A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Well my save ends deal also a -3 to the throw for the ones I make... I wonder... If I somehow deal the same save ends effect that Ramsus deals, would mine overwrite it? Cause in a way, it's kinda better.

It would.

That's cool, also I shifted up my build, to be a bit more different than Ramsus... There is still some overlap. But not as much now.

Aside from Colter Bolt, I've dealt with the rest of these people in other games where they basically OKed me to give my two cents, so I didn't really think much about it since I didn't think their personal preferences on that would have changed. It's good to know you'll tailor fights to match with what we do but, it's still more fun if everyone has their own thing that makes them unique.

I am confused. I thought we were supposed to be investigating stuff, how would perception not be really important? (At the very least it's good for finding hidden things/people and telling if people are lying.)

*facehoof" I didn't even notice that Colter's was the one you were talking about. I just noticed that your build had some save ends effects... So yeah...

Perception won't be really important because the investigation will be about asking the right questions, taking the right risks, being in the right places, and maybe doing some magic...

Also, I would never place any significant part of a mystery story on the other side of a 'look at sh*t' check'. That's not to say it isn't still GOOD for this kind of thing, you might pick up a trail - or discover a hiding enemy, but perception isn't significantly MORE helpful than other skills here...

Also, I feel like I should note, this campaign will take place in a few different harsh climates: so, if one of you wanted to be sure and pack the travelers' mantles, I'm sure others will appreciate your preparedness.

You sure I wont be able to fight this bad weather off? With weathercrafting?

@ Xel
Well, you probably could a lot of the time, but there are some weather conditions that might be a lot easier to just deal with than fight: also, a mantle might work on things you can't really get rid of by modifying the weather...


As an aside, Prince Ignis is now my forum avatar: look upon his reverse-of-Celestia style visage and TREMBLE! give some feedback, as I'm paranoid about 'abusing' the Pony Creator.

Well, I could drop Telepathy for Enchanting but.... ugh, Telepathy is pretty useful.

Tyger, would it make sense for your character to take it Enchanting?

Edit: @Z2: Looks pretty good I'd say? Depends on exactly what you're going for though I suppose. *shrug*

We do have one character with telepathy: the changeling, i.e. the race that only DOESN'T have telepathy as a racial because of lack of points...

I swear that wasn't there last time I checked that character. *shrug* Guess I'm taking enchanting.

Yeah, Telepathy has been there from the beginning (source: League of Extraordinary Gentlecolts). Anyways, Z2, can we/I get a little bit more about the Changeling vs. Hoofghanistan conflict?

I am hilariously awful at drawing maps, but since lack of data is messing with player backstories, it's time to make this information dissemination location:

Geography:
0. The kingdom is now called Caballia, because I don't actually like the name Ungula, and only now thought of a better one.

1. Equestria may stand outside Taurtauros, but Caballia stands watch over the equally mysterious Niflham.

2. The people of Caballia have never seen a minotaur, Naga live there instead but are still somewhat rare.

3. Pigs, or rather, boars, are intelligent and well integrated in Caballia; cows are dumb animals.

4. The changelings live in a few known hives around the kingdom, usually working as couriers, actors, doctors, and a few therapists: things that get exposed to a lot of emotion.

5. Hoofghanistan is a decent enough place, but the uniquely nonmagical population has a few awkward organisations.

6. Ponyville is still called Ponyville, and the Elements of Harmony still live there:
Dawn Glimmer - Progress
Silent Drift - Love
Viridian Charge - Trust
Sparsity - Inspiration
Red Velvet - Hope
Tangelo "For the love of everything call me TK" Karl - Sacrifice

7. Notable cities include:
Destriair - The Pegasi's Cloud City
New Yoke City - the most densely populated and 'modern' city
Ambleon - the Capital

8. Griffons are rarely seen, often unknown in rural areas, and are often treated suspiciously.

9. Zebras are well known, but mostly keep to their own areas, though most visits still see them accepted.

History:
The very recent conflicts consist of:

The Changeling Invasion: A vast group of Templar used some manner of unusual device to attempt to destroy the largest changeling hive, structurally and by handicapping the individuals, while picking off those who would escape. Known friend of King Chitin Prince Sirius had chosen that time to attend the hive for his wedding; he and his Bride Gleaming shield managed to team up, to destroy the device while keeping the hive intact long enough to turn the tides.

The Return of Tyranny: The draconequus Tyranny managed to restore her shape and powers after milennia of being dissolved into mist. She proceeded to go on a very quiet rampage, forcing everypony she could get her hands on to behave 'exactly as they are supposed to' with little to no will of their own. She quickly took down the elements of harmony by coercing them into their 'other duties', but Dawn was reminded of the glorious chaos that is an active friendship via "Decrees" sent his way by Prince Ignis.
- The Reformation of Tyranny: Less well known than the last is that the Element of Love risked himself to reform Tyranny from her wicked ways. Tyranny eventually found the merit of trial and error, and came to appreciate more the order that all help to enforce... She is currently a dance teacher, exploring the 'ultimate blend' of order and passion.

Mirage Sands: How the elements of harmony came together. Mirage Sands, now Prince Solum, escaped from his deep underground prison to once again attempt to reduce the earth to shifting sands... only to be purified of the madness by the elements. Though reason's are not entirely known, Prince Solum seems surprisingly on top of the modern world despite his imprisonment.

Ancient History:
The founding of Caballia happened when the three pony races first began to live together and combine skills, rather than live insular lives... they did this for survival, the only choice to stave off the Typhons: Dark spirits that feed on stagnation, and eventually desiccate all to desert.


Technology:
Though a cultural leaning to hoofcrafted goods and a biological leaning towards just running everywhere have hampered some areas of industry, in most areas technology is a fair portion of life's convenience. (1950's Era)

Could you guys clarify what you meant about improving my skill spread if I don't take AJoAT please?

I'm not sure what Ramsus was after, but typically if you don't have anything else supporting the 'viable competence in all attibutes' build, it's better to take 8 and 10 instead of three sixes and a ten.

Z2 you forgot to put in the link for Tourmaline...

Edit Er Paper it looks like that two other chracters have 10 in horse sense (blue also has a 9)

tygerburningbright wrote:Edit Er Paper it looks like that two other chracters have 10 in horse sense (blue also has a 9)

I know, but I was told that we needed Perception, and we also have characters with 10 (or more) in all the other areas as well...

Bwuh? Who told you that, I tried to stress that you do not particularly need perception.

Z2 wrote:Bwuh? Who told you that, I tried to stress that you do not particularly need perception.

I know, but you said that after I was told to build for perception (it was Ramsus, page three, stating "I'm not saying we need it but, I'm amazed we don't have a perception focused character given the premise we were given", and yes, I may had forgotten the exact words when I said someone said we needed it), so I removed some of the Perception point stuff and moved it to Streetwise. But frankly I don't know what to build...

A streetwise character is likely to get more use in this campaign than in any other, feel free to ignore Ramsus: he doesn't control what your character needs (that's me), and he doesn't control your character (that IS you.)

Edit: Looking around though, it seems like Horse Sense is the secondary stat for EVERY SINGLE PLAYER... are you sure that none of you want a historian Naga, or a mechanically skilled wizard, or a flying master of self repair - while you leave a fair bit to the sense specialist changeling & batpony duo?

I shall consider that sugestion...

I also will think over your suggestion.

Z2 wrote:A streetwise character is likely to get more use in this campaign than in any other, feel free to ignore Ramsus: he doesn't control what your character needs (that's me), and he doesn't control your character (that IS you.)

I know (he's not my real dad), but I respect the opinions and suggestions of all my fellow players. My character is mine to do with, but had I not taken Ramsus' suggestion of originally building Perception, I would be where I am right now, except without a half-completed character sheet...

Z2 wrote:
1. Equestria may stand outside Taurtauros, but Caballia stands watch over the equally mysterious Niflham.

Either I'm just forgetting something (how shocking) or you're referring to some thing out of the fandom I'm just not familiar with. Either way my reaction was "????????" Could you please clarify?

Paper, lol. I guess if the GM says things like "you might want X" X would be a good idea? In this case I guess Streetwise would be the way to go. Or at least that's how I read Z2's comment.

Edit 2: Z2 basically said what I meant about the stats. Not that I personally see anything wrong with having 1 or 2 generalists.

I can't really drop Sense since I need that for Persuasion which I need for any skill check involving music not sounding like scraping metal on a blackboard. That said, I took the Thief's Tools Enchantment to at least mitigate that we didn't have a Mechanics focused character.
Edit: Though I'll probably keep it even if we do get one. The only other enchantment I felt like we might want is Arcane Alarm and really, the Changeling can always just transform into a robopony or something so we have someone on watch duty instead. (Though yeah, obviously only if they didn't use their MP for the day already.)

Fun fact Ramsus: While picking the right song for the desired emotional response could be persuasion, and while a nice singing voice might be persuasion, musical instrument use is decidedly mechanics, and knowledge of songs is either history or arcana (depending on the song.) So, a thaumatic theremin player would probably use mechanics to operate his device for concert purposes...
Honestly, I could conceivably allow musical performances from Mechanics, History, Streetwise, Persuasion, or even (rarely) Arcana... If you're using an instrument as mad as a theremin, though, mechanics might be just a touch more appropriate

As for Niflham...

Taurtaurus = Tartarus, the Greek mythology's closest equivalent to hell + bulls (taurus)

Niflham = Niflheim, the NORSE mythology's closest equivalent to hell + pigs (ham)

Edit: OH! If Taurtaurus itself is what you're missing, Twilight mentioned its nearby status during the time travel episode. (She noted that Cerberus, who had come rampaging into Ponyville, was supposed to be guarding the gates of Taurtaurus... The fact that Ponyville is apparently within walking distance with the Greek hell is TOTALLY AWESOME in my book, so I tend not to forget that fact.)