Intermission 8 Page 50
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“I think we’ll head for that tomb full of zombies next. I think it’d be a good idea to get that problem sorted out before it gets any worse.”
“Sure thing. Well, as you just said, the tomb is supposed to be full of undead, so you should consider picking up some anti-undead items.”
“And get another mule while you’re at it! The first one was delicious!”
“…Ricki, you know I sell actual food, right?”
“It’s a long story.”
You can now buy and sell items, order renovations, and select your party and loadout for the next dungeon.
No new page tomorrow, so you have time to argue (and remember how to play)!
I don’t think we’ll remember how to play in time! *Laughs*
On second thought, next new page will be Monday. I was planning to take a couple days off at the end of the intermission anyway, might as well have it now to give people more time to decide.
Alright, Discord people, lay it on us. Lots of competing priorities for limited cash.
I’m not a fan of consumables, but grave flowers have had special effects before beyond the temporary boost (Manor wrap-up said that a flower could block the ghost attack).
Party isn’t obvious. Kamau is good to limit who gets bitten. I’d still like to field Botanya here, which is a nonbo with the almighty Cordy.
I suspect healing may help with infection. Maybe there’s max HP reduction, though.
Having posted a few examples now…
I still really want a Wand of Mend, from the Bent Wand of Mend we know it only works on targets with 3 or less HP which implies that an undamaged version can be used at-will. Our pets top out at 4 HP until we get bigger mushrooms, so the wand can keep our pets from accumulating AoE damage by only spending actions. If we want to bring Botanya places, it’s nice to give her non-attack combat actions.
I can wait another dungeon, though. While a Wand of Mend does work well on Kamau since he has other benefits from running on low HP, it’ll really shine in dungeons without Kamau, like the Poisoned Well which threatens to cause unblockable damage to everyone from suffocation. Ricki, Macadamia, and Lohk have 5-6 HP so this can keep them above half, and Lohk’s Wand Proficiency would let her heal people from 3 HP to 5 HP. Imagine if we had regenerating health in the Manor, the reduced max would still hurt but healing does offset damage taken on the same turn.
Of course, if the undamaged Wand of Mend also has charges, then that’ll be disappointing. At the very least, if Lohk eats it then casting Mend should not consume a Channel star since Heal is strictly better. The Wand of Death Touch had charges for some reason despite its limitations, but Death Touch as a level-up did not need a Channel star.
Thanks for posting your options. I prefer them to Sick’s suggestion (because we get another bond-removing upgrade to the Manor). 🙂
[SHOPPING]
We have 19 gp
Sell:
4x Shields: 40 gp (Shields seem to not be rare as far as dungeon loot goes, and we have Heavy Shields.)
Crossbow: 12.5 gp (We’re already not using the Double Crossbow, which is a direct upgrade to this)
Cowlwear: 7.5 gp (Cleanly rounds out the half gold from the Crossbow. We have a spare Cowlwear so we wont need the 2nd one.)
Bow, Hunting: 9 gp (Niche ranged weapon. We have better options.)
3x Arrows: 3 gp (No Mo Bow, No Need Fo Arrows)
This gives us 91 gold to work with. I propose we
Buy:
Pack Mule: 20 gp (We need it)
Paw: 10 gp (A Tomb will probably have some nice treasure to sell)
Dead Drop: 10 gp (Will save us tons of money in the long run)
Kitchen: 30 gp (Paws recommended we buy it. And it’d be cool to see what sort of options this type of Manor Upgrade provides us.)
Leaves us with 21 GP leftover, so we can be more likely to make use of the Paw this dungeon.
[PARTY & LOADOUT]
Ricki
Pet: Medium Mushroom #1
Equipment: Swiftblade, Heavy Shield, Thieves Tools, Purse, Wand of Fireballs
Rings: +1 Atk Ring, +2 Atk Ring
Lara
Pet: Phoenix
Equipment: Corn Spear, Wolf Armour
Rings: +1 Def Ring, +1 Atk Ring
Kamau
Pet: None
Equipment: Hilt, Plate Armour, Cowlwear, Magma Shield
Rings: +2 Atk Ring, +1 Atk Ring
Botanya
Pet: Pack Mule (Nolly)
Equipment: Bat Armour, Pipes, Potion Bandolier, Paw, Helmet
Rings: +1 Def Ring
[PARTY & LOADOUT EXPLANATIONS SO LSN CAN AVOID READING]
Ricki’s Loadout gets her to 9 Atk and 5 Def, with 5 open inventory slots (4 after we get another set of lockpicks on dungeon start). She has the Wand of Fireballs as a ranged option. I’m specifically leaving her without a suit of armor as I think we’re likely to find something for her early on and even if we don’t she’ll likely be fine with Botanya’s Atk nerf on enemies. I want to bring the Medium Mushroom over Daisy as it’s technically a stronger pet, but is more expendable and will get upgraded at the end of the dungeon if it survives.
Lara’s Loadout gets her to 6 Atk (8 Atk vs. Undead) and 6 Def, with 7 open inventory slots (6 after we get some Cigs). She has Phoenix instead of a real pet so we can see if it evolves. We want to bring Lara so we can max out her Bond ASAP and get her stronger for the Poison Well dungeon.
Kamau’s Loadout gives him 9 Atk and 8 Def when he’s in Attack Position, and infinity defense when in defense position with 3 open slots. No pet since we need an open pet slot for Botanya’s flytraps, and he’s the best person to have one. We’re bringing Kamau because if worse comes to worse we can always interpose and cover our asses that way. Plus I feel like he can just cleave through hordes of zombies.
Botanya’s Loadout gives her 6 Defense, and a bunch of non-attack options she can do, and 2 open inventory slots. She has our new Mule so she can spend her actions looting, and when it comes to it, buying and selling with Paws. We want to bring her because she is a direct counter to enemy spam and the undead, which, well, that’s probably the tomb dungeon. We’re also curious about her level ups.
[EDITS]
Adjusted shopping a bit, selling the hunting bow and arrows for a bit of extra cash to help when we inevitably need to use the paw mid-dungeon.
Removed Double Crossbow from Lara’s loadout and bolts from the shop. Y’all I forgot she had poison sting, it’s been so long.
Changed pet choices.
In order for the paw to be worth it, we would need to sell >40g worth of stuff.
That is assuming there are no Treasure items (they sell for full value) in the Tomb and that we will not run into any difficulties that would necessitate a trip to the shops.
I have my doubts on both.
We only earn money on the Rabbit’s Paw if selling items mid-dungeon frees up inventory space to bring more items out. Now, Golden items are Treasure and heavy, so it doesn’t take many of those to win out. Even regular heavy items could still be worthwhile, Plate Armour is worth 3gp/slot when carried out but 7.5gp in the dungeon… provided someone can carry it to Paws within the 5-turn window before any zombies wander by. That’s another downside, heavy items are a pain to manage with the new constraints on item management.
I dispute bringing the Paw without any cash at all, relying on the dungeon to provide gold or treasure before we can use it for anything. I think the primary benefit is letting us wait to decide whether we want a Rope or Grave Flowers or a Potion of Healing or more Bolts (instead of, say, buying all of the above with the 10 gold spent on the paw plus the 10-ish gold you’d need to have those options). With the Purse, spare gold isn’t an inventory concern.
I can understand not wanting to go in with the Paw but witbout money. Think itd be worth selling any of:
The Gravity Staff (20gp), The Hunting Bow (9gp), the Greataxe(9.5gp)?
Gravity staff is cool though…
Dump the bow, we can buy it back if we change our minds. Or bring it in place of the double crossbow, it is a slot lighter even if it’s less likely to hit 5 damage.
I think the staff is more valuable to us in general as gold, but it is our only staff which combos nicely with Monk Robes on Lohk with Staff Strike. If it let us get a character room then I’d push more to sell the staff, but two rooms in one dungeon is a lot as we discovered.
We have 19 gp (14 in Ricki’s Purse, 5 in Manor from Labor)
Sell (initial listing copied from Sick):
3x Shields: 30 gp (Shields seem to not be rare as far as dungeon loot goes, and we have Heavy Shields.)
Crossbow: 12.5 gp (We’re already not using the Double Crossbow, which is a direct upgrade to this)
Cowlwear: 7.5 gp (Cleanly rounds out the half gold from the Crossbow. We have a spare Cowlwear so we wont need the 2nd one.)
Hunting Bow: 9gp (We’re not using ranged weapons)
Arrow x2: 2gp (^)
This leaves 80gp.
20gp Pack Mule: More carrying space is more loot, provided it survives.
50gp Covered Balcony: Lohk’s room gives us more story and breaks her Bond cap, which is important as she’ll need another 4 dungeons to reach the second cap and we’re running out of dungeons in Act 2. I also want another Small character for the Poisoned Well, and Lohk is also a healer.
10gp Dead Drop: Depends on what counts as “basic items”. If blank rings count, this will be great. Hopefully at least Iron Boots count, as I expect to pick those up for the Well. Otherwise, hope we buy another 10 Thieves’ Tools over the rest of the game.
Party: Ricki, Kamau, Botanya, Lara.
Ricki: Shocking swiftblade, wolf armour, wand of fireball, helmet, purse, thieves’ tools. (7/11) Pet: Mushroom 1 (Toad).
Rings: +1 Atk, +2 Atk
Melee: 1 base + 4 weapon + 3 ring + 1 pet = 9 damage, +2 from Mushroom 1
Ranged: 3-6 Fireball x2
Def: 1 base + 2 armor + 1 ability + 1 accessory + 1 pet = 6
Kamau: Hilt, plate armour, heavy shield, owlbear cowlwear. (9/12) Pet: None (Flytrap).
Rings: +1 Def, +2 Atk
Melee: 3 base + 3 weapon + 1 ability + 2 ring = 9 damage, +3 from Flytrap +2 vs undead
Def: 3 base + 5 armor + 1 ability + 1 ring = 10, +3+1 shield if not attacking
Botanya: Bat armour, Magma shield, pipes (5/8). Pet: Pack Mule
Rings: +1 Def
Def: 2 base + 2 armor + 3 shield + 1 ring = 8.
Lara: Corn spear, potion bandolier. (2/10) Pet: Mushroom 6 (Wiretap)
Rings: +1 Atk, +1 Atk
Melee: 2 base + 2 weapon + 2 ring +1 pet = 7 damage +2 vs undead +1 in the dark, +2 from Mushroom 3
Ranged: 3 poison, Skeletons are immune
Def: 1 base +1 weapon + 1 pet = 3, +4 vs poison
Reasoning:
The hint for this dungeon is that the bitey, infecty kind of zombies exist in this world (I6P14), so bringing Kamau to minimize contact seems prudent. The owlbear cowlwear lets him see in the dark like a normal party member, and with his upgraded hilt and Cleave he could potentially solo zombie hordes. Giving him one of Botanya’s Flytraps ensures it’ll always be present in combat. I expect to open against hordes with Interpose to get all dumb enemies to lock on him, after which he can swing while the flytrap isn’t targeted (and if it dies, we learn something). The girls can move on and loot stuff while Kamau mops up.
While we want Botanya in combat to dampen the effect of hordes, she can’t attack. She can still inspect things for hints including using the bat armour to identify bats, and the Pipes are an always-present option to further limit enemy attacks. High Def is to protect against targeting mishaps, and hopefully plants can’t catch zombie. The Mule gives her more inventory for looting all unlocked chests, and can stash the heavy armor and shield near the end. Note Mulch only triggers on living enemies, though I expect rats and bats.
Healing was helpful for the poisoned
drunkardacolyte of revelry, perhaps that’ll help with potential zombie infection.Lara is here for maxing loot and finding out what the second cap looks like (though I expect she’ll see that after the Poisoned Well, not like anyone else can gain Bond). I could also see any other party member here, really. We can’t get use out of both the Shocking Swiftblade and the Corn Spear unless another weapon-user comes.
I’m intentionally not bringing an extra Shield for Ricki or armor for Lara so that we can benefit from finding gear within the dungeon, plus I don’t expect most folks to be in combat without Kamau’s protection. The Potion Bandolier covers itself as long as we find at least one potion of loot, much like how the Purse just needs one gold coin in the Dungeon to be worth its slot.
If the intent is to bring Lohk into the Poison Well dungeon next, then I’m fully onboard with getting her room. Discord peoples were planning on bringing Lara, Cordy and the Zombie Monk we may get from the Tomb Dungeon. I guess between those 3, I’d drop Cordy.
I’d rather bring Phoenix over another Shroom on the offchance an evolved Phoenix has some party-wide buff like the Roosters did to the chickens.
I really would like to invest in bringing a Paw to this dungeon. Fantasy tropes demand that tombs are full of treasures and traps. I think it’s likely we’ll need to get some extra thieves tools and sell off heavy gold equipment in the middle of the dungeon.
Other than those two, everything here sounds solid.
I sorta think it’s unlikely that we’ll want to bring Lohk to the poison well. I do think it’s important to get her room sooner rather than later, because her bond is so difficult to get as mentioned, but if we aren’t planning on taking her to the well (and we don’t think we’ll actually get to go to Lara’s bond dungeon BEFORE the well), then there’s no reason to build the room this round rather than after the tomb. On the other hand, we have absolutely no idea what any of the 4 manor upgrades (foyer, library, living room, and kitchen) do/unlock. I’d really like to see what at least one of them does, and given that LSN hinted that we might consider upgrading the kitchen, that seems a natural item to start with.
Agreed that the bond dungeons are the most obvious second gate and that we probably won’t see any bond dungeons until Act 3, just like how we couldn’t build rooms until Act 2.
We do know now that building renovations can give benefits beyond what is directly listed. The room listing said the +1 HP, the dungeon report clearly stated that bond could not increase until a room is built, but the ability upgrades were a happy surprise. Agreed that the kitchen will most likely give immediate options and not just the increased storage and unlocked upgrades. The hint here is that we’ll be able to buy a meal which gives dungeon-long buffs.
Of course, I also expect the act end dungeon will unlock after this one. While we’ll still do the Poisoned Well, unlike last time there isn’t really any clear reason to go there, no indication of reward. Lohk’s room ability might also change our minds, and Lohk has a lot of good level up choices including the ability to pick up more level up choices.
That’s a very fair point. The room bonus could EASILY change our calculus on whether a character is worth bringing to any given dungeon. The kitchen is unlikely to change our preferences on who to bring, it’ll likely just make whoever we do bring better.
Alternate set: Ringsmiffing!
We have 19 gp (14 in Ricki’s Purse, 5 in Manor from Labor)
Sell (initial listing copied from Sick):
4x Shields: 40 gp (Shields seem to not be rare as far as dungeon loot goes, and we have Heavy Shields.)
Crossbow: 12.5 gp (We’re already not using the Double Crossbow, which is a direct upgrade to this)
Cowlwear: 7.5 gp (Cleanly rounds out the half gold from the Crossbow. We have a spare Cowlwear so we wont need the 2nd one.)
Hunting Bow: 9gp (We’re not using ranged weapons)
Arrow x2: 2gp (^)
Ring of Aggression, Copper x2: 20gp (Upgrade time)
This leaves 110gp.
20gp Pack Mule: More carrying space is more loot, provided it survives.
50gp Basement Apartment: Macadamia’s room gives us more story and breaks his Bond cap, plus this seems to grant an extra ability which could open new Ring options. I also want another Small character for the Poisoned Well, ideally with Dig as level-up to get out of tight underwater spots.
10gp Dead Drop: Depends on what counts as “basic items”. If blank rings count, this will be great. Hopefully at least Iron Boots count, as I expect to pick those up for the Well. Otherwise, hope we buy another 10 Thieves’ Tools over the rest of the game.
30gp Silver Ring x3
Party: Ricki, Kamau, Botanya, Macadamia.
Ricki: Corn Spear, wolf armour, helmet, purse, thieves’ tools. (6/11) Pet: Mushroom 1.
Rings: +1 Atk, +2 Atk
Melee: 1 base + 2 weapon + 3 ring + 1 pet = 7 damage, +2 vs undead, +2 from Mushroom 1
Def: 1 base + 1 weapon + 2 armor + 1 ability + 1 accessory + 1 pet = 7
Kamau: Hilt, plate armour, heavy shield, owlbear cowlwear. (9/12) Pet: None (Flytrap).
Rings: +1 Def, +2 Atk
Melee: 3 base + 3 weapon + 1 ability + 2 ring = 9 damage, +3 from Flytrap +2 vs undead
Def: 3 base + 5 armor + 1 ability + 1 ring = 10, +3+1 shield if not attacking
Botanya: Bat armour, Magma shield, pipes, potion bandolier (6/8). Pet: None (Flytrap)
Rings: +1 Def
Def: 2 base + 2 armor + 3 shield + 1 ring = 8.
Macadamia: Silver Ring x3, wand of fireball, Monk Robes. (3/5) Pet: Pack Mule
Rings: None
Ranged: 3-6 Fireball x2
Def: 1 base + 2 armour = 3
Reasoning:
Mostly as above. Macadamia is a second noncombatant here, with the pack mule for the inventory to hopefully produce at least one silver ring of protection from armour and perhaps a silver ring of evasion from shields.
One more set: Bah!
We have 19 gp (14 in Ricki’s Purse, 5 in Manor from Labor)
Sell (initial listing copied from Sick):
3x Shields: 30 gp (Shields seem to not be rare as far as dungeon loot goes, and we have Heavy Shields.)
Crossbow: 12.5 gp (We’re already not using the Double Crossbow, which is a direct upgrade to this)
Cowlwear: 7.5 gp (Cleanly rounds out the half gold from the Crossbow. We have a spare Cowlwear so we wont need the 2nd one.)
Hunting Bow: 9gp (We’re not using ranged weapons)
Arrow x2: 2gp (^)
This leaves 80gp.
20gp Pack Mule: More carrying space is more loot, provided it survives.
50gp Covered Balcony: Lohk’s room gives us more story and breaks her Bond cap, which is important as she’ll need another 4 dungeons to reach the second cap and we’re running out of dungeons in Act 2. I also want another Small character for the Poisoned Well, and Lohk is also a healer.
10gp Dead Drop: Depends on what counts as “basic items”. If blank rings count, this will be great. Hopefully at least Iron Boots count, as I expect to pick those up for the Well. Otherwise, hope we buy another 10 Thieves’ Tools over the rest of the game.
Party: Ricki, Kamau, Botanya, Lohk.
Ricki: Shocking swiftblade, wolf armour, helmet, purse, thieves’ tools. (6/11) Pet: Mushroom 1.
Rings: +1 Atk, +2 Atk
Melee: 1 base + 4 weapon + 3 ring + 1 pet = 9 damage, +2 from Mushroom 1
Def: 1 base + 2 armor + 1 ability + 1 accessory + 1 pet = 6
Kamau: Hilt, plate armour, heavy shield, owlbear cowlwear. (9/12) Pet: None (Flytrap).
Rings: +1 Def, +2 Atk
Melee: 3 base + 3 weapon + 1 ability + 2 ring = 9 damage, +3 from Flytrap +2 vs undead
Def: 3 base + 5 armor + 1 ability + 1 ring = 10, +3+1 shield if not attacking
Botanya: Bat armour, Magma shield, pipes (5/8). Pet: None (Flytrap)
Rings: +1 Def
Def: 2 base + 2 armor + 3 shield + 1 ring = 8.
Lohk: Lohk’s Cane, Wand of fireball, corn spear, potion bandolier. (4/5) Pet: Pack Mule
Rings: +1 Atk, +1 Atk
Melee: 1 base + 2 weapon + 2 ring = 5 damage +2 vs undead
Ranged: 2 ice at-will, lots of fireballs (2 wand and 1 cane with Wand Proficiency, and 3 Channel)
Def: 1 base + 1 weapon = 2
Reasoning:
Lohk’s at-will ranged attack might not be ignored by undead, and she can use Fireball quite a few times for sniping. She definitely shouldn’t be in melee combat though without Interpose, and we’d need to burn a turn on equipment swapping (helped by the mule) if we want her to back Ricki up in a small-only area. Extra healing might also be helpful against infection.
Lohk’s starting potion fits neatly into the bandolier.
Lohk also definitely knows about the last zombie plague, which might give better intel.
A setup to:
– Avoid repeating a common mistake pointed out by the DM in King Marth’s stream notes
– Bring Cordy, who is too good for our economy to pass on.
Detailed reasonings at bottom.
We have 19 gp (14 in Ricki’s Purse, 5 in Manor from Labor)
Sell (Shopping adapted from existing plans from Sick and King Marth):
4x Shields: 40 gp (Shields seem to not be rare as far as dungeon loot goes, and we have Heavy Shields.)
Crossbow: 12.5 gp (We’re already not using the Double Crossbow, which is a direct upgrade to this)
Cowlwear: 7.5 gp (Cleanly rounds out the half gold from the Crossbow. We have a spare Cowlwear so we wont need the 2nd one.)
Arrow x1: 1gp (Top off our cash to 80gp)
This leaves 80gp.
20gp Pack Mule: More carrying space is more loot, provided it survives.
50gp Covered Balcony: Same as King Marth, plus the fact that character rooms give them an extra buff as we just saw last page.
10gp Dead Drop: Same reason as everyone else
Party: Ricki, Kamau, Botanya, Cordy.
Ricki: Shocking swiftblade, wand of fireball, Magma shield, purse, thieves’ tools. Pet: Medium Mushroom
Rings: +1 Atk, +1 Atk
Kamau: Hilt, plate armour, heavy shield, owlbear cowlwear. Pet: None
Rings: +1 Def, +2 Atk
Botanya: Potion bandolier, pipes. Pet: Pack Mule
Rings: +1 Def
Cordy: Helmet. Pet: None
Rings: +1 Atk, +2 Atk
Reasoning:
Bringing Kamau and Botanya for the same reasons as everyone. Standard loadout on Kamau, while maxing non-attack actions on Botanya(piping, grabing loot, feeding potions, etc)
Cordy is important to bring, since he generate permanent passive income. 5 extra labor cost close to 50gp in manor upgrades. And manor upgrades have powerful hidden bonuses on top of their noted benefits in the manor page so we really want to prioritise our income to get them. Finaly, labor is at its most valuable early on; I do want to grow Phoenix eventually, but it’s best to do that after we’re good on gp.
Even in a tomb, there will be non-undead enemies like rats or spiders to make mushrooms from.
On top of that, Cordy is a powerful combatant in his own right thanks to his 4 pet slots.
Following the DM’s recommandation, we bring less armor this time.
A tomb will have plenty of armor around, even if rusty, so only Kamau is fully decked out. We’re worried about zombie plague bites so we’ll be interposing a lot at first anyway. Nonetheless, I’m still giving Ricki 5 def to start out with just in case of traps or whatnot.
I wonder if eventually, if we max out characters’ trust with Ricki, we’ll get some neat character story related dungeons, with the risk being that they’re extremely hard dungeons but the reward being that we can eliminate the negative traits of the character, so like healing Kamau’s trauma where he doesn’t keep leaving when his allies get hurt too much or curing Lara’s spider curse.
A thing called a bond dungeon has been hinted at. We also know that maxing bond on a character results in a large buff to them, and at least for the first character that we max bond on, for Ricki. Unclear what that buff is, but many of us have speculated it’s related to removing negative effects.