Annotated 3-1
This was the first time I got to write the flash-forward that begins the chapter, and I wanted to pick a less direct sort of challenge, something that would contrast with the pirate-fighting main story and the sort of fighting I figured was going to be most common in our heroes’ future. PvE, not PvP.
Amusing as it was, Syr’Nj’s bit at the end here once again shows her as a fussy intellectual being pretty much useless, after she failed to save her first patient on the battlefield in Chapter 1 and spent most of Chapter 2 chasing a gnome over a hat and failing to catch her even with chemical assistance. She’d at least demonstrated some value in the earlier flash-forwards, but even then it was with qualifiers (she jury-rigged a solution that ended up exploding, she neutralized some chemicals but took too long to do it). And sure, she does show some math power earlier on this page that gives this scene its ticking clock. But even so, I feel like we were one or two comical “fails” away from turning her into Brainy Smurf. More on this in a day or two.
I just though the ‘taproots’ thing was odd. Other than that, can’t say I thought any less of Syr’Nj than the rest of the team considering they are all in the same predicament.
Also thought this was more D&D than WoW. Type of scenario that would involve puzzle solving skills a’la Escape Room rather than “I need to grind more XP.”
Ditto. I thought about both of these the same way when I first read this page.
Been in too many D&D style campaigns where it turns out you need the brainy one, but also Escape-room scenarios too, where the GM made it like a puzzle with each of us having a specific skill or role to contribute to the escape
Also, it’s a fair question! I mean, why toes and not hooves? Or roots, or tentacles, or claws? So many options, and yet almost everyone seems to pick toes.
Because we evolved from climbing creatures. Claws can have some use in that area but in a different form such that we would likely have had claws for hands as well, which impedes things.
Who the fuck is “we”? How many dwarves and elves do you know?
With mountain dwarves, I would think it’d be useful to be able to climb up and out of verticle mine shafts. And it’d make sense to expect forest elves to climb a bit, what with their environment. Though if they’re descended form sky elves, I guess you don’t need to climb much if you’re already magically flying.
OK, did these species evolve, tho?
Most fanstasy worlds are pretty creationist, but the gods of this one are pretty weird. Did they not-so-intelligently design the species, or are they themselves more a product of the world than the other way around?
I mean… Landsharks.
Even if there was gradual mutation and evolution at one point, once the Mad Wizards started poking around, things just gonna get weird.
She’s not any more useless than anyone else. Nobody in the party has actually succeeded at anything yet at this point, except against each other, which is pretty low hanging fruit. Even Gravedust has only done thing so far, which was to accidentally knock a magic orb into lava and cause a volcano to explode.
I really love that the entire party is barely competent early on, and win a lot by being lucky and scrappy instead of by immediately being badass heroes.
On the other hand, the jokes about Syr’Nj not understanding the differences between people and plants are already kinda grating, and they’re just getting started.
I don’t know, I personally loved early Syr’Nj’s plant references. Watering his patient with a potion, in the trunk, taproots instead of toes, that kinda stuff. I like that she got smarter, KNOWING humans have TOES and being all-around brilliant, but I almost feel like the plant theme shouldn’t have just disappeared. Other than the bough thing and the varryn (I bet I got that wrong) thing (that just sounds like a word out of general LOTRO-themed elvish assholery, don’t even know if it’s plant related), I don’t remember she playing this later on anymore.
Agreed. And reading this the second time it still totally fits, they really improved individually and as a team until by the end they were THE team to beat.
Now I’m getting thirsty.
I feel like the line with “pectoralis majors” seem a tad too nerdy for Byron. I don’t think he ever did that again, did he?
Not really. I certainly wasn’t trying to create Byron the Bookworm: it just felt like a funny, quirky bit of dialogue to keep things light. “Pecs” probably would’ve been more like him, though.
The actual problem is that the pectoral muscles are what you’d use to push the bars together, not to bend them apart…
Unless it’s meant to imply that they’re accidentally working against each other and that’s why they’re stuck…
Agreed.
But also, Frigg is of medium frame at best, and even if she’s fitter than the average woman (and she’s obviously no bodybuilder), her upper body strength is going to be less than even a relatively sedentary man’s. Byron would probably be a better choice, or more likely Gravy with his stockiness, unless they plan on relying primarily on Frigg’s stubborn rage.
Err… Frigg is stronger than everybody.
Due to her stubborn rage. Clearly.
Yeah, this falls under “game mechanics do not care about realism” – Frigg has a higher strength score, and what she looks like is entirely independent of that.
To be fair, Syr’Nj did save her patient from the injury she was treating him for; he just died from a different injury inflicted afterwards.