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Topics - Pentaxius

#1
I'll be there with some friends.

Curious if any EFU'ers will be there for the party, too.
#2
It's been a terrific year for me playing EFU. There is nothing out there like this game and its wonderful community. Alas, I've been running out of time (and funding) and I need to wrap up my PhD thesis. This means I can't be daydreaming EFU at work, chatting you folks all afternoon on IRC, and spending my time plotting my next drama. I can't help but put my soul into this game.

I've accomplished far more than I could ever have hoped on this PC. It's been a sick ride, and I got too many people to thank for it! I'll be back at some point, and you bet I'm looking forward to it.


Piss and Pox EFU, and rock on!


Quote

Vyrgil Vendelstalh was an anti-agent. An inhuman villain with a human side. A man of many contradictions and plentiful flaws. On the outside, he was a crude and callous alcoholic. On the inside, he was a lonely man, struck with grief and bitterness.

He had very simple goals.


Rise to the height of political power
Become the greatest "scholar" by fraudulent means
Become unrivaled in the Art.

All for a single purpose

To found a dynasty of privileged heirs, to carry the name and endure the test of time.

He put the utmost trust into his "family" - and hated everyone else. How surprising that he would be betrayed time and time again by those closest to him. Perhaps, it was a bit his fault. The idea was to portray the most authoritarian an abusive father figure imaginable, balanced by unwavering loyalty and a propensity to dispense undue favours. And it was amazing, and led to fantastic stories, from Daro to Cavanac to Cousin Reman to Rebecca to Elizabeth to Elaine to ghost daughter Vyrginia! These were my favorite moments with Vyrgil, and amongst my favorite of all time in EFU.

The book plot was interesting. I did enjoy copying all these books, and coercing other PCs into writing more and more books to satiate his petty scholarly ego. In the end I probably spent far too much time perfecting forum material and copy-pasting other people's stuff. But it was a worthy ride. I can't thank the people who went along enough. Writing a forum pseudo-book for someone else is an effortful thing. I'm amazed so many of you went with it. A real testament to the devotion of our players! (except you, Moony. You still owe me a book!)

Vyrgil had a perpetual conflict with WAW, more so than with other factions. Under his tenure, the Watchers and Warders would be perpetually divided. Vyrgil was an abusive, demeaning overlord who stepped on the toes of just about everyone. This lead to an incredibly tense and cloak and dagger atmosphere, with Investigators busy collecting evidence for all of Vyrgil's acts of corruption and murder. It all culminated in an internal tribunal, where thankfully - the dead can't speak.

And then there were a plethora of other things. And this is Agent life. You become tied up in a zillion little things. But I think, it makes it even more important to remain focused on personal things - because the risk of spreading one's attention too thinly is a very real one! It's easy to become an archetype of an Agent by trying to Marie Sue it, and dilute one's character - losing track of what really matters in the process.

I think it was ultimately this character that made me realize just how sweet defeat could be, and how enjoyable it is to "set yourself up" for a good whooping. Flawed is beautiful.

Background
Vyrgil Vendelstalh was born to a physician of Old port who held daring repute. He was amongst the few who scoured the shores of Ymph in search of the fable cure that would wash away the Maiden's embrace, leaving everything behind in search for his cure for the masses!

The neglect of his father caused a profound family crisis. Vyrgil's mother had to "work the docks" while his sister died of the pox at a young age. All while his idealistic progenitor was away - unknowing of the family's tragic ruin - pursuing some fleeting vision of relief for the have-nots.

When his father returned, he was too ill to pursue his quest, or to care for his family. Soon, he felt the maiden's grip coiled around his ailing soul. Before the fever took him, he whispered words unspeakable to his eleven-year old Son.

"Vyr-Vyrgil, the dagger..."

There are some who would forgive, and carry the burden of their father to pursue with thricefold fervor what remains unfinished. To abandon themselves in the names of others - to walk the martyr's path. And then there are others.

Vyrgil grew up to become a petty, fearful man. Terrified of disease, curses, and "miasma," he shut himself into an ivory tower, and became a peddler of snake-oil amongst the Upper class of Old-Port; Conning minor barons and wealthy merchant in believing his famed father had found a miraculous remedy.

Most of all, he never forgave his father for abandoning the family.

Synopsis
The overarching theme was that of decadence, bitter entitlement, and grief. Bitter entitlement because of all his victories for the Spellguard, and the lack of recognition he felt as a result. Grief would come as a consequence of his failed attempt at uniting a perfect family - and the untimely death and betrayals of beloved children.

Food, wine, and orgiac gatherings in the Red Lantern were his coping mechanism at first. Slowly but surely, he turned into a morbidly fat alcoholic. The wine would dull his pain every morning - so he could go about his miserable existence for one more day at a time. Vyrgil kept on drinking despite knowing it would be his undoing. He did listen to the counsel of others, and tried to pick up hobbies beyond the self-destruction he was inflicting upon himself.

So he picked up painting. And he became obsessed with depicting his ideal family. The happy Vendelstalhs - with him, sitting as patriarch of this lucky bunch. As time flew by, he remained more and more cloistered in the Tower, with less and less interest in the world - he spent his time painting and drinking, to heal the wounds.

But healing never came. At some point, the grief felt over the loss of his lost daughter Vyrginia culminated into a delirium. His child was alive. Somewhere, beyond the veil. Speaking to his father during his delirious drinking sessions in his room. In truth, she was but a lock of hair in a wooden box. But she was alive, she was something he could hold onto.

Then she was taken away from him, and the box burned and salted by the only being left in existence that he cared for - Elaine Vadrell.

And so his spirit was broken one more time, betrayed one last time. And he kept on drinking. Alone in his room, clinging onto the surreal portraits of his loved ones.

His final relief from this world would come from the inside. His skin turned into a sickly yellow as his liver gave up the struggle. In the darks to follow, he would remain bed-struck, severely ill and woefully ignored by the Reformed Order he so often challenged.

On Eleasis 25rd, he died as he lived.

Alone.


[FONT="][/FONT]

And now, screenshots. I lost a lot of mine when my SSD died. If you have any screenshots worth sharing, please do! Presented in no particular order.

Vyrgil Vendelstalh (Black_Bile)

This character was created on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016 at 04:34:24 AM.
Since creation, this character has logged on and off 378 times.
The character has spent 22 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes, and 42 seconds online.

He was a frequent patron of Intryzz, who never failed to summon him for a show.


He needed his wine poured…


The housing Vaults, what a great experiment.


He had the strangest vallets…


Betrayal was a constant in his life.


Mageduels was his forte, but even then…


He got his arm replaced in an effort to git gud


He oversaw critical directives in the Deep Forges.


He entertained cordial relations with the Exiles.


His son, Daro, had frequent tantrums.


He raised Agents, from cradle to grave.


He hated the law, and loathed tribunals.


And tribunals hated him back.


But some of his apprentices, weren't so bad.


He had many women in his life.


He loved bloodsports.


Many were jealous of his children.


He discussed philosophy


He made many paintings.


He was terrified of these people


He grew quite fond of mindflayers


And rescued quite a few.


But they didn't always love him back in return


He ate people. And his Chef Jacques was a great cook.


He had a rivalry with Operative Miller.


And was always serious while conducting business


He presided over the war council.


And then these guys came in once the hard part was done.



He was fond of conscription, and bathing recruits.


He saw some fight.


Crushed some Thralls


And spent some time in dream world


Mutulakt was his.


He became drunk by victory - but promotion never came...
[FONT="][/FONT]

He held good company in the Lantern. Here, with the Old-Port crew.



And finally, his iconic respirator. Courtesy of our favorite brown snake wrestler.


Rock on EFU. It was a wonderful year, and I'll see you soon.
#3
Replace it with a CON/WIS penalty until reset to represent mourning/weakening. Currently, familiars are only used as pocket spell casting items, or more commonly as locked door openers. The XP penalty at higher levels are simply prohibitive on an OOC level. It doesn't promote "mourning" the death of one's familiar nor associated RP.

It would be cool to lose one's familiar or RP one's familiar in dangerous situations once and a while, or even have wizard familiar competitions! It's just never going to happen with the current rules on familiar death, especially if you consider PVP situation. A lonesome familiar is a perfectly legit target to take down, and even warrants /c hostile all on behalf of the owner in most cases.
#4
Bug Reports / WAW Officers can self-grant favor
July 08, 2016, 12:17:24 PM
WAW officers can reward themselves with the Official's notebook. This should be fixed.
 
#5
I'm not a fan of these medals having powers like keen 1/day and other related stuff. I'd much rather see a unique power which basically just flashes it. Prestige is its own reward.

Attributing medals has been neglected with the lack of a PC director/DMs to oversee majority directorate votes in cases where these medals are obviously deserved as per their description. Removing their magical powers and giving PC officials more levy to interpret the will of the Directorate would remove concerns of "gaming the system".

Numerous times I wanted to give out medals, and I'm not the only one. But its really not readily doable currently, and its not because the prerequisites to earning them aren't met.
#6
If it really must be ~secret~ then simply post a link in your PCN from the letter to NPC forum. Its a great pity that players can no longer follow the stories of others when it comes to their interactions with NPCs. Furthermore, it gives DMs/players less opportunity to share.

I'm especially resentful of this change when I'm not currently playing a PC, and I want to follow stories from the forum.
#7
Suggestions / forum theme color and atmosphere
March 05, 2016, 01:39:17 AM
Is there a way to change the default "white" background used in the purple crystal theme to write new posts? I'd love to have black background like we had on the previous forum version. Let me know if I can adjust some user parameters for this purpose. Its even worst for private messages...

Also the preview version is wildly inaccurate for reasons I don't really understand, it makes it very hard to format forum posts to fit one's vision of how it ought to look :(

 
#8
Suggestions / Protection from Neutrality
September 18, 2015, 12:42:25 PM
I suggest this be implemented as part of protection from alignment. Currently, any shades of neutrality is a overpowered alignment - and I'm not talking for mind-spell users - rather for all and every classes of EFU. Even your bland neutral mercenary has an edge over his LG crusader counterpart, namely +2 deflection AC.

Now, where it becomes crazy is in the case of two casters facing each other. The neutral one benefits from +4 to all his spell DCs, which is the equivalent of +8 to his casting state compared to his CE/LG/LE/CG counterpart.

Neutrality can be a valid, concept-fitting alignment. However, I think it is unfortunate and against the spirit of EFU that such a huge mechanical incentive interferes with such a fundamentally story-driven choice as alignment.

"But you can buy potions of the radical soul"

No, buying potions of the radical soul is a crutch and a poor one. Why? 1. It takes 1 round to use 2. it is short lasting 3. easily dispelled (CL 3).

"But this is hurting druids" - Druids recently benefited from a great buff by the inclusion of all transmutation to their second-tier casting. The fact is, providing an mechanical advantage to team nature through a choice that affects all forms of PC, even non-nature oriented one, is not a good design choice. Now, even if radical soul was implemented as part of PfA, Neutrality would -still- keep its edge, why? Because it will not provide +4 to all spells, merely +2 - for the simple reason that you can't double cast.  

Just my two cents, but this is on top of my balance concerns. Quite frankly, I would also prevent +spell saves from stacking - it's simply too powerful on its own, but compared to the neutrality issue it's a minor problem.





 
#9
Screen Shots & Obituaries / That cranky old man.
September 03, 2015, 10:08:42 PM
QuoteSo it is at last, the coot has met his end. Not without making a few sparks! I enjoyed my EFU break greatly this year, and I'm in debt to all of this wonderful community to whom I owe these blissful moments of EFU grandiosity.

My plan with Albrecht was to explore a facet of lawful good inspired from medieval theology, namely Puritanism. As a devout of Siamorphe, his main goal was to restore nobility and their cronies to power in Sanctuary. I'm happy to say it was a blast in creating these bittersweet enmities with a vast portion of the Sanctuarian populace! It was a joy to log in and just be that old coot, striding in the square and hurling his discontent at the first man he saw. Joy in EFU comes with the little things, these little snippets of interactions that push you ever closer towards these broader, ever-elusive goals.


[/SIZE]  
 
He had a big heart for high-borns who lost their stations...



He stood for petty nobility, and would run for Director.



He hunted the wicked.



He was awarded a few medals



He burned smut novels, but it backfired as publicity



He exorcisde the haunted



Visited by an angel, he was granted the charge of Siamorphe's most sacred relic



He anointed nobility and ensured they were treated as they deserved



He visited dark, forgotten places



But was always well surrounded.



He banished ancient demons



And persecuted idolaters



His first court hearing as Prefect



Between two mortal foes



He crusaded into the dark



He partook in fairy tales, suffering the whims of a little girl's imagination...



Becoming the tiny wizard in pink, what indignation.



He had a date with the herald.



He found a chair he thought was fit for him.



He met really cold people...



He bullied half-orcs.



He met a boy called Nihm



He fought the dread master.



And another tentacle shot.



He was angered by a certain Djini



Bound him to his lamp, and raided the damn place.



He fought a siege in the Lowerdark.



He had real friends, ready to stand for him when bullied by the malcontents



But also had insidious foes...



He lost his order's most sacred relic to a particularly wicked giant.



First, he tried to find penance.



Then, he tried to seek justice



But some things you have to do yourself



Go big or go home.



Siamorphe doesn't forgive failures.



But others do...

#10
I've an engrained dislike for white background on the forum. Has anyone figured out a quick fix to change the theme to darker one? The previous iteration had purple/black, which saved the day, for me...

I tried messing around with the options in the profile, but I couldn't manage to make the text background on posted message to appear black.

 
#11
Suggestions / Abjurers and their Wards
June 17, 2015, 12:09:54 PM
Self-serving, but I think sometimes a first hand experience provides a bit of insight in things that could be better.

It's odd to me that the bread-and-butter of all defensive spells, even for a dedicated Abjurer, remains Improved invisibility - which both in terms of duration and damage mitigations provides more than any other accessible spells in EFU's level range.

While the change to the cantrip resistance is a flavorful and a welcomed one, it depreciates in value early on - and the majority of the EFU experience takes place in the range where spells such as II are accessible and in high demand. The classical DnD tradeoff is that Stoneskin is a "morning spell" and Imp. invis one that is used in the midst of combat - but I know that EFU doesn't wish to go that way, for good aesthetic and balance reasons in my opinion.

Why not make the quintessential Stoneskin ward, for dedicated abjurers, a viable if still suboptimal, tradeoff compared with Imp. Invis when it comes to Warding their comrades against physical threat?
#12
Off-topic Discussion / 7 days to die
April 20, 2015, 11:30:14 AM
Hello folks,

In my sparse spare time, I play 7 days to die with my girlfriend and we're having an absolute blast.

It's a sandbox, voxel-based zombie apocalypse. The goal is to survive while scavenging in the day, and build a base to survive the hordes that will come for you at night. The crafting system is fairly elaborate and interesting - and the freedom to "impact the environment" is in my view unparalleled for this type of games. It's way above the likes of DayZ or Rust. You can craft weapons with different grade of quality, craft walls of many different types (from shabby wood to reinforced concrete) craft traps (spikes, mines, explosive, etc) - all with one single goal, live as long as possible!

Note that the game is currently in "Alpha" - however, given the numbers of features available and the relative stability of the platform, it feels more like an euphemism from the developers who seem eager to impress with understatements.

If you want to try it out hit me up with a PM, we set up our own private server.

Cheers

Penta
#13
General Discussion / How can we help?
March 22, 2015, 11:56:36 PM
So, I really loved the old EFU forum theme, but it seems the new vbulletin isn't very friendly with regards to it.  I'm willing to invest time to get the old theme to work, and I'm sure others are likely willing to join the war effort.

How can we help? Photoshop formatting or the like isn't a problem, just let us know how we can help.

Cheers

Pent
#14
Suggestions / Fencing stance
February 23, 2015, 04:38:51 PM
It hit me the other day that Talir did a great job in enabling the use of a 1 handed weapon with 2 hands. It's a great design decision, as it allows for more flavor options in terms of weapon choice. While it remains "sub-optimal" compared to a true two-handed weapon - it significantly reduces a the gimpness factor in favor of the style factor.

It occured to me, would it be desirable to implement a similar stance for Finesse-oriented Fencers?

For instance, a dexterity-based Fighter with the duelist background could wield a one handed weapon without a shield with a slight bonus to emulate a Fencing stance. How cool is that :)

As it is now, Finesse-based PCs (with the sole, infamous, and notable exception of the Craven barbarian) have a hard life - and removing 3 points of AC for them for the sake of playing a stylish "Fencer" is, alas - unrealistic (unless you have a very high fugue tolerance threshold).

I'm not saying it should be "on-par" with having a shield, of course - as I believe that a style sacrifice should remain to some degree suboptimal, else it wouldn't be a fashion statement, eh?
#15
https://swordcoast.com/about  

As we all know, the path to NWN's worthy succesor has been laden with bad surprises.

However, I have a sliver of hope for this one - Veteran designers for Dragon Age Origin are a core part of the team - and perhaps, they took with them the spirit that made Bioware such a great company in the past.

Time will tell.
#16
Bug Reports / GMW and flame weapon damage stacking glitch
September 30, 2014, 02:17:37 AM
The damage bonus granted by Greater magic weapon and flame weapon stack when used on a melee weapon, but not when used on gloves. Is it an oversight, working as intended, or a coding limitation?

For illustration :

GMW(CL5)+Flame weapon (CL5) on a longsword will yield
+2 Attack bonus
1d8(base)+1d4(Fire)+2(slashing)

The same, but on a pair of gloves
+2 Attack bonus
1d3(base)+1d4(fire)


Only GMW on gloves
+2 Attack bonus
1d3(base)+2(bludgeoning)
#17
Suggestions / Poison Spell revamp
August 20, 2014, 10:46:21 AM
I would be cool if the spell "Poison" could be revamped into something more useful and flavorful.

Some ideas :

-Have it spawn a random efu poison that disappears on reset
-Allow it to be targeted on weapon with a random poison effect
-Incorporate SF and GSF effect into the random table draw to make it more likely that a strong poison will be selected.
#18
With abberations having such a key role in the new setting, I think it would be incredibly cool to have the Abberation equivalent to the Pale Master. The cannon fleshwarper PrC would be an example of how this could be achieved.

There are many avenues of how this could be done, be it with a class perk, pre-determined table draws as the blood mage PrC, or even just appropriate vfx's. (toggle purple glow as an "abberant layer of abboleth muckus" for instance)
#19
Suggestions / Brawler perks and shield AC
August 03, 2014, 04:34:44 PM
In the spirit of Talir's recent addition, I think it would be a nice thematic addition if dedicated brawler PCs (non-monks) would recieve +2 or +3 Shield type AC if they are not using a shield and are fighting barefist. This could apply, for instance - as the level 8 bonus of the Brawler fighter background.

It might just be me, but I find that using a shield while fighting barefist is a bit clunky, while at the same time, forgoing 3 points of AC plus various bonuses afforded by a shield is a hefty price to pay.
#20
Screen Shots & Obituaries / The Old Man and the Way
November 26, 2013, 02:27:35 AM
QuoteIt has been a very long and wild ride. I'm proud to say he had the greatest story I've had the chance to experience on EFU so far. I'd like to thank EFU as a whole for making such magic even possible. I can't start to single out people or this death thread would turn out to be an endless list. But you know who you are - in the end, it turns out to be the great majority of EFU's playerbase :)

I'll just say, for EFU:R - special cheers to Meldread, for his mad (and ongoing!) support to the Ascension plot. (and the whole wave of new DM's who have done a terrific job so far)   

The Brotherhood of Ascent is an incredibly great faction, and if you're floating in between concepts : Go for it, they need a new spiritual leader ! (You might even get to play a Cleric of the Ascended One)

For what follows, I've mainly just copied my Personal Character Notes written in story mode. Enjoy folks, and rock on.


  [Music for best immersion]

-The Story of Sigvar-


Chapter one
***
A Journey begins




It all begins on Ymph - Sigvar, the Gothi of Aegir, finds his way to the shores of a cursed island. At first, he believes himself dead, drifting upon the great Sea of Mist. He preaches Aegir's words, and assembles a group of devout - the Mistfarers.

His goal was to find the Way to Asgard, the realm of Heroes and Gods by following the verses of an ancient Poem known as the Prophecy of the Edda.

One could say that he sought from the beginning to Ascend, albeit in a different way.

  He found haven for his Quest within Wyrm Watchers. He cared for his brothers beyond himself, protecting even those afflicted by Lycantropy from the ire of the Order Numinous with his own life.

[hide=The Sanctity of Brothers]
''I shall free him from his Curse ; thou shall touch not a hair of my brother - or thou shall suffer the wraith of Aegir's mighty Tides''





[/hide]

Together, they would explore myths and legends of the Mist, and awaken ancient powers to oppose the heralds of the End. His encounter with the mythical Mist dragons of Ymph would mark him profoundly.

[hide=Encounter with the Great Dragons of Ymph]






[/hide]

The Crown of the Island was found, and Owain was made King of the Island. Hope was restored. For great service to the cause of the Wyrm Watchers, Sigvar was elected Hedge-Knight Commander, and bestowed the title of Cartographer.

  The Prophecy of the Edda was accomplished, but he had not found the path to Asgard. He has allowed for a King to rise...


[hide= Cartographer to King Owain of Ymph]
''It is the Cartographer's duty to show me what is." - King Owain of Ymph'



''Away with your foreign God, Gothi - Owain is bond to the old Ways by oath and Crown" - Emlyn Ap Taliesin, Great druid of Ymph and First Advisor to King Owain'



"If only I knew...this was a mistake. The Fourth, nameless Mist dragon shackled within the Crown of the Island should have been set free. Forgive me, Ascended One" - Sigvar, present thoughts.
[/hide]

This was at the height of the Final War against H'bala. The King had left with the Last Keep and the Mist, leaving all behind. The Maiden called her most powerful servant, the Agony of the hunt - to destroy this insolent hamlet forever.

[hide=The shadow of the End]


[/hide]

Great artifacts were gathered through the Sacrifice of Rabbanatha, noblest of all Mist dragons. Sigvar was chosen to carry the legendary Circlet of Torizaela and the Robe of Primordial Mist.

[hide=The Gift of Torizaela]


[/hide]

The Agony was defeated.

[hide=Reckoning]

''At last comes the reckoning of Gods, men and Mist. The Agony will cease - and the spirits chained within will be freed from your wretched grasp. We come for you, Maiden !"


[/hide]

How little did he know that the Maiden wasn't the Maiden and that the seventh step would be the End of all which he loved. The End of his brethrens and his friends, of his God and his faith. Sigvar would have spent the rest of his days in forlorn mourning, left for dead on Gull's rock... had fate not decided otherwise.

Quote


And so ended the story of the Gothi of Aegir.

...But had Sigvar found what he sought?

...If only he knew what it was he truly sought.

------End of EFU:M-----