Messages

Hey, Hero!

Ya did real good in the endless tunnels filled with scorpion men!
There was nasty stuff everywhere & ya were surrounded on all sides,
yet ya protected everyone & saved the day!

Real good stuff!

B'aara bless ya & keep ya safe,
Omar

+1

I had the same problem and it usually happened when my text included copypasta that had the ' apostrophe from another program like Google Docs.

I started writing ' manually on the forums and things have been working fine since. A bit of a bother, granted. 

Hey,

Ya did great in the PIT OF SACRIFICE.
Real heroic work!

Killed lots of goblins too and defeated your scaly nemesis.
Was great to see the hero in action!
Felt real protected with ya.

Sincerely,
Omar

[The last and final entry in the journal reads as follows:]

I could not conform to the society of the Well and thus shall seek my fortune elsewhere.
The dunes await.

[Animal companions]

Animal companions
I would be happy to see more options for a companion-focused druid build with the introduction of druid perks (to be announced).

Druids charisma buffing the companions sounded like a good suggestion as well, and of course more pet options is good if possible.
Some documentation might be helpful so that druids can best choose a companion that complements their playstyle.

Grapple sling
In v5, druids had access to a special grapple sling to replace the gun.
Maybe this could be added to the hermit merchant who sells medicine?

Survival
Druids may not need Survival to rest, but it can still be a good RP skill that can come up in events - not entirely useless.

Actually not sure if the check is missing or simply not being broadcast.

AI vs stealth
Might be unlikely to see a change here, but it's been noted before.
AI vs stealth could be seen as a feature of the server.

Trying to stealth around enemies can be very dangerous at times.

Unbuffed charisma to Shield AC as long as they have an empty off-hand seems like a good choice.
That said, buffed AC is not likely unreasonable either. It would bring Swashbucklers close to Monks in terms of buffed AC.

I'm assuming the likely scenario is +3 AC from a shield vs buffed CHA of +4 to +5 at most.

More likely, a Swash with 12 charisma is going to have at most+3 AC buffed without a shield - unless they get Aura of Glory reliably.

[Nadiri Chauve]

[Starikova ensures the letter reaches Nadiri Chauve and Nadiri Caldayne.]

+1

A good idea. I think the prerequisite is not necessary.
Light armor does not really compete with mage armor lots of the time.

I think this is a good idea to encourage skill foci.

SF: Alchemy is likely too powerful. Perhaps SF: Alchemy could grant you a reroll on the check to see whether you succeed at alchemy or not?

Alternatively, it could give heads up of something bad happening.

SF: Animal Empathy is likely a bit strong as well. Perhaps a longer duration with the one animal you control?

AF: Appraise would likely be attractive with just the base wage.

SF: Archaelogy looks good.

SF: Astronomy looks good and would be an even stronger pick for Astrologians looking to maximize their spell damage.

SF: Athletics looks good. Further balancing could be a re-roll instead.

SF: Socials seem all good. Rerolling appropriate checks. Potential for 2 rerolls with some perk synergies?

SF: Building looks good.

SF: Concentration would make combat casting a moot point. Maybe just additional +2 vs taunts would lead to some unconventional picks here.

SF: Consecration - nice, I didn't know

SF: Cooking could also do with a simple reroll, though cooking ingredients do not sound particularly OP

SF: Disable Trap is probably a little strong. Maybe a reroll on failed checks would mostly apply in combat and thus be useful without compromising high level rogue choices.

SF: Discipline looks good. I think the temporary KD immunity could be very exciting.

SF: Engi might again default to a reroll instead. Apparently people with the skill can scribe a schematic via player menu once a day, too. I did not know that.

SF: Fishing could be exciting.

SF: Heal is love.

SF: Herbalism would again prefer reroll to a surge of components.

SF: Hide/MS could be nice.

SF: Listen/Search/Spot, I would rather give one a reroll with search, and then 1 spark of revelation for Listen/Spot to counter Hide/MS consumables.

SF: Lore would be massive QoL for those who have it.

SF: Mining could be more exciting than a simple reroll.

SF: Open Lock is probably too strong.  A reroll in combat might be clutch at times, but usually not very useful.

SF: Painting could be huge for calligraphers.

SF: Parry is maybe a bit strong as the skill already bolsters your defenses. Maybe being able to parry 1 extra attack could be nice, but not sure how hard it'd be to implement. Maybe SF: Parry could give you +2  more points of parry if you have armor check penalties. I'm a bit stumped here, though.

SF: Perform would have the effect of 12 additional points of perform this way. I imagine just +1 extra round would be a lot.

SF: Pick Pocket could be a nice way to add some reward without diminishing the risk.

SF: Sailing if this applies with caravans as well, and one does not want to make it too complicated, it could be an automatic 10% discount on top of which 50% more can be earned with a successful check.

SF: Set Trap might work with a bigger skill bonus. For instance, +1 or +2.

SF: Smithing looks good.

SF: Spellcraft could be a valuable PVP tool, and sometimes helpful in PVE.

SF: Survival looks good. High survival has the same effect as well, so it is mostly about recovering hp.

SF: Tailoring looks good.

SF: Taunt could be fun if possible to implement.

SF: Tumble could be a nice way to balance not having a shield. Very appealing to defensively oriented monks, though.

SF: UMD looks good, but I would reduce the chance to 5%.

[Appendix I - The successful mercenary's primer]

[The papers in circulation are slowly replaced by a Revised Edition, which contains additional commentary and small corrections. Furthermore, a new appendix is added:]

Appendix I - The successful mercenary's primer
This pamphlet is intended to be distributed to those refugees who are unwilling or unable to read the whole work, but may still comprehend a concise list of requirements. It is stripped of extraneous commentary and the reader should refer to the full copy of Small Unit Tactics for further explanation.

In order to succeed as a mercenary, you must:
1) Communicate with your unit regarding your role and responsibilities. Always choose one (1) leader and explicitly name your mender who is in charge of support and curatives. Build trust and a good reputation with your fellow mercenaries.

2) Prepare and use supplies: vials of blurring, invisibility, seeing the unseen and insulation. Have supply to cover for any lost wards that you require. Have oil for making a fire, dry rations for meals and a bedroll for sleeping. A shovel, a grappling gun and rope with a hook can be useful to have. Everyone should bring at least some curatives and water. Bombs, dispelling trinkets and disabling devices can be very useful.

3) Understand your enemy and negotiate your tactics beforehand. Have a balanced formation capable of responding to different threats in front of you, behind you and above all behind the enemy lines.

4) Make use of choke points and avoid being exposed to enemy archers. Allow your shieldbearer to lead the way. Walls are your friend. To reiterate, the shieldbearer should always lead the way. Especially when you think it is safe. Talented scouts are an exception. Otherwise, always stick together.

5) Position yourselves in a way that allows your whole formation to engage the enemy meaningfully. Keep to the sides of narrow corridors and leave room for the frontline to maneuver as needed. Use the environment to your advantage.

6) Name one skilled and trusted person to scavenge and only plunder what you may after the threat has been completely neutralized. Do not tarry.

7) Know your limits. Fall back when needed and do so in an orderly fashion. Retreat is always an option.

Learn well from this text so that you do not have to pay your tuition in blood.

For more information, read Small Unit Tactics (revised edition) by Starikova.

I will add a +1 of support to the removal of these restrictions.

Give me, please, cursed boys and rot-inflicting maidens.

[The note is received and words are exchanged in flesh, not on paper.]

Nadiri Mevura,

Regarding your DEVELOPING THESIS, I have outlined some critique, commentary and suggestions:

1 ) You write better than you speak. The succinct expressions and structures that you use in the thesis generate faith towards you as a serious researcher.

2 ) It is good that you define restricted lore. I find it very helpful. You should also define 'evil'.

3 ) The three rules you outline in your proposal should be simplified and stripped of RESTRICTED LORE so that they may be disseminated to the public, as to better inform their decisions. This may be a further refinement of the thesis work. Critique of rule number two (2): most of you do not know how to carry a shield and therefore the SUBJECT may easily neutralize even many of you. It was very brave of you to face the RECENT DANGER and wise to recruit help outside our ranks. I expect a detailed overview of the SUBJECT's strategies and proposed counters as a part of the full work or its refinement.

4 ) It is very wise to note that there is always something to know. Your thesis statement could be refined to either RECOGNITION, PREVENTION or CODIFIED PROTOCOL.

5 ) I enjoy the use of CAPITAL LETTERS FOR STRESS in some of our RECENT REPORTS.

6 ) I defer to your vast personal experience related to the SUBJECT and its KINDRED but I would like to see references to existing research. Perhaps a brief summary of what is known can be helpful.

7 ) The table of contents you suggest seems clear. Based on it, it seems your thesis is solely focused on IDENTIFICATION. A clear focus is acceptable and should be made explicit.

Collaborate with me on the LAST THREE ITEMS on the table of contents.

Overall, your developing work is a very worthy subject of a thesis and with a strong thesis statement it shall be possible to outline useful knowledge that can be both disseminated to the public (stripped of RESTRICTED LORE) and shared among our peers.

I believe it is possible to use what you have learned and experienced in order to formulate a thesis that provides an overview of the threat, offers evidence-based means of identification and then details a codified protocol for addressing the threat in a manner that is both grounded in science and tested in practice.

Further research questions can include:

1 ) How little can the SUBJECT's name be twisted before it becomes a problem.
2 ) Detailed study of physical and arcane countermeasures in response to the threat.
3 ) Further study in identifying and understanding the threat.
4 ) Case study in long term health and other effects of continued exposure to the threat.
5 ) Study in long term restoration of our peers following an encounter with the threat.
6 ) Codified measures of reducing the impact of the threat and restoration of those gravely afflicted.
7 ) Codifying levels of SUBJECT INTERFERENCE.
8 ) Further study focusing on preventing and addressing the threat.


Sincerely yours,
Nadia Starikova
Nadiri