Twilight perked her head up when she heard steps coming out of the darkness. A smile split her features when she spied Spike and Soft on the way. "Already done? Why are you still holding your...?"
Spike waved a claw at her, "Nah, we figured we'd eat out here, with our friend." He soon set himself down beside Twilight's reclined form, and Soft joined him.
They resumed eating and chatted idly for a few minutes before Soft pointed at Spike, "Alright, real talk. I don't want to be strung along forever, you know, like... you and Rarity. Are you," she rolled a hand in the air, "interested? Or was there something else behind that hug and I'm way blowing this out of proportion?"
Spike went red, even if it was hard for Soft to see in the dim light. "Oh, well..."
Twilight spoke up, "He is in love with you wildly."
"Twilight!" gasped out Spike, "I thought it was a secret!"
Twilight shook her head, "Oh, Sorry... I mean, I think? It just felt like the right thing to do." She frowned, looking thoughtful.
Soft shuffled a little closer, "Is it true?" She reached for one of his claws, wrapping her fingers around it gently, "Tell me."
Spike swallowed heavily before the faintest of nods escaped from him.
Soft leaned in all the closer. Her breath smelled a bit of clover and mint, "Tell me, with your words."
Spike nodded more firmly and marshaled his courage. "Soft Mane, I really... like you. I'm... willing to give this a chance, a real chance."
Soft knocked Spike over into the dirt as she tackled him and hugged his prone form. She said nothing, but the fierceness of her hug and the few drops of moisture said more than Spike needed to know. He returned her embrace and they hugged together in the dark of the night, with Twilight looking on with a quiet smile.
After the sun had risen, and the plates returned, the party was ready to head out, supplied and rested. Before they departed, they stopped by the merchant's square to pick up some clothes. Soft spoke as they approached, "Nothing at all, or a hat, might be good enough in Equestria, but you'll get more than a few nasty glares if you walk into a city flaunting what you have."
"Ahm not flaunting," said Applejack with a blush.
Despite her objection, it wasn't long before they had Applejack in a reasonably fitting set of explorer's clothes, with a shirt for her front end, pants fit for a pony, and a belt round the middle. They also came with hoof coverings to spare hooves on long journeys from sharp objects.
Rainbow was not spared, corralled into the selection of clothes. She pointed a hoof at Spike, "If I have to wear something, I'll wear that. That looks like it's made for kicking tail in." Her wish was soon granted as they found something about her size. Neither outfit was perfect, being bought 'off the rack', but they were good enough to not get in the way and provide modesty to the two mares.
The trade road was as easy to find as promised, a twin set of lines heading away from the town with many other paw and hoof prints all along. They made good time, hiking through the wilderness, until an arrow went flying through Twilight's head to crash against a rock behind her.
"Ow!" yelped Twilight in surprise, a hoof quickly raising to rub her sore noggin, "That hurt!"
"How does an arrow go hurtin' a ghost?" asked Applejack even as she spun in place, looking for the source of the projectile.
"I got this!" cried Rainbow just before she took off into the underbrush, and the sounds of a struggle became clear. Applejack quickly ejected Soft Mane to her feet then galloped off after Rainbow.
A fresh wave of arrows began to rain down from the direction Rainbow had fled. Each individual arrow was actually relatively small, but this didn't erase the pain of them jabbing into Applejack's barrel and withers. One shattered on Soft Mane's stout armor as several failed to find purchase on Spike's toughened scales. Spike threw himself on Soft, covering her with himself and throwing her prone.
Twilight gave an otherworldly snarl before she zipped into the fray, phasing through the brush like it wasn't there to reveal Rainbow in heated combat with about a dozen small green humanoids with equally small weapons. They had Rainbow surrounded and were inflicting scores of tiny bludgeons with their little maces. She lashed out at them, but they were working as a team, keeping her strikes confused and off mark. "Stay still why doncha!" complained Rainbow as she struggled.
Applejack arrived at the rumble and spun around in place. With a sharp flick of her powerful hindlegs, she sent one of the varmints flying several feet away in a pile, "That's what ya get for messing with ma friends!"
Twilight seethed with fury. With an angry toss of her head, four of the attackers were flung violently against nearby trees, knocking the wind from them, "Get away from my friends!"
The next volley of arrows erupted from overhead, where apparently more of the humanoids lurked with bows. They focused fire on Twilight, and most of the arrows passed through her harmlessly, but then there was that one that made her flinch, bringing her attention to the canopy.
Spike came in with his supernatural speed, crashing into one of the small assailants harassing Rainbow Dash and driving a claw through its midsection entirely. "Focus on one at a time! They're trying to confuse you."
"Yea, one at a time," said Rainbow Dash, picking one from the crowd and coming down on it with both forehooves. It crumpled beneath her satisfyingly and she laughed, "Yea!"
Applejack was a more methodic warrior, lashing out at one at a time from the start and doing a fair job of removing one with every double hoofed power buck she pulled off. "They're more intimidatin' than effective when ya get down ta it."
Arrows rained down in a volley. Instead of focusing on Twilight, they rained on the melee combatants, several finding their marks in Rainbow and Applejack's hides as they grunted in pain. Twilight was beyond incensed, and it showed in her form as it deformed with her fury into a hollow mockery of her normally soft and smiling self. She propelled herself upwards into that canopy high above the others while shouting, "Get away from them!" The shout chilled the archers to their little bones and they began to flee in a panic in all directions. A few held their positions, either too brave or too stupid to flee the enraged ghost.
They fired at Twilight, causing that flinch of pain in her. She raised a hoof and the canopy lit up with a powerful line of electricity that caught one of the archers firing at her and several others that were fleeing away. "You had your chance. Now, you die," she announced coldly as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground from the treetops.
"Watch this," declared Rainbow as she lashed out with each hoof, catching and breaking one of her little attackers with every swing but the last, "Shoot. Three out of four aint bad."
"Reckon it ain't," agreed Applejack as she crushed the missed one, "That's the last of 'em down here." She turned her gaze upwards, where flashes of deadly magic could be seen through the leaves, "Twi's really going at it."
Soft Mane had caught up with the others. Her soothing touches and prayers did much to ease the stinging wounds. A few of the arrows were pushed out by the magic, to fall to the ground harmlessly. Though there were still aches and soreness to go around, none were bleeding.
Spike had scarcely taken a few scratches and flew straight up to assist Twilight. When he arrived, he saw that most of the small creatures were dead, and Twilight was chasing the last one through the branches. "Uh, Twi? I think it's done fighting."
Twilight pounced on the last one, smothering it in her hateful form. Its little squeal quickly weakened before it fell to the ground, a withered husk. Twilight seemed to heave in place, looking around for more of them to destroy before she finally took notice of Spike. "Spike? Are they all gone?"
Spike nodded, "They're all... gone, you can relax, Twilight. Everyone's OK."
Twilight began to return to her usual visage, smiling, "Oh, that's good." She drifted down towards the others as if nothing had happened. Spike was slower to follow, looking quite uncertain. Below, Soft Mane was wandering around, picking up some of the weapons. Two of the little maces and one of the bows caught her eye and she brought them to Applejack, stuffing them in her saddlebags.
"What's so special 'bout these?" asked Applejack, "Why not take all of 'em?"
"One," said Soft Mane, "They'd get too heavy. Two, those are the ones that are magic."
"Ah ha!" exclaimed Twilight, "No wonder they hurt. Magic weapons can hurt ghosts, a little."
Soft Mane nodded in agreement, "Check them for coins everyone."
Rainbow and Applejack were not eager to rifle through the corpses, but Spike and Soft made quick work of it. Twilight could do little but flip them upside down and shake, hoping coins would fall out. In the end they had a collection of small gems, a pile of copper coins, and a handful of silver coins. Soft instructed, "The weapons will make this detour worthwhile. Magic weapons are worth a lot, even little ones."
They returned to the road and resumed their journey towards the capital. Rainbow soared along over the others, alongside Spike, "So, is that how things go all the time?"
Soft shrugged, "Goblins? Sometimes. They like ambushing travelers. At least it wasn't a whole gnoll pack, or an orc war party."
Spike made a face of distaste, "Ugh. That's what we ran into when we first came here, Twilight and I. A bunch of ugly orcs. I wasn't so good at fighting like a dragon and they caught us both after a good tail whooping."
Applejack looked up towards Spike as she trotted, "So what'd you do 'bout that?"
Spike snorted, "Me? Not much. This nice pony showed up and bought us both from the orcs and took us to a big city called Kadiston. That's where we learned how to fight."
Rainbow snorted and began to laugh, "He bought you? You belonged to him? Does he still own you?"
Twilight shook her head, "He released us as soon as we reached the guild. He was a stallion of his word, and we owe a lot to him."
The tales of their exploits continued to be shared as they hiked through the grass lands. It was several days journey, as promised, but they were not subjected to a second ambush. It gave plenty of time to catch up the girls on what had happened during their last visit, and to give some advice on dealing with Everglow. When Viljatown came into view, it was late afternoon. They picked up their pace into a hustle, eager to return to civilization.
As they approached the gate, a mare in armor approached them, a long sword strapped to her side and wearing the crest of Queen Iliana on her chest.
First!
Sorry, I had to do that at least once.
Did you mean "...,holding a long sword and wearing the crest..." or did you mean that she is a long sword? If it's a title, I think it should be capitalized.
"Worthwhile" is one word, Soft.
Also, I had a flashback to the episode "Green Isn't Your Color" when Twilight blurted out Spike's feelings for Soft. Was that supposed to be a shout-out?
Slightly redundant. I think "looking on" or just "watching" would be better.
This might be better as two sentences:
"They had Rainbow surrounded and were inflicting scores of tiny bludgeons with their little maces. She lashed out at them, but they were working as a team, keeping her strikes confused and off mark."
Double space after Rainbow
That's racist
5665661 I noticed that too. Twi should dunk her head in a potted plant.
"Ain't" is missing its apostrophe. Also, there's an unneeded space between the "one" and the comma.
Woo! Everything's turning up roses, now. Spike and Soft Mane look like they're going well. Rainbow and Applejack are conforming to Everglow pretty well, and they're cutting their teeth on Everglow adventure.
Except that Twilight is a terrifying wraith-thing. That's still not goin well.
Twilight is going to have to be really careful, she is enjoying the necromancer too much there.
AJ is going to be the Paladin Tank? For soft Manes god, or another?
Im getting confused between Character level, skill level, spell level, etc. As in, If I was a Character Level 2 alchemist, with Skill level 10 in craft magic item, such as bomb, It means I only have Craft Level 2 at most, but I have an even chance of rolling d20+10 a masterwork item, and a decent chance of getting an epic effect?
5665721 Hopefully Twilight will find help soon. Maybe.
5665680 Fixed!
5665726 Your question about levels confuses me? Which character are you asking about? I've kept their sheets updated and posted, along with their skills.
5665669 Double spaced rainbow? What does it mean?
5665653 Soft is sorry...
And so we see the dark side of the unfulfilled. Twilight is operating wholly on friendship, and that means doing what she thinks is best for her friends, for good and for ill. Blunt honesty, merciless loyalty, and not a jot of kindness for those who would threaten them.
Also, AJ and Dash get their first taste of one of the more distasteful aspects of adventuring. Hey, it's not like they're going to need their gear anymore.
I get the distinct feeling that the mare with the sword isn't going to be the most understanding pony when it comes to Twilight's predicament.
Those footballs with teeth did a real number on one sentence:
This isn't a complete sentence as is, since "being" is an infinitive. Also, what's there is in passive voice and weirdly constructed.
5665735 I meant there is a double space after Rainbow and there shouldn't be.
5665757 Those little nerf herders! The sentence has been rushed off for immediate first aid.
Twilight struggles against her new nature, surely. At least her destiny keeps it easy for her to remain close to her friends.
5665734
Sorry, I dont know where the current story character sheets are posted, I suspect Ive either lost the link, or it went through some social media site which I tend to avoid.
The character level question was just for trying to understand about the system, what not to do that leads to breaking things such as the apparent possibility of +20 skills at character level 8?
5665771 I was making a joke, badly.
5665788 You can only have, at most, as many ranks in a skill as your level. So, at level 8, you can have, at most, 8 ranks in a skill. Of course, your stat could increase or decrease the end result, as well as masterwork tools and other such.
I can just picture Twilight floats into the Queen's throne room as a ghost and Iliana just says, "so, how did it go?"
5665789 It's hard to tell if someone's joking when you can't hear their voice or see their face. (And I suppose my profile picture makes me look like I have no sense of humor )
5665819 But you can see my adorable face, or at least Rough Draft's adorable face. Look at him writing, always writing. He does it because he loves you.
5665831 It's a good thing I wasn't drinking when I read that comment.
Speaking of rough drafts, are you writing these chapters and then immediately publishing them? If you are, I am very impressed by the relatively small number of typos and weird sentences. I've seen stories that have a similar amount of errors after being reviewed by four people.
5665858 I type type type and mash that publish button. I do some internal editing when my eyes catch something, and they catch... most? of it, but some gets through, but I'm in it to do it. Picking forever at my own stuff is a good way to not finish writing.
Going up against a party with paladins and holy warriors protected by ghosts is probably one of the more scary things you can come across as a bandit or outlaw.
5666038 They don't have any paladins at the moment, but they do have a ghost, and a low level oracle. No one said goblins were very smart.
5666044 Oh my gosh add the dragon, and that pretty makes the goblin attack a suicide mission, with only a .00001% chance of success. They'd need to roll all 20's Even then, I doubt they'd have much chance stopping the ghost.
5666054 Twilight could have devoured all their souls on her own, yes. Spike was also outclassing them by an extremely unfair amount.
5665726
AJ's a Fighter in this story. So is Rainbow, albeit with an archetype. I side more with Ms Palette than Mr. Silver on the subject of the Mane Six's character classes in Pathfinder, but it doesn't really matter. You can find a link to a document compiling all of Mr. Silver's character sheets in this chapter.
"Class level" is equal to the number of levels a character has in a particular character class, be it PC class, NPC class, or prestige class. "Character level" is equal to the total number of class levels a character has. A character with 1 level in Fighter, 5 levels in Wizard, and 2 levels in Eldritch Knight would have a character level of 8.
There is no such thing as "skill level." The terms you want are "skill bonus," "skill rank," and "skill point." Each level, a character gets a pool of skill points they can spend to gain skill ranks. How large this pool is depends on the class they take and their Intelligence modifier. A character with 14 Intelligence who takes a level of Rogue would gain 10 skill points (11 if they were human or applied their favored class bonus to skill points; 12 if they were human and applied their favored class bonus to skill points). As Mr. Silver points out, supra, a character can buy as many skill ranks in a given skill as he has character levels. Assuming our Rogue just gained his 8th character level, he could have as many as 8 ranks in any given skill. That means he could put 1 rank in a skill in which he previously had 7 ranks, or put 8 ranks in a skill in which he previously had 0 ranks, or anything in between. A character's skill bonus is the modifier applied to the d20 roll made to determine if a character succeeds or fails at the skill attempt (itself called a "skill check"). It is equal to a character's skill rank plus the appropriate ability score modifier plus any other applicable modifiers including from favorable conditions, feats, help, equipment, or magic items. If a character gains a skill as a "class skill" from his class levels, and puts ranks in it, he applies an additional +3 bonus to his checks with that skill.
In your case, a character with 2 Alchemist levels and (I'm assuming from your numbers) 20 Intelligence would be able to have a Spellcraft rank of 2 and a Spellcraft bonus of +10 before other modifiers. There is no skill called "Craft Magic Item;" when crafting magic items, characters normally use the "Spellcraft" skill, but can use other skills where appropriate. For example, a character may use Craft (alchemy) to make the check to brew a potion, or Craft (weapons) to forge a magic sword. In order to make magic items at all, a character must have the appropriate feat. Alchemists get Brew Potion for free. I'm pretty sure Alchemists can't take the other item creation feats, because they don't technically gain a caster level, but that's a whole other ball of wax.
Yes, if you attempt to craft an item with the Craft skill, pay the requisite gold, and your total roll is higher than 20, that item will be a masterwork item. But that item will not be "epic" in any way I understand it; the Craft skill has no way of creating such an item. Nor do you, as an Alchemist, use the Craft skill to create your bombs. You get them as a class feature. If you wanted to craft something like dynamite, that would require the Craft (alchemy) skill. Because you're almost certainly working as an independent inventor rather than mixing up a formula someone's already figured out (or if they have, you don't have access to it), it would probably take multiple checks spread out over a period of time, each with a DC [difficulty] of 25 or 30.
"Spell Level" is a rough indicator of the power of a given spell. It determines which spell slots characters must use to prepare and/or cast spells. Each spellcasting class is printed with a table that shows the character levels at which spell slots of new levels become available. For example, a sorcerer gains 1st-level spell slots at level 1, 2nd-level spell slots at level 4, 3rd-level spell slots at level 6, etc. "Caster level" is a different beast entirely, which I'm going to explain even if you didn't mention it. It is equal to a character's class level in a specific spellcasting class, plus his level in any class that advances that class's casting. For example, a Cleric 3/Wizard 3 would have a Cleric caster level of 3 and a Wizard caster level of 3. A Cleric 3/Wizard 3/Mystic Theurge 2 would have a Cleric caster level of 5 and a Wizard caster level of 5. However, a Cleric 3/Wizard 3/Mystic Theurge 2/Bloatmage 1 would have a Cleric caster level of 5 and a Wizard caster level of 6.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that you are far from the only one confused and annoyed by all this.
5665672 That would kill the poor plant!
The Empress will probably try to convince Twilight to stay a ghost. She's so much more useful as a ghost. She still has her class levels and everything! And 10000gp diamonds don't grow on trees, except in Equestria. They really should have bought the giant diamond they'll need there.
5666228
Resurrection does not specify that the material component must be single diamond. It could be a single diamond, multiple smaller diamonds, or diamond dust, so long as it is diamond and worth 10,000 gp. Even if the spell did require a single diamond, however, Iliana could just send them to the Elemental Plane of Earth to acquire such a gem.
5666193
Thank you very much for your concise, detailed, and very informative description of one of the more complex parts of the Finder systems.
Im now thinking about possibly printing it out and clipping it to a deely bopper dangling from the monitor for reference and cat annoying.
5666360
Happy to help
5666044
They're actually smarter than most of the pre generated generic humans.
So i assume dash is going to be killed soon because she keeps rushing into fights........ALONE! or at least get her ass handed to her
Stupid goblins, how dare they tamper with Dash's awesomeness.
9407664
Fixed, oh god, early writing... The saidisms, everywhere. x_x