Fever Enigmatic [PBP Mystery Campaign - Full]

TheCavalry wrote:EDIT Kind of interested in doing some sort of Precision/Horse-Sense character. In video games where it's an option, my first instinct is to talk my way past an enemy, and the second is to stealth through. Of course, I'm also kind of simple and employ the direct approach, so...I don't know if those qualities are what you want in a new character.

Yup. Social rogue for the win! My suggestions:

Stat-wise, you'll want to invest heavily in Presence and Empathy, followed by Stealth and Perception. Reflex, Mechanics, and Athletics wouldn't hurt either.

Ability wise: Freaky Knowledge is your friend; Bluff and Intimidate would do nicely (Especially as they can be stacked) and you might consider Bribery and Disguise as well (Although I've never tried those.) Stealth Mode and Illusory Mask would make good dailies, and The Stare gives your Magic Point(s) a little more bang for what you're doing. You Don't Know Where It's Been and Phase Step may or may not be useful, depending on how unscrupulous your character is. Same deal with Cunning Disguise (which I believe stacks with FK:Disguise if you should take it.) EDIT: Ninja'd! Although, most disguise Abilities are rendered pointless by Changeling's Trickery. I think.

sunbeam wrote:Also, Zamuel, does Sunset Stroll know what event Midnight Clover is talking about? I figure it's the same event that Light Burst is jabbering on about, but Sunset's not exactly present there.

Yes, he and Bitter Medicine would. Safety precautions for events and such.

Crystalite wrote:Ability wise: Freaky Knowledge is your friend; Bluff and Intimidate would do nicely (Especially as they can be stacked) and you might consider Bribery and Disguise as well (Although I've never tried those.)

It is unlikely I will allow a combination of Bluff, Intimidate, or Bribery. I prefer FK to be a more specific topic than a subset of a skill stat. I think it leads to more interesting characters and technically that is the correct way it's supposed to be used. It's already been noted that disguise may be a moot point as a changeling but it's worth noting that there are situations where it may not be. Even in shapeshifting, genuine disguise skills can be quite useful.

I will note the concept of consequences though. A character with a life of deceit may have difficulties in being found out. Using Rarity as an example, there's ways of utterly twisting others to your will without being outright criminal on your own. Bending the truth as opposed to breaking it.

sunbeam wrote:So many of us made Jack of All Trades characters...

It is an interesting development. I'm looking to see how things pan out with the point spreads.

Nice to meet you TheCalvalry    Don't have many suggestions in terms of your build, but I would like to say that ongoing damage synergizes well with one of my abilities, Form of the Reaper, so I approve of that idea

Speaking of my build, would it be ok if I switched Perfect Focus

[+2]Summoned Shield (Perfect Focus) - Standard Utility
You have resist 3 to melee attacks until the end of your next turn. At the start of your next turn, if you have not taken damage since you last used this ability, you gain 2 more energy.

For Sanctity of Faith?

[+3] Sanctity of Faith - Standard Utility
You have regeneration 2 (save ends).

I'm having a look through the abilities to try and find things which are appropriate for the character/party, and I hope to have (at least a first draft) of my sheet up later.

In the meantime though, I really like the idea of a changeling who doesn't realise what they are. From a writing perspective, it sounds really interesting, particularly since I imagine it would make for a fun scene when/if the truth came out. In terms of the party, it also means I can use social rogue powers("she's a changeling, it's in her nature to deceive") without having to make up an excuse as to why she's working with people("she doesn't know that and these are her friends.")

So, right now, my tired brain has thrown this together as a starting point. Not detailed, so... all advice welcome.

Fairy Charmer is an ordinary unicorn. Perfectly ordinary. Oh, she's has her strange fits sometimes, but she can't help that. Her physician said it was just stress, but even so, sometimes she can't help but stare at herself in the mirror- and, whatever anyone might tell you, it's not narcissism.

(Well, maybe a little bit. But how could you blame her? She looks fabulous, a dark mane contrasting with a green coat and her bright eyes.)

No, it isn't (always) narcissism that makes her stare into mirrors, but an odd sense of dissonance. She'll cock her head to one side and frown, leaning in to see what it is about this picture that seems so wrong...

But anyway! That's just a stupid thought thing, not worth worrying about, especially whenever there are more important things to take care of about town. What sort of things, you may ask?
Well, her cutie mark is of a shower of sparkles, but Fairy Charmer tries her hoof at everything. She's always eager to help. Some might call her the definition of Loyalty, but that moves at sometimes being a bit...well, clingy. She has a constant need to be doing something, and to get people to like her.

Honestly, it's sort of odd. Whenever she isn't around other ponies, or they don't see, to like her or love her, her tail and ears droop. It's not just that she worries people don't like her- sometimes, it feels like she's actually, physically weak. It's like being hungry, sometimes. Which is odd. She's never hungry when surrounded with happy people.

It's probably nothing. After all, Fairy Charmer is a unicorn. A perfectly ordinary unicorn, making her way to Friendship Garden, and that's just the way she likes it.

It does eliminate the need for Changeling' Trickery/Flight (not much point when the character doesn't even know they can.) Some questions to help flesh it out a little (besides the ones Zaman will ask over PM):

-) What does Fairy Charmer do for a living? (You have to eat too! And pay rent, and do laundry, etc.) Freaky Knowledge will probably kick in right around here.

-) What does she do for fun? (Willing to 'try anything' is dandy, but she should already have a couple thing shes particularly enjoys. Again, FK.)

-) What is Charmer's goal in life? And why?

-) What are some of her proudest parts of life? How about her most traumatizing? (These can be as strong or as mild as you want, but you should have *something*.)

BIG EDIT:

Fairy Charmer's Combat Build:

I'll make a full descriptive version upon our Allies' approval. For now, I'll describe the important bits and you'll need to go check out the different details personally.

This build is designed to exploit the effects of Fleshrender as much as possible. First round you'll use Power Up (Persistent Hex) and Blood Pact. This will give you a steady Energy flow, and make it harder for opponents to fight back.

After that, you use your Move action to get into range for Blood Is Power (giving each of you 5 ongoing) and close the range with Bull Rush (which increases it to 7) which triggers Where it Hurts (increasing it to 9), dealing a butt ton of normal and ongoing damage both. If the opponent tries to move out of melee range, it triggers Don't Forget Me which deals more damage (And increases it further.)

If the enemy makes their saving throw... Just do it again! They have to suffer it at least once. If not, same basic drill except Drain Blood (1 energy) instead of Blood Is Power (increasing it to 11-13) and then Bull Rush (increasing it to 13-15) and then Where It Hurts (increasing it to 15-17).

If you get low on Hit Points (And you will) back off, use Survival Skills and Drain Blood (3 energy) to build it up again (if the healers in this group do their job it shouldn't take long.) If you're especially lucky it might even trigger Crippling Strike, allowing you to keep messing with ongoing damage a little.

When the enemy is unconscious/dead, proceed to eat the corpse move on to the next one.

Flaws: This build has a fair risk of becoming static, which can be boring. That's not necessarily true for a new player though; much easier when you have a plan to follow. And there are occasional variables.

This build wouldn't do well in a minion battle. I am not concerned by this - my own does so brilliantly (At the cost of being much more volatile.)

This build WILL get bloodied with a little more frequency than normal. Survival Skills and Drain Blood help, but not a lot; but again, I'm not concerned by this. There's plenty of healing to go around.

Monsters with saving throw bonuses will be bothersome; Persistent Hex will help, but not always. Monsters with Daze and Saving Throw Penalties spell trouble; and woe betide thee if they follow your example and have something akin to Fleshrender or Kindle Pain.

Thoughts? Anyone?

Wanted to point something out before I head to work. The campaign does already have a changeling that doesn't know they're a changeling. Having both is viable since they're different pony forms and have different skills/interests but just noting it.

There's something to be said for a known Changeling too. Having played several, I can say that full shape-shifting is all kinds of fun.

If you do so, another interesting thought: Does anyone ELSE know she's a changeling? How vigilant is she in keeping her disguise(s) up? If someone does know, how do they tell her apart from someone she might be impersonating? (Imponynating?)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sf2PRgD9D7PBuSs4bMimh3HANDXnaK-EvPXqbmagiKk/edit?overridemobile=true#

Yes, I realise it's blank. It's mostly for me to use as a reference point; my computer doesn't always let me post here (for some reason), so I want to make sure I have a copy to edit, in case posting stops working.

Saying that...
If there's someone else with that same character, I'll change it to a Changeling who is aware of their identity- Fairy Charmer is her unicorn alter ego.

Besides that, though, I've spent the day thinking about my- rather bland- original outline, and I think I should change it, if only to account for Fairy Charmers new self-awareness.

So, here's the updated version:

Chrysalis had the right idea. Love is a powerful emotion to feed off of. We just need to go about it a different way...

A new pony arrived in the Friendship Gardens a few months ago, a green coated mare with a black mane and bright eyes, a drama mask cutie mark on her flank. A travelling performer, she said; or, rather, a former travelling performer.

"An actress," she corrected, with a dash of her mane. If not for the mocking tone, it would have been supremely arrogant; instead, it was only a little narcissistic. "The charming Fairy Charmer."

Maybe the townsfolk thought she'd be flighty, stuck-up, or unaccustomed to the work that came with tending he gardens or running the stalls. They were quickly proved wrong, as Fairy Charmer proved a more-than-diligent worker. She always seemed willing to help anypony with any task. In fact, she developed a reputation for being eager to help; anytime her offers were refused, she would turn suddenly sullen, ears and tail drooping, and her eyes almost glowing with irritation.
As if that were not enough, however' every week she set up a patch on the open lawn, providing some sort of a show, with performances so energetic- so masterful - it was almost as if she were changing right in front of their eyes.

In short, Fairy Charmer went out of her way to make sure that everyone in the community of the Friendship Gardens knew her name and loved her.

It made her choice of accommodation all the more striking; rather than live in a home close to town, she preferred a house on the outskirts, past the river stream. It makes the journey to and from the town quite a distance, which is good because Fairy Charmer only assumes her natural, changeling form in private. After so many months living with them, she is growing fond of the town, and in particular of the fillies and colts who frequent her stage performances, and not just because of the outpouring of positive emotions. She is spending more and more time in the role of the charming Fairy Charmer, and is being faced with two growing, alien emotions; fear at being discovered, and affection for the ponies of Friendship Garden.

It's devious. It's complicated. It's arguably evil. And has potential for both show boating and awkwardness.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I love it.

I really want to suggest Sweet and Elite... But that's not a very good beginner talent...

EDIT: You can probably go ahead and put the passage you wrote on your sheet.

You definitely can; everyone else has done it.

As others said, go ahead and add that to your character sheet. It's a good, definitive bio to build off of.

Oh, I forgot to say earlier, but I tend to associate them with Autumn,so I think of them as having Autumn coloring. I think that Summer's Mother has a bright orange mane, and a tan coat, while her father has similar coloring to her, except his coat is dark red instead of pink. In a related (ha) note, APW, do you think Birthday is an aunt on Summer's mother's side or her father's?

Alos, May I switch my combat, or not, Zamuel? I understand if not.

Nothing has tried to kill you yet so swapping around combat is fine.

mjh6 wrote:In a related (ha) note, APW, do you think Birthday is an aunt on Summer's mother's side or her father's?

Presuming that Equstria has the same maiden-name conventions as modern America does (which is doubtful, but we'll go with it for a second since that's how it worked with Birthday) we'll assume she is an aunt on Summer's father's side.

Well, Summer's father's name is Falling Leaf, so who knows?

Quick update: I've edited in stats, abilities, combat abilities and... well, honestly? All I have left to add is my Destiny and Combat Trait, and I wasn't sure if I add those now, or after reaching the appropriate level.

I was also wondering if I could get feedback on stars/talents and see if they work with the party. I mostly just picked thins which I felt were appropriate for the character, but...well, what do I know?

Oh, and if a destiny is required, I was thinking of using My Very Best Friend, since it seems to fit with Fairy's M.O/background, but again, I'll get feedback before adding it in.

Well, you definitely need a trait that corresponds to Power Up, but otherwise that stuff will just come in with time. Sometimes it's better to see what direction your character is taking, then pick a destiny to suit that.

Quick question, with the new skill system, does The Stare now boost a Presence check, or something different?

sunbeam wrote:Well, you definitely need a trait that corresponds to Power Up, but otherwise that stuff will just come in with time. Sometimes it's better to see what direction your character is taking, then pick a destiny to suit that.

Copy and paste this under "Traits":

Code:

Power Up: Persistent Hex
Enemies suffer a -3 penalty to saving throws against (save ends) effects that you bestow.

And then edit appropriately to fit the rest of the sheet.

As for your utilities:

Cunning Disguise is redundant: The vast majority of even Player Characters (Let alone NPCs!) can't hit a DC 35 Perception that Changeling's Trickery provides; the extra 5 from Cunning Disguise is pointless. You might consider Nightwatch, or perhaps I've Read A Lot About It (Perception). I also generally try and avoid having more than two X/Day talents; it's more book keeping, and it reeeaaally sucks when you need a Memory to Mist or Nimble Hooves and you've used them both up already. I would either swap Loyalty for Tenacity (Allowing you to swap your Magic Point for dailies) or drop Read Thoughts (You can get a lot more from Empathy/Empathetic than you might think.) If you decide on Tenacity, you might also consider Enchanting; especially the Untraceable, Thief's Tool, and Stepping Stone Enchantments.

@TheCavalry:
-You don't get Combat Traits at level one unless you use items for it. EDIT: Or Power Up, but you should put that in notes or a sidebar.
-The Stare will cover Perception, Empathy, and Presence, (collectively, the Horse Sense/Sense Attribute) similar to how the others cover three skills.
-Stats are fine.  No need to worry about Destinies until later.
-While there's a select few rare situations where stacking both Changeling’s Trickery and Cunning Disguise on a character would make sense, a valid point has been made that it's far better to just stick with Changeling’s Trickery.  
-It's up to playstyle on X/Day abilities.  I personally like a mix of passives, dailies, and at-wills but that's me.
-Valid comments have been made about swapping some things around.  Enchanting can be fun and I'm an advocate of Freaky Knowledge though I don't give it out as a freebie.
-Blood Pact is a useful but incredibly dangerous thing to have in some builds.  Lifebound Armor will slightly offset this but making note of it.
-Huh.  Seeing some weirdness in moves that lack a range designation despite affecting enemies.  I may need to bring that up elsewhere.
-Curious about the choice of Sweet and Elite.
-Will your character use Memory to Mist?
-Image would be nice if you can manage.
-PM shall be incoming.

@Everyone else:
The ponies who have been in town for a while know Fairy Charmer...or at least her unicorn persona.

Deliberate double post in case some already looked at the previous one. Waiting before I update so I can add Fury, Crystalite, and TheCalvary at the same time. It will also help prevent people from getting too far past each other timewise.

On the subject of Changeling's Trickery and Cunning Disguise, I think taking both has merit because Cunning Disguise doesn't cost your magic point, so if you need an on-the-spot transformation to get out of a troublesome situation (hiding in a closet from hitmen, walking through a town filled with wanted posters of your face, seducing someone who might recognize you, etc) you don't have to be conservative about it.

I agree that empathy and read thoughts have a lot of overlap. Read thoughts is definitely more subtle, and you could definitely use both of them simultaneously to great effect (Dancing River in Mystery Ahoof does it. In fact, I believe she's played by Crystalite.).

I agree with Zamuel that Freaky Knowledge is an awesome Utility.

Uh, it doesn't look like Changeling's Trickery costs a magic point, plus Changeling's trickery has a much lower prep time than Cunning Disguise. The real purpose of CD seems to be to allow you to impersonate someone specific. And on a build with CT, it does seem redundant.

...Holy cow, this thing has been buffed since I last saw it. It used to be a 10-point ability with a magic point cost.
In that case yeah, no reason to use both abilities.

I'm getting to the point where I feel like I'm spamming this thread. Anyway...

ZamuelNow wrote:@TheCavalry:
-You don't get Combat Traits at level one unless you use items for it. EDIT: Or Power Up, but you should put that in notes or a sidebar.

I've used Power Up, so that's noted in the combat traits now.

Valid comments have been made about swapping some things around.  Enchanting can be fun and I'm an advocate of Freaky Knowledge though I don't give it out as a freebie.

Edited in the suggested enchantments, along with Arcane Alarm. It seemed like an appropriate thing to add on. The characters whole 'thing' is that she doesn't want to be caught, so an early warning system letting her know when to change shapes, climb up a wall etc seemed appropriate.

Curious about the choice of Sweet and Elite.

Crystallite suggested it a few pages back, and again, it seemed like something that fit the flavour I was going for- some pony who has made a conscious effort to be known and liked. If it seems superfluous/complicated for a newbie though, I'm fine with removing it.

Will your character use Memory to Mist?

MtM is mostly a backup. Again... I'm new. Not just to Pony Tales, but table top RPGs in general. Memory to Mist seemed like a handy way to 'reload' if I got outted; an, given how I'm building with some stealth abilities in mind, I thought waiting nine minutes then mind wiping would be an easy way to escape. Again though- if I'm misinterpreting, or it's inappropriate, I'll change it.

@Everyone else:
The ponies who have been in town for a while know Fairy Charmer...or at least her unicorn persona.

Sorry for forcing things onto everyone and... Thanks for the support, in general.