[OOC] Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

[Freeshooter92]

Aargh, the one time I wanna try diplomacy, and then the fucking kid that I SHOULD HAVE KILLED gets up and kills the one guy that might actually listen. Or at least makes this shit impossible. Meanwhile, I have to fight a foe I cannot possibly hurt, even with backup...

[EliteCommander]

Two things.

Firstly: Grey is not swinging the axe at her, he's trying to club her with the handle. That's usually how he opens fights. Stun with a knee to the stomach and a concussive blow to the head, finish with blade at his leisure. If the knee misses, he does NOT strike with the axe, and will instead evade or block with the shield.

Second: Even if he did try a normal swipe, he would miss. He wields his axe with a very high grip, a little more than halfway up the haft. This exchanges reach for power.

Grey couldn't have possibly hit her with that attack.

@Freeshooter92

Gripping the axe closer to the head would not give more power, it would give less. A lower grip allows more power because the center of mass is farther from the hand, which is acting as the fulcrum for the lever. A higher grip grants more control, because gripping closer to the center of mass allows you to manipulate the entire object more easily and quickly. That is why swords are supposed to have a center of mass in or near the hilt. You can test this yourself with something like a hammer.

Edit: Here is a video to illustrate this point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh1QDf_6Dmk

[Freeshooter92]

Right, right. Apologies, I'm usually better about that... And yeah, that does seem like something he'd do regardless.

[Rtron]

Aargh, the one time I wanna try diplomacy, and then the fucking kid that I SHOULD HAVE KILLED gets up and kills the one guy that might actually listen. Or at least makes this shit impossible. Meanwhile, I have to fight a foe I cannot possibly hurt, even with backup...

@Freeshooter92

Look at the 'Eternal Hunger'. Screw ups in my post aside(I'll fix those later tonight), she is insane, arrogant, and martially unskilled. She has Deadpool's 'I can't be harmed' mentality with none of his immortality. Grey, provided he's tactical enough to use his shield and wait, can pick her apart. She only has one attack, and that is 'Hit them from the front until they die'. Against someone like Althalus, where simply being faster wins the fight, she wins. Against Grey she should be ineffective. And Lucius is right in this case: decapitation works well.

[Freeshooter92]

<Snipped quote by Freeshooter92>

Look at the 'Eternal Hunger'. Screw ups in my post aside(I'll fix those later tonight), she is insane, arrogant, and martially unskilled. She has Deadpool's 'I can't be harmed' mentality with none of his immortality. Grey, provided he's tactical enough to use his shield and wait, can pick her apart. She only has one attack, and that is 'Hit them from the front until they die'. Against someone like Althalus, where simply being faster wins the fight, she wins. Against Grey she should be ineffective. And Lucius is right in this case: decapitation works well.

@Rtron

He's too slow. He can't hit her reliably, and she'll regenerate any damage he causes before he can hit her again. He cannot turn around quickly, and he is very, very scared of her. Grey fights men, not monsters, he has no idea how to even approach a fight like this.

[Fallenreaper]

<Snipped quote by Freeshooter92>

Look at the 'Eternal Hunger'. Screw ups in my post aside(I'll fix those later tonight), she is insane, arrogant, and martially unskilled. She has Deadpool's 'I can't be harmed' mentality with none of his immortality. Grey, provided he's tactical enough to use his shield and wait, can pick her apart. She only has one attack, and that is 'Hit them from the front until they die'. Against someone like Althalus, where simply being faster wins the fight, she wins. Against Grey she should be ineffective. And Lucius is right in this case: decapitation works well.

@Rtron

Aka... Vitamancer who specializes in only shapeshifting, not healing or offense. Meaning he can damage it and she will not mend, a fact Rtron should not or needs to note. And if she is, it shouldn't be rapidly else it would've been impossible to kill vitamancers.

Also, not sure if Rtron noticed but currently Freeshooter, you seem like you're assuming the GMs are out to get your PC instead the fact Grey will win this battle by default. It doesn't benefit the story if he didn't, so might want to keep that in mind.

[Freeshooter92]

I don't, I know very well that this impossible situation is all my fault. This isn't like the amorphous demon, this all resulted directly from a very poor decision, and unlike Alaira, who had no discernable IC reason not to go all out, I could have easily justified doing the opposite of what I went with.

Grey can't win. His morale lies in shambles, and he is being fought by the stuff of nightmares. In his ignorance, he was COMPLETELY unaware of any sort of Vitamancy that wasn't healing. And he has just seen something that he only thought of as a rather soft, positive art twisted into something monstrous and horrifying. He cannot think clearly, much less keep his head on straight in this fight.

[Lucius Cypher]

<Snipped quote by Rtron>

He's too slow. He can't hit her reliably, and she'll regenerate any damage he causes before he can hit her again. He cannot turn around quickly, and he is very, very scared of her. Grey fights men, not monsters, he has no idea how to even approach a fight like this.

@Freeshooter92

Fight speed with stillness. Like I said before; let her bite him. Cause you know what that means? Her neck is within THROTTLING DISTANCE! And she'll have a hard time escaping someone suffocating her. Thwack her a few times across the face with your axe and sever her head as a precaution. Besides, if Grey was that slow, he'd never survive a vampire attack. They're not exactly sluggish people either. While I can understand that perhaps Grey's sprinting speed leaves much to be desired, if he can't react to enemies within melee, he's a horrible warrior. Yeah, I get it, more power is a bit slower, but let's put it this way: A hammer in full swing isn't going at the speed of a falling leaf. Shits fast once it gets moving. Grey just needs to keep moving and not stand there and let the elf bite him to bits.

And on the bright side, at least that kid just saved you from a 2-on-1. If Rtron's dialog with the pyromancer was any indication, he's not even going to try Grey in a melee, just stand by and fire the area he's in. We're trying to make things easy on you Free, but if you want to dictate how the fight goes, you could at least ask us. Otherwise we do what we will.

I don't, I know very well that this impossible situation is all my fault. This isn't like the amorphous demon, this all resulted directly from a very poor decision, and unlike Alaira, who had no discernable IC reason not to go all out, I could have easily justified doing the opposite of what I went with.

Grey can't win. His morale lies in shambles, and he is being fought by the stuff of nightmares. In his ignorance, he was COMPLETELY unaware of any sort of Vitamancy that wasn't healing. And he has just seen something that he only thought of as a rather soft, positive art twisted into something monstrous and horrifying. He cannot think clearly, much less keep his head on straight in this fight.

@Freeshooter92

And remember Free: You have an axe. Let that do the thinking for you. IT CALLS FOR THE BLOOD OF YOUR ENEMIES, FEED IT! Also, if need be, I could have Lucilia give Grey some strength through a flash back. She trusted him for this mission for a reason: Because he's exactly what she needs for this mission to be a success.

[Freeshooter92]

You are greatly overestimating his nerve. He's not like Alaira, he has no experience, only talent. He can react just fine to opponents. I suppose I should've worded it better, but it's not that he's slow, it's that he's not fast enough. Coupled with the fact that he's essentially hysterical, and the fact that the other guy is summoning 'things that should not be', he can't mount an effective counter-attack. He'd have a fighting chance if he could fight them calmly and efficiently, but he can't.

[Freeshooter92]

The only plan I saw was 'talk the pyromancer into helping', but that's not an option anymore.

[EliteCommander]

Never thought I'd see you arguing tooth and nail to have your character fail.

If all else fails, there's always luck. Many a time has history been forever changed by chance. An assassin going for a sandwich at the same restaurant as his target after his first failure, a notoriously innacurate musket just happens to find its mark. All kinds of things can happen.

[Freeshooter92]

Never thought I'd see you arguing tooth and nail to have your character fail.

@EliteCommander

This isn't about winning, or any of that nonsense. If something doesn't make sense, it pisses me off, whether it's in my favor or not.

[Lucius Cypher]

You are greatly overestimating his nerve. He's not like Alaira, he has no experience, only talent. He can react just fine to opponents. I suppose I should've worded it better, but it's not that he's slow, it's that he's not fast enough. Coupled with the fact that he's essentially hysterical, and the fact that the other guy is summoning 'things that should not be', he can't mount an effective counter-attack. He'd have a fighting chance if he could fight them calmly and efficiently, but he can't.

@Freeshooter92

Than like I told Rtron, this is where we divide the MEN from the corpses. Let this be a opportunity for Grey to make some serious character development. I know that he's scared right now. He's facing things he's never fought before, or "Things that should never be" as you describe them. Bravery isn't the absence of fear, but to be able to act while fearful. He's freaking out, but what should freak him out more: That he's facing down this abominable elf, or that if he falls here, everyone would die? This is your choice now Free, to decide how Grey develops. Does he give into his fear, or can he adapt out of it? This is the first step to making him better and stronger than he was in the past. Don't let his weakness destroy his character.

The only plan I saw was 'talk the pyromancer into helping', but that's not an option anymore.

@Freeshooter92

I don't know if you got this from me, but I never suggested talking the Pyromancer into helping, only to trick the pyromancer into roasting the elf alive.

[Freeshooter92]

Regardless, it had a better chance of working than 'fight the elf'

[Lucius Cypher]

Maybe, maybe not. But the fact is this is the hand that's been dealt Freeshooter. Just about everyone is down and it's Grey vs. the Elf. He has to fight, even if you think he's going to lose, because what are your other options? Do you really think it'll be any better if he just runs away again or gives into his fear? Where is his honor if he you allow everyone to die because of his mistakes? If he wants any chance of redeeming himself, he can at least go out fighting instead of regretting. Rtron's giving you a fighting chance Freeshooter. Would you rather have Grey die like a coward?

[EliteCommander]

So...the vampire already left? No chance to stop him from leaving the cave?

[Lucius Cypher]

He left about the same time the feral's did. He's trying to book it right about the same time the ferals are lunging at you. This is your chance to shine Commander. I'd say you could catch him, if you can avoid the ferals trying to maul Ssarak. Plus he's did the whole "Arm the ferals" around the same time your characters were talking things out. It's not like he was completely unaware of your all, your entrance was rather bombastic.

Plus you guys spent at least one round talking things out, giving him time to prepare. Not as greatly as he'd like, but enough to at least give him a head start.

For simplicity sake, here's a visualization of how things look right now.



The five copied images are the ferals, presumably going after Ssarak and Darius. The hooded fellow is invisible and is going to make a strait run towards the the side of the map, presumably to escape.

[cqbexpt]

That board seems oddly like something I've used for DnD before.....

[Lucius Cypher]

It might be. Narrative is great and all, but sometimes you need a visual comprehension of the situation. So no Commander, you can't stop the vampire from leaving the cave, but you can stop him from leaving the camp. The ferals would die in about five minutes from the sunlight exposure, so you have to survive a five minutes if you don't want to fight them. And considering that they're not getting any stronger the longer they stay out, you'd win a battle of attrition against them.

[EliteCommander]

You said they're not fighting tactically, so if Ssarak gets that heads-up that they're coming, he could probably smash one of them in the face as they're charging. However, he knows the psychomancer is there, and he would very much want to find him. How perfect is invisibility?