What Stats Mean
-Strength: Accuracy and damage with melee weapons not relying on finesse. Also affects carrying capacity, grappling, and dominating/overpowering foes. Very high strength gives you a chance to simply deny attacks by opponents via overwhelming force and aggression.
-Dexterity: Affects dodging attacks, ranged attack accuracy (only of limited benefit to targeted ranged spells; mostly for projectiles), damage for finesse-based weapons such as rapiers and armor-piercing weapons, pickpocketing, stealth checks. Ranged attack damage is mostly based on enhancements to the weapons, or strength if thrown. Also affects counter-grappling checks, but not to as high a degree as strength.
-Toughness: Higher toughness means higher chance to ignore damage, and can imbibe more potions at once. Cannot be a stat for creatures with less fortitude than humans.
-Magical Resilience: Odds of resisting magical attacks. This stat represents innate ability to resist, and can only be added to a stat sheet via special means. Once a character has it, it can be leveled up as normal.
- Mana Efficiency: Only applies to creatures that use their mana or dust pools to cast spells. Characters that use distillations or prepared spells do not have this stat.


SERAH
-Leadership: Charisma to embolden allies and strike fear in battle, and use diplomacy and reputation outside of battle. Can also barter with merchants, influence decisionmakers, and also acts as a general “charisma” stat for situations where reputation matters.
-Alchemical Replication: This stat reflects Serah’s ability to analyze magical and divine effects and create potions, mutagens and distillations. Higher levels allow more powerful spells to be replicated, including supernatural effects.

LANDI
-Contracting: Leveling up this stat allows Landi to better word the terms of her summon spells and contracts, allowing her to “enlist” the help of more powerful entities with less risk. Leveling this stat also grants Landi and Serah additional abilities through adding clauses to their adventuring contract.
-Oaths: Oaths are solemn vows sworn between a summoner and a being of great power. As long as Landi keeps to the Oath she swears, she can access the level of power that the being chooses to grant her. Broken Oaths require penance depending on the being, ranging from none (easy forgiveness, as long as Oath is renewed) to difficult (Landi will be punished for breaking the Oath). Landi’s maximum number of Oaths are limited by many factors and are difficult to quantify.

DOTTI
-Spiritual Magic, a.k.a. Is A Fox: This stat indicates Dotti’s level of foxy power. The lowest level allows Dotti to shape the yin and yang of her aura to influence the unseen, such as attract or repel spiritually sensitive entities. Higher levels allow Dotti to steal life force, possess the bodies of others, and grants her authority over the spirits of the dead, and all sorts of magical foxy things. The soft cap of this stat is the number of Dotti’s tails minus one.
-Compassion: This stat cannot be leveled up traditionally, and is soft capped at each level.

RAELYNN
-Blindsight: Low levels grant Rae perfect vision, even in lightless areas. Higher levels allow Rae to see through objects.
-Seersight: Super-stat: each point requires 2 TP. With enough practice, Rae can spot weak points in enemy armor at level 1, see magical energies to interrupt spellcasters mid-cast to cause spell backlash if timed well at level 2, gain limited precognition in combat at level 3, upgradable to improved precognition at level 4.

Stats as of https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1003639.html#1008702

Serah:
HP: 3
Strength: 6/7 (Jotund’s Might Lv.2 increases strength and soft cap)
Toughness: 3/5
Dexterity: 2/4
Leadership: 3/4
Alchemical Replication: 1/3

Landi:
Strength: 0/0
Mana Efficiency: 3/5
Dexterity: 1/10
Magical Resilience: 2/10
Contracting: 3/3
Oaths: 1/???

Raelynn:
HP: 3
Strength: 2/4
Dexterity: 6/8 (Feline’s Grace increases dex and soft cap)
Wild Magic: 1/5
Wild Empathy: 3/5
Blindsight: 3/3; Seersight 1/4 (Seersight requires 2 TP each level)

Dotti:
HP: 3
Strength: 1/2
Dexterity: 1/5
Fire Magic: 4/8
Mind Magic: 2/5
Illusion Magic: 3/5
Mana Efficiency: 2/4
Compassion: 1/1
Spiritual Magic: 0/2

Jek:
HP: 5
Armor: 5
Strength: 5/7
Toughness: 7/8
Dexterity: 3/4
Magical Resilience: 1/1
Healing Magic: 3/5
Faith: 3/3

Notes on Stats

Stats are not just a number representing “this does this much damage”; the stats also show how creative and skilled our heroes are at using the stat.

For example, even with a Fire Magic stat of 3, Dotti is extremely powerful when angry, and can outright kill most non-shielded, non-magical creatures with focused effort. However, the collateral damage is high, and without raising her stats, her finesse is lacking. Raising her stats allows her to create non-spreading fire spells, create walls of fire, and even focus her firepower into tiny, superheated novas that have a much higher potential of penetrating defenses.

Oaths
Oaths are unique in that the number of oaths is less important than the strength of each individual Oath. Oaths can be empowered, lessened and even lost based on Landi’s relationship with the sworn being.

Landi’s Current Oaths as of https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1003639.html#1008702
Salt: Ruthless, Ambitious Earth Djinn of Entropy. Landi can channel her power dissolve earth to create quicksand. Strengthen relationship with Salt to enable Landi to turn her enemies to dust. Can also solidify quicksand and loose earth around her victims- entropy works both ways. Salt likes interfering with the natural rate of change, both accelerating and decelerating.

Oath Wording: I will force your will upon the spinning wheel of eternity! I will banish death and decay! I will corrode the incorruptible! In your name, I will change the nature of nature itself! This I swear!

>>136144
I hope Landi doesn't try to corrode the dragon's gold...

I can't think of a better way to max out her oath to Salt in one go lol. Corrode an entire hoard of unreactive metal and piss off a dragon so much it gets her off her ass and back into the world? She'd love that.

Was it always the intent to turn this into a classic Fighter(Sarah)/Rogue(Raelynn)/cleric(Jek)/Mage(Dotti) party?

>>136176
No, it just kind of happened that way, lol.

Serah was intended to be flexible and fill any role with enough prep time. Landi was always intended as a buff bot, with summons as her heavy hitters. Dotti was always going to be a glass cannon.

Rae and Jek were added via suggestions, so they kind of grew organically.

Serah is really strong actually she's like a combination fighter and mage.

That and with maxed toughness and Landi's portals and Inventory magic, it's possible to go for a Gate of Babylon style build too.

Donut 2021/10/09(Sat)13:00 No. 136318 ID: 8483cf
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Shitposting at its finest

1/2 Serah 2021/11/29(Mon)21:20 No. 136565 ID: 8483cf
File 163824965715.png - (83.84KB , 467x356 , Stooges.png )

A short story that doesn't fit in the main thread right now due to timing. Enjoy!

----
Building a bomb is easy. Building a stable bomb is hard, and it’s somehow gotten harder, and it frustrates my delicate alchemist’s sensibilities.

But since I met Landi, when has anything in my life been stable?

I place a very, very careful amount of earth and shadow essence in the calorimeter, set the compression to the precise amount I’ve calculated will work, set the timer for four hours, and step back.

I’ve done all I can at this point. If I fail…

No. I won’t fail.

… But if I do, at least I’ve tried my best.

I step outside the guild’s lab and stretch my arms enough to scrape the ceiling. Level 2 Jotund’s Might is really growing on me, no pun intended. If I level it up again, will I be as tall as Jek? Taller? I think it gives me the ability to grow at will, but only if I do it right. I’ll have to do some more research.

The guild is empty at this time of day- everyone’s out making money, or studying spells somewhere else. I’m the only one who needs the lab, really. The common room is empty except for Landi and Dotti. They’re sitting on opposite sides of the room, shooting furious glares at each other. Landi notices I’ve taken a break and zips towards me.

“Serah! Serah! Dotti’s doing it again!” Landi points her wings at Dotti accusingly. “She’s making stupid illusions of me! Can I zap her?”

I look over at Dotti. She’s giving me that guilty look when she’s done something wrong, but doesn’t want to outright deny it.

“No zapping,” I say. “Dotti, are you making fun of Landi with your illusion magic again?”

“No,” Dotti says, obviously lying.

I raise an eyebrow.

“What?” Dotti says. “I wasn’t. I was just acting out a play Roger showed me. It’s good practice!”

“What was the play?”

“The Three Stooges.”

I can’t keep the corner of my lip from curling up ever so slightly. “Did you project Landi as all three?”

“…Yes.”

Landi huffs.

It’s funny, yes. But I can see how Landi would get annoyed. I can’t leave them along for long without one of them getting on the other’s nerves. If only they enjoyed doing things other than getting drunk or eating trash.

That’s it! I need to get them hobbies! Dotti first- she’s the wild card. Well, card-that-is-wild.

“Dotti?” I say excitedly. “Doesn’t it get really boring when you run out of mana and don’t have any new books to read?”

Dotti nods.

“Well, have you ever wondered how humans stay entertained when some of us don’t have mana at all?”

Dotti scratches her head. “Um… you make delicious food? Maybe you hunt foxes? This is a hard question. What do humans do all day?”

“If we don’t have work to do… we get a hobby!” I pull out one of my notebooks from my satchel. “A hobby is something you do for fun that is NOT bothering Landi. Like knitting, or singing, or playing chess, or drawing!” I hand her the notebook and a stick of charcoal. “You like to draw, don’t you?”

“I guess,” Dotti says. “It’s just way easier to use my magic to show what I want. And I don’t have to write out what I need to say anymore. Why would I want to draw?”

2/2 Serah 2021/11/29(Mon)21:22 No. 136567 ID: 8483cf
File 163824974949.png - (160.92KB , 1061x818 , SerahModel.png )

“Well, your illusion magic fades away, right?” I say. “Art sticks around. And it takes focus. Humans respect people who can draw well. It’s very impressive. Have you seen what a skilled artist can do?”

Dotti blinks. Her eyes glimmer, and she suddenly glances to the floor. “Yes, I have. It… It was nice. I wish I could draw like I make illusions, you know, from the heart?”

Landi suddenly sees what I’m getting at, and she bobs up and down affirmatively. “Yeah! It’s really hard! And it takes a lot of practice. And concentration. Deep, quiet concentration far from me.”

“Do you know how to draw?” Dotti asks.

“Not very well,” I say. “But it’s important to draw what you see first, then you can draw from the heart. What do you want to draw?”

“I want to draw people,” Dotti says firmly. “Nice people. People that make me happy.”

“Then draw people,” I say. “I’m sure the adventurers here will let you draw them if you ask nicely.”

“But they’re all gone!” Dotti says. “Who am I supposed to draw?”

“Not it!” Landi declares.

“Oh, come on, Landi,” I say. “She can’t harass you if she’s just drawing.”

“I doubt that,” Landi says, but she seems to consider the idea. “What if she wants to draw me naked? Or worse, dustbusted?”

“Why would I want to draw you naked?” Dotti gags. “I can think of a hundred people I’d rather draw naked. Wait, Serah- is Landi making fun of me again? Do humans draw each other naked for fun?”

“Yes, but you can’t just walk up and ask someone if they’ll get naked for you,” I say. “People will sign up to model for new artists. They get paid.”

“Yeah!” Landi says. “They have jobs. Unlike some foxes.”

Dotti sticks out her tongue.

“Well, I have some time before I have to get back to the lab,” I say. “You can draw me.”

“I can?” Dotti asks, beaming up at me. “Thank you!”

“Do it naked!” Landi cheers. “Send sexy pictures to your boy toy from poker night!”

“Landi! Shush!” I wave my hand at her. “We do not talk about rumors like that where people can gossip!” I sigh. If word got out about Franklin… no, it just won’t get out.

“Do models have to be naked?” Dotti asks.

“No, they don’t!” I say, exasperated. “Landi is being ridiculous. But yes, models can be naked. From what I understand, a good artist has to understand how poses work, and clothes get in the way sometimes.”

“So drawing naked people will make me a better artist?”

“Well… yes.”

Dotti looks up at me pleadingly.

I walked right into that one, didn’t I?

“Fine,” I sigh. “If you’re really interested in being a good artist, you can draw me naked if you really want. But only if you mean it, and promise not to use your drawings to bother Landi. If you’re drawing in your sketchbook, that means you’re NOT bothering Landi.”

“I promise!”

“THANK. YOU.” Landi breathes.

I am the best party leader.

Maybe, just maybe, if Dotti is good enough, I might have something for Franklin…

Dotti wouldn't be eating trash if you would stop throwing away perfectly good food...

1/3 Dotti 2021/12/05(Sun)23:29 No. 136621 ID: 8483cf
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After a stupid amount of time, one thing is becoming very clear:

I have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm trying really hard to draw something that looks like Serah, and I just can't figure it out. I can mimic something I've seen with my magic, but taking that same image and putting it on paper is totally different.

What I have looks terrible.

And that makes me really, REALLY angry.

2/3 Dotti 2021/12/05(Sun)23:37 No. 136622 ID: 8483cf
File 163877621989.png - (69.19KB , 543x439 , Artishard.png )

I take the paper off the easel and stare at it, pouring out my frustration and disgust. I just want it to burst into flames, but Serah doesn't like it when I use fire magic indoors, no matter how careful I am. Which makes sense. But sometimes, you just have to set something on fire, and this is DEFINITELY one of those times.

"Dotti?" Serah asks. "Are you done? Can I lower the sheet?"

"Yes," I growl. She can burn the sheet too for all I care. Stupid sheet.

Serah sighs and straightens up. How long has she been standing there? Was she comfy? I realize I hadn't asked her to shift poses at all.

No, wait. That doesn't matter. She said she'd be my model, so she asked for it. In fact, I'm the one suffering here. She should be asking how I feel!

"Can I see the drawing? Do you feel like sharing?" Serah asks.

"No!" I grab the paper and crumple it into a tight ball and throw it in the wastebasket, where Serah will never ever look.

I storm back to the dorm room. Art is such a waste of time when I can just use magic.

Stupid pencil.

3/3 Dotti 2021/12/05(Sun)23:45 No. 136623 ID: 8483cf
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I rip off my boots and throw myself into bed, angrier than I've been in days.

I should have known I'd suck at art. I can't even use magic to make myself a human body- why would I think I could use a human pencil to draw one?

Like clockwork, the most annoying person in the world shows up to make my day worse.

"Dotster! There you are!"

Landi flutters over to my bed. I turn to the side and growl. "Are you here to make fun of me again?"

"No, actually," Landi says. "I wanted to see how it went. You weren't in there for that long."

"Liar," I say. "I was in there forever."

"First, don't ever call me a liar," Landi snaps. "And second, you weren't even in there long enough for me to finish my group chat. Could you, like, draw more next time?"

I huff. "I'm done drawing. It's frustrating, and it's pointless. It's not fun. Why bother?"

-----

How does Landi convince Dotti to keep trying?

Landi really wants to minimize potential Dotti annoyance, so getting her to keep up her art is a must. Better bring out the big guns if we're gonna convince her.

"If you get good enough that you can draw Petra from your memories, you could draw up posters and spread out our search way farther than we can cover on our own. All it would take would be for one person to see your drawing, and recognize her in it. A family member, an old friend, anyone who was ever close to her could be the lead you need."

Sing an inspirational song!

What's your favourite idea?
Mine is thinking crea-tive-ly!

>>136623
With cunning and by exploring Dotti's options. She kind of set her standards too high there.

>Why bother?
If she doesn't want to do it, she doesn't. That's that. Art is not for everyone. Maybe it's not for Dottis.

But art is... a lot. One thing about art is one can change it up to figure out how to make the challenge of it fun - or set different standards of what she wants to do with art. Sometimes you just draw silly things, imagined things, stories from one's own mind! One can have fun doing that and then over time one just learn and improve as one goes.

Maybe she should try something like that, before giving up on art? Drawing silly fun stuff, rather than relying on the standard of perfectly reproducing something until she's gotten better at it?

And art is... a lot more than just drawing something like it is in life. Which alone can be a lot to learn at once! No one is that good! Those artist she saw had practiced a lot, surely. She can't expect her first attempt to be as good.

But the practice process can be fun too, and the challenge of it can be fun, and seeing one's own improvement can be really satisfying. And if one can draw funny things to get there, that's cool, too. Not to mention art does have purpose! Sometimes preserving the image or idea of something can be really worthwhile - or improving on them in funny or amazing ways, like she does with her illusions for people when she pranks them, only these 'illusions' will stay on the paper after she's done casting.

Not to mention, getting better at art improves one's understanding of shape and form and the mixing thereof - or can even give insight into how light and shadow works - and that might be important someday to someone who's both a shapeshifter and uses illusion magic. Maybe she could learn how to make her illusions better if she did explored what art can do?

A pixie dust infused brush that doesn't actually do anything magical except sparkle when she draws.

1/2 Landi 2021/12/07(Tue)19:37 No. 136641 ID: 8483cf
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Yes, art is hard, so why bother? Well… there are lots of very good reasons to not bother with something hard and frustrating and involves sitting still for long periods, so Dotti is obviously smarter than she looks. But this is the perfect opportunity to get Dotti out of your hair for hours and hours and hours! You can’t let her give up on art so easily.

Maybe you could sell this as a way to help her find Petra more easily? Yeah! That would work! Dotti could draw Petra and put her face on those letters we’re sending out to all the mayors and chaplains and people with only slightly fancy titles that Serah can bother whenever she wants because her title is very fancy, thank you good sir may I have another crumpet oh you are too kind.

If Dotti’s gonna draw it herself, she’d have to get good. And that’d mean she’d spend days at time getting good at arting! She’d spend weeks bent over her sketchbook! Maybe months! It’s perfect! And if she screws up, she’d just try even harder, ‘cause she REALLY wants to find Petra. She’d stop at nothing if she’s convinced it’d help find her long lost best friend slash fox domesticator slash owner even though you would NEVER call Petra that to Dotti’s face…

But then Dotti would be even more upset if she couldn’t get good fast. And an upset fox spirit is bad news. VERY bad news.

It would be best to avoid that. Yeah. So what’s plan B? Hmm… how about something so horrid you’ve never even considered it? That’s right: you’re going to have to give her a heart-to-heart.

Ew.

“Why bother drawing?” you ask. “That’s a great question. It’s hard and tedious and you gotta work at it and suck for I dunno how long before people look at you and go ‘oh, wow! You’re the best artist ever, Dotti! I wish I had your talent! I could never ever draw something so pretty!’ Like that. People say that to me all the time for my unbelievably pretty singing voice. You want me to sing for you?”

Dotti rolls her eyes.

“Anyway,” you continue, “It’s hard and stuff. And you’re gonna suck, just like you suck at a lot of things. Want me to list all the things you suck at and don’t get mad about? Like honesty? Or table manners? Or personal hygiene? Or-”

Dotti bares her teeth at you and lets out an angry yap.

“Yeesh!” You flit a little higher. “I’m just being honest. You don’t seem to get upset over those.”

“That’s because I was really trying at art,” Dotti says, clenching her paws tight. “I should be good at it! I can mimic humans with illusions. Why can’t I do it on paper? Or with … other types of magic?”

“You can’t just expect to be, like, automatically good at stuff,” you say. “Human hobbies take work, and they’re pretty frustrating. I heard this one guy cut off his own ear over art. Or something. I think. Anyway, if you really hate it, it’s probably not for you.”

“I do like it,” Dotti says, her voice wavering slightly. “I mean, the idea of it. It’s nice to have something I can share that people like. And… they don’t have to be near me to like it. I can just, you know, put it somewhere, and I’ll know that they like me. I mean, it.”

2/2 Landi 2021/12/07(Tue)19:38 No. 136642 ID: 8483cf
File 163893471584.png - (55.93KB , 461x505 , Smile.png )

“You don’t have to draw something good for someone to like it,” you say. “And art is still gonna be frustrating, just like lots of stuff in life, and there’s gonna be a lot of bad stuff you do or make that looks dumb. But you gotta let it sliiiiiiiide off your wings like water! You can’t let it get you down! Take it from me!”

“You are the expert at doing stuff that makes you look dumb,” Dotti giggles.

“You know it!” You bob approvingly. “The more pointless stuff in life you learn to ignore, the more you can focus on what really matters! Like, who cares if you draw an ugly portrait or two? I don’t!”

“You don’t?” Dotti asks. “I thought you would make fun of my stupid, terrible art!”

This is preposterous! “Why would I make fun of your art?”

“Because you always make fun of me! Every time I mess up or do something you don’t like, you make fun of me! And you hate everything I like!”

This is ridiculous! If Dotti didn’t want to be made fun of, then she should stop eating trash! Or forgetting how doors work! Or stealing jerky treats and blaming it on pocket weasels! Or falling down the stairs and landing in funny poses! She’s comedy gold!

But that’s not important right now. You gotta convince her to devote less energy to being a trash fox, and more energy to being a trash artist.

“What if I promise never to make fun of you for your art?” you say. “Like, a capital P Promise. I won’t intentionally make you feel bad, no matter what you draw or how bad you draw it.”

“You’d really promise that?” Dotti asks incredulously.

“If I do, then who’s gonna care how bad your art is? Seriously?”

Dotti thinks, and thinks some more. She lets out a deep sigh of relief.

“Okay,” she says. “You promise?”

“I promise!”

Dotti smiles.

You did that. You made her smile.

It kind of feels good.

Donut 2022/07/05(Tue)20:14 No. 137622 ID: 8483cf
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Adventures of Chibi Saiorse

Donut 2022/07/05(Tue)20:15 No. 137625 ID: 8483cf
File 165707731759.png - (48.39KB , 758x780 , Siobhan.png )

More adventures of Chibi Saiorse

Oh by the way, that 'repeating longbow device' I mentioned is this (this is a version made with medieval era techniques):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDP9jN_FFQ

An interesting youtube video on 'what medieval weapon would angels use'? Seems relevant for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX02-O2dB9Q

TL;DR: STEEL TALONS! Or ice skates for the feet!

Also, here's another video from the same guy about fantasy adventurers and what they should probably wear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldys1pxojBs

Tip! With this guy, turn captions on and the speed up a bit. He rambles.

Don't forget the molotov cocktails. He was dead-on with that one.

So. Uh. I have... no idea where to take this conversation. I mean, I can maybe, MAYBE spend a bunch of hours going through the logs, taking notes, and coming up with some arguments, but that's kinda... getting to the point where it's work and not really as much fun.

It'd maybe make more sense if you gave us some prompt type options for different angles to take the conversation, if no one comes up with anything worthwhile for a few days.

Also, can we get an update to https://questden.org/wiki/Lazy_Fairy/Log for Dotti's stat changes between the beginning of the contract and now?

I’m perfectly happy with the discussion thread as is. It’s mainly here to keep track of stats and items.

Once we get to the next POV thread, I’ll make another pass at the stats.

I made the best post I thought I could've ever have on this site, and now found out I was "banned" for it.

I'm not mad. Floored, yes, but not mad.

Angels do not like being confused for their progenitor deity, especially when they're demanding repentance and nothing else. No pleading, no advice disguised as prayers, no nothing. This is an Old Testament style angel.

You weren't "punished" for your quality post, I promise. You were punished because the angel heard "I cannot repent" and a bunch of other words that weren't repentance.

Angels aren't human. Don't worry, you'll be fine going forward.

>>140939
*Rolling on the floor

>>140943
Don't worry yourself, either. That was great. Made my night.

Oh uh also if you got "banned," please do commit to the bit by not posting until the POV character (Serah in this case) leaves Petra's cottage.

Appreciated!

Everyone is unbanned! Thank you for committing to the bit!