Deathtrap Dungeon; Freedom is Slavery! (OOC; Closed)

[Mechanisto]

However, I did intend for Barbarus' magic to be 'evil' in a sense; Dark being a semi-sentient force that actively eats away at the user over time if they aren't strong enough to keep it back.  Meh, a minor detail.  On to the intro-developing!

A minor detail...? Or... a minor setback!

If you like, you can give him regular, ordinary magic spells. Then, say that the evil nature of his magical power is actually a flaw that corrupts either himself, those around him, or those affected by the spells. Even in a dungeon full of monsters, that's still a decent flaw.

(College chemistry for the win. Yeah, they don't let ya play with that kind of stuff in high school anymore... Bit of a shame, really... But, I can begrudgingly see the school's standpoint on it...)

I had a high school chemistry teacher who used to talk about when she was in high school. They actually let you play around with mercury! Watch it flow over the table, slip-and-slide it around the palm of your hand, that sorta thing. It was apparently very cool.

Turns out, Mercury makes you crazy.

Cue the short, punctuated "HA!" from the teacher.

This is the same teacher who, while rummaging around in the chemistry storage closet, found a reeeeealy crusty, possibly cracked old bottle labeled "Picric Acid." Curious about what the heck it was, she called some important people. They told her to get everyone out of that entire wing of the school. They then sent a guy over in a silver haz-mat suit, and a really big pair of tongs. The students thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Turns out picric acid is both acidic and explosive.

Ahh... fun times.

[techmaster-glitch]

Okay, now I'm a little confused. Glup did assemble that cell tower, right? Nadihya didn't stop him from doing that, or told him to take it down... what's up with that?

EDIT: Nadihya asked him to do that. just...what? why the sudden change in "policy"?

[Drayco84]

This might just be because of my overly suspicious nature, but I'd say it's because Nadhiya is hiding something that scrying would reveal...

[VAE]

Well ,it's more like Glup went on to act on the request without anyone noticing that much , although it is hard not to notice the absence of something his size
Also there was the OOC reason that i needed to disappear until able to make posts

[Chairtastic]

A minor detail...? Or... a minor setback!

If you like, you can give him regular, ordinary magic spells. Then, say that the evil nature of his magical power is actually a flaw that corrupts either himself, those around him, or those affected by the spells. Even in a dungeon full of monsters, that's still a decent flaw.

I gasp at this unexpected idea.    It might take me a bit to figure the particulars, but provided I have your permission, I'd like to implement this.  Thanks a bunch!

[Mechanisto]

I gasp at this unexpected idea.    It might take me a bit to figure the particulars, but provided I have your permission, I'd like to implement this.  Thanks a bunch!

It is yours.

Also, I made someone gasp dramatically. My life is complete.

Okay, now I'm a little confused. Glup did assemble that cell tower, right? Nadihya didn't stop him from doing that, or told him to take it down... what's up with that?

EDIT: Nadihya asked him to do that. just...what? why the sudden change in "policy"?

Or maybe, just maybe, Glup did this without informing Nadhiya or asking her for permission. She's not omniscient. When Glup met up with the tour group, all he said in her presence was "I think I got it working." Regardless of all this, she never asked Glup to do it. She asked him if he could. This is not an unusual thing for an employer to ask during an interview.

Besides; setting up a local communication network is one thing. Plenty of the guests already have secret methods of local communication (though if he had attempted to contact the outside world by suborning the portals, that would be severely frowned upon.)

Trying to produce a reliable map of a secret underground complex that has not yet been properly fortified by it's current owner is quite another... especially when that complex will probably be attacked by adventurers, rival villains, or professional soldiers in the near future, all of whom would pay through the nose for such intelligence. In fact, several of the people who came to the party are probably just scoping out potential competition. This is what concerns Nadhiya the most right now; people sniping her territory. The portal chamber alone is a valuable resource.

If you really want to pick at inconsistencies, why not ask how the tour group went down a half-dozen levels, and somehow ended up right back where it started without ever once going up.

Yeesh.

Edit: ...freakin' typos.

[Lisky]

hmm... i'm more curious if you want us to intro ourselves at some point... or if you've got something special planned?

If you want us to do it ourselves, should we just be sitting around the tables already?  or... just find a convenient place and go from there?

[WhiteFox]

If you really want to pick at inconsistencies, why not ask how the tour group went down a half-dozen levels, and somehow ended up right back where it started without ever once going up.

  How did not notice this, people?

I re-iterate my theory that this dungeon is some kind of pocket dimension or astral plane. And that we are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

[Chairtastic]

hmm... i'm more curious if you want us to intro ourselves at some point... or if you've got something special planned?

If you want us to do it ourselves, should we just be sitting around the tables already?  or... just find a convenient place and go from there?

Presumably, we've been with the tour, as some of the less talkative peoples.  

Of course, I don't like to presume.  

It is yours.

Also, I made someone gasp dramatically. My life is complete.

Also, thankee!

[Mechanisto]

All the good peoples may indeed decide for themselves if they went along with the tour, or remained in the feasting hall eating mushroom eclairs. You may also assume, of course, that a couple of nameless NPCs tagged along for the tour.

So far, the only character to have been snagged by actual plot is Nethalzar. No other short-term special plans exist, ay tee emm.

Edit: it also occurs to me that you can say your character already went on a tour, since she's running them every hour on the hour.

[VAE]

If you really want to pick at inconsistencies, why not ask how the tour group went down a half-dozen levels, and somehow ended up right back where it started without ever once going up.

  How did not notice this, people?

I re-iterate my theory that this dungeon is some kind of pocket dimension or astral plane. And that we are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

I actually did not notice we are in the main hall until now - i thought we are still on the stairway up from the jungle room which is above the magma pocket

[Chairtastic]

I have effected the change to Barb's character sheet.  Is this acceptable or should it be reworked?

[techmaster-glitch]

Or maybe, just maybe, Glup did this without informing Nadhiya or asking her for permission. She's not omniscient. When Glup met up with the tour group, all he said in her presence was "I think I got it working." Regardless of all this, she never asked Glup to do it. She asked him if he could. This is not an unusual thing for an employer to ask during an interview.

Then it seems weird she still didn't chastise Glup for it when he announced it was "working", but oh well...

If you really want to pick at inconsistencies, why not ask how the tour group went down a half-dozen levels, and somehow ended up right back where it started without ever once going up.

I assumed we actually did go back up It doesn't seem much of a stretch that we looped back to the main shaft and returned to the top level that way, considering we went to wet caves, a magma chamber, and back to wet caves again...

[WhiteFox]

I actually did not notice we are in the main hall until now - i thought we are still on the stairway up from the jungle room which is above the magma pocket

I assumed we actually did go back up

Read carefully: http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php/topic,7189.msg326963.html#msg326963

It's pretty cut and dry. I knew we had gotten back to the main hall, but didn't clue in to the fact that we had gone down to the main hall.

[Drayco84]

I also failed to notice that hint of subtlety and assumed we had just gone back up...

So, if one were to jump/be pushed down the middle of the shaft, one would be free-falling forever? Well, at least the "elevator" project won't need a power source...

EDIT: Teh GM also be a mind screwer... Interesting...

[Mechanisto]

Well, at least the "elevator" project won't need a power source...

Maybe. But what do you hang the platform from?

[techmaster-glitch]

Well, at least the "elevator" project won't need a power source...

Maybe. But what do you hang the platform from?

I think he means if the shaft "loops" back on itself (if you go down far enough, you wind up back at the top), to just have the elevator in permanent freefall, and people jump off and on when they pass the level they want...



My elevator will not work like that

[Drayco84]

Well, at least the "elevator" project won't need a power source...

Maybe. But what do you hang the platform from?

Nothing, just cast a permanent "Feather Fall" spell on it.

Although, balancing the platform would be another issue... What's that thing they put in Segways, again?

[WhiteFox]

We could use rails for the elevators, and a rack and pinion system with a break designed to add resistance so the platform doesn't accelerate too quickly.

And now I'm picturing little kobolds in red elevator-operator outfits.

That "Permanent Featherfall" idea is pretty cool, tho.

There is one major advantage to all this: we'll never have to worry about hauling bulk materials up the ramp.

As interesting as this conversation is, I think we should worry about getting hired at the moment. And surviving the interview process.

Although, balancing the platform would be another issue... What's that thing they put in Segways, again?

Gyroscopics.

EDIT: Teh GM also be a mind screwer... Interesting...

This. Is only. The beginning.

[EDIT:] Why didn't I think of this before?

I'll bet, dollars to donuts, that the reason scrying and correspondence magics don't work in the dungeon is because of this warped-space effect, and the teleport chamber is an area specially insulated from it.

[techmaster-glitch]

We could use rails for the elevators, and a rack and pinion system with a break designed to add resistance so the platform doesn't accelerate too quickly.

Or, yknow, Xephelon could just enchant a few large stone disks with levitation. Like he said when the shafts were first mentioned.

(and Nadihya also said that the kobolds were indeed already using a pulley system. It's really slow, hence the reason for elevators. And considering everything nadihya described about it up to that point, I really, -really- don't think the shaft is bottomless and looping back on itself. I thought when we hit the water caverns, that -was- the bottom of the shaft, and we branched away.)

[WhiteFox]

Question for the GM: At any point in the tour, did we see a floor to the shaft?

[Drayco84]

We could use rails for the elevators, and a rack and pinion system with a break designed to add resistance so the platform doesn't accelerate too quickly.

Or, ya know, Xephelon could just enchant a few large stone disks with levitation. Like he said when the shafts were first mentioned.

Now that I think about it, and this ALSO goes with the perm'd 'feather fall', what happens if some "hero" uses 'Dispel Magic' on it?
White Fox's idea would make a great Plan B in case someone tries to break the system... Of course, since I'm still not sure how adventurers are supposed to 'stumble in', it may be moot...

[VAE]

Easy  - the rocks will loop around at their terminal velocity, since there is air.
Were there no air and thus no air resistance though, the result would get awesome after several hours

[techmaster-glitch]

Now that I think about it, and this ALSO goes with the perm'd 'feather fall', what happens if some "hero" uses 'Dispel Magic' on it?

For the sake of integrity, in most systems, a permanent magic "item" needs something a bit stronger than a "simple" dispel to break it. If a permanent item could be knocked out with a dispel, then such kind of dispels should be about as common as an EMP is for high-tech, because being any more common would render all magic rather useless and unfeasible. I really doubt we'll see something that honestly broken.

(not that I'm not saying magic items should be unsabotageable, I'm only saying they should take as much effort and planning to sabotage as something non-magical. Anything more would put it at a horrible disadvantage, and thus, broken.)

[Mechanisto]

Question for the GM: At any point in the tour, did we see a floor to the shaft?

Nope. And there wasn't any branching off. The tour went straight down the elevator shaft.

Easy  - the rocks will loop around at their terminal velocity, since there is air.
Were there no air and thus no air resistance though, the result would get awesome after several hours

You people may eventually get bonus points if you manage to turn the elevator shaft into an artillery piece. 

For the sake of integrity, in most systems, a permanent magic "item" needs something a bit stronger than a "simple" dispel to break it.

To be more on topic, this is definitely true. Dispel generally just works on temporary spells that have been cast by a person. An enchanted item would require a "suspend enchantment" spell, which is much harder to cast and has only a temporary effect. I suppose a magic item that has a limited number of "charges" could also have it's energy drained. But most enchantments don't have charges; they're just always on.

This comment is "on topic" simply because I want everyone to know how I intend magic items to work in this setting.

[VAE]

Easy  - the rocks will loop around at their terminal velocity, since there is air.
Were there no air and thus no air resistance though, the result would get awesome after several hours

You people may eventually get bonus points if you manage to turn the elevator shaft into an artillery piece. 

Now i see what Glup and Xephelon might do together to kill an afternoon... and perhaps something more substantial, if it either goes well or fails horribly

[Drayco84]

Easy  - the rocks will loop around at their terminal velocity, since there is air.
Were there no air and thus no air resistance though, the result would get awesome after several hours

You people may eventually get bonus points if you manage to turn the elevator shaft into an artillery piece.  

That's easy and can be done with two words...

Soapbox racing.

So, where do I pick up my "Most Unusual Weapon EVER" award?

[WhiteFox]

Soapbox racing.

I was going to say; instead of elevators we could just hand out roller-skates.

Better yet, just re-route some water from the aqueducts. Endless waterslide.

[Drayco84]

Wait a sec, I forgot... These are stairs, correct? They'd need to be converted into ramps...

Eh, to heck with the dungeon, let's build a theme park.

[Mechanisto]

Wait a sec, I forgot... These are stairs, correct? They'd need to be converted into ramps...

Eh, to heck with the dungeon, let's build a theme park.

...

You think I won't let you? You people are eventually going to be in charge of things, within certain limits.

EDIT: Wait... when did I ever say stairs? I'm pretty sure I mentioned several times that the elevator is ringed with a spiral ramp. Two ramps, technically, in a "double helix."