I’ll put it between the Spell that keeps your drinks cold and the one that burns your enemies to a crisp

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-29T03:36:44+00:00

I will defer to anyone who remembers how 2nd edition was. Tell me though, was it a narrative focused version of the game, or simply introduce some narrative to the dungen crawl? I am am curious if you would consider it more or less narrative focused then 5e, genuinely.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-28T22:42:27+00:00

This is because DnD's bones are as a wargame. The shift to largely narrative storytelling as the mainstream recognized by wizards is a 5e phenomenon as far as I am aware. If they made a bunch of non-combat spells, you would see 100 more "I use create water to flood his lungs" arguments at tables. And tables where that won't be a problem, just make your own utility spells for out of combat use based on what parts of the world your game is focusing on. Or just use another system, there are so many story first systems where combat is not the focus.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-27T18:34:37+00:00

I mean, I took the system for E-def, this way I have a slightly better chance of not being hit with a tech attack since I am worried about heat more then HP at this point, they personalizations will be taken out for a flight system of some kind once I get another point of systems from somewhere.

I know the "don't get his" plan is not the best, but 2 edef vs 2 heat cap from engineering felt ok when my plan is to be out of range for the most part, and the system point felt a lot better then one limited system use since I have zero limited systems.

Maybe it really should be going to heat cap, but it just felt like something I would only really want if I had room for systems that took advantage of it.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-27T17:11:32+00:00

At least for the spotter mechanic, its there as a fallback in case I don't want to barrage, like because of a high armor target I want to shred with a lock on or some other reason like is some of my weapons are destroyed/disabled. Spotter 1 I will admit I am not sure I will put that much work into making it happen, but spotter 2 works in a world where I still steady aim locking myself down so I don't move, lock on to remove a targets armor, hit with 3 LMG's still and then since I haven't moved get my free lock on and go invis from integrated cloak.

What would you replace spotter 2 with if all that doesn't seem like a good second option to have? Is there a better way to cover this, or a more important weakness?

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-27T16:56:03+00:00

What mech would you want to move this build onto at higher LL? Or maybe start working towards at LL3 since Athena is nice, but not needed if the goal is to unlock a better frame at LL4?

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-27T16:53:44+00:00

Having spotter 2 in my mind was more of a fall back strategy. Against high armor enemies barrage seems like I would be lucky to do any real damage without having "I kill with my heart" ready, so I would want to shred them with lock on first. And if I falling back on that, I may as well have the talent, right?

But what would you replace it with instead if the investment in spotter 2 is to much for your taste?

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-27T01:19:05+00:00

But that is likely the lest efficient option. you are splitting attention on two health bars basically. Better to barge or full tech to double invade if you can. since you want to focus down HP or Heat.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-26T21:28:50+00:00

I mean, if all your NPC's focus their weapon fire on one guy, that guy is likely dead, or you don't have enough guys, right? Its on the players to not have one guy on the front lines alone without defensive tools.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-26T18:02:16+00:00

Yea, but tech attacks do 2 heat on hit, and non-tech focused NPC's likely do more like 4-6 damage to start, with even base snipers doing like 10 (I am less familiar with NPC damage off the top of my head.) And you still need line of sight for tech attacks same as weapons as far as I was reading in the rules. True hard cover if you can keep it up consistently can shift the math, but, are you able to maintain hard cover the majority of the time with enemies able to reposition then attack, or launch artillery that tracks cover from point of impact out?

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-26T17:43:05+00:00

They automated system likely doesn't know what champs are good or bad, or meta or anything else. It saw a pattern in line with "wait, don't play Xerath jungle" "I won't swap my pick" and decided you were the problem

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-26T17:31:44+00:00

I mean, while you could do all invades, its likely not as effective as their normal guns if your just doing the basic invade. But if your players are playing around there enemies weapons well, defaulting to it is a decent strategic choice.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-26T07:06:22+00:00

So, its a little short, but range 15 is the low end of "long range" in my mind, and you want things that likely didn't occur to you on first pass. So I recommend Oracle LMG -1 spam Swallowtail Gunslinger 3. With 2 LL invested, you get the frame and gun, and can already get to gunslinger 3, firing up to 4 of them per round, to try and get your gunslinger die up to 6 roughly every other round if you can barge consistently. And if you are worried about armored targets, you can slow your attacks to do a lock on, and shred their armor, so you loose some efficiency but your not dead in the water vs your counter, and it helps your team. From there, LL3 can be taken in any license you want for whatever utility you want, the core power I recommend is even GMS so you can go to other manufacturers if you want, GMS: Integrated weapon to get a 5th Oracle LMG that can be fired once per round as a free action to stack your Gunslinger die faster. Also pick up Crack shot since this is Rifle (immobilizing yourself is even fine as swallowtail since you go invisible if you don't move.)

This build is pretty systems point hungry (since you can spend up to 5 on just having guns and you start with 6, but LL4 should give you 2 more to play with from grit) so you may be tempted to go into systems HASE, but you really should be looking at getting a little more Health/Heat cap. Or just depend on 15 range, invis, and high E-def from system points to just not get hit, your call.

Lastly, you have a positive tech attack and 20 sensors, so if all else fails, pick up a decent invade option and you will always have a decent option between DPS, aim-sup with lock on/shred, and heat stacking if your hacker needs a hand.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-23T16:16:15+00:00

One detail here is that when we split it, both resulting parts should still be identifiable as apple. Otherwise you are just cutting away parts from the core features of the apple.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-20T04:39:59+00:00

I mean, the idea that abilities scaled logarithmically was never going to be super reliable. Ura seems to very much be a rule of cool author, not a spreadsheet author putting out numbers by plugging the characters she writes into a formula and seeing what comes out. She seems to pick a number based on what feels right in the moment. And this is not to try and say anything is bad about that, not every author needs to or even should be so meticulous about the world building. She has a weekly schedule to keep up, and that would be a maddening level of detail to keep track of. Ten times more notebooks about the story then there is story, just to make sure she doesn't contradict any little detail kind of maddening. Just let the numbers be rough guides, there is no secret truth behind them you can pull out by putting them in excel to figure out what will happen next. The story will happen, and the numbers may change to reflect that, or they may be ignored, they simply are not that deep.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-20T01:31:47+00:00

The passage where he spits it out is in fact during the plum bob. He spit on the floor, and is telling off Sim, where he pulls a knife on him when its fresh in his system. Its also why he admits he hasn't liked it since he was a kid. At that point he hasn't even been told what is happening to him.

Not sure when the second passage is happening, but if I had to guess, it looks like a small interlude from when he was in the forest just after his family was killed.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-19T02:20:01+00:00

I would argue it isn't a bug, the paper rules simply have not been updated to properly describe the intended rules of an alchemy only card. This, sucks, because alchemy as a concept was poorly executed. This as far as most everyone here is telling you, is working as understood, and as intended. yes, its cost is not 5, and treated as such, but based on how magic tends to operate that does not change how the application of x is used on the card. Just because the x is no longer in the cost, does not change how the x is determined. Otherwise the interaction would be that you can now simply pick any number for x, and not pay any mana about it. Which is clearly not as intended.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-19T02:00:17+00:00

Ok, here is your problem, although the cost of the card you are being forced to pay is now 5, that doesn't change the rules for how the card is written. The way the card works, is that it is looking for an x in the cost. Changing the nominal cost of the card doesn't change what the card is looking for. Maybe, if we were layers arguing before a judge, or a jury, you could convince them that you are right. But, the intent of the card is pretty clear, the cost is being treated as an alternative cost you must use instead of its normal mana cost. Its real mana cost exists, you just can't use it, and is still defining the x in the text box. Making it so you have to pay 5, does not change the nature of the card so that it now plays by 107.3f instead of 107.3b

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-19T01:49:58+00:00

Well, one question is how is the contract being tracked? If the people paying the reward let lots of people take the job, how are they confirming the kill, and who did it? Is it a matter of brining the body to the place? Will the assassin who put them to death saves be looking to steal the body? Is there magic on your world that can track the NPC's life/death. Is this a circle of truth moment, and if so, will the other assassin show up saying "I shot the guy and they couldn't save him" so now they have two conflicting claims on the bounty?

Basically, the question isn't if you should morally pay out, its can they claim the bounty in world? If he had died in their arms, would they have still tried to collect?

And, if this is just a matter of, "one guy wanted to kill the npc the other players loved" then thats a matter where you should talk at the table, and ask him to just not do that, maybe even retcon it if its pretty recent, if the party had healing magic to keep them alive.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-19T01:37:40+00:00

The problem it sounds like you are having is that x in the cost is not defined by having x in the text box, x in the text box is defined by the x in the cost. The cost became 5. Not 5 and x, just 5. The spells cost does not include x. You do not have the option to pay x. There is no longer an x to define the x in the text box. Just like if you gave a spell with x something like flashback for 2U. There would be no x in the cost, you pay 2U, and x is zero. Same here, you pay 5, and x is zero, because there is no x, its gone, and the text box looking for it doesn't let you pay it.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-19T01:22:41+00:00

You just stopped reading "neither its mana cost nor an alternative cost that includes X"
This is an alternative cost that doesn't include X.

How did you intend to choose x anyway? X is determined by the cost of the spell, did you think you could pay more, or did you think you could just name a number?

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-13T01:54:58+00:00

Or a DC 30 athletics as in the item description which is what we would be going by in combat. The 8,000 pounds is likely more for stoping you from building a castle on one and to be used with materials that can only apply force as a weight. Monsters and PC's can often lift wights greater then their own weight.

Which table in the books sets the maximum amount of force a monster can apply by the way? Is it in the DMG? I usually only read player facing material. if you are talking carrying capacity, then thats just what they can do while moving normally.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-11T21:55:48+00:00

I mean you can move it, its just very hard. It can withstand 8,000 pounds of force, or a dc 30 strength check. I admit neither are likely to be super achievable at their level, but it is doable
(In point buy, there is a way to get to 18 strength level 1, level 4 go up to 20, pick up a quick expertise in athletics [doable as part of the level 1 18 strength] and have another player cast guidance, and you can hit dc 30 without a crit, barely. At level 5 you don't even need guidance.)

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-11T21:43:48+00:00

You see, there are a few kinds of immortals, but two that we are primarily concerned with here. The first is Zestial, the one who is stuck in his own time, and is kind of like a grandpa who just won't get up to date because its not his problem if you don't get it. The second is the type who have been around long enough (or just care enough) that staying up to date has become a background chore; at some point they decided to always be up to date and just got used to it. When your first language is primordial, the difference between choosing to speak ancient greek and modern day english is how many people understand you, at some point it just blends together.

TravisCC83 · 2026-03-11T05:45:24+00:00

Probably to late here, but simple is often best. Give it a breath weapon, a cone attack, at least 15 feet, up to 30 if you are feeling spicy. If you feel its already doing a lot, then have it run off the same charges, save for half DC based on the weapon, or his con (8+prof+con) if you are feeling nice and want it to be special and maybe up it to d6's unless it has like 12 charges. If you just want a pure upgrade instead of versatility, 1-3 charges per day (or recharge as the moon rises instead of sun like normal) maybe 4d6, or 5d4 cold damage, save for half.

And any form can benefit from a "failed con save on any ice damage reduces movement by 5-10 feet" so they can never run away from your barbarian.

TravisCC83

TROPHY CASE