How stupid are the B-O-B?

[Bruinthor]

 I am long time fan of Amber but a newbie here. My stunned amazement at the antics of the Blunt Object Brigade motivated my to sign up and comment.
Where to start:
Merlitz was a member in good standing until the rest booted him over the 'human sighting' thing (I know that was spurious). Do they think he had fallen and began working for yea dark forces of evil?

They have visited Lost Lake at least once as a group and  Genesis4 at least once more by herself. Nothing occurred that could be considered hostile (Able/Merlitz's suck punch was laughed off as a reasonable reaction to their betrayal). All other behavior was  friendly and what one would expect at an Inn.

They detect Dan/Alexsi's externally applied morphing but fail to to detect Able/Merlitz's internally applied morphing. Over estimating their own cleverness they jump to the conclusion that Alexsi is a cubi.

During Gen subsequent visit she fails to detect (again) that Able is cubi but also fails to detect that Alexsi a being now. This can not be attributed to Gen alone as the rest are following along despite her limitations.

For some reason they decide to take out the Lost Lake cubi. Do they gather any intel? No:
Even the most cursory effort would have alerted  them to the full time presence of Able, Dan and Pryoduck as well as the frequent presence of  any or all of Azlan, Jyrras, Lorenda, Mab, Pip and Wildy. Worst case scenario ten to four odds.

But the BOB are not concerned with number of enemies they potentially face let alone the combat potential of said enemies. So they forgo peaceful infiltration to scout the situation and blitz Alexsi when they find her seemly alone.

Maybe something like walk in and say:
  Oh, hello we were trying to get in touch with Merl. Have you heard from him? Could we talk with anyone who might have?

If this is a successful adventure group small wonder creatures don't take beings seriously. The obvious corollary is that the creatures the succeeded against must have been abysmally stupid.

[Balance]

In the interest of perspective on adventurer intelligence...

Dan is considered a successful (even famous, in places) adventurer. One who lasted long enough to retire, and who is known to have adventured alone, rather than with the support of a group, at least part of the time. You could argue that he is at or near the pinnacle of adventurer capability.

Dan.

Just sayin'.

[KiloFoxx]

also mind they ARE called the "blunt object brigade" by abel. they're pretty obviously not terribly intelligent.

[Bruinthor]

I didn't intend to dis being adventures generally but must admit I open that door.
Dan is a successful adventurer but hardly qualifies as the brightest character in the cast. He is working on it and his heart is in the right place.

[Tapewolf]

It's possible they made a snap decision on the basis of the inn being closed (therefore less people).
Though the fact that they even attempted this in broad daylight is pretty weird - a night-time attack would be so much easier given that their way of working seems to be based on attacking and killing the target unawares.

EDIT: Also Dan has been away a couple of days by now, they may have picked up on his absence.

[Brunhidden]

everyone must consider the kind of mind you need to be an adventurer

you look at a job described as thus

-low life expectancy

- almost certain chance of being maimed but surviving

- frequently you accomplish your job without reward

- returning to town one shy of the plucky band of adventurers who had left. remember the rouge character's job as 'shoe' has consequences

-occasionally extremely profitable endeavors, subject to both tax and pickpocketing in addition to adventurers starting with crippling debt so you pretty much broke even

-high chance of very exotic diseases, sadly few of which are venerial

- returning to town one shy of the original band of adventurers because you forgot to pack adequate rations, but fortunately you had some BBQ sauce on hand

- roll D100, on a prime number you have angered a higher being who will now make you their hobby

- the thing about recurring villains, they recur. thors twisted tallywhacker do they ever recur

- returning to town realizing this is the sixth time you have 'forgotten' to pack rations, and have been choosing new adventuring companions based on how meaty they look. perhaps you have come close to a proverbial slippery slope between killing things for righteous causes and killing things for fun, perhaps you need to choose leaner companions next time as your armor is getting tight, perhaps an archer bunny. addendum- this may be why the clans of hog barbarians are now extinct.

- what are the chances that any merchant you can find will give you a decent price for your loot? you jumped through so many hoops to get the peridot tiara of puissant skill but the thing is so tacky nobody's going to buy that junk.

- huh, it seems the baron's quest to slay the battle nuns and retrieve the chalice of clarity which is rightfully his neglected to say those were regular nuns and that chalice technically counted as grand larceny. whoopsy doodle, you now have a bounty on your head so expect to meet somewhat less naive and better armed adventurers soon!

-hardly anyone will believe the freaky gorilla poop you just did when you are finally back to the tavern and are dissatisfied because the princess you set out to save had already been eaten/sacrificed/impregnated by dagon cthulu and the duke who promised to pay you knew this already but was keeping up appearances by offering a reward for her return while he moves to usurp in a contrived cross dressing plot

-the above, but you had to agree on the cover story because the princess was accidentally dismembered when you pulled the wrong lever in an needlessly complex logic puzzle

- sweet baby cheeses, the puzzle bull ka-ka

- have you SEEN the parasites that exist in a sword and sorcery fantasy setting? some of them are goddamned psychic


after all of that, consider what kind of intellect would say 'sign me up! ale and whores!'

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

after all of that, consider what kind of intellect would say 'sign me up! ale and whores!'

Dan. I believe there's a strip somewhere about that, but since I'm at work...

[Naldru]

Would you be referring to this one.

[Lying Foo]

I imagine even Dan wouldn't meet his quarry face to face and lose them to a hangover...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Would you be referring to this one.

Why, yes. Yes, I would. ;-]

Thanks for that.

[Brunhidden]

for that to be worth it you need a ridiculous amount of alcohol and booty (im pretty sure the female adventurers drink and oogle bootylicious men as well) in light of the laundry list of hazards.

i think dan has not spread his genetic material anywhere near enough (he likely has cleaned up on the ale half) for this to have been adequate compensation , but i can assume that comes later