Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

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spiderwrangler
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:58 pm

WearsHats wrote:And thanks for the skill post. It's handy to know where I stand. And it confirms what I'd sensed: Ursula has so far been the most effective. (Not that it's a competition. But credit where it's due.)
Her special ability may be a bit unbalanced relative to the rest of the characters, mostly in that it is able to be utilized much more frequently than some of the others, but I was trying to make them fit the character flavor as much as possible, and Nikohl's description of Ursula being somewhat derivative in her sparkiness, paired with the music shop background made me think of it. If I were to do it over again, I might have made it such that the bonus is only applicable to Disassembly tasks, such that her knack for taking things other people invented apart and learning from the process is emphasized.

But credit where it's due, Nikohl has done a good job of putting Ursula to work on projects that have paid off well for her.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by nikohl » Sun Jul 20, 2014 1:44 am

I do think Iris is particularly helpful. I don't mind at all if you want to revise the special ability down a bit, though - no problem there.

I think building the spider made a lot of that progress possible. Other than that, Ursula's not done very many overtly Sparky or Adventure-y things; she hid entirely from the bees and rats, she hasn't felt like exploring much, etc etc. She's been very much the housewife-spark, hah.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:13 am

what do you mean 2 of 5 attempts?


you make it sound like after 5 of 5 he'll blow up or something....im scared now...

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:32 am

Again, I wasn't complaining. Just giving credit where it's due. You've done well. Like you said, taking apart the old clank and building a new one from the scraps got you far along. That was all your idea, and it was a very good one.

Badge: Spider told us that we get 5 attempts per turn. Each turn is 15 minutes, and each attempt takes 3 minutes. So it's not that the clank will blow up or anything. It just means that it'll take an extra turn to finish the job. We're almost there, though.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by BadgeAddict » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:34 am

So...what is my special ability?

except for being a crotchety little dwarf?

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:44 am

Special abilities are secret. They're unlocked by the right set of circumstances. The only clue is that they're based on the character background we gave Spider way back in the beginning. Gabe, as a porter, carried heavy loads, so his ability is Feat of Strength. Ursula, used to working in a music store, works better (usually) with background music. Sam's likely has something to do with having grown up in the sewers. Whatever it is, I expect it'll come in handy on our future spelunking excursions.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:10 am

Actually...

Special Ability: Crotchety Little Dwarf

In any social interaction with a human, Sam has a 50% chance to ignore their feelings and concerns. If he does, he gains one Crotchety Little Dwarf (CLD) point. Upon reaching 10 CLD points, his chance to ignore increases by 5% and his CLD total resets to zero.


:D


But yes, Wears summation is spot on.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by Alaen » Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:19 am

I'm still wondering what mine is myself. My best guess would be something related to protecting other people.

No clue about Sam though.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:30 am

nikohl wrote:I don't mind at all if you want to revise the special ability down a bit, though - no problem there.
Thanks, I think i'll leave it as is for now, Ursula's IS the most 'crafty' of the abilities, but you/she have shown a willingness to work with others on projects, so her being a bit higher may help in pulling others along. If in another day or two (game time), it seems that Ursula is far outstripping others, I may tone the ability down slightly (if so, would you rather a narrowing of scope (ie, skills it would apply to) or a tweaking of percentages?)
Alaen wrote:I'm still wondering what mine is myself. My best guess would be something related to protecting other people.

No clue about Sam though.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by nikohl » Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:33 am

I'll leave the actual crunch of any tweaks/changes up to you, I don't mind. Whatever you feel makes it balance best.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:14 am

nikohl wrote:I'll leave the actual crunch of any tweaks/changes up to you, I don't mind. Whatever you feel makes it balance best.
Thinking a bit more about things, it may not be the special ability as much as I initially felt... if I went back and counted up the number of times it triggered, and the total CP gained from her special ability, it would probably be less than I might guess.

To echo Wears 'credit where it's due', I'm thinking that it is more the tasks you chose... read a spider clank scroll, disassemble clank arm, build spider clank, etc that made good use of your initial skill, and then synergized multiple skills.

I think we'll be fine regarding your special ability (though I reserve the right to change my mind :) ), I think it's more that you've just done a really good job of optimizing skills by choosing studying and tasks that all build together.

Well done. :cheer:
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:06 am

Going to be on the road today and tomorrow. I'll check in when I can, but I don't want to hold up the group. Feel free to autopilot as necessary.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:23 am

OK, good travels.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Tue Jul 22, 2014 6:41 pm

I know I owe you folks an update, but I spent my gaming time today organizing inventories. I stripped most of the on person items to the workbench, so let me know what you want your character to carry and I'll move it back... some of the characters had gotten to where they probably wouldn't be able to walk. :) I've split workbench up into
Wearable Items: Clothes, armor, etc.
Tools/Weapons: As it sounds... they didn't get separate ones because some tools could be used as weapons, etc.
Parts/Miscellaneous: Odds and ends you may use to build things, or stuff that didn't fit in the other categories
Books/Scrolls: Any written material, for Ursula, contains her notebook, and the map (with hyperlink)

So take a look at your newly organized inventories, an let me know what you want equipped, or if anything doesn't look right. Or if you have any further organizational suggestions.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:38 pm

So, to repair the clank eyes, we need to restore the electrical connection between the eyes and the wires in the head. Presumably, since the eyes can be pulled out, there's enough extra wire that I can pull it out a bit, too.

Soldering is, as tasks go, roughly as complicated as, say, making oatmeal. I learned the basics in roughly 30 seconds, and didn't take long to level up from there.

Looking over our inventories, Ursula has some metal cables from the clank arm that could probably serve as wire (if I need any extra). Several workbenches (including mine) have wire cutters. Heiro's workbench has a spool of "lead alloy wire" which, even if it isn't technically solder, should serve the purpose. We also have a few metal rods, a forge, and a set of tongs.

Theoretically, (if Ursula is willing to part with some wire, and Heiro doesn't mind me using half an inch of solder), I should be able to do it. Heat a metal rod in the forge, bring the wires together, use the rod to melt a few drops of solder in the right place, and done.

The question is: does Gabe know any of this? Can he recognize a spool of solder? Does he know it's there? Does he know how it works? Does he have any idea how to use it?

If yes, he'll make the attempt. If not... I don't know. I'd thought of having him build little clamps onto the back of the eyes to grab the wires and hold/attach them that way, but I don't think we have the materials, and I'm not sure it would work to conduct the signal properly anyway.

I suppose I could ask the others (including Castlina) for advice. But I'm kind of stuck.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by nikohl » Fri Jul 25, 2014 2:24 am

I think even if he doesn't "know solder" he can consider the principle of sticking stuff together with melted metal. Ursula's doing that with her lantern after all - melting scraps and shavings down. Between them they could probably figure out an efficient way to do it.

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:59 am

Works for me. Thanks. :-)
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by Alaen » Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:54 am

re Inventory:
August will take with him for now:
-Leather Armor - stained, grants +2 DEF
-Woodsman's Hatchet: +1 ATT, 50% chance to give additional +1 ATT
-small metal first aid kit
-lantern
-brass key
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:57 am

WearsHats wrote:Works for me. Thanks. :-)
Works for me too.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Sun Aug 03, 2014 5:49 pm

I fly tomorrow night to London, arriving Tuesday morning. I'll be there for 2 weeks (staying on for WorldCon). While there, I'll have my phone but not my computer. I'll do my best to check in daily, but feel free to autopilot my character rather than holding up the game.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Sun Aug 03, 2014 6:41 pm

Have a good flight Wears! If you want, feel free to post here or pm me a 'to do list' for Gabe that I can default to if he finishes projects and I don't hear from you within a reasonable amount of time.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by WearsHats » Sun Aug 03, 2014 6:51 pm

Oh, thanks. :) Well, for now he'll want to do what he can for Charlie - fix the other eye, work on the joints, learn what he can of the inner workings. After that? I don't know. Read more? Explore with the group? Sam was going to go try to hook up another room to Castlina. Gabe would help with that, once the room was determined safe. Oh, and he might try to tame the apiary. But not unless he was sure he could do so without releasing a swarm of angry spark bees on the whole crew. Once was more than enough.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Aug 07, 2014 10:09 am

Next update will likely be a multi-turn one, as everyone seems to be in the middle of a larger project at the moment. Wears, if you have anything in particular you want Gabe to do, let me know, otherwise I'll have him continue with clank related tuneups for now, with Sal as his trusty assistant since I haven't heard from NOA recently.
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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by BadgeAddict » Thu Aug 07, 2014 10:16 am

Once sam finishes building the Saw, he will then start to create the ladder. (Using available resources)

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Re: Surviving Castle Heterodyne - OOC Discussion Thread

Post by spiderwrangler » Thu Aug 07, 2014 10:40 am

BadgeAddict wrote:Once sam finishes building the Saw, he will then start to create the ladder. (Using available resources)
What wood are you going to chop apart? There are workbenches, shelves, the rat door in addition to the wooden shafts... just a regular ladder, or a stepladder?
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