they slip under your saber, blades ready to pierce your torso. Acting on instinct you bring your free hand up and activate the modules installed in it, the sudden mana drain tiring you a bit. The being catches the full effects of the Impact/Barrier combination and is sent flying back, disarmed.

Not one to miss an opportunity like this, it's your turn to rush in, saber raised. You aim at the head, trying to slip your blade between the helm and the cuirass with a thrust. Your aim is slightly off, however, and instead your thrust strikes the helmet, gouging a piece off as the blade passes by. The figure regains its footing and swings at you with one of its fists. You back off just in time to avoid taking the blow.

The helm splits and cracks under the effects of your saber's module, before falling apart completely, revealing the face of a woman underneath.

What do you do?
[Mana remaining: 41]

>>32308799
>Hey baby, how you doin
If she doesn't respond to our diplomacy stab and slash her face away

>>32308799
I think we've managed to defang her to a great extent by disarming her. However, I don't trust her not to have some sort of trick on hand. Maybe a bit more roughing up to make sure she doesn't have any pocket sand of her own? Does someone in the group know any good spells that could be used to restrain?

>>32308856
>Ayyo baby, you know what they say about BONE mages amirite!

>>32308897
Yes, Frederick has some spells that can restrain her.

>>32309116
Yo, then get Frederick to restrain that chick! And start blasting her with questions like who hired her, why is she here, who does she work for, is it even about the gold, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop, and what's your name.

>>32309170
Alright, then, roll for it, 3d10.

File: Induction Heating.gif (992 KB, 400x320)

992 KB GIF

Rolled 1, 9, 3 = 13

>>32309202

Rolled 6, 5, 6 = 17

>>32309202
Can we still ask her how she doin?

Rolled 10, 5, 6 = 21

>>32309202

File: Erection.gif (450 KB, 240x199)

450 KB GIF

>>32309296
nice

>>32309218
>>32309228
>>32309296
Writing.

Stab her anyways, if we get distracted by the fact that she's a woman she might stab us

Without her weapons and with a weakpoint exposed, you decide that now is an opportune time to attempt to restrain this woman.

“Frederick, get her,” Amelie shouts before you can say anything. From the corner of your eye you can see a glowing chain rocket out of the end of Frederick's staff and snake around the woman's arm. She goes wide-eyed and attempts to pull Frederick towards her. Panicking, Frederick breaks the chain off at the middle. Instead of dissipating, spell-chain anchors itself to the floor where it lands, anchoring the woman to that point in the room and sealing that arm from being used to fight.

“Now, if you answer some of our questions, we might be willing to let you go, how you say, relatively unharmed,” Amelie says, putting on her best smile.

The woman considers the situation and chuckles a bit before speaking.

“You get 3 questions. If you or your cronies,” she says looking towards you and Frederick, “try anything during our little chat this little cease fire will be off.”

What do you ask her?

Rolled 15

>>32309925
How many others are with you?

Rolled 14

>>32309925
Ask her about her armor

>>32310033
>>32310150

I'll write these up and let you hold on to the third question for after the response.

>>32310216
Thanks, not sure where everyone else went, but I should be around for a while at least

“How many mages are in your company,” Frederick asks, slightly winded from the exertion of casting the spell.

The woman thinks for a bit, counting out members on her fingers.

“There are five others besides me,” she says, prouder of her mental arithmetic than she has any right to be.

“What's with that armor of yours? I don't think I've seen that kind of material before,” you ask, examining one of the shards from the helmet.

“Oh, this is the first time someone's noticed! Yeah, this stuff is a secret proprietary blend that I helped make with Warbler. I'll give you a hint though, this stuff is more than just metal and bone,” she says, still bearing an expression of pride.

Final question?

>>32310246
I'm taking today as a slow day anyway. Things'll just meander their way to the finish line when their good and ready.

>>32310607
Where are the other 5 right now?
I don't care who hired them, I just want to make sure we're not being stalled Right now while we're being fucked over

>>32310753
Writing.

“So there are five others besides you, yes? Where are they right now? How do we know that you aren't just stalling for time until they arrive,” Amelie asks, fingers tightening around the grip of her shotgun.

“Oh, we never work together on a single job, I'm the only one here. I'm just doing this little question session because I thought it would be amusing,” the woman answers, smiling innocently. Her eyes suddenly go wide.

“It seems I'm needed elsewhere, now. Apparently some of Augustus's mercenaries have broken into my client's property.”

The woman coils some of the glowing chain around her hand before giving a sharp tug, ripping out a chunk of floorboards and carpeting before heading back out of the hole that she created earlier.

You all attempt to give chase, however upon rounding the corner of the hole you see the woman moving at her real full speed, having already cleared the majority of the property on her way towards the fence surrounding the land.

You stare in disbelief at her speed as she easily clears the fence with a single jump, not slowed in the slightest.

What do you do?
>Check on damage from the attack, both in casualties and structures
>Press the attack on the other family
>Write in

>>32311373
I'm leaning towards checking the damage from the attack. We should take stock of the situation before doing anything else

>>32311373
>Check on damage from the attack, both in casualties and structure
gather intel, prepare for assulting them

-
and nice quest btw please continue

>>32311373
>Check on damage from the attack, both in casualties and structures
We can't really press it now, they outnumber us and I get the feeling that they're stronger too. At least that woman and her partner are.

>>32311533
>>32311429
>>32311417
Writing.

You decide to inspect the grounds while you're already outside while Frederick and Amelie head back into the house to check on how the Claines are doing.

The house took far more damage during this attack than in the previous attacks, however most of the supports are still undamaged. Still, if the house takes a few more hits like it took today it won't be long before it collapses on itself. Aside from the damage to the house and a few more craters dotting the landscape, damage to the property isn't much worse than prior to this attack.

Checking up by the front gate, you see Robert has mostly handled things already, the wounded having been given emergency treatment as best as possible. Robert himself has a series of bloody tears in his clothing, although with all the corpses left behind from his handiwork he was able to patch himself back together. As you approach him for a full update you can see him hunched over a wounded man applying strips of torn clothing as bandages.

As he finishes up he takes notice of you and heads over to talk.

“Where did you learn to apply treatment like that,” you ask surprised.

“I'm the oldest child in a family of eight, you pick up this sort of skill when you have to take care of so many people,” he replies. “Anyway, casualties on our side weren't too bad at all, since most of the enemy was focusing on me. How were things at the house?”

“Some absurd woman in armor came and tore a wall down and part of the floor up, but not too much else,” you respond. Robert whistles.

“I see. Wish I could have been there.”

[1/2]

>>32312630
The four of you reconvene in the office, where you see the blades that the woman had used before laid upon the desk. You all report on your findings since the attack. It seems that the family was unharmed from the attack, although Augustus was more worried about the house than anything. In particular he was worried about the eastern wing of the house, the specificity of the concerns arousing some suspicions amongst the group, although nothing is said on the matter.

With that settled, your group gets down to the most important issue: the matter of loot. You claim that since you were the one to disarm the woman to begin with, you deserve one of the blades. The others concede on your point and allow you to take one of the two blades, while they argue amongst themselves about who gets the other one.

(You acquired: Enriched-Steel Volt/Pulse Shortsword (Set): Volt modules create electricity, costs 2 mana per use, has 20 points of charge and uses 1 per use per module used.)

[2/2]

Incoming post explaining a change/addition in mechanics

Alright, so some of you probably noticed the (Set) in the new sword. This doesn't mean that it's part of a set necessarily, that is a special modifier/tag that denotes the item has certain properties. These are some of the modifiers and what they do:

Set: Weapons with the (Set) modifier cannot have their Resonance Modules changed, but weapons with said modifier gain effect potency bonuses as well as the effects of (Durable). [Requires Shaper 3 to create]

Durable: Can be used with Resonance Overcharge without risk of self-degradation [Requires Shaper 4 to create]

Tint: Resonance Module(s) was/were made of a material that will alter the effects of said module(s) slightly. Tinted weapons will have the modifier displayed as (Tint: x, y, etc), where x and y are the various Tints. Some variants include:
-Smoldering: fire and heat based effects are improved, non-heat effects have a minor heat effect applied
-Chilling: Ice and heat-removal effects are improved, non-temperature effects gain a minor chilling effect.
-Brittle: Cutting based effects gain a minor Fray like effect, and increases a Fraying module's potency drastically.

[Requires nothing extra beyond the base Shaper and Speaker knowledge to create modules as well as the specific material with the effect desired.]

Volatile: Weapons with these have their effects gain the ability to chain-react when they come into contact with objects or foreign bodies containing mana, causing a smaller version of the initial effect to happen internally in the target, consuming some of their mana in addition to dealing internal damage. Weapons with this modifier have a cost increase of 1.25x per effect use. [Shaper 4]

Inert: Was made of a material that is either magic resistant or immune. Extremely difficult to work with due to these effects. [Requires Shaper 4]

>>32312712
So this one isn't tinted? And volatile and inert are also example tints?

Also, I'm kind of shot right now, so I think I'll stop for now and resume later tonight or sometime tomorrow in this thread, sorry about saying as much when there hasn't been that many updates.

>>32312841
No, this weapon is not Tinted. In fact, non of your equipment has that modifier. Volatile and Inert are similar to Tint but are not part of it, due to the nature of their construction.

>>32312848
Ahhh, it's fine, we'll see you soon bossman

>>32312920
bump

Alright, so I've decided to resume running tomorrow afternoon. If this thread is still up by the time I start, I'll use it, otherwise I'll make a new thread if it's needed.


Either way, this thread has been archived so don't worry about it too much.

>>32317758

Bump.

Want to give us a bonus if it's still up? It's a good way to incentivize, won't this short a thread look bad in the archives?

Bump.

Blump.

>>32312712

I'm guessing these are settings you've come up with since working on/finalizing your system a bit more.

So our Saber is "Set" right?

Strump.

Rolled 70

Rolling to resurrect op

>>32329429
>Success!

>>32325907
That is correct.

Now I gotta write the next story post.

Aah, good this is still up AND Saucy is back, I sorta passed out after "Strump."

Btw, welcome the fuck back man. It's good to see you're alive and well, and thanks for running.

After an hour of deliberation, the second blade was conceded to Robert on the grounds that he could make the best use of the blade due to being a Slayer specialist. With the matter of loot settled, you go about patching up the hole torn into the office wall as best as you can. Fortunately, the mystery woman tore most of the wall down in one big piece.

With the wall put back together you and your coworkers sit around the office while Augustus and his men make plans to assault the Claines (QM NOTE: Augustus' family, your employers, are the Garemes. The other family are the Claines. I mixed the two up previously this thread, my apologies), only occasionally asking for input from you and your allies. After a while they stop asking for the mage input altogether, leaving you and your allies in silence. After a while Frederick breaks the silence.

“This is probably one of the strangest contracts I've ever taken,” he says.

“How do you mean,” Amelie asks, “this does not seem that different to me.”

“That woman for starters, she was quite odd. I've never seen something quite like that on a job,” he responds.

You stare at him, a look of incredulity on your face.

“Can you just give me the contracts that you take from now on? If this is the weirdest job you've been on what have your jobs normally been like,” you ask dumbfounded, “this is probably the most straightforward job I've been on.”

“I doubt this could be the most straightforward job you've taken,” Frederick replies.

“My very first job as an independent contractor was to guard a ship as it traveled its route since ships like that have been going missing. It turned out that cultists were responsible. In my second job I was hired to do some emergency maintenance, it turned out to be sabotage by some Dahonians of unknown affiliation. This is my third independent job,” you half-vent, half-explain.

“That's par for the course, in my experience,” Robert says.

[1/2]

>>32330580
Your discussion is interrupted when one of the men the Garemes hired enters the room.

“We're preparing to assault the Claines in the morning, you lot should get some rest,” he says, “although one of you should remain on watch and cycle out every few hours.”

Who do you place on watch duty first?

[2/2]

>>32330596

Put the Speaker on duty first, he didn't get much action, then the Shotgunner/Shaper, then us, the Slayer.

The Slayer needs his rest, he did the most work of any of us today.

>>32330596
Take first of last watch. Waking up in the middle of the night is a bitch.

>>32330701

I'm fine with this.

>>32330701
Swap us and the Speaker and I'm happy.

>>32330701
>>32330734
>>32330762
Writing.

>>32330895

I meant swap us and the slayer, not us and the speaker. My bad.

>>32330945
um you aren't me

>>32331030

Oh, You're right I'm not.

Sorry, quite tired here. Though I posted that because I had a similar thought to it.

Your group decides that since Frederick fought the least today he should get first watch since he was the freshest. You all retire in separate rooms next to each other, and you soon fall asleep.

Your dreams are filled with images of fighting, the coming combat weighing heavily on your mind. The images get more and more intense until they stop, replaced by a single figure standing with its back towards you. It slowly turns towards you, and you see those distinctive smoldering coals in place of eyes.

All it says is a single word.

“Soon.”

You jolt upright on the bed, sweat beading on your brow and breathing heavily. A moment later there's a knock on your door and Amelie enters the room to have you take over the watch.

Your watch goes over mostly without incident, although a few times you catch movement across the grounds, upon looking through the scope on your rifle it appears to just be a cat or other small animal running around.

Soon you finish up your watch and switch off with Robert. You quickly pass out again, only this time your sleep is dreamless.

You are woken up by one of the Garemes' men shaking you to wake up. Apparently Augustus decided to keep all of the mages around in himself for protection in case that woman showed up again while the majority of his men were going to go assault the Claines. It seems the men he was sending already left.

You barely manage to finish gearing up when the house shudders under a violent impact.

What do you do?

take up an overwatch position in the higher floor and ready our rifle.

>>32331548

>Soon
FUCK!!!

>>32331548

Head out to investigate with the Speaker so he can relay what we find.

>>32331617
>>32331664

Pretty much.

>>32331548
this
>>32331664

Rolled 1

There's a tie between heading to an elevated position and investigating with Frederick, so coinflip time.

1. Snipers nest
2. Investigate

>>32331883
Very well then, writing.

You head to a window looking in the general direction of where you felt the impact from and look around frantically to try and determine what happened. Near the fence you can see something resembling a small crater, with a series of smaller craters leading up towards the house. You suddenly hear Frederick's voice in your ears.

“Get down here, she's back!”

You rush down the stairs to the first floor to see the same woman that attacked yesterday, complete with replacement helmet.

“I've come for two things. First, to kill the Gareme family for their crimes,” she says.

“And the second reason is what,” you ask.

“My swords, which you have no right to claim as loot,” she yells, the voice distortion on her helmet unable to keep up with her yelling.

What is your plan of attack?
>All of your allies are present and at full health. You are standing in the dining hall of the mansion, which now has a new doorway to the outside courtesy of the armored woman.

>>32332440

Hmm.

Do we know how to fight two-handed? Can we learn?

>>32332440

-Pull out her sword
"Oh, this sword?"
-Strike sword with overcharged Fraying Sabre to break it

And then prepare for the assault of a lifetime.

>>32332479
You've fought with two weapons at once before.

>>32332543

Hmm, yes we have. I guess a short sword isn't so different from a dagger.

>>32332440

Oh, she's wearing power armor. That what it has that's more than bone and metal.

Seriously, though, I need you guys to have some sort of plan of attack here, like:
>Have Robert fight her melee while you and Amelie and Frederick support him

Not necessarily that but something in that vein.

>>32332738

Alright, let me come up with something real quick.

I think everyone else is out for lunch.

>>32332738

Use her sword paired with our sabre and advance alongside Robert. Frederick and Amelie should support us how they can, but their primary concern ought to be trying to limit her mobility options so she can't use her extreme speed against us.

Try and subdue her nonlethally if possible, also really really REALLY try to use our impact/shatter/freeze glove on her. If she takes damage to her equipment again she'll likely bug out...again.

>>32332898

In lieu of other suggestions, this seems like a good enough plan.

She's a scary opponent but hopefully 2v1 will make her less likely to murder us.

my thoughts, serious newb

"The Gareme live, you leave a sword richer."

Toss the sword to a flank-able position in the room.
Accounting for Distortion's buffed speed
-Amelie should take a crack shot at movement toward the sword
-Robert moves to block the exit

>>32332945
>>32332898
I guess this suggestion won. Roll 3d10.

Rolled 5, 9, 10 = 24

>>32333052

Rolled 8, 9, 4 = 21

>>32333052

Rolled 6, 5, 8 = 19

>>32333052

>>32333316
>>32333247
>>32333091
Writing.

You draw the short sword that you looted yesterday as well as your saber as you slowly advance towards the woman, Robert gripping his lance as he follows you. You decide to trigger Resonance Overcharge in the short sword, deciding you need all the power you can get when dealing with an enemy as dangerous as this woman. The blade comes to life, shining a bright blue as electricity thickly coats the edge. Robert is somewhat startled by the activation and proceeds to give you a bit of space as you advance.

The woman dashes in, fists raised, towards you. Robert cuts her off with a slash from his lance, the tip glowing from its Pulse module. She catches the lance just below the blade with the back of her arm and deflects it, sending Robert off balance as she rockets forward at you.

You're ready for her, though, and swing the saber at her. Knowing the danger that blade possesses for her armor, she dodges out of its path. You step in, short sword raised and ready to cleave through the woman's armor. Acting on reflex she deflects the blade down the length of her arm, causing the Overcharged weapon to slice clean through the top of her gauntlet but somehow not going deep enough to touch flesh.

Surprised by the ease of which the blade cut through her prized armor she leaps back, trying to get some breathing room. Unfortunately for her, this just puts her in Amelie's line of fire, which Amelie takes advantage of by unloading a burst of marrow charge boosted slugs, which punch a pair of holes through one of the woman's legs. The sudden injury elicits a scream of pain. Just as the woman turns to deal with Amelie, Frederick launches an Echo at her. Unfortunately, her armor takes the cast spell head on and absorbs it.

The woman enters a low stance, and the armor begins to glow, faintly at first but gains intensity quickly.

Mana: 37/47

What do you do?
>Press the attack
>Brace yourselves
>Other?

Rolled 5, 5, 7 = 17

>>32334073
>Press the attack

Rolled 6, 6, 9 = 21

>>32334073

>Press the attack

Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8

>>32334073
>press the attack

Rolled 7, 1, 4 = 12

>>32334073

And this is only one of them, shiiiit.

>>32334239
>>32334300
>>32334354
Now you may roll.

Rolled 4, 9, 4 = 17

>>32334400
hopefully not another 8

Rolled 4, 6, 9 = 19

>>32334400
k

Rolled 1, 5, 8 = 14

>>32334400

>>32334436
>>32334421
>>32334410

Writing.

If your enemy is going to move things up a notch you need to as well, you fell. You focus on your saber intensely, pushing it into Resonance Overcharge along with the short sword. Not only is the increased mana drain a strain on your body, just maintaining the focus needed to keep the two weapons in Resonance Overcharge is taxing you. Still, you force yourself to persevere. Looking over at Robert, he seems to be pushing himself to perform better himself. You can see his knuckles bulging against his skin, as well as several small plates of bone forming over his limbs, as well as a dull glow radiate outwards from them, signaling his use various Slayer skills.

You both step in at the same time, however between his longer stride and his use of Quicken, Robert is instantly in striking range, lance poised to thrust. He follows through with the attack, the blade carrying all the momentum he built up rushing in on top of the thrusting motion. His attack leaves a nasty gouge in the side of her armor, although that's all it manages to do as she reacts instantly after the attack lands, turning with the lance until the blade has passed and then retaliating with a heavy palm thrust, slipped between Robert's arms and right into the center of his chest. The instant her arm connects you can see her armor lose a lot of the intense glow it had built up as well as a thunderous crack occur between her palm his chest. He slumps against her arm before collapsing to the ground.

The woman turns to face you mid-stride, her fingers extended like a blade, and thrusts towards your head. You move your head out of the way of her thrust just barely, instead catching the attack on your collarbone. You feel pain erupt from under her hand, yet you don't back down and continue moving forward, thrusting the saber and short sword towards her chest, running them through her cuirass.

[1/2]

>>32335286
She shudders and retches blood through her helmet. She gives you a shove, causing you to pull the blades out of her.

“I can't believe I have to run away like this with my tail between my legs,” she mutters, fumbling with a pouch on her side, pulling out a half-skull with a snake skeleton twisted around it.

“I'm going to get that sword back another time, so take care of it,” she says between coughs of blood. The skull bursts into light before she crushes it in her hand, creating a bright flash of light before she disappears.

You release your hold on your blades, terminating the Resonance Overcharge and passing out.

[2/2]

That's it I'm afraid. I'm getting pulled so I can't answer questions, but if you have any I'll address them when I get back.

Thanks for sticking with me and participating!

>>32335316
Thanks for running!

>>32335316
Thank you very much.

>>32335316

Thanks for running, Saucy!

So when do we roll to see if our artifacts have been damaged?

So I take it from the enemy mage's reaction that overcharging isn't a very well known technique...

>>32335841
As I explained earlier, items with the (Set) or (Durable) modifiers don't carry a risk of degradation from using Resonance Overcharge. Normally I would have you roll on it immediately following combat.

Also, while not unheard of, Resonance Overcharge isn't a very commonly used technique, especially at your level.

>>32338642

Aah, I skipped over the part where it said they acquired Durable if they were set. My mistake.

>>32338642

Did you ever get down to making a paste bin of all the known modules and their effects?

>>32341194
All the modules that you've encountered? Not yet. I'm going to put together a pastebin that has all the specifics of your equipment, such as which ones have what modules, the cost of each module, etc on top of being the reference sheet for what the modifiers are.

>>32341758

I might be drunk enough to compile all your yet-mentioned modules into a pastebin, but if I do you'll have to update from here on out, we'll see.

>>32341842

Well there's the rough draft anyway.

http://pastebin.com/ssZDdJrT