>>4500381
>ranger

>>4500381
>rogue

>>4500386
>>4500387
>ranger
>rogue
not sure if 20mins vote window was long enough window but whatever moving on
No you weren’t content being some dirty peasant slaving away under your cruel uncle. You were going to become the greatest roguish ranger the world has ever seen, damn the consequences. Most people fear walking the path of lawlessness due to the strict treatment of criminals but you weren’t afraid, no you were confident in your success.

Finally the elder has finished his speech as with a quick and practiced thrust, the elder stabs the ritual dagger into the heart of the bound criminal sacrifice. As the sacrifices life blood drains out, you start feeling dizzy and nauseous.

**************************************************************
Aether Overflow detected.
Initializing Aether Protection System.
Scanning subject.
Subject Aether Framework analysed.
Adjusting Framework.
Installing new software.
Mana-Core installed.
**************************************************************

You awaken in your bed with a massive headache.
Ugh, you need more sleep.

When you close your eyes however you see a blue screen hover before you. This was your status. Everything is as you can expect outside your way above average:
>Will (The representation of the potency and power of your skills. The difference between your Will and enemy Stability determines if your spell can affect them directly. An example of a direct effect skill would be mind control them to kill themselves. An example of an indirect skill effect would be a fireball thrown at them.)

>Stability (The representation of how fast you regenerate mana, your maximum mana pool and how much you resist the attempts of enemies to affect you with their skills. The difference between your Stability and enemy Will determines if you successfully resist a spell attempting to affect you directly.)

>Perception (This represents your ability to view the System information of others. The higher the Perception the more detailed the information. Perception can be resisted, obscured and faked by certain skills)

>Wit (This represents how fast you can think and how fast you can use your skills. Whilst it will not make you smarter, it will however let you think much faster and therefore react + use skills much faster. Wit is most important when dealing with ambushes and counter-based skills.)

>>4500381
>Cleric/Priest

Is Aether released when animals are killed?

>>4500381
what about
>Arcanist

or a Wizard, if that is too specialist.

>>4500404
>Will (The representation of the potency and power of your skills. The difference between your Will and enemy Stability determines if your spell can affect them directly. An example of a direct effect skill would be mind control them to kill themselves. An example of an indirect skill effect would be a fireball thrown at them.)

>>4500409
Only sentient beings which is why human sacrifices are necessary. Most people receive their first Install within your country after sacrificing a criminal however other ways to reach ones first Install for a villager peasant include dealing with bandits, monsters, armies, etc.

Anything that causes deaths of sentients release Aether. There are 8 Installations each requiring 10x the deaths of sentients of the last. Most peasants only reach their 1st or second installation but you're confident you're going to be a legendary roguish ranger with a whole 8 Installations.

>>4500404
>Stability

>>4500409
>>4500412
Huh I think I fucked up with the voting windows. I'll give longer from now on.

>>4500422
It's usually two hours. One hour is considered very quick.

>>4500422
I recommend around 1-2h depending on timezone + how long the responses you write are.

>>4500424
>>4500428
Yeah I'll give 1 hour from now on. Thanks fellas.

>>4500416
>>4500421
>will
>stability

**************************************************************
STATUS
Will: 8
Stability: 8
Perception: 4
Wit: 4
Mana: 8/8
Skills: None
Mutations: None
Available Aether: 8
**************************************************************

Your Stability and Will were both much higher than normal. Its only fitting for someone who will one day become the greatest roguish ranger that ever was however your high Stability and Will means you could easily learn Wizard or Priest skills. With such a high Will, you know you could easily learn and empower spell based skills to become a wizard and with your high stability, you could easily become a priest of the SysAdmin gods. You think about how such wizard/priest skills would work well with goals to become the greatest rogue/ranger that ever existed.

Now you remember, your Install just happened and you can finally form your skills. The skills you choose will be crucial for your goal to become the greatest roguish ranger there ever was.

You know it’s crucial you use up all your available aether as soon as possible as unused aether will cause mutations .

You remember your lessons that most actions taken with some emotion would result in a skill. Obviously to become a great ranger means you’ll need the tutelage of someone who specializes in such skills and the only one you can think of within the village who fits the bill is old Samson the village hunter. As you prepare to visit Samson however you’re faced with the shout of your uncle.

“Oi. Get out of bed already brat, we need every moment to make sure you learn the correct skills so that you’re finally useful around here”.

Oh you were going to learn the “correct” skills all right, just not the ones your uncle was expecting you to learn.
However how were you going to get out of the house to achieve this? It’s likely your choice will result in a skill being developed but its not like you have another choice. Since you were aiming to be a roguish ranger, you may as well try and get out of the house with related skills.

>Sneak out quietly and probably develop the Stealth skill
>Lie to your uncle about learning farming from one of the other adults which will probably develop the Deception skill
>write in

>>4500490
>unused aether will cause mutations
This sounds fun. Voting for this.

>>4500490
>Sneak out quietly and probably develop the Stealth skill

>>4500501
That's next vote. I hope you're ready for rolling for mutations than.
Original idea was first 6 players each choose a skill or mutation for our MC but since there may not be enough players I may let each player pick multiple skills/mutations.

>Perception (This represents your ability to view the System information of others. The higher the Perception the more detailed the information. Perception can be resisted, obscured and faked by certain skills)

>>4500490
>Sneak out quietly and probably develop the Stealth skill

>>4500503
>>4500522
You silently slipped into the clean clothes you’d laid out for yourself the day before, keeping your head down and trying not to make any unnecessary sounds. If your uncle thought you were still asleep, you could probably get away without any issues. Somehow you were being sneakier than you ever imagined you could be. The blue screen of the status confirmed it.

**************************************************************
You have developed Stealth.
Stealth (Basic): 32% correction to remain unseen and undetected.
Please choose an ability.
Night Vision: For 1 mana per 1 hour, you can see in the dark as if it’s daytime.
Invisibility Cloak: Turn invisible through distortions of light for 1 hour per 1 mana. //SysAdmin Jennifer Warning, only visual. Yes that means we can still see you with our infrared sensors Bob you colossal asshole, stay out of the women’s showers.
Sneak Critical: When undetected, you receive bonus 128% correction to injure enemies.
Unseen Sight: When undetected, your Perception is treated as if it’s double its normal score.
**************************************************************
Qm note: 32% is +1 to rolls, 64% is +2 to rolls, 128% is +3 to rolls, 256% is +4 to rolls.

You always thought the adults were joking about the SysAdmin gods being inscrutable but today you can confirm it as truth. You wonder what kind of divine magic “infrared sensors” are that it can see through invisibility. You know that each skill you develop has up to 4 ranks, basic>intermediate>advanced>master and you can pick a related Ability per rank in a skill.

You decide to pick the:
>Night vision ability
>Invisibility Cloak ability
>Sneak Critical ability
>Unseen Sight ability

After picking your ability and sneaking outside of your home, you look for Samson the hunter at his house near the woods however it does not seem he is home. He is likely out hunting meat for the village.

You can’t afford to waste the time waiting however as you need to use your Aether.

Please state a desired skill as well as the action you take to achieve the skill. Skills development are notoriously unreliable. You may also choose for our hero to roll the dice with mutations. This update may be slower as QM will have to make up new abilities for all the skills players choose.

>Write in (skill + action taken to achieve the skill)

>>4500589
>>Unseen Sight ability

>>4500589
>Unseen Sight ability

>>4500593
>>4500633
You decide to pick the Unseen Sight ability which will significantly inrease your ability to do reconnaissance whilst undetected. If only your Perception was higher, than this ability would be much more useful. Unfortunately your Perception is only average and not as high as your Will and Stability.

You still need to decide which skills or mutations you will develop whilst you wait for the hunter Samson to return from the forest.

Please state a desired skill as well as the action you take to achieve the skill. Skills development are notoriously unreliable. You may also choose for our hero to roll the dice with mutations. This update may be slower as QM will have to make up new abilities for all the skills players choose.

>Write in skill (skill + action taken to achieve the skill) or mutation (roll from the mutation chart)

>>4500650
>Skill: Spying.
Hide in a bush and observe Samson's house and surroundings

>>4500693
I don't think Qming is cut out for me. Made way too many mistakes and didn't make it interesting enough to attract players.
I'll leave the thread until tomoz but if it seems like anons aren't interested than thats okay too.

>>4500731
>Skill freerunning/climbing

Try and climb trees, jump over puddles etc. We wanna be maneuvrable

And QM its a very fun quest but quests are slow things my man, everybody works at different hours, so your 'regulars' sometimes only appear late in the evening for you. Just gotta be patient dude!

>>4500855
support

>>4500650
Dash. Time to run.

>>4500731
Well that was quick. Try a civ thread next time, they are well-suited for quick updates.

>>4500731
Yeah, what >>4500855 said. For a thread of this length you have a pretty good amount of anons so far

>>4500501
Mutation roll
>>4500693
Spying
>>4500855
Parkour
>>4500893
Running
>>4500920
I'm not dead. I'll swap to a much slower update format through.

I need 2 more choices or our hero will gain Structural Analysis from observing Samsons house and Climbing from climbing trees.

I'll give you anons another 15mins to think about what kind of skills you want to see but if nothing else than it'll be the listed 5 skills and 1 mutation roll.

>>4500942
>I'll swap to a much slower update format
>I'll give you anons another 15mins

>>4500942
Attempt to break into his house and learn a skill for that. idk what the skill would be called.

>>4500954
heh.



>>4500693
We'll go one by one.
You decide to hide in the bushes whilst spying on Samson’s house in the hopes of developing the Spying skill.

However as you stare and focus on the house, the skill that comes to you is not Spying but instead the Structural Analysis skill. You find your head filled with details on construction and building methodologies. For example you understand that some of the wood utilised to build the house is half rotten and will inevitably break within a couple of months leading to the collapse of the house.

**************************************************************
You have developed Structural Analysis.
Structural Analysis (Basic): 32% correction to understand inanimate objects and structures.
Please choose an ability.
Holographic Blueprints: For 1 mana per 1 metre square, you can create 3d holographic blueprints. //Sysadmin Warning: Please utilise Illusions or Light Manipulation skills, Holographic Blueprints is NOT meant for combat
Weak point: For 1 mana per minute, you can see the structural weak point of inanimate objects and structures
Wrecker: You receive 128% correction when dealing damage to inanimate objects and structures.
Object focused: Your effective skills are 1 level higher when dealing with inanimate objects and structures
**************************************************************

Damnit you were hoping to gain Spying or Observation or something like that which would work well with your Unseen Sight skill.

You once again observe Samsons house and surroundings but this time you focus on attempting to stay hidden from imaginary enemies whilst doing so. Finally you feel a sense of improvement as you automatically understand the best point to observe events whilst being unseen.
**************************************************************
You have developed Spying.
Spying (Basic): 32% correction to observe and find out information whilst hidden.
Please choose an ability.
ASL: For 1 mana per use you automatically know the age, sex and location of anyone who you’ve met in person before.
Vein Sight: For 1 mana per hour, you can see the veins of living organisms even through solid objects (e.g. you can see someone standing behind a wall)
Like a book: You become much better at reading expressions of others and can accurately lip read
Sixth Sense: You automatically sense if you are being observed and from where you’re being observed from.
**************************************************************

Pick one ability for both Structural Analysis and Spying

Structural analysis abilities
>Holographic Blueprints
>Weak point
>Wrecker
>Object focused

Spying abilities
>ASL
>Vein Sight
>Like a book
>Sixth Sense

>>4500958
Sure lockpicking than is one of the skills.

So spying, structural analysis, parkour, running, lockpicking and a mutation roll.

>>4500961
how about some shadow magic based on our high will, instead of a mutation?

>>4500970
fuck off I want my mutation

Also for a world in which you literally get more powerful if you straight up murder people the society sure seems uncharacteristically peaceful. Related inquiry, why are we fucking around sneaking and shit and not on a killing spree?

>>4500972
this pretty much, apart from being 11, the fact that people are not murders to become basically gods.

I mean, I assume high level people hunt down 2-3 tier people who try to become something as "criminals", which may be justified.

>>4500959
>Object focused
>Sixth Sense

This looks interesting as fuck, do me a favor, don’t die.

>>4500959
>Weak point
>Sixth Sense

>>4501102
>wants the quest to thrive
>does not participate

>>4500959
>Holographic Blueprints
Oceans 11 is go.
>Vein Sight

>>4500959
>Weak point
>Vein Sight

>>4500959
object focused
vein sight.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4500995
>>4501110
>>4501167
>>4501300
>>4501315
So vein sight is one, rolling 1d2 to decide between weak point and object focused.

1 is weak point, 2 is object focused.

Writing afterwards.

>>4500975
Depends on the region, in your country Apache, nobles and royalty help police against "Devourers" (serial killer criminals who focus on attempting to murder others to gain more Installs). To put it into perspective, most royals are 5th or 6th Install and most nobles are around 3rd to 4th install whilst most Devourers rarely break their 3rd Install. This is mainly due to nobility/royalty being able to "tour" battlefields safely whilst under protection. As stated previously its 10x more deaths each Install so:

1st install: 1 sentient death (common for villagers)
2nd install: 10 sentient deaths (common for villagers)
3rd install: 100 sentient deaths (common for soldiers)
4th install: 1000 sentient deaths (common for veteran soldiers and nobles)
5th install: 10000 sentient deaths (common for nobility and royalty)
6th install: 100,000 sentient deaths (common for royalty)
7th install: 1,000,000 sentient deaths (only known historical example is Raetha the Black)
8th install: 10,000,000 sentient deaths (spoken off in legend and theoretically possible)

This is why most criminals who want to increase their own install through murder rarely break past their 3rd install before they're hunted down.

>>4501441
You see countless possible choices as many of the options seem extremely useful in your goal of becoming a great roguish ranger (new name sorely needed by QM, throw any suggestions for names of our rogue/ranger hybrid hero).

The abilities that particularly interest you from Structural Analysis are Weak Point and Object Focused.
You’re smart enough to understand that Weak point doesn’t specify what the inanimate objects are and its skills could be just as useful dealing with breaking into lockboxes or houses as a rogue whilst also being useful when utilised as a ranger when dealing with armoured and armed foes (e.g. weak point in armours or weapons).
Meanwhile object focused would probably be the strongest long term skill as a “level increase” in a skill is a massive amount of effective correction bonus on your actions.
In the end you decide for the active skill Weak Point as you don’t want to have too many passives and no actives to take advantage of your massive mana pool (remember Stability increases mana pool and your stability way higher than average).

Meanwhile for Spying the most interesting skills you can see are Sixth Sense and Vein Sight. Vein Sight would significantly help offensive reconnaissance whilst Sixth Sense would be very useful in detecting if you’re staying hidden or if you’re under observation.
You also note that Sixth Sense has social uses (for example you’re at a party and Sixth Sense tells you that the cute girl is observing you).
In the end you decide to pick Vein Sight as you can see its hinted at offensive capabilities since being able to see the veins of enemies would help you know exactly where to strike for maximum damage, this on top of its use in scouting and finding enemies.

obviously many applications of the skills has not been thought of by our hero, be creative anons, most skills and abilities can be applied in interesting ways
1/2, next is parkour abilities.

>>4501460
Whilst thinking over what kind of skills rogues and rangers have in stories the elders occasionally told, you remembered infamous Erick the Fleetfooted and his countless robberies and perfect escapes.

Whilst they were just stories, theres no reason you can’t be inspired by them. You proceed to climb trees as well as jump over branches and puddles in an effort to learn the skill of Parkour.
After awhile, you notice that your jumps and movements are more flexible as well as much more manoeuvrable.

**************************************************************
You have developed Parkour.
Parkour (Basic): 32% correction in navigating obstacles and movements which involve running jumping and climbing.
Please choose an ability.
Totally Not Spiderman: For 1 mana per 10mins, you can freely cling and climb walls and other surfaces.
Parkour to Victory: For 1 mana per minute, you may know the exact steps necessary to reach from physical location A to physical location B. //Sysadmin Warning: Steps given do not take into account opposing skills, steps may change moment by moment so you must keep the ability active.
Double Jump: User may double jump. //Sysadmin Warning: Further abuse may result in the removal of this skill for all users, you have been warned
Unrestricted movement: Your Stability counts as doubled when resisting movement impairing skills.
**************************************************************

You wonder just how could a double jump be abused, it seems pretty basic to you but than again, who knows how the SysAdmin gods think.

>Totally Not Spiderman
>Parkour to Victory
>Double Jump
>Unrestricted movement

>>4501464
>>Totally Not Spiderman

>>4501464
>Totally Not Spiderman

>>4501464
>Double Jump
Also OP for how long are you planning to continue giving us skills for free? Can we skip to the murderhobo part?

Update in 4 hours or so, I'm currently busy with work.

>>4501489
As stated before, your first install creates 8 available Aether which can be utilised for either abilities or mutations.
All 8 points are already reserved:
1 mutation, stealth, spying, structural analysis, parkour, running, lockpicking and whatever we choose to learn from the hunter Samson.

Our hero currently doesn't have the mindset to "murderhobo" and hes too smart to attempt it anyways. Shit like that will just mean being counted as a Devourer and hunted down by the nobility. Closest to murder hobo is becoming a bounty hunter or adventurer and hunting bandits/low Install Devourers.
but maybe depending on player choices he can become a murder hobo in the future, maybe

>>4501464
>Totally Not Spiderman

>>4501471
>>4501477
>>4501489
>>4501536
Whilst tempted by the ability to double jump, you ultimately decide to choose the active ability Totally Not Spiderman which will not only let you freely climb walls and roofs as a rogue but also trees and cliffs as a ranger.
You can already imagine the many uses the skill may have, this will be especially so if you head to the cities which according to the adults have many wonderous buildings that are a whole two stories tall where your ability can shine.

You note that whilst parkour already provides a lot of mobility and movement correction, you still want even more movement abilities as all the stories of legendary thieves and rogues told of their perfect escapes.
You decide to develop an additional movement based skill, one that’s wildly known and utilised, the skill Running.
After running a few laps around Samson’s house you start feeling the skill correction shifting your posture and improving your running.

**************************************************************
You have developed Running.
Running (Basic): 32% correction in running speed and stamina
Please choose an ability.
Haste: Double your speed for 1 mana per 1min. //Sysadmin warning, do not attempt to stack this ability multiple times without some kind of enhanced physique as may result in heart and veins bursting
Charge: Surrounds oneself with Will based mana shielding before alters one’s mass, launching the user at an opponent. //Sysadmin Jennifer note, not to be confused with Charge from the Shield skill or the Charge from the Lance skill or etc. Bob you shithead, use different names for abilities please.
Surefooted: Gain massively increased traction and immunity to most ground based movement impairments (e.g. Oil on ground can’t slip you)
Run away: When attempting to flee from enemies, increase Running skill correction by 128%
**************************************************************

You decide to pick:

>Haste
>Charge
>Surefooted
>Run away

>>4501716
>Charge: Surrounds oneself with Will based mana shielding before alters one’s mass, launching the user at an opponent.

>>4501716
>Haste: Double your speed for 1 mana per 1min. //Sysadmin warning, do not attempt to stack this ability multiple times without some kind of enhanced physique as may result in heart and veins bursting

I suggest we learn a weapon skill, the use of a bow would make the most sense.

>>4501732
Yeah the skills that you can learn from the hunter Samson are archery, dual wielding or knife work.
Its why I reserved a choice just in case anons didn't pick any offensive skills.

>>4501716
>Run away

>>4501716
>Run away

>>4501716
rum away

can't believe we missed out on even a low level, narrow version of path to victory, probably the most busted skill possible.

Name. David Leeker.
May Hammond.

>>4501728
>>4501732
>>4501760
>>4501919
>>4501941
You’re tempted by a moment by the powers of both active abilities of Running however in the end you decide that tactical advantages and safety of Run Away is the best choice, especially when you’ve got barely any offensive skills. Run away will be perfect for escaping after a roguish heist or two.

You take a moment to think about what other skills you should develop, you’ve already spent quite a long period of time it wouldn’t be strange for you to start developing mutations from unspent aether.
Wanting to avoid the randomness of mutations you quickly decide to learn a roguish skill you think any rogue should know, lock picking by breaking the lock on Samson’s house.
You spend a few moments thinking over how you can achieve this skill with no related equipment but luckily your Structural Analysis skill and Weak Point helps provide knowledge in how to break the lock showing where two joins are rusted.
Hopefully breaking the lock counts somehow in achieving lock picking. As you break the lock, you feel the thrum of knowledge of the skill of lockpicking giving you information and knowledge on how to open locks without a key.

**************************************************************
You have developed Lock picking.
Lock picking (Basic): 32% correction in unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key
Please choose an abi-
**************************************************************

“Oi, what the fuck r ya doing mate. Ya fucking little thief. I'll fucking Neck ya cunt. ” Comes a distant shout of rage from behind you.

You’d recognise that Badlands accent anywhere, shit Samson came just as you were attempting to learn lockpicking and now it looks really really bad.
You quickly turn to find old Samson nocking an arrow upon his longbow.

1/2

File: SystemQuest_Samson.png (144 KB, 282x417)

144 KB PNG

>>4502578
Old Samson is a massive bear of a man who according to rumours in the village was a Badlands bandit before he came to your village. You quickly try explain but before you can even get a word out.

“Called Shot.” Samson calls out his ability with anger as a glowing arrow shoots from his bow and perfectly lands in the wood of Samson’s door a millimetre from your neck. You know enough about the common Archery ability Called Shot to know that he could’ve had the arrow perfectly hit anywhere he wanted.
Most likely he used the ability as a warning that attempting to escape was futile. As Samson walks closer he notes your features and has a look of confusion.

“Aren’t ya that drunk Maudlin’s nephew? What the hell were ya thinking trying to rob someone in as small a village as this?” he asks in confusion.

“It’s Install day sir, I just trying to learn some Skills and had no intention to try and rob you.” You say as politely as you can whilst trying to swallow the lump of fear in your throat. That arrow had been waay to close.
You gather your confidence as you add “I’m going to become the greatest ranger the world has ever seen so I came to learn from the greatest hunter within the village”.
Of course you make no mention of your roguish ambitions as who knows how Samson will react to that. You also of course flatter your possible mentor as much as possible.

“I’m the bloody damn only hunter in this village, stop trying to sweet-talk me and just tell me what skill ya want to learn from me. I’ll teach ya it than ya can piss off and leave me in fucking peace and quiet.”

You ask what skills he could teach you and he lists off quite a few such as herblore or pathfinding however you know that even a rogue has to fight occasionally and a ranger even more so. You decide to ask Samson to teach you one of his weapon skills.

Which of Samson’s weapon skills did you try to learn?

>Archery
>Dual wielding
>Knife work

>>4502586
>Archery

>>4502586
>Archery

>>4502373
>David Hammond
This will be our hero's name unless people want to vote for it?
No other name suggestions I'm seeing here.

>>4502586
>Knife work

>>4502586
>Archery

>>4502586
>>Archery

>>4502621
>>4502625
>>4502722
>>4502881
>>4502910
You decide to choose Archery to compliment your many mobility skills, you'll stay away from enemies with your movement skills before peppering them with arrows. You're totally not choosing Archery because Samson impressed you with his Called Shot skill or anything. You were soon to learn however that archery is ALOT harder than it looks and you know basically jack shit about archery.

"...yes like that with the arrow nock at the bowstring, nock draw than loose like I explained before...your anchor point should be your chin...mate I told ya only hold for a few seconds at arrow rest or ya'll be dead tired...and thats why longbows r the best mate, fuck shortbow and recurve cunts...one with the bow, feel the bloody arrow and bow...killing cunts with armor or defensive skills only works around 30-40metres...fuck magic bullshit and mages, always shoot those cunts first... bloody damn mate, ya finally hit something but that something ain't the target, try again and please fucking handle my beauty with more fucking care... etc."


**************************************************************
You have developed Archery.
Archery (Basic): 32% correction in using bows and effectiveness of bows
Please choose an ability.
Forceful Shot: For 1 mana per arrow, your arrows carry Will based mana aura and push back enemies Will based metres. //Sysadmin warning, Less effective against targets of high stability and larger targets
Called Shot: For 1 mana per arrow, your arrows have homing and can perfectly target anywhere within line of sight.
Piercing Shot: Your arrows deal bonus damage against armoured foes and have a low chance of shattering protective skills.
Sniper: The further away from your enemies, the more damage you deal up to a maximum of 128% correction when further than 10km.

**************************************************************
After a very very long lesson you finally developed the Archery skill and can feel the improvement in your posture and aim of Samson's bow. Almost as soon you develop the skill, Samson snatches his bow "beauty" away from you and informs you rather abruptly to get lost and leave him in peace now that you have your skill. When you ask if he has any bows you could purchase from him or someone else in the village he laughs at you and informs you unless you want a toy than you'd need to visit the local port city of Bit's Rest.

You feel dead tired and want to head back to rest asap however suddenly you feel a massive headache as a bunch of repeated flashing red status screens appears before your eyes.

**************************************************************
Warning Unused Aether is causing subject mutation.
**************************************************************
FUCK you spent so long with archery that a mutation is now occurring due to Unspent Aether.
1/2

>>4502950
Fuck Telstra, worst ISP.

Okay anons its time to deal with your mutation. Heres how it works.

I will need 1d8 from 3 anons.

First 1d8:
1-2 = Mostly cosmetic mutation
3-4 = Mostly negative mutation
5-6 = Mostly neutral mutation
7-8 = Mostly positive mutation

Second 1d8:
1-2 = Minor mutation
3-4 = Moderate mutation
5-6 = Major mutation
7-8 = You're no longer human

Third 1d8:
1-4 = Your mutation is one that is well attributed to something evil and you face massive social stigma
5-7 = You receive an extra complimentary skill that does not use a skill slot
8: ???

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>4502950
>Forceful Shot
and mutation roll

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>4502950
>Piercing Shot
>>4502952
Gonna get lucky.

>>4502956
>Mostly negative mutation
Better hope second anon rolls low or this is going to suck for our hero.
But it'll be fun for me the QM to write.

Rolled 4 (1d9)

>>4502959
> Called Shot: For 1 mana per arrow, your arrows have homing and can perfectly target anywhere within line of sight

>>4502956
Mostly negative mutation
>>4502957
Major mutation
>>4502967
Your mutation is one that is well attributed to something evil and you face massive social stigma

All around horrid rolls. Jesus christ. At least we learned to never do mutations?

Anons, feel free to suggest demonic mutation features you want to see (e.g. a horn or a tail or etc.). We're also going to have a whole bunch of new weaknesses, feel free to suggest some weaknesses. Next update will take awhile as QM needs to think about what to write.

>>4502990
>feel free to suggest some weaknesses.
Any suggestions? It did say mostly negative, how "good" can the positives be?
>Poison also slows you down but you have a slight resistance to it.
How is that? Hooves for feet?

>>4502990
A single, massive wing of black feathers. The feathers go well past the wing, covering a good portion of your back and going around your shoulder to stop over your heart.

The feathers are oily and cold, snapping if bent too much. You shed feathers near constantly, which exhausts you bit by bit.

>>4502990
>Mostly negative mutation
>Major mutation
>you face massive social stigma

>All around horrid rolls. Jesus christ. At least we learned to never do mutations?
>Next update will take awhile as QM needs to think about what to write.
Man this is a blessing in disguise. Now our MC has a drive in stead of the useless "hurr durr gonna be the best" motivation.

Mutation will develop, kid will come to his dad for help, will get rejected painfully, then kicked from the village. Bam, an outcast with matching class/skills on a quest on revenge/finding understanding and love or whatever.

Also
>Sniper.
10km archery reach? Hell yeah.

>>4502990
A Split tongue, it hampers our normal ability to speak and is seen as a sign of the devil, but maybe it can be slightly compensated that certain demonic words/languages are slightly easier to speak?

>>4503007
> how "good" can the positives be?
I'm open to anon interpretation but the better the positives, the much worse the negatives will be.
Not sure what you mean by the poison? Hooves for feet added to the choices of features in next post.
>>4503026
A single massive wing of black feathers with feathers covering one arm and a portion of your back+ shoulders added into options for choice of features in next post.
>>4503077
> "hurr durr gonna be the best" motivation
I mean your character already has multiple reasons for this motivation but yes this mutation will likely have a large impact on our heroes worldview and goals.
>then kicked from the village
Yes most likely and he's also going to be horrible socially outcast no matter where he is unless anons roll like gods multiple times.
>Mutation will develop, kid will come to his dad for help
You have no father, only your uncle Maudlin.
>10km archery reach? Hell yeah.
Your reach with archery is 200ish metres currently (which is already much higher than medieval timesin reality due to Archery Skill effects), 10km is how far you have to be to receive the maximum Sniper skill bonus. Its impossible currently for your character to utilise the maximum bonus since you lack the skill bonuses or gear to achieve it.
For example with skills you may have used Called Shot from Archery + Eagle Eye from Observation to achieve the 10km bonus.
>>4503078
Added split tongue into features in next post. Learning and speaking "demonic" languages easier is okay as an upside.

Take your time anons, still a long ass time before I post the next update.

>>4502950
>Forceful Shot
Just make the smallest crossbow possible and start punting people off cliffs and walls.

>>4503091
>Not sure what you mean by the poison?
Poison will also cause "slow" (or just slow you down) status effect but with a % chance of not getting poisoned.

>>4503093
Handheld crossbows exist but are outside your peasant price range as far as you know. You have no real knowledge of prices in the city outside the fact that you can barely afford anything.
>>4503094
Sure that's fine as an upside.

>>4503096
The goal is there. Although there's also the possibility of studying how far the definitions stretch. If darts count as arrows, etc.

>>4503096
I'd like to suggest an overpowering stench of body odor and sulfur that we constantly exude as a negative mutation.

>>4503518
combine this with the horns and tongue and make us an imp with red skin and hooves. Upside could be the devil speech stuff and maybe fire resist.

>>4503690
or if we do not want to be that edgy, a satyr and have the upside be a singers voice/ unnatural luck with the ladies or sth. This would be less demonic fear, more ,,get away from our women you goat freak!,,

>>4502990
A wolf tail(grey or white), (grey or white)wolf ears sensitive to loud noises, sharp teeth like a vampire,& slit eyes like a cat natural night vision which means bright lights are bad
Im cool with wings as long they are grey or white
Basically a werewolf but i think wings would look cool
I wonder if mutation will be a blessing in disguise or maybe not

>>4503823
Tail weakness will be it's basically an extra limb so yeah simple

>>4503091
What about something just grotesque? a third, asymmetrical eye marring our face, but slightly expanding our field of view? no eyelid, so it's constantly crying, making us thirsty and a hard time of sleeping without bandages.

>>4503874
This, without crying.

>>4503920
eyes not able to blink or close gonna cry a lot, or get fucked, trust me.

>>4502956
>>4502957
>>4502967
>>4503007
>>4503026
>>4503077
>>4503078
>>4503093
>>4503518
Sure smell constantly of sulfur added as feature
>>4503823
Demonic features not beastly please. Demonic tail, sharp teeth like a vampire, slit eyes added as features.
>>4503874
Third eye added as feature

>forceful shot locked in
>all features mentioned will be possible choices

You feel your consciousness fragment into a thousand splinters. Your last conscious thought is that for all of Samson’s gruffness, he’s awfully quick to rush to your aid. His shouts however are lost in as unconsciousness blackens your world.

********************************
Mental strain on subject from Mutation has exceeded parameters.
Break.
Creating Memories Mentalscape for subject.
********************************

As was customary at the beginning of every year, the elders began to narrate the legendary history of the Before, a wondrous golden age of humanities past.

“In a time long ago humanity lived a life of prosperous wonder.
We had ruled a thousand worlds and sailed across the abyss of the starry sky with our void ships as easy as people nowadays sail across the Crawling Sea.
We were masters of lightning and served by countless golems of a complexity even archmages today could not understand.
But as all good things are, it was not to last for THEY came.
No-one knew where they had emerged but these cruel demons would bring an end to the prosperity of humanity through their evil atrocities.
Not all of mankind’s wondrous knowledge could stop their evil magics and it was only through the efforts of humanity’s three great Sysadmin gods Bob ‘The dark flame master’, Jennifer ‘Wielder of the Apple” and the ‘Unnamed One’ that humanity were not completely destroyed. But of course that tale is a different story.
If you must take away a morale from this story children than remember well. SUFFER NOT THE DEMON, SUFFER NOT THEIR EVIL TAINT!” The elder Nathaniel finishes whilst fervently making the sacred sign of The Three as if to ward off the evil of demons.

You were bored out of your 7 year old mind from the tale. Why couldn’t the elders tell more tales of Erick the Fleetfooted, he was so cool and awesome.
Meanwhile the “Before” story was something told every new year’s day to the point you’ve probably memorised the whole story.
You were at least thankful that the elders weren’t forcing you and the other kids to also listen to the sermon about the Sysadmin gods and how they saved your one world out of the thousands that used to exist.
That one was sooo boring and you can’t even sleep without Nathaniel ranting and screaming about disrespect towards the gods.
You’re relieved once you can play with the other children, this time you were going to show Lyra and the others your tag skills.

1/2

>>4503964
Are you joking Telstra, stop changing my fucking IP.

********************************
Mental strain on subject from Mutation still exceeding parameters.
Break.
Creating Memories Mentalscape for subject.
********************************
“It’s not that I don’t love you or your father, it’s just that people fall out of love. Your father and you will never be more than peasants and this is NOT the life I deserve.” She had left with those words.

Your father died 2 days later attempting to reach his second Install.

********************************
Mutation complete.
Break.
Awakening subject.
********************************

You awaken on a bed in an unfamiliar room, the room smells of medicine and is filled with herbs and furs of countless types.
“Ya okay mate? Althrough with an appearance like that I guess you’re the furthest thing from okay.” Samson asks you softly as if you’re something delicate.
Appearance? What does he mean appeara- FUCK WHAT THE SHIT IS THIS.

Please pick 2 features. advantages and disadvantages connected to feature choice.

>Hooves feet
>Single black wing
>Split tongue
>Sulfuric body odor
>Red skin
>Sharp teeth
>A demonic tail
>Slit eyes
>A third eye

Fuck theres so many, you guys are super creative.

>>4503973
>>Single black wing
>>Sulfuric body odor
tongue sounds almost like a plus

>>4503973
>>Sulfuric body odor
>>Sharp teeth

>>4503973
>Sharp teeth
>A demonic tail

>>4503973
>Red skin
>A demonic tail
The tail would actually help us with our balance while doing parkour and stuff.

>>4503973
>Sharp teeth
>Split tongue

Lets have a fucked up mouth

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>4503994
>>4504007
>>4504023
>>4504099
>>4504285
Its been a couple hours, locking it in here.
Tail and sharp teeth both at 2 votes each, rolling 1d2 to break tie. 1 is tail, 2 is teeth.
Will be home in 2 hours or so and than I can start writing.

>>4504291
Sorry meant body odor and tail are both at 2 votes each.
So our mutations are Sharp Teeth and Sulfuric body odor.

>>4503973
>Sharp teeth
>A demonic tail

lol, Ausfag QM

>>4504295
Okay fine Sharp Teeth and Demonic Tail than only because I havn't started writing yet. No more changes. Writing now.

>>4504308
damn, I kinda liked odor more.

File: SystemQuestSharpTeethMutation.png (87 KB, 327x266)

87 KB PNG

>Sharp Teeth
>Demonic Tail
Gone were your regular teeth, instead in its place were sharpened fangs sharp enough to cut yourself with.

Almost as a side effect you can feel your jaw becoming much stronger as well.
It seems you now have a powerful bite attack you can utilise as a surprise attack and as an added benefit you’ll never struggle to bite through the rock hard black bread your uncle “graciously” feeds you with. You turn with a smile to thank Samson for helping you when you were suffering mutations however he backs away from you with a shiver.

“Mate, best to keep ya flapper closed as much as possible, its bloody damn freaky as shit.” Samson warns.

You receive a -1 on all social rolls where you need to speak. Maybe in the future you can purchase some gear to mitigate this weakness. As an upside you now have a powerful bite attack which can be utilised as a powerful surprise attack in close combat.

Okay so you developed Sharp Teeth as a mutation, that doesn’t seem too bad but as you try to stand up from the bed you prompty fall over.
It feels almost as if you had a 5th phantom limb behind you and as you glance behind you note you have a demonic looking tail straight out of the elder’s stories. You experimentally focus on moving the tail and you find you can control it as easily as one of your limbs.
You’ve always been an intelligent child so you quickly think over the many uses a tail could have such as helping assist you in parkour or combat. However unfortunately you note you’ll need much more practice before any of that is viable and right now just focusing on making your tail not a bother to your normal movement is the best you can do. As you play around with your tail you attempt to touch and feel the tail with your hands when all of a sudden a painful tingle jolts you. Experimentally you touch the tail a few times and each time there is a painful tingle, it seems your tail is extremely sensitive.

A demonic tail is sure to cause issues amongst certain fanatical individuals. You auto crit fail interactions with such individuals if they notice your tail. Your tail is currently extremely sensitive to touch but this will fade by the time you reach adulthood (i.e. you have an additional weakness during your childhood which is your tail). With training your tail has many applications and can be utilised as a pseudo 5th limb or to help balancing or etc.

“Thank you for your help sir but I need to get back as my uncle will be wondering where I was” you explain to Samson as you start making preparations to return to the village however Samson grips your shoulder like a vice.
1/2

File: SystemQuestDemonicTailMutation.png (47 KB, 255x172)

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>>4504328
“Best not to go back to that drunk uncle of yours and the rest of those fools in the village. Around these parts they’ll lynch ya for having such ‘evil demonic features’. Look mate, ya can stay with me and I’ll try and hide ya or I can give you some coin and directions to Bit’s Rest, they don’t care one bit about mutations over there. Don’t want to feel like absolute shite sending a kid to his death.” Samson finishes his words with a scoff.
You remember that Samson has never been seen praying or worshipping at any of the three different shrines to the three Sysadmin gods, as with most individuals from the Badlands, his religious belief was basically non-existent.

You’re of three minds about this, you’re no idiot so you know you need to hide your demonic features if you return to the village. You could easily hide the tail by wrapping it around your waist and avoiding any activities that may reveal you. Of course the threat of being found and lynched is always there.

Alternatively you could take up Samson’s offer to stay with him on the outskirts of the village right next to the Maddening Forest, maybe you can even learn some additional ranger related knowhow, skills (not Skills) and knowledge from him. Of course even here on the outskirts of the village the chance of you being found out by the village is non-zero and living so close to the forest means dealing with occasional monster attacks and other troubles.

Finally you could take Samson’s offer of coin and directions and completely leave the village of Perl to Bit’s Rest for supplies before adventuring/heading elsewhere. This completely removes any issues of possible lynching from your village but walking a long distance on the road as a child? At best you may have to deal with bandits whilst at worst you may come across a dreaded Devourer.

You focus your mind on the near future whilst doing your best to choke down the fear and other emotions raging within you. Fuck this was not how it was supposed to happen, none of the heroes in the elders stories had a mutation, how were you going to become a roguish ranger hero now?
Mutations are generally looked down upon as only fools, gamblers and idiots allow one to happen to themselves.

You’re likely to face social stigma for the rest of your life.

You decide to:

>Stay in Perl village whilst hiding mutation
>Stay with Samson the hunter in the outskirts of the village
>Leave Perl village with coin and directions to Bit’s Rest

Our full character status is here btw:
https://pastebin.com/V410iwML

>>4504329
>wrapping it around your waist
that's good. That implies an obscene level of flexibility, really.

>>4504329
>>Leave Perl village with coin and directions to Bit’s Rest
We should pay back Samson sometime

>>4504329
>Stay with Samson the hunter in the outskirts of the village
Help him out, learn some skills then eventually go to the city.

>>4504329
>Leave Perl village with coin and directions to Bit’s Rest
We will remember Samson's generosity

Also where's my Jagan eye reeeee

>>4504365
supporting this, he seems like a reasonable fellow and we need archery and wilderness skills if we want to be a ranger. We should leave for Bit’s Rest when we are capable of not starving on our own , but until then stick around and learn.

>>4504329
>Stay with Samson the hunter in the outskirts of the village

This heavily superior, even without Skills, the skills we'll learn will be incredibely usefull and fitting for our character not to mention we might get the occasional combat practice against monsters

>>4504329
>Stay with Samson the hunter in the outskirts of the village
No reason to rush off when we could learn more

>>4504329
>>Leave Perl village with coin and directions to Bit’s Rest

Won't be home until another 4-5 hours. Soz anons, todays an only 1 update day.

>>4504329
>Stay with Samson the hunter in the outskirts of the village
Gotta get used to our new features first maybe ask for a mask to hide teeth

>>4504329
>Leave Perl village with coin and directions to Bit’s Rest
I believe in our ability, plus we might get some useful shit for being a sneaky motherfucker. I think we fucked ourselves on our stats though, took the two ones we need the least.

>>4504347
>>4504365
>>4504378
>>4504466
>>4504622
>>4505132
>>4505388
>>4505506
>>4505768

4 Leave, 5 Stay with Samson. Looks like we're staying with Samson. You'll be able to purchase a mask at Bit's Rest. And yes our stats are completely fucked but we still have 1 open skill slot so maybe next Install our hero can learn something that takes advantage of our stats.


“Thank you for your offer sir, I promise I won’t cause too much trouble for you whilst I stay here.” You answer Samson whilst doing your best not to show off your new “freaky” teeth too much however in the end you can’t help yourself but give Samson a wide sharp toothed smile.

“Alright mate, I don’t really know much about kids but I’ll give this shit a right go”. Samson says somewhat sheepishly whilst scratching his beard awkwardly.

For all his gruffness old Samson the hunter has been kind to you and helped you a lot. You trust him enough that you decide to take up his offer to stay with him on the outskirts of the village. Perhaps you’ll even learn some additional things related to your goal of becoming the greatest roguish ranger from him and in fact you decide that its time you paid some proper respect to Samson. You’ve decided that Samson will be your mentor so you kneel down and kowtow 3 times to Samson in the traditional fashion.

“Please accept me as your disciple teacher Samson.” You request respectfully whilst kneeling but Samson quickly pulls you upright.

“None of that shit mate, I ain’t even got too much to teach anyways but yeah I’ll try my best to teach ya so no cunts ever fuck around with ya. Just don’t complain cus I don’t know shit about this whole teaching bogus.” Samson states outright he’s no teacher but you remember how fast he taught you how to use a bow. Sure you had unused aether to support your learning but you’re completely sure Samson is downplaying his teaching skills.

“If ya going to be living here in hiding than ya should probably shout out to any of those cunts ya care about back at the village. Tell them ya leaving the village or some such nonsense so they don’t bother looking for ya.” He recommends.

You don’t give two shits about explaining anything to your drunkard of an uncle who’s unlikely to care anyways outside him probably being pleased that he no longer has to look after you who he always complained was a waste of his resources. However you do have some other relationships within your village that you DO care about. Lyra the blacksmith’s daughter is your childhood friend and the only person within the village you connect with on any significant level. This is most likely due to the fact both of you have plans to leave the village one day. You’ll need to visit Lyra and explain that you’re leaving a bit earlier than expected.

1/3

>>4505784
As you travel back to the village, you make a point of focusing on keeping your mouth shut and your tail wrapped around your waist.

Luckily you’ve never been particularly social and interacted much with the other children of villagers so outside a few nods here and there you were able to reach your location without anyone noticing your mutations.

You find Lyra in her usual spot the glade hidden behind a ring of trees training with the blade.
You sneak closer utilising Sneaking skill whilst contemplating pranking her but she instantly noticed you, damn must be a Skill than.
Before you can react, Lyra has you in a headlock, something you’re used to now after years of dealing with her.

“Look who finally showed up. Too busy playing with your new Skills to care about your only friend?” she taunts you mockingly whilst slowly increasing the pressure of the headlock.

“You know that the great sysadmin god Bob named people like you tsunde-cough wait wait I give up, that’s too much pressure I can’t breathe” you’re forced to concede, you’ve never beaten her physically even before both of you had your Installs and now when you both have Skills it’s even less likely for you to beat her.

After messing around for a bit you notice the weird looks Lyra is giving you, ahh she must’ve noticed your teeth.
You proceed to explain about how you accidentally received a mutation (showcasing your demonic tail as well to her) during your Install and whilst enduring your friend’s heated complaints that you’re an idiot you inform her that you’re going to leave the village to prevent being lynched.

Whilst you trust Lyra to keep a secret about you staying with Samson, she will most likely want to visit you constantly which will raise suspicions significantly. In the end you’re forced to leave whilst enduring tear filled complaints of your only friend.

On the upside the both of you agree to meet in Bit’s Rest 5 years from now at the Adventurer’s Guild.

2/3

>>4505785
Now with the more enjoyable of meetings complete there is one last meeting within the village before you begin training with Samson.

The meeting with your uncle Maudlin. You dislike your uncle and you’re sure the feeling is mutual since hes done nothing besides complain to you ever since you first started living with him after your father died. However you know you still need to visit him and explain that you are leaving the village in the small chance that he as your guardian raises up a fuss for a search party as unlikely as it is.

You enter the ramshackle hut noting the familiar stink of barley that hung in the air from your uncle’s lazing form. As your uncle notices you his face glows beet red with rage and he wobbly stumbles to a stand.

“You fucking little brat, where the fuck were you? If I find out you wasted your Skills on nonsense that can’t help with farming than I’m going to beat your hide you stupid selfish brat." He calls out in barely controlled rage.

Time to roll anons, 1d16-1, best of 3. You have a -1 modifier from sharp teeth.

1-4: Your uncle finds out you’re a mutant and tries to kill you. If he isn’t killed than prepare for the village to find out you’re a mutant.

5-8: Your uncle is too drunk to realise you’re a mutant and doesn’t notice your teeth. He still tries to use violence towards you.

9-12: Your uncle is too drunk to realise you’re a mutant and doesn’t notice your teeth. You convince him not to try and beat you.

13-16: Your uncle is too drunk to realise you’re a mutant and doesn’t notice your teeth. When you explain you’re leaving the village, your uncle is very very happy and gives you some coin to fuck off and never come back.

After this is a timeskip of 5 years until MC is 16 with some rng events during the 5 years.

Feel free to suggest some stuff you’d like to see happen during the timeskip.

Rolled 10 (1d16)

>>4505787
Because the last rolls went so well.
Forest fire.

Rolled 11 (1d16)

>>4505787
huh, 10 is not bad

Rolled 9 (1d16)

>>4505785
>Feel free to suggest some stuff you’d like to see happen during the timeskip
We should be painfully rejected by Lyra the blacksmith's daughter which now regards us as something to pity and not a love interest. It is just not realistic her attitude towards us didn't change one bit after we got mutated.

Rolled 12 + 1 (1d16 + 1)

>>4505787

Seriously though why would we choose will and stability for a rogue ranger build. We're fucked

>>4505905
stamina is deceptively important for a rogue. They operate with very little support and need to be self-sufficient.

Will? uhhhh I guess we can be a jedi thief.

>>4505905
minmaxing is boring

>>4505914
Choosing stats that complement our build is not minmaxing, we chose two stats that have the least support for our build for no real reason

File: gnarly scarring.png (483 KB, 602x799)

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>>4505787
we get attacked by a monster while we are out hunting, come out of the encounter with gnarly scarring.

>>4505920
minmaxing is boring

>>4505968
>>4505914
being a complete dumbass is also boring, there should be a middle ground where we are competent but not too streamlined. I would suggest dipping into some kind of Druid type of magic our next install.

File: SystemQuestTrainingRolls.png (9 KB, 526x203)

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>>4505794
>>4505812
>>4505891
>11-1=10
>9-12: Your uncle is too drunk to realise you’re a mutant and doesn’t notice your teeth. You convince him not to try and beat you.

Before your uncle can lose himself in rage you decide to say something you're sure he wants to hear.

"I'm leaving the village uncle, don't worry you don't need to look after me any more" you calmly state whilst hoping your uncle is too drunk to notice your teeth.

"Oh..." Your words deflate your uncle. "Well take your shit and err good luck brat."

You dont have much of anything within your room so it doesn't take you more than a moment to take what you own and leave the house without a single glance back.
You find Samson shortly after, its time to begin your "apprenticeship" under the old hunter Samson. You intend to stay with him for 5 years until you're 16 and legally an adult where you will than leave for Bit's Rest.

"Hope ya ready mate, being a hunter ain't no easy bogus. You'll need to dedicate yourself. Now heres how its going to work..."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rolled for you anons to speed things up.

Over the next 5 years you practiced with Samson the hunter learning archery in the morning, hunting in the middle of the day and herblore by torchlight in the afternoon.

With your Skill in Archery you easily took to the practice of archery and reached a professional level equal to any veteran soldier without the Skill. Of course your skills in Archery were still much lower than Samson, you're quite sure that Samson must be at least 3rd Install since you estimate his Archery Skill has reached Advanced.
>You may reroll archery rolls once per DC, your archery is maxed and only Skills can improve it

Unfortunately your skills and quick learning in Archery did not extend to your learning of hunting and the many related skills such as pathfinding or tracking. In the end despite extreme dedication and effort, you simply failed to learn much beyond the barest of basics of hunting.
>No bonuses

Finally was your learnings of herblore, you've always believed yourself to be quite intelligent however unfortunately you struggle to remember all the different properties and usages of herbs. On the upside you did remember how to use a few simple herbs such as the Nightlock which could be used as a paralyzing poison.
>You know how to use Nightlock, a poison that paralyzes

However it was not all easy learnings and lessons. No it was on your 13th year that you would find out about the dangers of being a ranger.

1/2

>>4506600
“…And that’s why mate, a hunter must be prepared for ANY situation that may occur” Samson instructs sagely… in the middle of a massive forest fire.

“Can we please have our fucking lesson after we leave!” you complain whilst doing your best to avoid being burnt by the flames surrounding the two of you. You want to complain about this forest fire that appeared out of nowhere but in reality the person responsible for all this trouble was you.
You curse past you for his stupidity in attempting to use fire to scare away the direwolf pack. Sure the fire worked in scaring away the monsters but now you’re stuck in the middle of a damn forest fire.

Thankfully your Running and Parkour skill ensured that the escape and in the end the two of you manage to barely escape the forest with a few burns here and there. Luckily nothing permanent.
>No roll required because of your Skill choices
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was your 15th year however that you would face a challenge not so easily dealt with.
You were practicing on your own within the Maddening Forest when with a crunch of leaves you notice a monster far more dangerous than what you’re used to.

The monster you found was:

>Basilisk
>Giant Spider
>Wendigo

Whilst you cannot die in this encounter, you may be permanently injured, think of this as a tutorial into combat

And just before QM forgets you need to pick your lockpicking ability.


**************************************************************
Lock picking (Basic): 32% correction in unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key
Please choose an ability
Swiss army fingers: For 1 mana per 10mins you can shift your fingers to a variety of mundane tools you'd find on a swiss army knife such as screwdrivers or can openers
Skeleton key: For 1 mana you can unlock any mechanical lock
Treasure Sense: You can sense where items which would be counted as valuable to you would be located within a 100 metre range.
Magical Breaker: Your lockpicking skills and abilities work with magical locks too
**************************************************************
>Swiss army fingers
>Skeleton key
>Treasure sense
>Magical breaker

>>4506623
>>Giant Spider
>Magical breaker

>>4506623
>Giant Spider

petrified limbs, or a constant thirst for flesh? No thanks.

>Treasure sense
wow these are all good

>>4506623
>Wendigo
Treasure Sense

Update in 4 hours. Its currently looking like spiders + treasure sense but theres still 4 hours until the update so things may change.

>>4506654
>petrified limbs, or a constant thirst for flesh? No thanks.
I mean its not like the spider's any better...
All 3 choices have long term consequences if anons roll really bad.


Here's an unused character sheet since its unlikely you will meet the character ever again. He was originally meant to be your tutorial to combat but than mutation happened.

**********************************
Maudlin Hammond
HP: 16/16
1st Install
Will: 4
Stability: 4
Perception: 4
Wit: 0
Mana: 4/4
Skills: Unarmed combat (basic), Alcoholic (basic), 6 useless peasant skills such as farming and animal husbandry
Active abilities: Charge
Passive abilities: Drunken rage
Charge: For 1 mana per use, surrounds oneself with Will based mana shielding before alters one’s mass, launching the user at an opponent.
Drunken rage: While drunk your Wit is reduced by 4 but ones physical strength is vastly enhanced and you are immune to all poisons.
Bar fight master: Participated in countless bar fights. Has 1 reroll in close combat.
***********************************

File: SystemQuest_giantspider.png (373 KB, 413x339)

373 KB PNG

>>4506636
>>4506654
>>4506725
>Giant Spider
>Treasure sense

Before you stood a monstrous spider that almost doubled you in size.
The monster had multiple composite eyes and powerful legs covered in thick, green hair.

You try and remember what Samson has taught you about giant spiders.
You know giant spiders are mostly located deep within the darkest forests and that giant spiders are devious with many tricks and traps for their prey.
You also know that giant spiders are extremely poisonous with a poisonous bite. You can’t seem to recall for all your training anything more about giant spiders.

As you recognise the giant spider as an enemy, your Perception kicks in and outputs information about the giant spider.

***********************
Giant Spider
HP ??/??
Traits: Extremely toxic bite, Forester, ???, ???
Aether mutations: None
***********************

Unfortunately your perception is far too low to view all the information about the giant spider.
You tense your body and prepare for combat.
You’ve trained over the past couple of years for this and you find that what would’ve in the past frightened you, no longer does.

You are calm and ready to kill this giant spider.

1/2

>>4507006
Your tail flexes out as you begin the combat form you’ve designed over the last couple years taking advantage of your chosen Skills.
You will utilise your multiple movement oriented Skills to keep distance from the enemy whilst you pepper them from a distance with your bow.
The giant spider leaps at you however between Run away, Parkour and Running you easily dodge the attack.
You have developed your tail quite a bit over the past couple of years and now you easily utilise it as a 5th limb which combined with your ability Totally Not Spiderman allows you to easily climb and leap from tree to tree like a monkey whilst keeping your hands free to upend arrow after arrow into the giant spider from a distance.

Your hp 16/16.
Your mana 7/8.
Currently active abilities: Totally Not Spiderman

Roll 1d16.

3 rolls.

First 1d16 dictates keeping away from the giant spider. You receive +1 from Parkour and +3 from Run away. You receive -1 due to Forester trait.

1-4: You fail to maintain distance and lose a limb (-4hp) and are horribly poisoned (-4 hp each combat turn) by the spider’s fangs.
5-8: You fail to maintain distance and are horribly poisoned by the spider’s fangs. (-4hp each combat turn)
9-12: You fail to maintain distance but luckily avoid the spider’s fangs. You do take some damage from the spider’s legs (-2hp)
10-16: You maintain distance and avoid taking damage
17+: You effortlessly maintain damage and can concentrate more on other things. +1 to other rolls

Second 1d16 dictates your ability to deal damage to the giant spider with your arrows. You receive +1 from Archery and have 1 reroll from your archery training. You receive -1 to rolls due to ???.
1-4: You deal 0 damage due to ???
5-8: You deal 4 damage mostly due to the spider’s ???
9-12: You deal 8 damage due to your arrows finding the joints in the spider’s ???
13-16: You deal 8 damage and also manage to blind the giant spider
17+: Its dead son.

Third 1d16 dictates to you avoiding the spider’s ??? trap. +0, no bonuses from your Wit.
1-8: You fail to avoid the spider’s ??? trap and will suffer a -5 to keeping distance in future rolls.
9-12: You mostly avoid the spider’s ??? trap but will suffer a -1 to keeping distance in future rolls.
13-16: You completely avoid the spider’s ??? trap and your Treasure Sense Skill tells you that the traps materials are worth decent cash.

If anons can figure out the ???, our hero will receive a bonus to that specific roll.

Rolled 15 (1d16)

>>4507009
Legs and web.

Rolled 9 (1d16)

>>4506767
>useless peasant skills such as farming
I dunno man, instantly ploughing ground is not so different from mudpits

time to cook up some spider chow

>>4507009

Web is most probably the trap, but it doesn't make sense for the other one as armor. Chitin would be the standard armor. Camouflage might make us think a part is vulnerable but is actually just a branch or rock. It could also be armor taken from another creature, as a shroud. Lastly, it might have a skill that hardens certain bodyparts, stoneskin, ironblood, whatever.

Buuuut, there's one thing that would work as both armor AND trap, but probably is not the ??? because MC is downright fucked if it is: hundreds of baby spiders crawling all over

Rolled 2 (1d16)

>>4507009
Why are we fighting this spider again? For shits and giggles?

>>4507032
15+3+1-1=18: You effortlessly maintain damage and can concentrate more on other things. +1 to other rolls
>web correctly answered +1 to that roll
>>4507060
9+1-1+1+1= 11: You deal 4 damage mostly due to the spider’s chitin
>chitin correctly answered +1 to that roll
I meant more useless as they not applicable for the battle scenario that would've involved him
>>4507121
IC its because you're confident. OOC its because QM wants to test out battle system.
2+1+1=4: You fail to avoid the spider’s web trap and will suffer a -5 to keeping distance in future rolls.

As this was the tutorial, these were pretty easy answers. Future ??? will be much harder. Also one guess for each choice for each anon from now on please.

You debate escaping which will be quite easy with your Run Away Skill but this is a good chance to test out your Skills in combat without Samson babying you and more over you’re confident in this. If you can’t even beat a giant spider, how will you become the greatest roguish ranger. How will you surpass your disadvantageous mutations? NO, you could do this.

You effortlessly leap from tree to tree as you easily keep distance from the giant spider despite its repeated leaps towards you. As you pepper the giant spider with arrows whilst easily keeping away, you cannot help but feel contempt for the giant spider who for all of Samson’s lessons on their deviousness, the spider seems like a dumb animal to you.

Whilst you can easily keep away you notice how your arrows struggle to break through the spider’s skin. Luckily you remember in the nick of time Samson’s lessons about giant spider’s chitin which acts as a sort of exoskeleton armor for the spider. You aim your arrows for the small gaps and joints and note that you arrows finally damage and hamper the monster. You’re confident if you just keep this up than you’ll easily take down the giant spider.

However as you’re keeping distance from the spider you remember old Samson’s advice about the Giant Spider being a devious web trapper. There could be a web trap that the monster is luring you towards. Unfortunately by the time you’ve realised you find yourself tangled in the near invisible threads of the giant spider’s web that is stretched from tree to tree. The darkness of the forest combined with the near transparency of the web made you forget about it completely. The spider rushes towards you now that you are immobile.

You need to think about your options, you could attempt to destroy the web using Weak Point, use forceful shot to keep the Giant Spider away or attempt to kill the Giant Spider before it reaches you. You don’t have enough time or Wit to choose multiple options, you need to choose only 1 and choose now.

>Weak point and remove the web
>Forceful Shot the Giant Spider away
>Kill the spider by peppering it with arrows before it reaches you
>Write in. Action must be fast.

>>4507206
>>Forceful Shot the Giant Spider away
>>Kill the spider by peppering it with arrows before it reaches you
If we hit the legs they might rip off, if we hit the face it could swallow its own poison

>>4507206
>Kill the spider by peppering it with arrows before it reaches you
All or nothing

>>4507206
>Forceful Shot the Giant Spider away

Not all or nothing since i don't wanna be permanently maimed on top of our mutations

>>4507206
>>Forceful Shot the Giant Spider away

>>4507212
>>4507213
>>4507347
>>4507756
>Forceful Shot the Giant Spider away
Unless you all roll horribly, combat should end this turn. Feel free to suggest any changes you feel combat requires. DC system will remain unchanged but feel free to ask if you want more control of our character during fights, faster fights or slower fights.

Your thoughts race as you try and decide between going all in or playing it safe. In the end Samson’s lessons come to mind ‘Just keep ya distance mate, archers don’t need no bogus risks like those idiot warriors’.

"Forceful shot" you shout out as you nock draw and shoot an arrow clad in your Will towards the giant spider.
You were hoping to push back the giant spider a dozen metres at least but you remember Forceful Shot’s sysadmin warning which stated it was less effective vs large targets. So instead your Forceful Shot only manages to barely push back the giant spider and stop its rush towards you.
You know if you keep using Forceful Shot than it will be nothing but a stalemate however a stalemate favors you as you’ll have more time to get out of the web. As the giant spider keeps rushing you, you burn your mana repeatedly using forceful shot to buy time.
After a while you’ve burned all your mana using forceful shot.

Did you manage to escape the web in time?

Your HP 16/16.
Your mana 0/8.
Currently active abilities: Totally Not Spiderman

1d16.

3 rolls

1st 1d16 determines whether you manage to escape the web in the time bought by forceful shot spam. You have +1 from Structural Analysis.
1-8: No, the -5 negative is kept for your second roll
9-16: Yes

2nd 1d16 determines if you manage to avoid injury. +3 from Run away, +1 from Parkour, -1 from Forrester
1-4: Lose a limb (-4hp) and are horribly poisoned (-4 hp each combat turn) by the spider’s fangs.
5-8: Horribly poisoned (-4hp each combat turn) by the spider’s fangs and some permanent scars.
9-12: Luckily avoided the spider’s fangs. You do take some damage from the spider’s legs (-2hp)
13-16: You avoid all damage besides some light bruises (-1hp)
17+: You completely avoid all damage

3rd 1d16 determines how much damage you dealt to the giant spider. You receive +1 from Archery and -1 from Spider’s Chitin. You still have 1 archery rerolls available for this fight.
1-4: You deal 0 damage due to the spider’s chitin and your bad aim
5-8: You deal 4 damage due to your knowledge of the weak points of the spider’s chitin but your poor aim prevents you from dealing more damage
9-12: You deal 8 damage due to your excellent aim and your knowledge of the weak points of the spider’s chitin
13-16: You deal 8 damage due to a lucky shot, your Treasure Sense also notices something of value inside the giant spider’s stomach
17+: You deal 8 damage due to a lucky shot, your Treasure Sense also notices something of immense value inside the giant spider’s stomach

Rolled 16 (1d16)

>>4508050

Rolled 8 (1d16)

>>4508050

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>4508050

Rolled 10 (1d16)

>>4508070
Opps wrong set

>>4508056
>16+1
The one roll that doesn't have a result for 17+

>>4508056
16+1=17: Yes you escape the web trap
>>4508069
8+1+3-1=11: Luckily avoided the spider’s fangs. You do take some damage from the spider’s legs (-2hp)
>>4508073
10+1=11: You deal 8 damage due to your excellent aim and your knowledge of the weak points of the spider’s chitin
Going to presume no-one wants to reroll something thats already a success
>>4508086
Yeah rip, this was a yes or no binary result. Unlucky anons.

Luckily it seems the time bought by your Forceful Shots is enough to struggle out of the web trap which was much helped by structural analysis helping you understand the web structure and makeup.
Now free of the web, you easily keep distance away from the Giant Spider utilising your tail and legs with Totally Not Spiderman to keep distance whilst your arrows perfectly fire into the joints and other weak points of the giant spider’s chitin. It does take you quite a few shots but in the end the giant spider finally stops moving.

You pepper the giant spider with a couple more shots just to make sure it’s not pretending to be dead. You exhale in relief as its confirmed the giant spider is dead.

Your confidence soars after your successful take down of the giant spider by yourself and you sprint back to Samson’s hut to brag.

The scolding you received from Samson for your foolishness in risking your life is another story entirely
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that’s how you passed the 5 years with Samson training your ranger related Skills relentlessly. You extensively trained with your Archery, Parkour, Running, Spying and Stealth Skills.

However it was unfortunate you never had the chance to train your roguish abilities with your lock picking Skill being almost unused.

You are now 16 years of age and a full adult, it was time for you to strike out on your own.

After all whilst Samson was happy for you to stay with him (the two of you having grown close over the 5 years), staying with Samson was impossible for your goal to become the greatest roguish ranger.

So with a somewhat teary farewell which wasn’t at all like Samson’s usual gruff self you left towards Bit’s Rest.

What was the final gift Samson gave you?

>10 gold, a massive sum only possible due to Samson’s bandit past. (you currently have 1 gold)
>Many rare herbs and potions Samson made for you with his Advanced Herblore Skill (you currently have zero potions and zero herbs)
>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty. (you are currently using a cheap hunting bow he purchased for you from the village blacksmith)
>Write in (subject to QM scrutiny)

This was the full monster bestiary for Giant Spider btw. Non-sentients do not have Skills or Abilities, they have traits. They also do not have Install or stats but long term aether exposure still may result in mutations.
***********************
Giant Spider
HP 12/12
Traits: Extremely toxic bite, Forester, Web Trapper, Chitin Armor
Aether mutations: None
***********************
Extremely toxic bite: -4 hp per turn DOT attack
Forester: -1 to all rolls when facing this creature in forests
Web Trapper: Will lure enemies into web traps which drastically reduce their mobility
Chitin Armor: -1 to all damage rolls when facing this creature

>>4508105
>Many rare herbs and potions Samson made for you with his Advanced Herblore Skill

>>4508105
>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty. (you are currently using a cheap hunting bow he purchased for you from the village blacksmith)

>>4508105
>>Many rare herbs and potions Samson made for you with his Advanced Herblore Skill (you currently have zero potions and zero herbs)

>>4508050
Combat seems pretty gud to me. Faster/slower on fight by fight basis, whatever's the best for narrative flow. Its okay offering only few degrees of success but if 3 separate rolls and 10+ outcomes per turn don't burn you out keep using them.

>>4508105
>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty
But only if he truly wants to give it to us. We are forever in his debt.

>>4508108
>>4508109
>>4508112
>>4508116
And I'm busy once more. Update in 4-5 hours. Currently split 2-2 between potion+herbs vs enchanted bow.
Here's the full information of both items.

Herbs and potions: 2 small HP potions (restores 8 hp with 1 action), 2 medium HP potion (restores 16 hp with 1 action), 2 antidotes (cures poison) and 1 elixer (full heal + cure all status problems). Herbs are Nightlock which you know how to use and SunSeed which you don't know how to use.

Beauty: Enchanted bow which has two main functions. Storing mana up to equal with ones mana pool (effectively 8 extra mana only usable with archery Skills). Fascination Shot (once per encounter can fire an arrow that will charm those with a lower Stability than user Will).

>>4508105
>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty. (you are currently using a cheap hunting bow he purchased for you from the village blacksmith)
>Can we also get some camping gear? He's a ranger so shouldn't he have some to spare?

>>4508121
The bow is really great, but I'd rather not take the dude's most prized possession.

>>4508121
Herbs

>>4508105
>>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty. (you are currently using a cheap hunting bow he purchased for you from the village blacksmith)

>>4508108
>>4508109
>>4508112
>>4508116
>>4508157
>>4508165
>>4508246
>>4508308
Sorry for the late update was busy until like 20mins ago.

>Samson’s enchanted longbow Beauty.
After packing up usual travelling supplies like rations, camping gear and a sturdy cloak, you prepare to leave however Samson interrupts you whilst holding out his beloved longbow Beauty with a white knuckled grip. You’d be worried he’d be breaking the longbow with how hard hes gripping Beauty, if it wasn’t for the fact that you know he loves Beauty more than mothers love their first born sons.

“Take it son. You’ll need it much more than me.” He whispers through gritted teeth. When you try to take it you notice his vice like grip doesn’t loosen at all.

“You don’t need to give me something as valuable as Beauty, I know how much you value that bow old man. I’ll be fine, don’t you remember that I’m the great ranger that easily defeated a giant spider without a single scratch?” You say confidently with a smile, you don’t want to take the old man’s most valued possession when you’ve already been given so much from him. You have already promised to yourself one day when you’re great and famous that you’ll surely come back and properly thank Samson.

However Samson shakes his head at your consolations and polite refusal.

“No mate this is my final act of redemption which began when I chose to take you in. I hurt a lot of people in my youth as a bandit in the Badlands and for all the bullshit I told myself that it was necessary, it truly never was. It was just the easier route but the easier route doesn’t necessarily make it the correct one. You’re my redemption ‘son’, I don’t know if this’ll make me square with whatever cosmic nonsense exists or doesn’t exist but even so what about it. I’ve felt better these past 5 years than the 50 I’ve lived before. Take Beauty with my blessing that you’ll put it to a better use than I ever did in my youth.” Samson rambles on in a shaky voice.

The heartfelt talk that followed was between solely you and Samson but suffice to say you left with puffy red eyes and upon your back hung the enchanted longbow Beauty.

With that you started on the 1 month journey to reach Bit’s Rest. Along the journey what encounters did our hero face?

>Write in what you want to see happen on the trip towards Bit’s Rest. I’ll take the first 3 player suggestions. I’ll try and combine choices where possible.

**********
Beauty (???? Tier Enchanted Longbow)
Mana storage: Can store mana equal to Mana pool into bow which can only be used for Archery Skills
Fascination Shot: Once per encounter can fire an arrow that will charm those hit with a lower Stability than user Will
You do not know enough about enchantments to know Beauty’s tier.
Warning enchanted gear makes you a mark for criminal elements once they find out you’re only a First Install.
************

>>4508469
A battleground filled with corpses.

>>4508469
Group of travellers ambushed by bandits but after u help drive them off the travellers ostracize you and blame u for bringing them bad luck.

There needs to be at least one incident which drives home no matter what you do you will be judged by your appearance. If it's not our teen love interest rejecting us, let it be this.

>>4508469
MC is assaulted by an avalanche of coconuts

>>4508518
>>4508566
>>4508567
This is going to be a rather eventful trip

>>4508518
>A battleground filled with corpses.
>>4508566
>Group of religious fanatic travellers ambushed by bandits
>>4508567
>MC is assaulted by an avalanche of coconuts
>>4508712
Sure seems like it.

QM is very very busy this week so probably 1 post per day until I'm less stressed from work. Updates may also be shorter than usual.

And so you began your travels upon the worn unpaved paths towards Bit’s Rest.
It was quite a lonely journey travelling by yourself as you wonder in a small part of your mind what it would’ve been like if you never developed the accursed mutations.
You most likely would of had countless companions to travel and experience joys with or you could’ve joined a travelling merchant’s wagon.
Instead you walk the paths alone with nought but your own monotonous thoughts.

It was around a week into your travels that your monotony was broken as you sight what looks like the remains of a battlefield between two armies.
You rush closer for a better look and possible loot as your nose clenches from the stink of corpses.

You notice there were primarily two different standards and banners that could be recognised amongst the broken corpses. One of a red feather upon a white background and the other of a black mechanical spider upon a grey background. You recognise the standards as between your country of Apache and the western country of Rom respectively.

Most likely this was another of the regular skirmishes between Apache and Rom that had been occurring constantly these past 10 years. Something about trade or some such, you never paid much attention to such matters.

The nobles from both countries must’ve decided a remote area such as close to your village of Perl would be a good choice for the skirmish as you know battlefields locations are regularly rotated between different remote locations to prevent too much Aether Mutations amongst the local animals and monsters.

Unfortunately for you, it seems that looters have already taken almost everything of value from the battlefield however luckily with your Treasure Sense Skill you still manage to find ???.

>You find a large amount of coin, truly Treasure Sense is perfect for situations such as this. (+1 gold)
>You find a piece of intact equipment and even better it’s enchanted (Write in weapon or armour or etc. Equipment may have 1 minor enchantment subject to QM scrutiny)
>You find a person. (+possible companion, write-in anything in particular you want but subject to QM scrutiny)
>write in

>>4509881
>You find a person. (+possible companion, write-in anything in particular you want but subject to QM scrutiny)

Someone eating the dead. Their hair seems to shimmer with colored fog, and roots extend from bare feet, snaking into corpses.


Got a skill from eating something rotten, but spent too much time vomiting and got mushroom mutations.
[Iron Stomach]
[Spore Hair]
[Root Legs]

>>4509881
>>You find a large amount of coin, truly Treasure Sense is perfect for situations such as this. (+1 gold)

>>4509881
>>You find a large amount of coin, truly Treasure Sense is perfect for situations such as this. (+1 gold)

How much gold do we have QM? Because if we have quite a bit i might switch

>>4509895
Thats pretty damn specific but sure I'll accept it if anons vote for it.
>>4510022
You have 1 gold which is equal to 100 silver.
An example price is a days stay in an inn with meals would be 5-10 silver. A small health potion around 50 silver. A good solid steel sword may be around 1 gold. Obviously these prices are incorrect when compared to medieval examples but Skills change the equation. What would take a blacksmith a week or two to make in medieval times within reality, may only take a day when someone has the Smithing Skill. This lowers prices.

All this information is OOC, as far as our character thinks, he thnks his 1 gold hes saved over his 16 years as a peasant is a massive sum.

>>4510030
You can take just the unspoilered part. Hell, just take the first sentence and spin it however you want.

>>4509895
support + a swarm of symbionte insects buzz around its head

>>4509895
>>4509924
>>4510022
>>4510196
>coin and corpse eater
You feel the subtle guide of your Treasure Sense skill as you find silver piece after silver piece. Within a mere hour of search amongst the corpses you’ve amassed a fortune of 1 gold equal to all the coin you’ve saved up in the 16 years of your life before.

As you continue searching however you feel a shudder crawl upon your back as your honed senses from long hours of ranger training warn you of impending danger.

“Ahh how wonderful to eat, to digest, to consume. To bite, to chew, to munch, to crunch.”

Disturbing words resound from behind you as you turn to see a young waif no more than 14-15 years old happily chanting whilst chewing and eating what appears to be man’s arm. She was dressed in dirty rags and covered in blood that had long coagulated. Her hair seems to shimmer with colored fog, and roots extend from bare feet, snaking into corpses. Surrounding her were a small swarm of locusts that were clearly trained with some kind of Skill for they did not harm the girl at all.

Your instincts scream at you of the danger of the girl to the point you instinctively direct your Perception towards her. The status that showcased itself however only added to your worry.

********************
Name: ???? ???
Will: ?
Stability: ?
Perception: ?
Wit: ?
Skills: ??????, ????????, ???????????????, ??????? ???????, ????????,
Mutations: ????? ????, ???? ????, ?????? ????
********************

Most likely the crazed girl was at least 2nd Install or higher since your Perception revealed absolutely zero details at all. Either that or she had some kind of Perception obscuring Skill.

Roll 1d16 for how she reacts to seeing you.
Best of 3.
Your mutation doesn't matter to her so you don't receive -1.

1-4: you're a meal to her, prepare for combat
5-8: she doesn't care about you outside you possibly stealing her "food" so you're told to leave
9-12: she doesn't care about you at all and is amiable to talk
13-16: she feels a kinship towards you who also has mutations

Rolled 2 (1d16)

>>4511350
This can only end well.

>>4511378
Oh fuck anon why.


>>4511350
Tip for the next encounter like this QM, we are primarly a stealth build so giving the option to be undetected or something would be appreciated.

Also great quest so far, where did you get the inspiration from? Randidly ghosthound or something?

Rolled 2 (1d16)

>>4511350

>>4511378
>>4511392
welp, I think the first anon jinxed it
>>4511389
The idea is from all sorts of litrpgs. Stuff like randidly ghosthound and defiance of the fall.

Rolled 3 (1d16)

Damn, didnt expect it to speak, let alone coherently. We still rolling?

>>4511436
haaahahahaha NOT ANYMORE

>>4511378
>>4511392
>>4511436
JUST

>>4511378
>>4511392
>>4511436
well okay than, following fight will have relatively hard DCs, you're completely outclassed.


“Still living? Not normally eat living but…you seem wonderfully tasty.” She calls out to you with deranged words whilst licking her lips. Her swarm of locusts hum dangerously as she eyes you as if you were a piece of prime steak. You suppress the shudder as within a single movement you nock, draw and aim your bow Beauty at her. You’re surprised by the trembles of your fingers, you had fearlessly faced down actual monsters such as the Giant Spider one year ago but this girl, no this [i]creature[/i] was far far scarier.

“Stay the fuck away from me or I’ll shoot you.” You pointlessly warn however just as you expect, the creature completely ignores you.

Seeing no other option you shoot your arrow aiming to kill. You can’t afford to hold back in a situation like this. However she effortlessly catches your arrow showcasing immense martial skill you wouldn’t expect a young teen like her to have. Fuck, you’re definitely outclassed.

>Write in any bonus tactics you want our MC to use. Current tactic is to maintain distance with Run Away + Parkour whilst spamming Forceful Shot to keep her away. Overall strategy is a retreat.

As usual, figuring out any ??? will reward +1 to that roll.

Time to roll 1d16 and try not to die. You are heavily outclassed.

3 rolls.

1/2 The roll outcomes need a whole post lmao

>>4511471
1st 1d16 decides whether you manage to keep away. You receive +3 from Run Away and +1 from Parkour (the many corpses are why parkour is applicable here). Her ???? ???? grant you a +1 bonus. Anons write in may result in + or – bonuses.

1-4: Despite her ???? ???? you fail to maintain distance and a massive chunk of your leg is bitten out of you by her (-8 hp). You are now hobbled and stuck in close combat with her (receive -5 on Archery rolls for remainder of this encounter).
5-8: Despite her ???? ???? you fail to maintain distance and a massive chunk of your flesh is bitten out of you by her (-8 hp).
9-12: Despite her ???? ???? you fail to maintain distance and a chunk of your flesh is bitten out of you by her (-4 hp).
13-16: You manage to maintain distance due to her ???? ????, your Skills and most importantly some luck.

Second 1d16 decides whether your Archery forceful shot spam has any effect on her. You receive +1 from Archery and have 1 rerolls this encounter from your training. You receive -2 due to her ??????????????? ability.

1-4: Her ability from ??????????????? makes her a martial artist far surpassing your imaginations. None of your arrows reach her. (You receive -2 on your rolls to maintain distance. Your mana is reduced to zero, your mana stored within Beauty is reduced to zero.)
5-8: Her ability from ??????????????? makes her a martial artist far surpassing your imaginations however you manage to get a lucky shot after using all your and Beauty’s stored mana. (Your mana is reduced to zero, your mana stored within Beauty is reduced to zero.)
9-12: Her ability from ??????????????? makes her a martial artist far surpassing your imaginations however you manage to get a lucky shot after using all of Beauty’s stored mana. (mana stored within Beauty is reduced to zero.)
13-16: Her ability from ??????????????? makes her a martial artist far surpassing your imaginations however you manage to get a lucky shot on your very first shot. (mana stored within Beauty reduced by 1)

Third 1d16 decides how well you deal with her ??????? ??????? of her locusts.

1-8: Locusts are very fast consumers of flesh (-4hp) and very annoying (-1 on other rolls)
9-12: Locusts are very annoying (-1 on other rolls) but you manage to prevent anything besides minor bites
13-16: You remember Samson’s advice about dealing with locusts and other swarms of insects when they are being controlled by someone with ??????? ???????.

If you die you die. Good luck anons I’m off to bed. I really hope I don’t awaken to our MC being dead.

Rolled 6 (1d16)

>>4511473
>Root feet/tripping on corpses/awkward walker you get the idea
>Accelerated Thoughts/Senses
>Dominate Swarm

Does Forceful Shot work on air, or does it have to specifically hit a locust? If it hits a locust, does it fly even faster than the arrow due to arrow speed+force effect?

Shes anchored to the floor, but Charm Shot might still be useful. Maybe it'll make her think we're less of a meal?

The insects might be controlled by pheremone or bait or something, but doesn't seem likely.

>Use Forceful Shot on a rock or corpse or even a shirt to obscure her vision and help your next shot.
>slip out your tail for balance and to make her curious

>"I bet I can bite and chew better than you!"
Fuck if I know, maybe she's insane enough to take the challenge

Rolled 10 (1d16)

>If you die you die
Do not set yourself up for a fail like this. If we have bad rolls, lets us lose coin, Beauty, limb, or sanity. Or just bring a third party which captures you both to sell as curiosities. Random should serve you, not the other way around.

Rolled 15 (1d16)

>>4511473

>>4511567
Yes definetly agree with this anon.

Also decent rolls except for the first anon, we're not dead yet!

Rolled 2 (1d16)

>>4511473

>>4511511
>Root feet
Root legs but close enough for the +1
>Accelerated Thoughts/Senses
Incorrect, no bonuses
>Dominate Swarm
Insects Control but close enough for the +1
>Does Forceful Shot work on air, or does it have to specifically hit a locust?
Needs to hit something physical like a locust.
>Fascination shot
Valid tactic.
>Obscure her vision with a corpse + forceful shot
Valid tactic.
>Taunting her
She seems to deranged for words to affect her currently.
>>4511567
>>4511866
No safeties anons, every fight should be risky and feel like your character may die. Death isn't the end for the quest anyways.
>>4512701
Most rolls are best of 3 or first 3 rolls have effect. Thanks for rolling anyways.

I'm home and writing now.

>>4511511
6+3+1+1+1=12: Despite her ???? ???? you fail to maintain distance and a chunk of your flesh is bitten out of you by her (-4 hp).
>>4511567
10+1-2=9: Her ability from ??????????????? makes her a martial artist far surpassing your imaginations however you manage to get a lucky shot after using all of Beauty’s stored mana. (mana stored within Beauty is reduced to zero.)
>>4511863
15+1=16: You remember Samson’s advice about dealing with locusts and other swarms of insects when they are being controlled by someone with ??????? ???????.

“Forceful Shot, Forceful shot, Forceful fucking shot damnit!” you voice out whilst in frustration. All your shots are completely missing the creature or are being caught. As only the arrow top holds the Forceful Shot ability, your arrows are completely ineffectual against the crazy corpse eating girl.

If theres one upside however than it’s the fact that the crazy waif’s root legs makes her quite slow and easy to keep ahead of when you utilise your Run Away skill combined with your parkour skills. You perform countless acrobatic manoeuvres as you use the countless corpses around you as obstacles to maintain distance whilst you ineffectually fire arrow after arrow of Forceful Shot.

“Stay still and let me eat you already!” the girl shouts in frustration and as if to answer her words, the swarm of locusts surrounding her rush towards you to harry and delay you. Luckily you remember Samson’s ranger training in dealing with Skill controlled animals. Skill controlled creatures lack the fear of real creatures and they are completely mindless. You take a few precious seconds to take out your flint and steel to create a flaming torch as you easily burn the locusts who mindlessly fly towards you and are all burnt.

However the time you wasted to deal with the locusts was not ignored by your foe who managed to take advantage of your busywork to reach close to you. Before you can even react, a cruel sound greets you.

CHOMP!

“You really are absolutely wonderfully scrumptiously tasty. Thanks for the meal.” She says with a bloody grin after she had just bitten a fucking piece of your shoulder out of you. She begins chewing your flesh with a pleased expression upon her face whilst seemingly ignoring you. The pain screams at you however you manage to with great willpower to ignore the missing chunk of flesh as you draw aim and fire your bow Beauty at point blank range. Whether it was due to her being busy eating her “meal” or due to dumb luck, your Forceful Shot finally hits her and flings her more than a couple dozen metres away into the distance.

1/2

>>4512767
You place your burning torch against your shoulder wound and with a painful sizzle your wound is cauterized.

You have a few moments to think of how you want to proceed. Do you keep facing this mad girl or do you take the chance to retreat? You have a bad feeling that if you don’t take care of this girl now than she may be a problem you’ll face somewhere in the future.

Current Hp: 12/16
Current Mana: 8/8
Beauty Mana: 0/8

>Keep fighting with aim to kill this crazy bitch (Obscure her vision with Forceful Shotted corpse than fill her with normal arrows). Overall DC: hard but loot chance
>Keep fighting and aim to take her down non-lethally (Obscure her vision with Forceful Shotted corpse than Fascination Shot her). Overall DC: hard but possible insane companion
>Run away. No DC: but prepare for her to turn up in the future since shes tasted your flesh and she really really likes it.
>Try and talk with her lol. Impossible DC: Roll a 16 only.
>Write in.

>>4512770
>>Keep fighting with aim to kill this crazy bitch (Obscure her vision with Forceful Shotted corpse than fill her with normal arrows). Overall DC: hard but loot chance

If she's going to come back we must kill her now.

>>4512770
>Run away. No DC: but prepare for her to turn up in the future since shes tasted your flesh and she really really likes it.

>>4512770
>Keep fighting and aim to take her down non-lethally (Obscure her vision with Forceful Shotted corpse than Fascination Shot her). Overall DC: hard but possible insane companion
I'm okay with the first one, but I'm pretty iffy about managing to kill her with regular arrows.

>>4512842
Do we really want this bitch as our companion? The mutations we have are concealable but won't be able to interact with any normal people with her around.

>>4512860
Maybe we can convince her to kill herself? Or help us to 2nd install so we're in a better position to kill her

>>4512770
>Keep fighting with aim to kill this crazy bitch (Obscure her vision with Forceful Shotted corpse than fill her with normal arrows). Overall DC: hard but loot chance
Would prefer to run away but I don't like the idea of her being recurring villain. We fight.

>>4512770
Consider the following:
>she has battle trained reflexes, possibly a second install
>she is able to catch flying arrows
>she is, however, unable to move quickly/deftly due to root legs
>there's plenty of bodies around
>she doesn't currently have any locusts or adds of any kind

Despite our rather devastating first round, that we survived thanks to the anons' good logic and great rolls, we shouldn't have too big of a problem with playing keep away now.
She's too crazed to think straight, and would probably fall for any distraction, so throwing a corpse is not a bad idea.

What about setting her, or the ground around her, on fire?
Is a rather cruel way to kill someone, and we would lose loot, but the area denial is something to be considered as she would be further slowed down.
I'm a bit scared about something however: if the corpses are rotting there's a good chance that they are releasing methane.
That means gas explosions when exposed to open flames.
We should be careful of our current position when starting any fire.

Another mutation she probably has is either spore head or shroom head, and an intoxication due to spores would be VERY dangerous right now.
However I'm pretty sure that they catch on fire easily when they're not damp, and burnt spores are not hazardous (or so says what I've read).

And yeah
>aim to kill

Starting tomorrow I can go back to 2 updates per day. Fuck work this week.
>>4512782
>>4512906
>>4512791
>>4512842
>>4513314
>Keep fighting with aim to kill this crazy bitch
Seems to have won.

I'll be home and can start writing in 5-6 hours or so. Heres some answers to questions.

>Do we really want this bitch as our companion?
If you had chosen her as a companion which you did not you would've had a powerful combat ally and a complete social detriment. You also would need to keep feeding her bits of your flesh.

>I'm pretty iffy about managing to kill her with regular arrows
Its a roll as with all combat situations in this quest. Fights are always determined always by skill, tactics and luck in this quest. I chose that because I hated shounen stories where feelings somehow decide a fight. No in reality its all skill, tactics and luck.

>Maybe we can convince her to kill herself?
Fascination Shot is basically DnD charm. Those hit think of you as friends or lovers and no friend or lovers will commit suicide just because you ask.

>Recurring villain
Yes if you had chosen to run away she would've been a recurring villain thats stronger each time you fail to kill/recruit her.

>What about setting her, or the ground around her, on fire?
There are rotting corpses everywhere. Technically our character lacks any modern chemistry knowledge so its in character to try this tactic. OOC: On the upside this is a wide field area instead of a sealed room so its not like you will die 100% chance if you decided to play with fire+corpses.


See you later today anons.

>>4513667
>Spoiler
So that means we should become a pyromaniac firebomber, I hear you. Lol.

>>4513667
Connection errors nonstop idk why.
No, you cannot run here. You need to deal with this crazy freak permanently whilst you still can.

You know that she has reflexes and martial skills enough to easily avoid or catch your arrows however what about if she can’t see the arrows coming.

You pick up one of the corpses whilst gritting your teeth from the pain that the exertion has brought your wounded shoulder. With a heave you toss the corpse into the air and with practiced quickness of movements you draw aim and fire a Forceful Shot into the corpse’s body whilst in the air to send the corpse careening towards the mad waif.

It’s time to end this.

Time to roll and end this anons.

1d16.

3 rolls.

1st 1d16 determines whether your tactic of using a corpse body sent flying from forceful shot to block her vision works. You receive +1 due to her Root Legs mutation. You receive -2 due to her ??????????????? ability.
1-4: Her martial skills and techniques are no joke. She easily avoids the body with no effort with graceful footwork you’d think impossible for someone with her root legs mutation.
5-8: Her martial skills and techniques are no joke. She knocks the body away with a powerful palm. Luckily this still buys you some time for your archery whilst her vision is obscured (+1 to archery roll).
9-12: For all her martial skills and techniques, she was still forced to catch the body flying at her. Whilst she’s distracted and her vision obscured you have a good chance to take her down (+3 to archery roll)
13-16: It seems she’s still disoriented from your previous Forceful Shot and she doesn’t manage to avoid the body as it crashes into her disorienting her in addition to obscuring her vision (+5 to archery roll)

2nd 1d16 determines whether your archery kills, injures or does jack shit. You have +1 from your Archery Skill and 1 reroll left this encounter.
1-4: Rip, you fail to do any damage and she removes one of your limbs before you can escape (hp -8, lose a limb, ignore 3rd roll)
5-8: She’s simply injured heavily and flees
9-16: You killed her due to your tactics, skill and luck

3rd 1d16 determines the loot you receive. If she died its looted from her body, if she lives its because she dropped it in her haste to retreat.
1-8: Nothing at all which when considering her appearance is only fitting
9-12: An cracked amulet with common symbols of luck upon it (broken amulet of luck which can be sold or fixed)
13-16: A dirty grime covered ring bearing the symbol of a trident (??? Effects)

Rolled 10 (1d16)

>>4514094
We can not only lift but also throw human corpses without any skills? Cool!

Rolled 10 (1d16)

>>4514094
Putrid aura?

Rolled 5 (1d16)

>>4514094
>Hand to Hand Combat
I guess I haven't tried the standard answer. The other stuff's like.....Projectile Trajectory? Calm Mind? Foresight?

>>4514184
>We can not only lift but also throw human corpses without any skills?
We’re swole as fuck after 5 years of ranger training. Medieval longbows require insane muscle to wield effectively.
>>4514186
>Putrid aura?
Incorrect
>>4514192
>Hand to Hand Combat
Incorrect

Looks like shes dead so no reason not to post her char sheet.
Writing update in the meanwhile.

Name: Lily Row
Install: 2nd
Hp: 16/16
********************
Will: 8
Stability: 0
Perception: 8
Wit: 8
Skills: eating (intermediate), endocannibalism (intermediate), ḡ̴͉͕̰̹̪̫̫͚̀̂͂̕͘͞l̢̨̯̬͖͎̖̯̖͋́͐̿̍͑̚͡u̵͈͓͇͉̰̓͗̊̌͛̐̚͠t̷͍̬͔͇̞̳̀̽̏͋͠t̢̨̯̙͓̞̫̼̭̫̔̒͂̀͂̄̐͠ȯ̵̘̤͇͔͍̦̈́͊̏̽̃̎ǹ̴͓̳̪̮̮̊̀́̉̕͘͞ẏ͔̰̘̦͚̘̆̌̚͡ (error), insects control (basic), survival (basic),
Mutations: spore hair, root legs, broken mind
********************
Eating (intermediate): Provides bonuses in the consumption and nutrient value of foods ingested
- Iron stomach (Upgraded x1): Your stomach can handle spoiled food or drink and not be affected by it. You are immune to ingested poisons due to ability upgrade.
- Monstrous jaw: Your bite attacks are much more powerful and you can easily tear through steel with your teeth

Endocannibalism (intermediate): Provides bonuses in the consumption and nutrient value of corpses which are the same sentient race as you.
- Skill consumption (Upgraded x1): Can learn the techniques, knowledge and skills of those you eat (e.g. you eat a swordmaster and now you have all the swordmasters techniques, knowledge and skills). Note this is skills not Skills. Anything learnt is permanently retained due to ability upgrade. SYSADMIN WARNING THIS IS A RESTRICTED ABILITY, CONTACT NEAREST SYSADMIN IMMEDIATELY IF FOUND. ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT IS RECOMMENDED IF NO SYSADMIN IS AVAILABLE.
- Gourmet dead: Corpses of your sentient race you eat taste like gourmet meals and are much more filling for you. //sysadmin note: taste varies depending on individual

Gluttony (error): User surpasses the MANA System and may interfere in Aether. Unlocks all skill locks.

Insects Control (basic): Increases ability to control and manipulate insects through technology, Skills or Abilities.
- Dominate Swarm: Can control Will based amount of insects as if they were mindless drones.

Survival (basic): Increases ability to keep yourself and others safe and fed in the wild.
- Status resistance: Increases ones resistance to status effects based on ones Stability.

Spore Hair: Enemies perception is reduced by -16 when attempting to read your Status

Root Legs: Your movements are hampered and slower than normal

Broken Mind: You are insane and any mental effect on you is likely to not work as expected and to be completely random.

>>4514184
10+1-2=9: For all her martial skills and techniques, she was still forced to catch the body flying at her. Whilst she’s distracted and her vision obscured you have a good chance to take her down (+3 to archery roll)
>>4514186
10+1+3=14: You killed her due to your tactics, skill and luck
>>4514192
5: Nothing at all which when considering her appearance is only fitting
I wonder how anons feel that they nearly died for zero loot at all.

The crazy bitch was clearly some kind of master martial artist however for once it didn’t matter as even with all her insane skills and techniques, she still instinctually caught the corpse you threw at her with Forceful Shot.

Taking advantage of this chance where she’s both distracted and her vision obscured, you start firing arrow after arrow aiming at her vitals. Normally she would easily avoid or catch your arrows with her martial techniques however with the corpse stuck in her arms, she was caught flatfooted. Even now with vision obscured, she showcased techniques and body movements of some kind of master martial artist avoiding or reducing the damage of most of your arrows that were meant to kill into nonlethal wounds or minor scratches.

However for all her skill and technique, she obviously did not have an ounce of luck as she stumbled over a corpse on the ground behind her due to her root legs. With that an arrow finds her straight through the eye and past the back of her skull.

She had died instantly.

1/10 progress towards Second Install

You’d like to say that everything went as planned but in reality you won due to a heavy heaping of luck. You collapse to the ground in exhaustion as you heave a sigh of relief at your victory.

After a moments rest you get up and search the corpse of the crazy bitch that troubled you so dearly. However you find nothing of any value at all which considering her grimy and dirty attire, you can only sigh as it was expected.

Taking one final glance back, you find yourself quickly leaving the battlefield of corpses that nearly killed you. As you walk onwards upon the dirt path towards your destination, you try and think over your first ever murder of another human being.

No matter how much you try and justify that she was just a crazed creature and not human or that it was in self defense, you cannot help but swallow the vomit that crawls up your throat. This experience of your first human kill will likely stay with you until the end of your days. In the future you may be forced to kill many more humans if you ever want to become the greatest roguish ranger.

How did you feel about this?

>Its necessary for my goals (stoic acceptance of the need to kill for your goals)
>I’ll only kill to protect, I’m going to become a heroic ranger after all (naïve denial)
>I’ll kill, kill and kill some more in the future, best get used to the feeling (murderhobo path)
>write in

>>4514251
>I wonder how anons feel that they nearly died for zero loot at all
desu I don't give a damn about loot. Besides, we escaped with our life intact and that's its own reward. Speaking of...
>>4512766
>Death isn't the end for the quest anyways
We are gonna restore from a savepoint, aren't we


>that feel when the status screen updated with our Install progress
>I’ll only kill to protect, I’m going to become a heroic ranger after all (naïve denial)
We conflicted, and pushing it all under. Also could we make a detour and wash ourselves in a stream? I guess we need it.

Also OP this quest is really growing on me. pls dont die.

>>4514251
>I’ll only kill to protect, I’m going to become a heroic ranger after all (naïve denial)
kid's in for a wild ride.

Getting some kumo vibes here, starting to suspect other POVs

>>4514260
No if you die PLOT will happen. At least the first time. If you somehow die a second time than its back to chargen with new character.
>Also could we make a detour and wash ourselves in a stream?
I'll add a scene about washing ourselves before the bandit scene than.

>>4514251
>>I’ll only kill to protect, I’m going to become a heroic ranger after all (naïve denial)

>>4514251
>Its necessary for my goals (stoic acceptance of the need to kill for your goals)

>>4514251
>Its necessary for my goals (stoic acceptance of the need to kill for your goals)
>wonder how anons feel that they nearly died for zero loot at all.
It could've gone far worse.

>>4514260
>>4514263
>>4514315
>>4514320
>>4514465
3 to 2, naïve denial wins.
No! You remember your wish since you were the smallest child and the words of Samson. You refuse to kill unless in self-defence or to protect another. Murder no matter for what goal is in the end wrong, instead killing should only be done in the necessity to protect one’s own and the life of others.

You WILL become a roguish ranger hero no matter what but you absolutely refuse to become a murderer to achieve it. People may call you naive, but you didn't care, you’d rather die with your heart on your sleeve than end up another cynic.

After shaking off the thoughts plaguing your mind, you note that you’re still covered in the blood and grime from the battle. Your wound whilst cauterized also needs washing and worst of all you stink like the dead.

You decide to find a small stream to wash yourself and checking your memory of the information Samson gave you, you know theres a stream a couple hours or so off the beaten path.

A couple hours later, you find the stream and with a childish wollop you jump in and begin finally washing yourself. It’s nice to relax and enjoy yourself after the horror show you suffered earlier.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple days later upon the road you happen upon what appears to a small caravan being set upon by 4 bandits dressed in dirty leather. Luckily you’re too far from the situation for the bandits to notice you.

Now that you would help the caravan from the bandits doesn’t even need an asking however how should you help against the bandits?

You could either attempt to take advantage of your Stealth skills and take them out whilst unnoticed or you could try and convince the bandits to stand down with words. Finally there’s the option of showing yourself so you can show yourself so you can better work with the caravan defenders and better defend them.

The bandits all seem like standard bandits equipped with poorly maintained short swords however one of the bandit seems different, that bandit:
>wears a robe covered in esoteric symbols reminiscent of a stereotypical mage (bandit leader is a hedge mage)
>wears a suit of full plate armour and wields a massive greatsword (bandit leader is a fallen knight)
>seems just a bit off as alarm bells ring with fear as you look upon the man (hard mode but better loot)
>Write in

Your approach to combat:
>Stealth approach (write in any tactic you want such as using Fascination shot or aiming for certain targets first or making full use of your mutations)
>Talk no jutsu (write in any tactics you want to try and convince them outside naïve “good of men” nonsense, an example would be paying off the bandits with your cash or intimidating them)
>Work with the defenders (write in any specific tactics or information you want to share to the defenders)
>Write in

>>4514757
>seems just a bit off as alarm bells ring with fear as you look upon the man
>You arrive at the scene just as the bandits are about to commence the attack. You shout to warn the caravan and join the fray, opening with a Forceful Shot (bonus for position and surprise?)

Also OP would it be possible to supply our character sheet?

>>4514757
>wears a robe covered in esoteric symbols reminiscent of a stereotypical mage (bandit leader is a hedge mage)

>Stealth approach (write in any tactic you want such as using Fascination shot or aiming for certain targets first or making full use of your mutations)
Get underneath the mage and Forceful Shot him into the air. Fascination shot one of the regular dudes and have them protect you

>>4514836
>Also OP would it be possible to supply our character sheet?
https://pastebin.com/aNG9i4v3

>>4514757
>>wears a robe covered in esoteric symbols reminiscent of a stereotypical mage (bandit leader is a hedge mage)
>Stealth approach (write in any tactic you want such as using Fascination shot or aiming for certain targets first or making full use of your mutations)
Use forceful shot on the mage to disrupt his spellcasting

>>4515012
+1
If stealth doesn't work go help the caravan defend

>>4514757
>wears a robe covered in esoteric symbols reminiscent of a stereotypical mage (bandit leader is a hedge mage)
>Stealth approach
Arrows to the back and this >>4515012

File: SystemQuest_Bandits.png (250 KB, 694x411)

250 KB PNG

>>4514836
>>4514873
>>4515012
>>4515103
>>4515171
>mage
>stealth
Plan seems to be stealth + Forceful Shot the mage before Fascination shot one of the other bandits.

Heres a quick picture of what the situation looks like. This took way too much time so probs won't do it again.

The most notable of the bandits wears a robe covered in esoteric drawings, you are almost certain that this man must be a mage of some kind. Whilst Samson has complained about mages constantly throughout your 5 years of apprenticeship, you know somewhere between zero and nothing about magic and what to expect. What you do know is that the mage is the most dangerous of the bandits here so you must take him out first with a Forceful Arrow to hopefully disrupt whatever dark arcane shit he may do.

You will also attempt to Fascination Shot one of the other bandits to turn him against his companions.

As you slowly creep up with your Stealth Skill, you note that 2 of the bandits are now in combat with a fat man and young woman in priestly garb from the caravans. The fat man clumsily wields an expensive looking blade filled with jewellery however you can tell the man lacks any Skill or skills related to swords. The priestly garbed woman wields a long staff with clearly Skill enhanced ability. You need to act before the other two bandits can help them.

With your enhanced Perception from Unseen Sight you easily perceive all the status details of the bandits. They are all peasant farmer turned bandits with only 1-2 offensive battle skills and are 1st Install. This is not the case for the mage bandit.

*****************
John Cuttingham
Will: 8
Stability: 8
Perception: 4
Wit: 4
Skills: Sympathy Magic (Basic), Obscuring Magic (Basic), Meditation (Basic), Reading (Basic), Mental Magic (Basic), Sexual Skills (Basic), Rape (Basic), Brainwashing (Basic)
*****************

With the mage facing away from you, its almost assured your Forceful Shot will hit… right?

1/2

Rolled 2, 1 = 3 (2d16)

>>4515264
QM will roll for your 2 “allies”.

1d16.

3 rolls.

1st 1d16 determines if your stealth is noticed. You receive +1 on this roll due to Stealth Skill.
1-4: one of the bandits has the Scout Skill and you’re noticed almost immediately (-3 to both your other rolls)
5-8: one of the bandits has the Scout Skill but you manage to fire the Forceful Shot before they draw attention to you (+1 to second roll, -1 to third roll)
9-12: none of the bandits have relevant Skills but your actions are noticed before your Fascination Shot even if they don’t know where you are (+1 to second roll)
13-16: none of the bandits have relevant Skills and they are too distracted with their own battles to notice you

2nd 1d16 determines if your Forceful shot of the mage works. You receive +1 from Archery and have 1 rerolls available this encounter.
1-4: The mages Stability wins out vs your Will, Forceful Shot is ineffective (you are now in combat with the mage)
5-8: The mages Stability wins out vs your Will, Forceful Shot is ineffective but at least your arrow hurt the mage (mage hp -4)
9-12: Your Will wins out vs the mages Stability, Forceful Shot manages to work (mage has been disoriented for 1 rounds)
13-16: Your Will wins out vs the mages Stability, Forceful Shot manages to not only work but also knock the mage out (mage has been stunned for rest of encounter)

3rd 1d16 determines if your Fascination shot works vs one of the other bandits
1: You somehow miss an easy shot and the bandit comes after you
2-12: The bandit regards you as a friend and is now very very confused on what to do (one of the bandits does nothing for rest of encounter)
13-16: The bandit regards you as a friend and never really liked the other bandits anyways (one of the bandits start attacking the rest of the bandits)

“Allied” rolls. Priest rolls with a +1 from her Staffs Skill.
1-4: They die
5-8: They’re severely injured and will need your help to survive
9-12: They damage their opponent
13-16: They kill their opponent and can now help you or the other ally

>>4515268
>2
>1
Are you fucking serious?

Rolled 14 (1d16)

>>4515268
nothing good ever happens to this kid

Rolled 13 (1d16)

>>4515268
>Rape basic