Dragons of Alnia (IC)

[Doxkid]

The login process for the Dragons of Alnia Beta is almost identical to that of the main game. For a few moments players enjoy a top-down view of the vast material plane; mountains and rivers, deserts and plains, the vast sea and dozens of castles and keeps and forts and villages; the world is oddly bereft of the titanic roaming beasts and great floating castles one could find in the main game, but that is likely to change soon should this Beta test go well.

Spoiler: Warning, this map is HUGE

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After a brief wait this viewpoint goes askew, rocketing downward toward the open ocean; the two massive continents disappear as the viewpoint approaches one small island between them, and then the subcontinents vanish, and then even the the other islands disappear until only a lush open plain filled with dozens of players characters remain.

“Ahoy! Thank you for your patience everyone. There was another minor issue with menu access while in combat, but that has been resolved.” An armored Lich draw away from the crowd, the distinct Gray and Gold badge at the center of it's chest marking it as a Game Master. Those who have played the game for a while would quickly recognize the infamous Data-miner on his iconic character: Dox, with the flames in his eye sockets flickering a myriad of colors, has returned.



“I welcome you! No, wait...WE welcome you, one and all, to the closed Beta for Dragons of Alnia; this version will not only subsume the original game, incorporating all of the content you have all come to know and love, but it will also feature Every! Single! Plane that you have ever been able to access to in the Live Events, or during quest lines, or in the integrated mobile port!

The Inner planes! The Outer planes! Quasi-Elemental, Demi-Elemental, Para-Elemental, pocket dimensions, demiplanes, the outer realm...you name it, you can access it!

We’ve upgraded the AI by several degrees, we’ve created methods of accessing the planes in the material world, we’ve made stealth and assassination playstyles much more viable, and fully incorporated all kinds of new fauna and new flora! Every NPC and Monster has been reworked from the ground up!

But...there’s still one more thing we need to test. Well, there are a lot of things we need to test, but this one takes the cake.”

With a wave of his hand Somna creates a massive portal, much like that produced by a Gate spell.

“Sorry about the low production value; I spent a lot more time on the test trial itself than on this, I promise.

Anyway, I’ll take any questions you guys have while you all form up into parties. Oh! Also, this isn’t a raid so the usual cap of eight players in a party applies, but you’ll definitely want to have as full of a team as possible for this one. The difficulty setting will be attuned based on the party size and your quest history, since we want you guys to be properly challenged, but even the lowest difficulty is pretty tough.”

[Jack_Simth]

Masaaki Yasuhiro Spoiler Show Spoiler: General Show AC 36, Touch 14, FF 31, F/R/W 33/29/34 (49/45/50 vs. spells and spell-like) Spoiler: senses Show Perception +45, Tremorsense, Arcane Sight, Aura Sight, Enchantment Sight, Speechreader's Sight, Tongues, See Invisibility, Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision, tremorsense-30, Detect Scrying, Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft), Blindsight-30

Masaaki considers a moment, and asks "What's the expected behavior so I can report the unexpected items?"

Spoiler

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Just slowly building up a template for general use & reference. Don't mind me....

Note that if my "morning buff routine" is not considered done, I'll run through it now. It's mostly hours/level stuff, so....

[MinotaurWarblad]

"Not used to actually talking with other players... Hi! Don't mind my awkwardness, unless you enjoy it for some reason. Anyone want to help a poor newb that sucks at raids and party events? I've been playing solo so far."

[Jack_Simth]

Masaaki Yasuhiro Spoiler Show Spoiler: General Show AC 36, Touch 14, FF 31, F/R/W 33/29/34 (49/45/50 vs. spells and spell-like) Spoiler: senses Show Perception +45, Tremorsense, Arcane Sight, Aura Sight, Enchantment Sight, Speechreader's Sight, Tongues, See Invisibility, Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision, tremorsense-30, Detect Scrying, Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft), Blindsight-30, See In Darkness

The disguised fox shrugs, and asks "Eh, what do you need? None of us really know what to expect, yet, and so we don't know what'll be useful, either. I might suggest not teleporting too close to me, though. Would you like anything specific? I've got a reasonable assortment of spells... would you like a Greater Heroism or a Nine Lives spell, perhaps? Superior Resistance? Energy Immunity? Do you have any particular areas where you think you're lacking? I expect I can find something that'll help."

[Doxkid]

"Excellent question, Masaaki! The major graphical and clerical issues have been resolved so for this particular encounter we're mostly testing the AI's responsiveness in combat situations; situational awareness, correct use of combat tactics, threat assessment, and so on. Once you finish this initial encounter, whether you win or lose the fight, you'll zone back out to this area to give us your evaluation before we send you in to a more flexible encounter. The methods usable for resolving any encounter are numerous and the flexibility of the AI in each will only become more complex the further you go; be ready to put in some real work by the end of the day.

We also made sure to vary the encounters so you guys don't get bored of testing things for us and, after every other encounter, you'll have some time to roam around the new maps so you don't get too stifled; all in all today is going to be a relatively straightforward day. Those who choose to join us tomorrow will be running a quest from the current game's content that has been revamped with all of the new additions: new monsters, fauna, flora, NPCs, and so on. After that another developer will take over; I can't have all the fun, right?"

appears over the face of GM-Dox's avatar after he finishes his explanation.

"Don't forget to party up! My own character had trouble with this first encounter; I was NPC'd before the PVP leaderboard went online, but I'm sure some of you remember Somna's glory days.

Buff timers are temporarily paused before you enter the encounter so make sure you are completely ready; in some cases the monsters will jump on you right as you enter the field!"

[Anti-Eagle]

Spoiler: Senses Show Perception: +39 ;|; Senses: Blindsense (30 feet), Darkvision (120 feet), Low-Light Vision (quadruple distance) ;|; All Around Vision, Deathwatch Spoiler: Defences Show Armour Class: 53, Touch 45, FF 42 ;|; Damage Reduction: 6/-, 10/Cold Iron, 10/Adamantine, 5/Magic ;|; Energy Resistance: 10/- (except fire, positive, and negative), 25 (Fire), 5 (Negative) ;|; Spell Resistance: 31 ;|; Regeneration: 5/minute

Armand, the Eight Blades of the Glorious Jade Pyre Level 20 Uncarnate Monk (Psion, Aegis, Soulknife ; Psion Uncarnate, Elocator, Monk) | Hit Points: 394/394 | Power Points: 435/435 | Ki: 5/20 A tired looking Armand manifested in the middle of the square, slowly fading in rather than simply appearing or bounding over the continent. The incorporeal man flexed as everything came online for him, his rig running overtime loading the game and its modules. It had been too long since he had been online and the other games didn't really cut it. There were some of course he had a soft spot for but this was his game of choice. Armand looked around the crowd as he came into being looking for anyone he recognized, slowly lifting off the ground and doing a little stretch. Testing his new features he extended a set of blades from his arm and spun them around his hands like a set of rotating starknives. He'd have to see how fast he was now. A shame that they'd removed the thrallherd in this version but if he had to be honest the leadership and npc ownership features were broken in the last version. "Not used to actually talking with other players... Hi! Don't mind my awkwardness, unless you enjoy it for some reason. Anyone want to help a poor newb that sucks at raids and party events? I've been playing solo so far." He spoke through the microphone and cognitive interface, his voice to the young stalker was that of an old man though full of energy, "I need a party and I don't think any of my guild is here. I'd be happy to run the encounter with you-" He looked at the man's profile in a little window, "Jasper. My name is Armand." Though his voice was broadcasted at one volume or another to the whole of the region, he wasn't actually speaking. His mouth moved, a practiced behaviour scripted to follow his communication in concert with his intent. He was a practiced and powerful telepath speaking to anyone who didn't or couldn't block his communication. The "speaking" helped put people at ease compared to the often disturbed feeling people got when a voice simply popped into one's head without explanation.

[Denomar]

"Oh that's ok sweetie! Stick with me and I'm sure you'll be alright!"

Lothwen did not cut an imposing figure. Of average height and build with clean mirror bright armor over a white robe she didn't come up to the shoulder of some of the other figures in the square.

Letting loose a smile that shone almost as bright as her armor she pointed a thumb at her narrow chin.

"I love to help out!"

[MinotaurWarblad]

To Masaaki, Jasper says "I'm an RP build and have done almost all the prior material through stealth, so I'm pretty much just looking to party up with as many allies as possible."
Turning to Armand and then Lothwen, "Thanks for the invitations, I definitely accept!"

[Denomar]

"No prob!"

Lothwen accesses general chat for the area (by which I mean she hollers at the top of her lungs) and makes the traditional call.

"LF6M Need Tank Kthx! noobs fine@11! Have heals!"

[Epinephrine_Syn]

"Wait a minute-wait a minute-wait a minute. Buff timers get paused? I can stack all my round duration buffs before some of these combats and roll in fully loaded? Wow, okay, I'm gonna need to learn a whole new optimization routine for that in the long run. Decide what new spells are good as dumps instead of just the best six or so to pop out of a haste stop... In any case, I better figure out a group to hitch with."

Rachelle glanced around, raising her hat and checking out which groups were beginning to form. It didn't seem like there were too many people here, at least.

[DarthFenix]

As his character goes fully online, Antonio is galvanized. The plains weren't completely familiar to him, but that is DRAGONS OF ALNIA, as he remembers it. The motion response seems even better, less sluggish than the Alpha, and some graphical improvement seems to have been made. Seeing a gathering of Players, he gets his character closer to them, trying to exert a semblance of confidence, as he says: "Jo! Sadao here, if you're planning to tackle the raid early, I'm in!"

[FearlessGnome]

"Wait a minute-wait a minute-wait a minute. Buff timers get paused? I can stack all my round duration buffs before some of these combats and roll in fully loaded? Wow, okay, I'm gonna need to learn a whole new optimization routine for that in the long run. Decide what new spells are good as dumps instead of just the best six or so to pop out of a haste stop... In any case, I better figure out a group to hitch with."

Remiel, a 'human' with glowing white eyes and more cosmetic tweaks than you can shake a stick at, chuckles. "I wouldn't get too excited about piling on your short duration buffs just yet. Even if there are no sneaky delays or hide and seek elements coming up, I imagine we have the honour of playtesting something that is very much intended to challenge high level casters. If it doesn't disjoin everything at regular intervals, something described as "Not technically a raid" probably comes at least with Reciprocal Gyre."

[Triskavanski]

Spoiler: Senses Show Perception: +28 ;|; Senses: Tremorsense (60 feet), Darkvision (60 feet), Spoiler: Defences Show Armour Class: 46, Touch 34, FF 28, CMD 52

Smoke, Kobold Sniper Level 20 Bushwacker Spacemarine Gunslinger, Scholar, Technician| Hit Points: 220/220 | Spell Points: 25/25 | Grit: 5/5 | Stamina: 21 | Gadgets 15/15 | Charge 0/25 As she normally did during the first world of the game, Smoke didn't talk much to the others. Instead she busied herself looking over her gear, pulling a bullet from a pouch and slipping it down a very heavily modified musket. She pulled out a few devices, a little crank box that she began spinning round and round as she started her preparations. Glancing about, she finally spoke up, "I'm Smoke. We're not in a pvp zone yet, besides this is a new beta. Lets have a new relationship here." she remarks, aware of a bit of her reputation for being a bit... cheap.

[Quantumphear]

Myrsirim, the Eldest Reborn Level 20 Arcanist/Stalker/Draconic Exemplar | AC:41, Touch 31, FF 23, SR31 | HP: 440/440 | Senses: Darkvision 240, Blindsense 120, Tremorsense 30 Myrsirim logs into the server. An eruption of brimstone-scented smoke and screaming flames heralds his arrival, as he looms over the other other players in the vicinity. He happens to be the size of a particularly well-fed whale, which makes the looming part rather easy. Spoiler: Appearance Show He appears as a colossal, undead dragon draped with golden trinkets and arcane items. Blackened, ossified flesh gives a passable facade at appearing as a living creature, were it not for the appearance of rot-green acid pulsing just underneath the surface of the skin. Golden horns and emerald eyes complete this picture of evil incarnate, and this creature looks every part like a final raid boss. Total cost of cosmetics: $11,500.95. Totally worth it. The dragon stretches its body, briefly extending its enormous wingspan as its bones creak with tension. He belches acidic smoke from non-existent lungs and peers at the assembled players. "Fantastic! I see all my totally essential cosmetics have survived the transfer to the Beta. Did someone mention that they needed a tank?" Spoiler: Buffs Show Myrsirim will prepare the following spells in his buff routine, more information on character sheet: Secluded Grimoire, Enlarge Tail, Raiment of Command, Magic Armor-Greater, Heart of Water, Primal Instinct, Infuse Decay (carrying Chilling Touch, Frigid Touch, and Touch of Blindness), Detect Scrying, Magic Aura (Greater), Greater Anticipate Teleportation, Moment of Prescience, Mind Blank, Spellbane.

[Jack_Simth]

Masaaki Yasuhiro Spoiler Show Spoiler: General Show AC 36, Touch 14, FF 31, F/R/W 33/29/34 (49/45/50 vs. spells and SP), HP 492+165/492 Spoiler: senses Show Perception +45, Tremorsense, Arcane Sight, Aura Sight, Enchantment Sight, Speechreader's Sight, Tongues, See Invisibility, Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision, tremorsense-30, Detect Scrying, Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft), Blindsight-30, See In Darkness Spoiler: Buffs Show Permanent spells: Arcane Sight: 7,500 gp (CL 27) Aura Sight: 7,500 gp (CL 27) Speechreader's Sight: 2,500 (CL 27) Tongues: 7,500 (CL 27) See Invisibility: 5,000 (CL 27) Enchantment Sight: 2,500 (CL 27) Buff Routine: Prepare spells Use Bead of Karma Greater Shadow Conjoration(Create Magic Tattoo): +1 Caster level (I voluntarily fail the save I don't have to make, so it fully affects me) (CL 24) (oracle-7) Cast Dragonsight (gain Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision for 27 hours) (CL 27) Cast Detect Scrying (CL 27) Cast Misdirection to seem to be a tree to magic (Summoner-2) (CL 25) Cast Moment of Prescience (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Divine Insight (Oracle-2) (CL 25) Cast Nine Lives (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Death Throes on my familiar (Oracle-9) (CL 25) UMD a Page of Spell Knowledge (Glimpse of the Akashik) to cast that (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Channel the Gift on myself to power the next spell without spending the slot (Oracle-3) Cast Secluded Grimore to protect my spellbook (CL 27) Cast Superior Resistance on myself, familiar, and animal companion (CL 25) (3*Oracle-6) Cast Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft emanation) (ten minute casting time, so end of the spell section of the buff routine) (Chameleon-6) (CL 25) Turn into a fox (Fox Shape feat) Summon Eidolon to protect myself Make a disguise (mundane check) to seem human (take ten = 10 + 39 - 2 = 47) Spoiler: Scarlett Show Scarlett (Familiar, Fox) CG Tiny Magical Beast Init +2 Senses: Scent, Perception +30 Defense: AC: 24 (Touch 14, Flat-footed 22) (+2 Dex, +10 Natural, +2 Size) HP: 492/492 (as master's; 20 hit dice) Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +13 (+13/+14/+19 with Superior Resistance, which will be normal) Offense: Speed 40 ft. Melee bite +16 (1d3-1) Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Statistics: Str 9, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 6 Base Atk +15; CMB +12; CMD 24 (28 vs. trip) Feats Skill Focus (Perception) Skills: A very long list, due to skill sharing. Ask me as they come up, please. Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent Special Abilities: Share Spells, Empathic Link, Speak with Master, Scry on Familiar, Recurring Dream, Able Assistent, Shield Master, Able Defender Spoiler: Fluffy Show Fluffy: N Large Animal Init +5, senses: Low Light Vision, Scent, Perception +3 Defense: AC: 27 (10 +5 Dex, -1 size, +13 natural), FF 22, T 14 HP: 144 (12d8+48) Saves: +12/+13/+7 (+18/+19/+13 with Superior Resistance - which will be normal) Offense: Speed: 40 ft Melee: Bite +16 (1d8+8 plus Grab), 2 Claws +16 (1d6+8) Space: 10 ft, Reach: 5 ft Special Attacks: Pounce, Rake (2 claws +16 (1d6+8)) Statistics: Str 26, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 10 Base Atk: +9; CMB: +19 (+21 Bull Rush, +23 Charging bull rush; CMD: 34 (36 vs. Bull Rush, 38 vs. Trip) Feats: Skill Focus(Survival), Hefty Brute, Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Forceful Charge, Self-Sufficient Skills: Survival +28 (+32 when tracking by scent) Special Abilities: Link, Share Spells, Evasion, Devotion, Multiattack, Improved Evasion Tricks: Combat Training (attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel), Attack anything, Work, Hunt, Track, Get Help, Rescue

Masaaki Yasuhiro looks the dragon up and down, and says "Yes. A nice, solid tank would be nice. I can buff you up a bit; any areas where you think you're lacking? Saves, AC, rerolls, attack bonus, damage bonus, temp HP, maybe a quick casting of Energy Immunity if you've got some specific weakness that needs to be covered... I can help out at least a little bit with most things. In a fight, do you prefer Heal or Harm? I've got both, and it'd just be embarrassing to apply the wrong one, you know?"

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Remiel, a 'human' with glowing white eyes and more cosmetic tweaks than you can shake a stick at, chuckles. "I wouldn't get too excited about piling on your short duration buffs just yet. Even if there are no sneaky delays or hide and seek elements coming up, I imagine we have the honour of playtesting something that is very much intended to challenge high level casters. If it doesn't disjoin everything at regular intervals, something described as "Not technically a raid" probably comes at least with Reciprocal Gyre."

Rachel for her part was a genuine human, probably the only genuine one around (plus a little dragon blood from her sorcery heritage, pretty much the minimum required to qualify for draconic vigor), and only had a couple cosmetic tweaks. For now. Part of the reason you went beguiler was to go all-out with the sparkles, and thus your actual model didn't mean that much.

"Maybe they have something spicy cooked up, but if they do it's not gonna be something we've seen before. I Spellbane Disjunction as a matter of course, and I'm not afraid of even a Twinnimaxed Reciprocal Gyre. Some epic level version of that spell with no save that ALSO disjoints all your buffs... that I might get scared of. But I think this is just the devs trying out a new style of combat."

Rachel thought about this for a little bit, smug expression fading into what one might call 'troubled'. "... though if the enemy comes loaded in with every buff possible in the game, complete with Spellbanes from my notes, I may need to Spellbane Spellbane to sneak a Disjunction under the radar..."

[Ahus]

A bog standard human male spawns into the center of the discussion. Sorry everyone forgot my login credentials. Johnny spins around three times in rapid succession, each rotation looks like a completely different version of himself, like he completely slid the skin and hair color, weight, gender, and whatever other customization sliders were available to random values. Well that's cool that still works. Johnny interrupts Masaaki, completely unfamiliar with etiquette. As long as I can keep my witts about me there are, or at least were in the previous beta, few NPC mobs that can hit me. However, if I get magically bound of for whatever reason can't dodge, I'm pasted. Johnny disappears from view, and shows up immediately behind Rachel. Also, my build is kinda skewed toward fighting humanoids that wield traditional weapons and cast proper spells. You can't disarm/steal claws. Johnny then walks over unceremoniously plops a bag of coins to Remiel's hand.

Spoiler

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Anyone who can beat a 57 sleight of hand check can object.

Then pointing to Rachel says Those are hers... In previous editions I played as the AntiPK, hunting down griefers that preyed on the Newbies. I'm actually happy to see that they haven't patched out any of my skill system exploits.

Spoiler: Char information

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Intro Post

AC : 52
CMD : 66
Stealth : +55 + Hide in plain sight + Darkstalker
Perception : +27 + 20 vs traps
Auto Search for Traps within 10'
Disguise : 27 + 55 if in quick change cloak

[Denomar]

“Oh hey Myrri.”

Lothwen beams at the undead monstrosity.

“Sorry, you know my presence burns you to the very core. We’ll have to find another tank that I can actually heal.”

She scans the crowd.

“Pickings are thin. I hope that everyone stocked up on snacks it might be a little wait...”

She is interrupted further by the whirlwind show off doing something? She replays the last few seconds in her minds eye

Spoiler: Perception

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Lothwen spends an inspiration point on a perception check (1d20+37)[43]+(2d8)[8]

...then she shrugs, regardless of her success. That’s what she gets for rolling on a pvp server, and what harm was there...it was just a video game after all.

[MinotaurWarblad]

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+55)[59]
-- Not in dim light or darkness, reduce the result by 2. It is exactly equal to the DC at 57.

Noticing the slippery sleight of hand, Jasper says nothing about it, but he makes a frown and goes over a mental checklist of where he keeps each of his belongings on his person. He found it distasteful, but he understood the risks of being in a PvP server.

Going through his list of buffs, Jasper also makes sure to keep a run timer on how often he needs to set his buffs.
"So, anyone familiar with the raiding thing mind telling me whether I should try the stealth approach or going loud? I'm spec'd for sneaking but if any boss has an auto-detection range like the City Guards at Maelstrom Plaza, I'm screwed, since my combat buffs break stealth and have a short setup time."

[Epinephrine_Syn]

(Not even trying to contest the perception roll, I've got a +21 in it.)

Rachel blinked once, glancing at the pickpocketing bog, squinting at him with a determined glare. "Ha ha. We all get it, I'm an oblivious klutz cause my build doesn't spec for spot checks. It's clowns like you that are why I never carry more than a handful of gold on my person at any time."

This was looking pretty fun, though. Despite the meming at her expense, she felt good about the event. "I'm totally good to sponge damage, though. Talking about healing, I heard this thing has Vile damage. At least, if it's anything like the thing it's templated from. Can you actually heal that?"

During this whole time, Rachelle started to run down her buff list, doggo nuzzling her leg and soaking up a good portion of his share.

Spoiler

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Persistsz: Mind Blank, G-Prying Eyes, Mage's Armor, Spellbane (Grt Dispel Magic, Disjunction, Antimagic field, Trap The Soul, Shaped to only fit her own personal 5x5ft cube), Mighty Wallop, Moment of Prescience, Shapechange (1-3-88-99)
(Scrying Eyes Instructions: "Scout Personal Proximity. Return when Z-Letter-Z is called. One helicopter me, one helicopter threat when threat observed. Operate in adjacent pairs.)

Before/During Combat: Shield, Arcane Spellsurge, Spell Turning-min, Ablative Sphere-min, True Seeing-min, G-Mirror Image-min, Draconic Polymorph-min, Haste, Bite of the Werebear, Freezing Glance, Extended Wraithstrike, Long Arm-min)
(11-333-4-5-66-77)

Doggo: Shapechange, Bite of the Werebear, Ablative Sphere, Long Arm, Shield, Mage Armor (111-3-7-9)
(greater rod of echo to get an extra Shapechange and an extra Spellbane, only shape change being used right now)

(Total Spell Slots used: 1*6, 3*5, 4*1, 5*1, 6*2, 7*3, 8*2, 9*2)

MG Buffs
Mighty Pulse-C (+14 Enchant Charisma, 10 ft emanation, 6 rounds)
Mighty Pulse-D (+14 Enchant Dexterity, 10 ft emanation, 6 rounds)
Innocence Oath Pulse (Reflection, 15 Ft emanation, 2 rounds, Oaths Rank 3) (me and doggo)

"There we go! Who needs a spot check when you've got True Seeing, eh?"

[Ahus]

I think you've missed my point...
I'm usually the one giving people back their stuff. I can do that from 125' away, from hiding. Disarming hostiles, of their weapons, component pouches, or whatever.

[Denomar]

"Talking about healing, I heard this thing has Vile damage. At least, if it's anything like the thing it's templated from. Can you actually heal that?"

“Sure can! I always count as healing on consecrated ground! It’s just part of my sunny disposition!”

Lothwen extends a group invite to Rachel.

“Alright just five dips than!”

[Jack_Simth]

Masaaki Yasuhiro Spoiler Show Spoiler: General Show AC 36, Touch 14, FF 31, F/R/W 33/29/34 (49/45/50 vs. spells and SP), HP 492+165/492 Spoiler: senses Show Perception +45, Tremorsense, Arcane Sight, Aura Sight, Enchantment Sight, Speechreader's Sight, Tongues, See Invisibility, Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision, tremorsense-30, Detect Scrying, Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft), Blindsight-30, See In Darkness, Scent Spoiler: Buffs Show Permanent spells: Arcane Sight: 7,500 gp (CL 27) Aura Sight: 7,500 gp (CL 27) Speechreader's Sight: 2,500 (CL 27) Tongues: 7,500 (CL 27) See Invisibility: 5,000 (CL 27) Enchantment Sight: 2,500 (CL 27) Buff Routine: Prepare spells Use Bead of Karma Greater Shadow Conjoration(Create Magic Tattoo): +1 Caster level (I voluntarily fail the save I don't have to make, so it fully affects me) (CL 24) (oracle-7) Cast Dragonsight (gain Darkvision 270, Blindsense 135, 4* low light vision for 27 hours) (CL 27) Cast Detect Scrying (CL 27) Cast Misdirection to seem to be a tree to magic (Summoner-2) (CL 25) Cast Moment of Prescience (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Divine Insight (Oracle-2) (CL 25) Cast Nine Lives (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Death Throes on my familiar (Oracle-9) (CL 25) UMD a Page of Spell Knowledge (Glimpse of the Akashik) to cast that (Oracle-8) (CL 25) Cast Channel the Gift on myself to power the next spell without spending the slot (Oracle-3) Cast Secluded Grimore to protect my spellbook (CL 27) Cast Superior Resistance on myself, familiar, and animal companion (CL 25) (3*Oracle-6) Cast Greater Anticipate Teleportation (135 ft emanation) (ten minute casting time, so end of the spell section of the buff routine) (Chameleon-6) (CL 25) Turn into a fox (Fox Shape feat) Summon Eidolon to protect myself Make a disguise (mundane check) to seem human (take ten = 10 + 39 - 2 = 47) Spoiler: Scarlett Show Scarlett (Familiar, Fox) CG Tiny Magical Beast Init +2 Senses: Scent, Perception +30 Defense: AC: 24 (Touch 14, Flat-footed 22) (+2 Dex, +10 Natural, +2 Size) HP: 492/492 (as master's; 20 hit dice) Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +13 (+13/+14/+19 with Superior Resistance, which will be normal) Offense: Speed 40 ft. Melee bite +16 (1d3-1) Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Statistics: Str 9, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 6 Base Atk +15; CMB +12; CMD 24 (28 vs. trip) Feats Skill Focus (Perception) Skills: A very long list, due to skill sharing. Ask me as they come up, please. Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent Special Abilities: Share Spells, Empathic Link, Speak with Master, Scry on Familiar, Recurring Dream, Able Assistent, Shield Master, Able Defender Spoiler: Fluffy Show Fluffy: N Large Animal Init +5, senses: Low Light Vision, Scent, Perception +3 Defense: AC: 27 (10 +5 Dex, -1 size, +13 natural), FF 22, T 14 HP: 144 (12d8+48) Saves: +12/+13/+7 (+18/+19/+13 with Superior Resistance - which will be normal) Offense: Speed: 40 ft Melee: Bite +16 (1d8+8 plus Grab), 2 Claws +16 (1d6+8) Space: 10 ft, Reach: 5 ft Special Attacks: Pounce, Rake (2 claws +16 (1d6+8)) Statistics: Str 26, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 10 Base Atk: +9; CMB: +19 (+21 Bull Rush, +23 Charging bull rush; CMD: 34 (36 vs. Bull Rush, 38 vs. Trip) Feats: Skill Focus(Survival), Hefty Brute, Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Forceful Charge, Self-Sufficient Skills: Survival +28 (+32 when tracking by scent) Special Abilities: Link, Share Spells, Evasion, Devotion, Multiattack, Improved Evasion Tricks: Combat Training (attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel), Attack anything, Work, Hunt, Track, Get Help, Rescue

This was looking pretty fun, though. Despite the meming at her expense, she felt good about the event. "I'm totally good to sponge damage, though. Talking about healing, I heard this thing has Vile damage. At least, if it's anything like the thing it's templated from. Can you actually heal that?" Masaaki Yasuhiro shakes his head and ignores the pickpocket for the moment as he replies "It takes me a little prep work, but yes, I can do that. The prep work means I probably won't be doing so in the middle of the fight, however, so try not to get entirely dropped, OK?" "So, anyone familiar with the raiding thing mind telling me whether I should try the stealth approach or going loud? I'm spec'd for sneaking but if any boss has an auto-detection range like the City Guards at Maelstrom Plaza, I'm screwed, since my combat buffs break stealth and have a short setup time." The disguised fox frowns "The big problem with going quiet in general is that for it to work well, everyone needs to go quietly. However... as I understand it, this is more of a single-fight demo match. A meatshield going in loudly sets a sneak up reasonably well." He pauses a moment "Speaking of... I'm about ready to step through. Who all else is? Oh, and does anyone want a Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Superior Resistance, Energy Immunity, Greater Heroism, Nine Lives, or some such?" as he heads towards the portal (but not actually through without other folks joining).

Spoiler: Perception

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(1d20+45)[64]

[Triskavanski]

Spoiler: Senses Show Perception: +28 ;|; Senses: Tremorsense (60 feet), Darkvision (60 feet), Spoiler: Defenses Show Armour Class: 46, Touch 34, FF 28, CMD 52, immune to scrying and any form of divination that attempts to ascertain her location, thoughts, or alignment

Smoke, Kobold Sniper Level 20 Bushwacker Spacemarine Gunslinger, Scholar, Technician| Hit Points: 220/220 | Spell Points: 25/25 | Grit: 5/5 | Stamina: 21/21 | Gadgets 15/15 | Charge25/25 Smoke finishes her preparations, getting everything in order along the way. "It can only do that damage to you if you get hit. Which I plan on staying in places it cannot." she remarks holding up her gun as she takes aim off in the distance."Regardless of what the rest of you do, I'm going in stealthy. Normally I do this stuff alone.. but its a new day, lets form a party." She sets down her pack, before pulling out a handful of metal boxes. Each had a button and a small speaker. "Those of you that will be in my party can take one of these. With them, we can communicate at a distance. " Pulling on the string sticking out of her vest she removes a number of feet of twine that never seemed to make the vest get smaller. "If you need some twine to tie it something, here you go." Spoiler: Preperations Show Creating 3 Salve Normally the DC is 15, but I'll bump it to 35 instead, allowing them to heal 10d8+15 damage each. I can roll the craft check, but I can't roll below a 39. creating 3 Panacea, with the dc40, so that they can cure one of any condition they can (1d20+38)[52] (1d20+38)[45] (1d20+38)[50] Creating 3 Smokebombs Normal DC 15 But bringing it up to DC 35 to increase the AOE from 20 foot radius to 40 foot radius and triple the time it takes to fade. Creating 3 fuse grenades Normally the DC is 25, but Increaing to 35 With 20 ranks of craft alchemy, the do an additional 6d6 blugeoning and 6d6 fire, for a total of 8d6 B and 8d6 F DC is 36 with a 30foot radius From Tech Sphere Created Ammo Spitter - Spend charge for 30 bullets Created Alt Weapon Mode - Attached to Musket Created Alt Elemental Pack - Sonic Created Alt Elemental Pack - Acid Created Alt Elemental Pack - Electric Created Alt Elemental Pack - Slashing Created Battery - 5/5 charges Created Battery - 5/5 Charges

[Gunhaven]

For a second all seemed fine, if a bit weird. He certainly didn’t log off in the middle of the air or anything but whatever, it’s to be expected from a new update. He casually looked around as he started to fall until he caught his senses being about fifteen feet off, then he saw what he was and started to curse the rest of the way down. He certainly wasn’t supposed to be a tentacle monster and changing his gear around did nothing to change the appearance. By the time he landed he was fuming but at least silent enough for the grand speech.
The fourteen armed bush instead sat and waited while people introduced themselves and talked about their builds, listening to all the talk and contemplating what else was wrong. He felt that his plane tavern and garden were still there but man did he not want to spend the resources on that right now. Instead he scooted-rustled towards the iron lich and said in a heavy dwarvish accent ”Oi! First, I understand there’s bugs in the system since we’re testing it and all but what the ****!?” The hands motioned wildly at what it was and it added ”It’s just uncalled for is all; I’ll post a report in a minute. Now this test of yours…
We got time to eat and be merry before battle? Nothin’s quite as refreshin’ as a cold ale and a hot roast beef sandwich.” He looked at the others for seemingly the first time and added ”Y’all are welcome to come and eat if we got the time. I can tell I got me garden and everything set up still so that’s a headache I don’t have to deal with.”

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Everything seemed to be forming up into two distinct groups of people, and Rachel was a little torn on the matter. There were neat people in these groups, and she just got an invite... but also food and for some reason she was actually feeling hungry. Not just had her hunger bar low, that never happened, but actually 'felt' hungry. Neat new feature. "I want to join your group, but I'm also really hungry via the new feature, though you seem like a great person and I at the very least want to meet up post this event. It's not like I can join both groups at once."

~ruff~

Rachel looked down at her faithful companion, who had done the usual trick of shapeshifting into an exact copy of her (albeit with a dog's face, like some cross between Ditto and Greater Dog).

"Or... can... I...?"

[Quantumphear]

Masaaki Yasuhiro looks the dragon up and down, and says "Yes. A nice, solid tank would be nice. I can buff you up a bit; any areas where you think you're lacking? Saves, AC, rerolls, attack bonus, damage bonus, temp HP, maybe a quick casting of Energy Immunity if you've got some specific weakness that needs to be covered... I can help out at least a little bit with most things. In a fight, do you prefer Heal or Harm? I've got both, and it'd just be embarrassing to apply the wrong one, you know?"

“Oh hey Myrri.”

Lothwen beams at the undead monstrosity.

“Sorry, you know my presence burns you to the very core. We’ll have to find another tank that I can actually heal.”

She scans the crowd.

“Pickings are thin. I hope that everyone stocked up on snacks it might be a little wait...”

Smoke finishes her preparations, getting everything in order along the way. "It can only do that damage to you if you get hit. Which I plan on staying in places it cannot." she remarks holding up her gun as she takes aim off in the distance."Regardless of what the rest of you do, I'm going in stealthy. Normally I do this stuff alone.. but its a new day, lets form a party." She sets down her pack, before pulling out a handful of metal boxes. Each had a button and a small speaker. "Those of you that will be in my party can take one of these. With them, we can communicate at a distance. "

Pulling on the string sticking out of her vest she removes a number of feet of twine that never seemed to make the vest get smaller. "If you need some twine to tie it something, here you go."

Myrsirim, the Eldest Reborn Level 20 Arcanist/Stalker/Draconic Exemplar | AC:48, Touch 31, FF 30, SR31 | HP: 440/440 | Senses: Darkvision 240, Blindsense 120, Tremorsense 30, Luckdrinker Aura (30ft) The dragon turns his head this way and that, addressing the other player characters that scurry (at least, from his perspective) around his feet. "I thank you for your offer, Masaaki. I won't be needing your help with recovering HP after fights, however if the situation looks dire it would be better if you cast Harm instead of Heal. For now I think you should save your magics for those who are less durable. At the very least we can wait until we know more about the abilities of the test enemies. Magnanimous gestures aside, he quickly sends a private message to Masaaki; "U r healer/cleric rite? Damnation feats make me hrd to revive -> plz use miracle in case of death. IOU 1 favour :) " He then turns to regard Smoke and Lothwen, carefully eyeing the radio device that Smoke is offering. "Well met, Smoke. I do think we last met at the Caer Toroden guild raid; I remember hearing that you held the server time record for slaying that raid boss in less than a minute? Hopefully we'll find a more difficult challenge for you in this encounter... And as for you Lothwen, I'm not sure what burning you are referring to. All I notice is a buzzing irritation, something akin to a small fly perhaps. Save your heals for yourself, and you might be able to keep pace with me." The dragon finishes his banter with a toothy grin, as he extends a claw to begin sending party requests to the other players. "Alright, gather round, we don't have all day to sit around and chat! We've got enough players to form two squads, so who's with me? Perhaps we should celebrate our impending victory with a toast?" As the two parties congeal and people arrange their various buffs and tactics, Myrsirim will finalize his last few preparations and then socialize until the time comes to begin. Spoiler: Final preparations Show Spoiler: Martial Maneuvers Show Prepared martial maneuvers: Level 1: Clockwatcher, Level 3: Taunting Laugh Level 4: Bilious Strike, Temporal Body Adjustment Level 5: Shadow Pin, Relativity Burst Level 7: Charge of the Ravager (BS7)* Level 8: Chilling Mist Sidestep (UG8, counter)*, Warlock’s Mirror (CR8 Counter)* Level 9: Black Seraph Onslaught (BS9)*, Festival of Shadows (CR9)* He'll also cast the Heroics spell to temporarily gain the Adaptive Style combat feat (220 minute duration), as well as Tears to Wine (which he will share with anyone who wishes to partake!)(220 minute duration).

[Nightraiderx]

Rolland excitedly logged in. "Hey other beta testers, I'm Rolland Hollander, you may have heard of my grand exploits on the FPS game, Bullet Hell. So who wants to work with this greatness?"

[Ahus]

Oh wait, were doing this already. Ok, um, um, um. Johnny suddenly goes from brash and cockey to flustered and completely unprepared.
We don't even know what were up against. Hang on a second.
Johnny walks over in the direction of the portal, close but NOT through. He sits on his heels before the portal, opens up his spellbook and begins reading. A few moments later his eyes go completely black.

Spoiler: DM mechanics

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Casting Divine Insight. Then spending 1 Arcane Reservoir point to prep Analyze Portal. Then casting analyze portal to determin the properties of the portal (one way vs two way, planar destination) and see through the portal for up to two minutes. [Perception :+41]

Let's just see what we have here shall we. He says with a bit of the brashness returning, though the chinks in his, emotional, armor thoroughly revealed.

[Triskavanski]

Spoiler: Senses Show Perception: +28 ;|; Senses: Tremorsense (60 feet), Darkvision (60 feet), Spoiler: Defenses Show Armour Class: 46, Touch 34, FF 28, CMD 52, immune to scrying and any form of divination that attempts to ascertain her location, thoughts, or alignment

Smoke, Kobold Sniper Level 20 Bushwacker Spacemarine Gunslinger, Scholar, Technician| Hit Points: 220/220 | Spell Points: 25/25 | Grit: 5/5 | Stamina: 21/21 | Gadgets 15/15 | Charge25/25 Smoke looks up to the larger dragon "Ah that is only because they counted the raid from the first shot, rather than the time I waited to make that first shot. If they had counted the amount of time I spent stalking the raid boss, it would have been much much longer." She looks over her gear again and huffs, "I seem to have picked up some rather useless things, or repeated the same supported item. "