An explanation and an apology are both needed and overdue.
Recently, I've begun to feel out of phase with all PbP RPGs that I've been playing, either as a GM or a player. If any of you were in my games, you know that I've entered a hiatus of undefined length, thinking it was GM burnout. Apparently, it was not only that. Despite my life stabilizing in a new routine as I started my PhD, something has changed in my mind, and playing has become to feel more and more as a chore and less of a pleasure. It's not the stories, the GMs or the other players, I've been enjoying immensely the games until now: I think I've just saturated myself with PbP, with reading and reacting, and with the engagement every day. I've tried to soldier on, hoping it was just a phase, but in the end I can't force myself to play against my will.
I honestly don't know if and when I'll be coming back. I entrust Morgan to your care, especially dear Jennifer. He would enjoy being your familiar.
If/when I feel more like the player I was, I hope that you'll be here to come back to, but if it doesn't happen I'd like you to know that it's been a pleasure to play with you all.
Merry gaming, may your rolls be high and your loot be plentiful.
Morgan dismissed the illusionary overlay marking the best path as a dashed, bright red line. His brain was already coming down with a headache due to navigating the time out of joint.
"However you say. I need a nap."
"Time is out of joint in this place. Space too. There is the physics embodiment of a hiccups around here, and it makes my eyes water if I look at it too long. Now come, get down the ladder with your opposable thumbs."
"Looks like it's going on endlessly. Fascinating. I wonder if..."
For an illusionist it's rather easy to see through other figments, if that is what is happening, and Morgan opens his third eye.
Truesight:
Once per day at 4th level, a fey adept may grant himself the ability to see all things as they truly are to a range of 120 feet for 1 round per level. The fey adept sees through magical darkness, notices secret doors hidden by magic, sees the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, sees invisible creatures or objects normally, succeeds at all saving throws against illusions and sees through them naturally, and sees the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. The fey adept may use this ability an additional time per day for every 4 levels beyond 4th, to a maximum of 5 times at 20th level. This does not allow the target to see through mundane disguises, non-magical means of hiding things, fog, or other such effects.
Sorry for disappearing, I was on holidays and had very little internet time.
Morgan hitches a ride on the descending humanoids and landed in the dust, glad to finally be exploring again. "The cargo bays will likely hold the most answers." he addresses the others, looking at the monitors quizzically. "I'll go and take a look, meow loudly if you need my help."
That said, he cautiously ventures towards the aft, keeping to the shadows.
"It does indeed sound like a good place to start. Are you done exchanging words with any soul on this boat? We could be hunting the source of this anomaly by now."
"People also used to worship cats, Izami, I feel your pain." grumbles Morgan from his catnap. "What about this odd cargo? Anything that may be of use, or of interest for the boarders?"
Morgan sighed as Nurai was attacked once more, and debated the idea of renewing his decoys. Instead, he dreamed of an old-time dismounted knight of his own to stand in front of her, covered in armor and wielding weapon and shield. The spell interferes with the Twilight, but any wild magic resulting from it is not apparent.
Shieldwarden's stats:
Archetype: Martial Companion
Form: Shieldbearer, Battle Creature (giving up natural attacks)
Wielding a +1 heavy shield and a +1 heavy mace
Talents: Shield Sphere, Cover Ally
Feats: Muscular Reflexes, Extra Combat Talent(Extensive Defense)
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +4
If Nurai is attacked, he'll expend martial focus and use Active Defense to give her a +3 shield bonus to AC against all attacks this round. He'll also take AoOagainst the Grave Knight, saving one for Active Defense.
Wild Magic:1d100 ⇒ 88 - The effect ends the first time a hostile creature within 20 ft. of it succeeds on a Will save against an Illusion sphere or illusion school effect.
Also, I wrote the wrong name last turn, my effect was not strong enough to cause damage.
I noticed that I couldn't use Committed Deception last round since I'm keeping concentration, so I have deducted one more spell point.
"Copying tricks, now? How derivative." hisses Morgan. This time, his glamer goes to affect the form of the undead knight, exerting his feline will to darken the foe's sight.
Illusionary Disguise to mimic Twisted Transformation through Create Reality. If it fails a Will and Fort save, DC 20, it's blinded as long as I concentrate, up to a minute.
Mechanics:
Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22I think this means it manifests as CL 6. Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 11
"Bothersome, so bothersome." growls Morgan, dreaming of an electrical storm aimed at their foe, although the metal corridors draw most of the charge away.
Committed Deception to lower spell cost, Create Reality to generate an Electric Blast.
Attack, touch:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14+3 if it's made of metal or wearing armor Damage:3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 5) = 9electricity damage
Morgan shrieks a meowing howl as the bullets manage to hit it. Rather than going on the offensive, he moves to cover and dreams again of multiple companion, slightly inequal relationships sharing one universe. And his dreams become figments, coalescing in images around his allies.
Mechanics:
Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (7) + 17 = 24 Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10My Charm of Fate activates for the day, so I don't fall asleep. Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 93
Moving to whatever cover is available and going again for Mass Decoy: up to 8 allies (the PCs, Patel and the two guards) gain 4 decoys, giving a 50% miss chance. If that causes the attack to miss, one decoy is destroyed.
"I'd also like to know what powers the armour, hoping it's not magic. Batteries are not as indestructible as adamantine. In the meantime, it'd be nice if you could brainstorm a way to do what brought you here, but... in reverse? I don't know, figure it out."
"Good perception, I was a familiar, actually. Then things got wrong all at once. I assume that next time we meet the knight we should try to rip the armor into pieces. Unless we want to go back to Earth while doing so...?"
Morgan got bored of enforced silence. If those people couldn't handle a talking feline after surviving the assault of a Grave Knight, it was their business. "I assume burning them to ashes could do the trick, perhaps? Or did you try it yourselves? Anyway, we should also think of a way of getting you out of the Twilight. Why don't you explain how you got stuck here?"
Morgan silently climbed on the table. He did not need these mostly mundane folk to be spooked at the sight of a talking cat. Instead, he looked at the machinery, trying to discern if arcane elements were being harnessed into some kind of magitech.
"Oooh, now this looks fascinating. They don't have a symbol for "Thaumaturgical Hazard", though. Maybe it's not in the regulation. Come on, let's take a peek. Whatever it is, it could help."
"Bothersome, all of this is so bothersome." grumbles Morgan, undoing and regenerating the decoys. Keeping two veils at once is straightforward, but requires much of his concentration, even in the Twilight where form begets function. He briefly wonders whether to use the heavy-hitting spells, but they seem wasted against a single foe.
Ceasing concentration on Decoy and casting it again. This time, everyone has 4 mirror images. Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (11) + 17 = 28 Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17 Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 95
Again, Morgan's meowing weaves from the Twilight's fabric, enveloping Jennifer in a glamer that emphasized her demonic nature. Her face twisted into a mask of perversion, a toothy maw bristling with fangs.
Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31 Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 95 Move action: concentrating on the decoy illusion. Standard, apply a Shadow-enhanced Illusionary Disguise to Jennifer, granting her a 1d6-damage bite attack. Cost: 1 Spell Point, 1 Shadow Point.
"Ah, that's just great." meows Morgan with a groan. Again, he conjures a melody to obscure the shapes of its companions with shimmering reflections.
Using Committed Deception to cast without spending spell points, keeping Decoy through concentration. Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20Effect manifests at CL 6 Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22 Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 32 All of our allies gain 3 decoys, granting 50% miss chance. On a miss, they lose a decoy.
"Ayyup."
Morgan turns his TK powers towards the suit Jennifer is pointing at.
A lot of mechanics:
In case it resists I'll spend a spell point for a hostile lift, which means that I have to roll the usual. Perform(sing) (DC 23):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35 Will (DC 13):1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 Wild Magic (10% chance):1d100 ⇒ 4In this case, Wild Magic Result:1d100 ⇒ 45 - "One object currently in the caster’s hands flies away at his lift speed and attempts to strike the nearest hostile creature within lift range as the bludgeon ability. The object drops to the ground after one such attack."
I have nothing in my hands, though, so either it fails or I reroll. If so, Result:1d100 ⇒ 92 - "All hostile creatures within close range of the target are targeted by a trip maneuver as the Telekinetic Maneuver talent."+ and the resulting CMB check would be 1d20 + 7 + 7 - 5 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 7 - 5 = 11.
"Looks harmless enough. Wasn't there an episode of that British series with suits getting corpses inside and then killing people or somesuch? I'm thinking maybe something of the effect came to happen here, and they ran out of juice."
"I mean, maybe the message warning about protection failed means you're walking into an unshielded nuclear core. I was thinking about summoning another servant, but if you'd rather walk, then by all means go."
"Right. You go first, I'll create a diversion."
Morgan meows loudly, and the sound bounces against the clouds, magnified until it becomes an ear-splitting roar. Where Morgan was, now stands an enormous, bronze-scaled dragon, hissing at the boats assaulting the Blackwing. As Morgan, hidden by the glamer, runs towards the side, so the dragon appears to move with him.
A small amount of excess magic leaks from him, creating illusionary echoes of his companions.
Using Wild Surge to boost my CL to 9 and manifesting the illusion of a Gargantuan dragon around me, using Illusionary Sound to make it roar. Spending two spell points (to manifest it, and keep it without concentration).
Wild Magic effect: all allied creatures within medium range gain illusory doubles. These illusory doubles impose a 50% miss chance on any attack against the creature and each duplicate disappears after one attack fails against this miss chance or after 1 minute per caster level.
Illusions can only be within Close range, which is something I didn't realize at character creation.
Welp, I had missed some important text in my ability descriptions, the weather effects I can create are only on a Close range.
"It will be a small one, though, my dreams can't reach so far. But I can raise a fog to hide our approach, or create an illusionary foe to distract them. A dragon, perhaps?"
"Longboats against a battleship, wasn't there some movie like that? Or maybe a novel? I can try to dream up a storm, if we want to help the modern ones."
"Thank you. Now, I could dream of a boat, but dreams are fleeting and will not last enough to take us there. I still cn carry one human-sized creature with my mind, so the flying plan is the best but we'll have to ferry back and forth."
"A fey, of all people, should know how dreadfully insulting it is to refuse to use someone's name." hisses Morgan at Kaelic, whiskers trembling in anger. "If you dislike me so deeply, fey, then let us fight, here and now. If you hate me with all of your essence, fey, then give way to it and I will meet you. Thrice I say and be done, fey, if you mean to give offense do it with actions as well as words. But if not, call me by my name, or not at all."
"So, someone is stealing ships: one of them was this one, where that fairy lady was travelling, and another is the Blackwing, carrying highly classified, likely magical technology. Does that sound about right? Do you reckon they are thieves?"
As everyone seemed to be diversely occupied, Morgan picks up the book with a strand of telekinesis and keeps it upright for him and Izami to read. The ability to move things without touching them was useful for everyone, but invaluable when you lacked thumbs.
Morgan moves back downstairs. "There's some awful weather out there, but it didn't look like the ship had been smashed to tiny pieces by the storm, did it? Is it possible that there's something we need to do so that history actually turns out the way it's supposed to?"
