T.A.S.'s page

T.A.S. followed the others to the inn without saying a word. He does not understand what is happening and yet he sees is very clearly. His mind feeling paralized and free at the same point.
He followed his friends and Crashing Waves upstairs. Silently he analysed the situation.
Intellect: 1d20 + 2 - 2d6 ⇒ (18) + 2 - (6, 5) = 9 => 14
Her daughter was captured by the Fomor but she did not tell us. Either she does not like her daughter.. or she was afraid they'd kill her if she tells anyone. Maybe she wanted to exchange the missing boy for her? But why would she hurt him in this room.. Or she found him after the Fomor beat him up and robbed him. But where would she go now that her daughter is back and where is the boy? Did he die and she wants to dump the body? Then she must either be at the graveyard or somewhere in the wilderness.

Wordless T.A.S. nods to Jexen and heads towards the graveyeard to search Jex and check how Brinda is doing.

T.A.S. followed the others the whole time without saying a word. His head felt empty. He was not sure anymore if his actions were wrong or right. We killed so many of them and now Slugoth and Kandl are dead. Were we wrong to go after them like it was an adventure? Mary..

The sight of the secret chamber finally gets him out of his thoughts. But he does not feel to talk about it. He does not feel anything at all. Sickened but curious he takes a closer look at the magic tools. He picks a few up and inspects - trying to understand their magic - before placing them back on the table.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

With dread T.A.S. feels the magic forming as Cynerik reads the words from the scroll. He wanted to warn him about the power he was about to unleash but it was too late. He watched the fireball forming in the leaders chest until it exploded and scorched everything around it. When the flames died out he saw the damage it did. Slugoth and Kandl were heavily burnt and did not move. T.A.S. watched their bodies motionless. He felt the heatwave warming his steel but his mind was numb. Only the boltthrower next to him kept firing at the Fomors.

Boltthrower: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 3) = 8

No action from T.A.S.

After he realised they are ambushed, T.A.S. makes use of several scrap pieces he was carrying around with him and assembles something that looks like a small crossbow robot. He places a few of his bolts on it and speaks some magic words to animate the machine.
"May I present?" he says proudly to Jexen. "This is a boltthrower I designed to double the firepower."
Just as T.A.S. finished his sentence the machine turns, aims and fires a bolt at one of the enemies which Jexen pointed out.

Fast init, casting bolt thrower. Building upon Jexen's successful perception check to find a target :)

Boltthrower attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 4) = 10

Only after the fight T.A.S. notices the cage hanging on the ceiling. The sight of the girl is too much for him. He nodds to Cynerik who seems to feel the same horro and then heads back with Brinda.

While Brinda distracts the Fomor, T.A.S. straps the crossbow on his back and takes his knife.
"(Dark speech) She asks what your name is."

Slowly he approaches the Fomor - the blade hidden in his hand. When he is just a step away he whispers "(Dark speech) I'm sorry...". Then he stabs the knife into the creatures chest where he would expect his heart. A quick and painless death - just like putting a wounded animal out of it's misery.

"We can not risk leaving them alive. The next girl they trap could be Mary."

As the fight goes on, T.A.S. realises his friends are in danger and need all help they can get. He shouts "Wait here!" to the Fomor and then quickly runs to the others. Stopping next to Brinda, he pulls the trigger and imbues the bolt with magic for a devasting shot at the spider next to Jexen.

Mighty Attack: 1d20 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (17) + (2) + 2 = 21
Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 2, 5) = 17 2d6 for crossbow + 2d6 for Mighty Attack.

Fast Init by casting Celerity to move as a triggered action.

T.A.S. stays in the room with the Fomor and guards him in case Brinda's charm wears off. "You got this?" he shouts to his friends.

"If I understood him correctly, they beat up a boy and stole his stuff. That could be one of them. Maybe they stole the missing materials as well?

T.A.S. takes a step closer to the Fomor but does not raise a hand against him. He tries to sound just a bit threating enough - as far as that is possible in such a dark and foreign language.
"(Dark Speech)We won't hurt you if you can help us. Where is the boy now?"

As Brinda charms the Fomor, T.A.S. plays along and helps translating her words. But first he corrects his previous words:
"(Dark Speech) Sorry, still learning this language. I meant to say 'Answer, my friend'."

After the Fomor tells them about the girl, T.A.S. first looks confused at him and then at his friends. "I thought we are looking for two boys?"

Helping only gives another boon which is not enough I'm afraid.

T.A.S. aims his loaded crossbow on the last Fomor's head while slowly moving closer.

T.A.S. reloads his crossbow for another shot.

T.A.S. murmurs some words, jumps down the cellar and chases the fleeing Fomor with a speed that should not be possible with his rusty body.
Casting Celerity as a triggered action to get into line of sight.

He focusses his magic on the closest enemy and pulls the trigger.
Augmented Attack: 1d20 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6) + 2 + (5, 1) = 14 ⇒ 13
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

Fast init (triggered action + attack)

"Keep one of them alive so we can question them!" T.A.S. shouts before he moves to a better position near the ladder to get sight on the enemies. Then he loads a bolt into his crossbow.

Slow init

T.A.S. tries not to show any confusion about the smith's appearence. The dwarf did not tell him about that detail.
"Ah yeah, I have to apologise. Our caravan was attacked and the people slaughtered - business as usual. We missed you by only a few days in Fletcher's rest after we had to fight off a few more bandits. But uh, now you got your package."
T.A.S. looks a bit helpless at his allies, not knowning how to address the town's suspicion that the smith is responsible for the missing kids.

After the group arrived in the inn and every had his bed, T.A.S. asked Jex where he could find the smith. The rest of the night he spent in the in. He talks to some of the townsfolk but as more and more of them head home, he retreats to his room. There he checks the functionality of his crossbow before he lays down on the bed to get some rest.

The next morning he stands up early and heads out for the smith with the bag under his arm. He knocks at his door and introduces himself: Hello. Thegnack, the dwarf, sends me to bring you this bag. My name is T.A.S."

T.A.S. whispers to the equally confused Jexen: "Whatever this Dwarven Metal is, I'm pretty sure the townsfolk are happy not to know it.

Yeah, I also tend to forget that T.A.S. is supposed to be sarcastic. Really hard to play that in a pbp as well.

T.A.S. is paying the 5 cp for getting by. He also gives his 1 ss to the couple that adopt Mary for her food and education.

T.A.S. thinks about Cynerik's proposition. "Give me a bit of time for such a big decision. You know, I have to take care about Mary. And I also have to finish a delivery. But I very much enjoy to travel and fight with all of you."

The week after their return to the village, T.A.S. spends the day enjoying the calm city with Mary. They had never been this welcomed under people and the soft bed of the inn allowed his springs to rest for a while when he retreated to think about the past battle. He definitely felt some powerful guiding him - or did he guide the energy - during these minutes. When Brinda showed him the book she found, T.A.S. felt so happy. Happy to have a chance to read upon the knowledge and - even more important - happy that Brinda offered to share this treasure with him. On a sunny day they would read the book together sitting on the field outside the town while Mary would run around them or lay in the grass. But most days he let Brinda devour the book on her own.

Then at night, when everbody was asleep, he would head out into the woods with a light, the book and his crossbow. He found some not too badly damaged pages about how Orcs would use magic to guide and empower their attacks with magic. He armed the crossbow and aimed it and learned to concentrate himself on it. Every night his shots would improve. One of his bolts actually penetrated a smaller tree and did not even break. But after a few shots he would feel exhausted. The training drained his power quickly. Afterwards he would head to the inn and rest the early morning.

Near the end of the week a sudden idea struck T.A.S.: If magic can help me to shoot a bolt.. Can't magic fire a bolt on it's own?
He spends a day gathering some rosty metals, broken planks and dirty ropes from all around the town. Then he heads out to the woods where he assembles and deconstruct the parts again and again, trying to force some magic into them. After many tries he actually manages to construct a small crossbow-like machine that does not fall apart immediately. He lays a bolt into it and walks away from it. Then he focusses all his power onto the Boltthrower as he would name it. Slowly the rope is pulled backwards and snaps into position. The construct would turn around and aim at a slight angle upwards. Then, on releasing his mind, the little machine slings the bolt into the air where it flies over a long distance and hit's the target - a big apple hanging from a tree - that he had in mind.
Then the whole machine would explode into scraps.
Over the next two days T.A.S. improves the machine to make it last longer and refill bolts automatically.

One day, the young couple that took care of Mary and Jericho in their absence approached him. They would plead to let Mary stay with them - together with Jericho if Jexen would allow it. They had no children but they would love to care for them as if they were their own. After a long talk, T.A.S. reluctently agreed as it was the best for Mary. It would break his heart to leave her behind but here she had a safe home and could grow up as a normal child instead of living under a rock with him in the woods. He told them where they could find Jexen to speak with him as well.
Later that day T.A.S. would search Cynerik to speak about it with him to seek help and mostly consolation regarding the decision.
"I also decided to be part of our adventuring party. But I still have to deliver this bag of flour to the smith. It looks like we missed him by only two days. It's not about the value of the flour. It's about my honour, I will keep my promis."

Going for Magician as well

Attributes: Int +1, Will +1
Characteristics: Health +2, Power +1
Languages & Professions: Can read all spoken languages; add academic knowledge (Magic)
Magic:
1. Tradition - Battle (Including level 0 spells: Augmented Attack, Celerety);
2. Spell - Battle - Mighty Attack (Level 1)
3. Traidition - Technomancy (Including level spells: Jury-Rig, Magic Wrench)
4. Spell - Technomancy - Bolthrower (Level 1)
Magician - Sense Magic Spell

I'll add the spells with a description to my profile tomorrow. Did that earlier but Looks like it did not save.

It took me all evening to read through all the traditions and spells and now I ran out of time to post an update :(
I will go for the Air and Battle tradition as they make most sense for T.A.S. experience with the bow. I think I'll get a third one as well but I can't decide what makes sense and might be helpful. Thought about some utility for the group but it all seems pretty mediocre until higher levels?
I'll try to post my update tomorrow morning.

As Cynerik winds up the key, T.A.S. body - and his fingers - begin to move again. He triggers the crossbow and the bolt shoots into the ground close to where the last bandit died to Sköllji's thrown hatched.

Confused, he looks at the dead body with the large crack in his head and at Sköllji who was about to pull it to the other bodies and the the monster. "What.. What happened? I.."
Then he feels a hand patting his back and turns around where he spots Cynerik. "Did I stop? I felt darkness. And red flame-like creatures that started to drag me away." He shakes his head and then his whole body with a rattling sound. "Thank you, my friend."
For an awkward moment T.A.S. pauses. Then he says "We should search the bodies for valuables and then search their camp. The goods they stole from the caravan still have to be around and the town will need them." Especially the sack of flour I promised to deliver still must be somewhere around, he adds in his thoughts. He forgot about it but he lost it in the night the caravan was attacked. Then he starts searching the dead bodies and keeps looming for some hints where their camp is.

As T.A.S. loads another bolt into the crossbow, he sees his friends slaying the monster and all but one bandit that turns to run away. "Leave him to me" he says with a cold voice.

He raises the crossbow and aims for a last shot. In his arms he could feel the same energy that allowed him to hit the last shots with a deadly precision that was far beyond his rusty physical body. He could feel the wooden bolt laying on the crossbow, waiting to rise into the air and fly with the wind to bring death to the scum. He channels the energy into an aimed shot into the bandit's head...

Aimed Shot: 1d20 - 1d6 - 2 ⇒ (3) - (3) - 2 = -2

... but it flows out of his control and vanishes. T.A.S.' movement slows down and he freezes before he can pull the trigger.

T.A.S. loads another bolt into his crossbow to end the creature's rampage.

Short post at work so the game can go on.

Just to clarify: I always had the issue with the first page being blank/white. Just thought it's an issue with Google bullying my phone (iOS) haha.

Not sure how that is working out. The rules say you can use your fortune to do one of these:
• When the result of a d20 roll is a failure, you can expend Fortune to turn the failure into a success.
• When another player rolls a d20, you can expend Fortune to grant 2 boons to the roll.
• When any player (including you) rolls a d6, you can expend Fortune to replace the number on the die with a 6.

It does not specify with what roll you succeed.

Having the same problem as well. The first slide is usually white. The one in discord works for me though.

T.A.S. observes his mechanical friend fighting and shouts "Jexen! Go for his head! That's his weak point!"
Helping: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Boon for Jexen: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Wizard my ass. TAS is tearing everything a new a$~$@~% with that crossbow lol.

Haha those have been amazing lucky rolls for having a -2 on the attack. Will be hard to come up with a reason why T.A.S. would not want to become a bowman after this battle.

T.A.S. moves to the group to get a view on whatever came down the hill. Moving four squares diagonally up-right and one the right to stand diagonally adjacent to V2.

As he sees the monster chasing Brinda, T.A.S. immediately aims the crossbow at it and pulls the trigger.

Shoot: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (19) - 2 = 17
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12

T.A.S. is already loading the next bolt into the crossbow as he sees one of the bandits badly injuring the villager. They joined to help us, not to die for us.
"Robos!(V1) Come back! Maybe grab one of the bows lying around here but you have to retreat!"

Then a loud scream sounds over - followed by a surreal ripping of flesh and breaking of bones. T.A.S. looks around but neither can he find the monster nor his victim behind the trees. "Brinda..!" he says, too shocked to scream.

T.A.S. moves forward to get a better view on the bandits and spots the archer aiming at his friends. He aims the crossbow and pulls the trigger.

Shoot: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7

I think you posted it somewhere in the discussions? At least I remembered you giving us all a Fortune in the village.

T.A.S. loads another bolt into the crossbow and winds it up. As he sees the archer's up the cliff, he points to the one behind the bandit leader and shouts to Brinda (just loud enough for her to hear but not for the bandits): "This might be a good opportunity for some magic."

Fortune is an automatic success on a d20 not a reroll @Jexen :)

While T.A.S. runs into cover behind the trees, an arrow is fired at him. He is too slow to evade it but the arrow simply breaks on his chest leaving just a scratch in the metal.
That arrow would have hurt if the attack role was just one higher

Without sight on the two knocked down archers, T.A.S. fires aims his Crossbow for the standing bandit. He tries to concentrate on the target and presses the trigger.

Shoot: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13
Damage: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 6) = 12

The bolt passes Cynerik dangerously close but hits the bandit.

Fast turn. In case the attack roll is not enough (and no one aids T.A.S. ;) ) I would use my Fortune to turn the roll into a success.

The night
T.A.S. nods at Jexens words. "I'm starting to worry about her as well. She had a hard life already. When I met her, she fled from the orphanage where she was abused. We both were hunted by folks from the town so we were hiding in the woods for two years. In the last half year or so we went to town sometimes as people forgot about us. My constructurs moved to a different country and the orphanage thinks Mary is dead. I'm worried that the last days were just too much for her. She always tries to look happy but I can feel the horrors nibbling at her sanity. I should not have taken her on this journey but there was no one that could have watched for her. Maybe - if we take out the bandits - Fletcher's Rest could be a safe place for her to stay. Maybe someone is willing to watch after her..."

When the bandits are seen
As the first bandits are seen, T.A.S. puts a bolt into the crossbow and winds it up cautiously. Then he moves forward following behind the others to get into a good position to shoot from. "I can't promise I'll hit with this thing but I'll give my best not to shoot you in the back." he whispers to his friends. It's hard to say if he is joking.

Slow action readying the crossbow and moving closer (into shooting distance) taking cover behind a tree or rock if possible.

T.A.S. feels tired when the group reaches the town. While his body is sturdy his mind is worn from the horrors they had seen and the fear of losing Mary. It was meant to be a short journey to bring the bag to this town and know he feels like they were traveling through those woods for ages.

He hesitates for a moment when the townfolks ask for their help against the bandits. He was glad to finally be in safety but the threat was still there and he would be in great danger if he and Mary went back into the woods. Should they even head back into the woods? The people we met were kind and not evil like his constructors. Maybe there are more kind people around in this town? Maybe someone could take care of Mary and give her a proper life? I don't want to leave her but travelling is too dangerous for her.

"I will help as well! They are a threat to everyone living in the woods and the towns around it. I'd take this staff if that's fine. My constructurs did not gift me with the best flexibility so maybe I'm better at just hitting with a bigger staff instead of trying to stab with a small knife."

"Someone has to look after Mary and Jericho while we head out to fight the bandits."

Of course, now that combat is over, I roll 20 and 19 :D

As the first sunrays start to light up the path, T.A.S. keeps looking out for something to hunt to secure their food.
Hunting: 1d20 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (20) + (6) + 1 = 27
Food: 1d3 ⇒ 1

But all he could find was an old squirrel that was too slow to escape the crossbow. He puts the weapon on his shoulder and points his finger towards the town. "This way. It can't be far away and we should try to find some safe beds to sleep in."

Exploration: 1d20 - 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (19) - (6) + 1 = 14

As the Bandit turn around to run away, T.A.S. angrily throws his fist after him.
Free Attack: 1d20 ⇒ 4
But the shock of Kandl going down and not waking up again is too distracting to really focus on the bandit.

T.A.S. takes his waterskin and pours a few drops over Kandl's face. This poor brave little Goblin can't be dead?!
Stabilise: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
"Please, wake up Kandl!"

Horrified, T.A.S. watches two group member - friends? - go down. He didn't even know them a few days ago and yet he feels a bond to them. While he tried to help Cynerik, he observes Brinda helping Slugoth who seems to wake up again. T.A.S. has no idea about how a living body works but he treated small wounds and scratches for Mary before. He moves to Kandl's lifeless body and tries to wake him up.

Stabilise: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 So close, sorry Kandl

After knocking one of the bandits over, T.A.S. turns around to help Jexen with the other.
He tries to grab the bandits shield arm to hinder his defense.
Helping Jexen: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Boon: 1d6 ⇒ 3 Rolling a boon for him

Horror-stricken, T.A.S. watches the bandit firing an arrow into the direction of Mary.
"Mary, get in cover behind a tree! And Sköllji, break that bastard every single bone!"

T.A.S. throws his body against one of the remaining bandits to knock him down.
Knockdown: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (13) - 2 = 11 Strength against targets agility. On a success the target falls probe.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10Removing the bane as T.A.S. and Mary lived alone in the wilderness as well.

T.A.S. nods to Mary. "He looks like he didn't have visitors in a long time and might need some company. We always had each other but he is all alone."
Looking around at the others he asks: "I think we should take a small rest and enjoy the roast. Is anyone against that?"

Unless someone does not want to stay, T.A.S. hands the rabbit he shot earlier to the hermit as a gratitude for the "invitation" to eat with him.

"Looks like we lost this path, again! I think we have a good enough idea now where to head to so let's just go north an ignore the road.
T.A.S. leads the group north.

Rolling two times to speed things up a little. T.A.S. will try to correct his mistake with the second exploration (e.g. if he leads the group NE instead of N he will try to lead NW next time.

Intelligence: 1d20 + 1 - 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 1 - (6) = 4
Intelligence: 1d20 + 1 - 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 1 - (3) = 3

While they make their path through the woods, T.A.S. looks out for small game to hunt with the Crossbow.
Hunting: 1d20 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 1 + (6) = 25
1d3 ⇒ 2
He spots a well fed rabbit and shoots it with a single bolt. That will be enough to feed Mary or one of the others for the next two days. T.A.S. attaches the carcass to his belt and will skin it during the next rest. Maybe he could trade the fur in Fletcher's Rest.

I'd take the crossbow as long as pork is gone and if no one else wants it. It fit's T.A.S. hunting profession (well, a crossbow makes a bit more sense than hunting with a sling) even he has a malus of 2 when using it.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

T.A.S. sense for danger suddenly kicks in and he feels the threat before he even sees the wolf. As he spots the animal, he can see the hunger in his eyes. That wolf was not madly attacking them it was just hungry. Following a sudden idea, T.A.S. imitates deep and threatening wolf growling and barking sounds to scare it off or at least distract it.

Distraction: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Reroll: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Thanks for the reroll reminder. Gonna use mine now. Fast turn using distraction with my intelligence against the wolf's. On a success, the wolf has 2 banes on his next attack or challenge roll.