Artificer Quest

In Artificer Quest, all actions are determined by rolling 2d10.

There are no critical failures or critical successes, only failures, partial-successes, and successes.
The average roll of all rolls inbetween story updates will be used to calculate the result of the action, even if the roll was not for that action, this is to prevent biased rolls.

Success will be determined like this:
>rolls of 8 or lower will be failures
>rolls of 9 to 13 will be partial successes
>rolls of 14 or higher will be successes

Attributes, skills, abilities, and environmental conditions all have effects on the outcome of rolls, but instead of applying a +1/-1/etc to the roll, they have a non-numerical effect and can turn a success into a slight success, a failure into a slight failure, etc.

Rolled 3, 2 = 5 (2d10)

>>509374
>I was born in a tent on the outskirts of the near wonderthing tentcity

I'm gonna wait for a few more players to decide the character origin, and if there is no consensus, highest last two digits of post number or best GET gets it.

Here is what attributes mean in Artificer Quest:
Endurance: How much trauma the character can suffer before fainting, and how much physical exertion they can take, also provides various resistances
Strength: How hard of a hitter the character is, and how much they can carry, high levels of strength also provide armor
Wisdom: How knowledgeble the character is, increases the likelihood of indentifying an object and improves magic ability, may also reveal traps and enemy weaknesses
Intelligence: The cognitive ability of the character, facilitates technology use and crafting, and increases skill learning speed, high levels greatly improve ability to spot enemy weaknesses
Agility: How good a character is at moving around, improves dodging, aiming, melee abilites, reflexes, and stealth

Rolled 6, 3 = 9 (2d10)

>>509374

Let's do this GOLEM!

Rolled 6, 8 = 14 (2d10)

>>509374
mutant human

Rolled 5, 5 = 10 (2d10)

>>509505
supporting golem

Rolled 2, 4 = 6 (2d10)

robot

>>509384
>>509505
>>509506
>>509513
Mutant human is the winner, with the highest last two digits, but since Golem was such a close runner up I'm going to add a magical-focused mutation to the human.
The average roll was 10 (partial success), so there will be positive and negative mutations

I was born in a tent on the outskirts of the near-wonderthing tentcity, to a mother that abandoned me due to my deformities. I was born with (choose one)
>hedious bark-like skin and a gravely voice, making it difficult to get along with others, but granting me the armor I need to survive their threats
>a beak where my mouth should be, impeding my ability to speak elegantly, but granting me the ability to peck apart my opponents
>Hands where my feet should be and a prehensile tail, forcing me to walk on all fours, but giving me the advantage of exceptional dexterity

With no mother of my own, I was raised by . . .
>Myself. Extended Isolation and self reliance honed my mind and allowed me to sense magic around me. I used my ability to find oddities in the sand, it was just enough to scape by and get fed (Magic detect, Bargaining skills, +wisdom)
>A group of warrior-adventurers, they sparred with me day in and day out, but when they went to the wonderthing one day and never came out.. I found myself in a dangerous place with no one to protect me the way they did, in a moment of fear I found myself drawing in the chaos around me and the next thing I knew, I had created an imp to serve me (summon imp, swordsmanship, +wisdom)
>A group of jackal-men. I hunted with them and learned the arts of stealth and trapping, but most importantly, I learned to break the minds of my prey, I can strike terror into their hearts (frighten, +sneaking, trapping)

>>509590
>Bark skin

>Myself.

>>509590
hands
myself

>>509590
>hedious bark-like skin and a gravely voice, making it difficult to get along with others, but granting me the armor I need to survive their threats
>Myself. Extended Isolation and self reliance honed my mind and allowed me to sense magic around me. I used my ability to find oddities in the sand, it was just enough to scape by and get fed (Magic detect, Bargaining skills, +wisdom)

>>509590
Hands where my feet should be and a prehensile tail
Myself

Oh boy another tie.
Well, in the next update I planned on adding synergies between the powers depending on what was chosen.
>If you choose: hands/tail + myself you get bonus starting wealth thanks to being a better digger and being able to hold more objects at a time.
>if you choose: barkskin + myself your bargaining skill gets replaced with the intimidate power which can be used in trades or outside of combat and is a less effective and nonmagic version of frighten.

Does this change anyone's mind?
>>509600
>>509616
>>509635
>>509638

>>509649
Lets go with bark +myself then

>>509649
>If you choose: hands/tail + myself you get bonus starting wealth thanks to being a better digger and being able to hold more objects at a time.

>>509649
Still pro bark.

>>509720
>>509715
>>509638
>>509635
>>509616
I was born in a tent on the outskirts of the near-wonderthing tentcity, to a mother that abandoned me due to my deformities. I was born with hedious bark-like skin and a gravely voice, making it difficult to get along with others, but granting me the armor I needed to survive their threats. With no mother of my own, I was raised by Myself. Extended Isolation and self reliance honed my mind and allowed me to sense magic around me. I used my ability to find oddities in the sand, it was just enough to scape by and get fed despite my hideous skin and voice, intimidation helped (+intimidation power, - bargaining skill).
It didn't take long for me to become known as the local brute. Most feared me, some respected me, and the others . . .
>didn't last long (+endurance, +strength, +melee)
>bowed down to me (+leadership, +2 party members)
>still haunt me in my dreams (ability: commune with dead, ++wisdom)

But I can't afford to stick around outside of the wonderthing forever, in my life I have witnessed more deaths than I care to recount, and if I am to die my death will be
>by the blow of a worthy opponent (+agility, +endurance, +strength)
>by the heat death of the universe, I will find immortality within the wonderthingy! (+++intelligence)
>by my mind at the gate of the spirit realm (power: meditate+ , wisdom+)
>with a purse full of money! (++agility, +pickpocketing)

The next update will be the last character building update before finally entering the dungeon. Brace yourselves.

>>509791
>Still haunt my dreams

>The heat death of the universe.

>>509791
>didn't last long
>by the heat death of the universe

>>509791
>bowed down to me (+leadership, +2 party members)
>by the heat death of the universe, I will find immortality within the wonderthingy! (+++intelligence)

>>509800
seconding this.
Though, if someone wants meditate instead of intelligence+++, I'd change my vote to that

>>509800
>>509805
>>509818
>>509825
The second bit has been altered a little bit to sync up with the the communing with the dead bit.

It didn't take long for me to become known as the local brute. Most feared me, some respected me, and the others -- the others still haunt my dreams. The deceased grant me insights about magical artifacts and warn me of dangers beyond the scope of my magic detection ability but every communion with them invites terror into my heart, the screams and pleas of those who I have slain grow louder with every instance of my dark ritual. One thing is certain, I never want to die, else my soul may be torn apart by the ones I have wronged. I can't afford to stick around outside of the wonderthing forever, in my life I have witnessed more deaths than I care to recount, and if I am to die my death will be by the heat death of the universe, I will find immortality within the wonderthingy and save myself from the hell that is death, and perhaps also, I'll discover a way to never sleep again (+1 endurance, synchronicity bonus from commune with dead and quest for immortality).

For my journey into the wonderthingy I have prepared:
Choose one weapon:
>a loaded 3 shot pipe pistol and 16 homemade bullets (+intelligence +agility)
>leather gloves of the pugilist (++melee while unarmed and equiped, +melee)
>a chaos-powered vibro-dagger (Will prevent your chaos/mana from recharging while in use, ++agility, +melee)
>A silver longsword (++strength , silver is potent against demons)

Choose one armor:
>a robe and hood (++agility, +wisdom while equipped)
>a combat leather (+2 armor, +agility)
>Scrap armor and horned helmet (+5 armor , +strength, bonus to intimidate)

Choose one accessory:
>ring of light (provides nightvision without actually creating light and provides a light flash stun attack that works on some types of creatures)
>chaos powered mechanical hand (+agility, +crafting, +unarmed melee, replaceable, uses some of your mana/chaos)
>Razor of Occam (typical artifact from the depths of the wonderthing, it speaks randomly generated voice lines, provides a source of chaos, and is a dangerous thrown projectile that explodes upon impact, its also a razor)

I wish I could afford to buy more accessories, and maybe I could have if I lived my early youth differently, but I instead use the rest of my wealth to obtain 2 days worth of bread rations and a medium sized backpack.

>>509984
>a loaded 3 shot pipe pistol and 16 homemade bullets (+intelligence +agility)
>Scrap armor and horned helmet (+5 armor , +strength, bonus to intimidate)
>ring of light (provides nightvision without actually creating light and provides a light flash stun attack that works on some types of creatures)

>>509984
>a loaded 3 shot pipe pistol and 16 homemade bullets (+intelligence +agility)
>a robe and hood (++agility, +wisdom while equipped)
>ring of light (provides nightvision without actually creating light and provides a light flash stun attack that works on some types of creatures

>>510297
This.

Character Sheet:

INVENTORY:

Equipped:
>3-shot pipe pistol (3/3)
>robe
>hood (set bonus +1 wisdom)
>ring of light
>medium backpack

Stored:
>2 days worth of bread rations (in backpack)


ATRRIBUTES:
an average mundane human has 10 for all attributes (before equipment modifiers)
attribute point distribution generated by adding backstory modifers to a starting stat of 8
Endurance: 12
Strength: 8
Wisdom: 11
Intelligence: 12
Agility: 10


SKILLS:

skills can be gained by performing tasks, for instance, shooting a lot will bolster the marksman skill. Skill gain is influenced by intelligence
None yet.

Abilities:

Beginner's luck - gained by having no skills, this ability allows the character to learn one skill on their first attempt (1 use only)

Intimidate - allows the character to attempt to scare an enemy into accepting a deal or fleeing

Commune with Dead - allows the character to obtain useful information from the deceased, will terrify the character

Detect Magic - (passive ability) the character automagically locates and indentifies the intention of magical beings and objects

>>510432
oops I forgot to apply Item bonuses.

Endurance: 12
Strength: 8
Wisdom: 11 (+1)
Intelligence: 12
Agility: 10

ABILITIES:

Ring Flash - emit a blinding light that may stun some enemies with the ring of light

I've reflected upon my life up to this point, and now it is time to move on with it. Before setting forward, I take a brief glance into the spirit realm to perhaps get a clue as to what lies ahead of me in the depths of wonderthing.
The light above the winds sears down upon me, seemingly permeating my robe and hood, but the coverage does allow me to maintain my focus somewhat, and then I'm in. Screams of agony resound in my head, dark whisps of fallen people rush past my vision, in the corners of my sight I see some spirits cheering me on, the urge me to move forward; a dark force takes over, I do as they say, foot after foot I march towards what appears to be a dark maw emiting a pearly white stream of energy, it sucks in black particles and streaks of red, chaos. A crowd of shadows is gathered around the maw, one by one they are sucked into it and spit back out as white whisps in the stream of energy. The crowd closes in around me, the the stream of white energy begins to become more fragmented, and the whisps in the stream begin to lash out at me, clawing at my flesh. The shadow people pull me to the ground and tear the rough plates off of my skin, one by one, pulling gorey chunks of meat with each bite that disapate into colorful beams of light in their mouth. One Shadow figure looms above the rest of them, standing on my now corpse, they are wearing something around their neck, my vision blurs when I look at it, it's glowing orange. The screams become too loud to handle, the intensity of the lightconsumes my vision.

I scream and try to clutch my ears and eyes at the same time. I stumble from dizziness and fall down onto the scorching sand. I'm on the outskirts of the entrance to the wonderthing, voices whisper all around me, but they are not of spirits. I've caused quite a stir with my latest outburst; onlookers stare upon my bulky (yet surprisingly agile and very lightly muscletoned) form. Thank the ancients for this robe, or damn them for it, had I been more exposed perhaps I would have just scared them away. The whispering turns into agitated mumbles as I get up, the crowd is closing in. There is gleam of orange light in the distance.

What should I do?
(write in)

>>510582
>Enter the wonderthing.

Ah shit I forgot to mention to do a 2d10 for this.
Sorry, I kinda got ahead of myself I guess, I should've reiterated that for actual actions 2d10 is always rolled.

Rolled 2, 5 = 7 (2d10)

>>510628
>Generically rolling generic die.

Rolled 10, 3 = 13 (2d10)

>>510582
Whare are we a town or a village?
Try to learn more about wonderthing.and see if anyone else is going in there.

>>510613
>>510701
I try to calm myself down enough to figure out what is going on, I look to the people around me, most of them are demons wearing armor of sorts, a few are heavily modified combat robots. Clearing my head I start to get an idea of what the crowd is saying.
"It'sss about time thisss guy getsss what'sss coming to 'em", a demon hisses.
"hey treetrunk, you got nuts for brains or something?", asks an imp with a bat.
A robot whirs their head in the direction of the imp.
"pssh, you don't mess with us and get away with it, you ain't leaving tent city without a coffin, punk" says a figure in the back.
I let out a sigh. None of them seem to be glowing with magic so that's a reli-- oh wait there's that orange glow again, aand it's the figure in the back.
I wrap my finger around the trigger of my pipe pistol. There's 8 of them in total including mr magic, I only have 3 bullets, the extra ammo is backpack cause robes have no pockets.. FUCK!
The crowd visibly tenses around me, and the glow enters my sight. It's a clearly a magic necklace, what could it be for, leadership? Charisma? Maybe it collects souls...
CRRA-ACK! My thoughts are interrupted as the necklaced demon blinks past the gangsters that now sorround me creating a miniture thunderclap as the air breaks apart, the demon now towers before me, an impressive 9 feet tall, compared to my meager 6. Demons are tall but this one in particular is *very* tall, and me eyes level is at his necklace.
"Where do you think you are going?" he asks in a handsome devlish tone.
"Pah! You know where I am going, the question is, are you?", I grumble.
The gang laughs. An Imp shrieks "Ahaha you stuuuupid fooooool!!", but the boss demon just grins a tooth grin with their dark maw of shadows.
I hear a gun cock behind me, I raise my own and scream "GET AH-WAY!". I see the demons behind the boss cringe away, this is my chance, I charge at and past the boss demon, my agility allowing me to just barely get through the crowd without falling over. Gunshots rain like thunder behind me, I feel atleast five bullets embed themselves in the skin of my back, one bullet graces my left arm and peels a plate of skin right off with a chunk of flesh, just like in the vision. I've experienced worse, and this doesn't matter right now. Only two things matter.

1. I'm about to enter the wonderthing and hopefully not in a casket.
2. Did I grab the boss's necklace on my mad dash to the wonderthingy?

(roll 2d10)
>yes, I got it
>no, I didn't get it

What should I do when I get past the doorway of the wonderthing?
>return fire
>put on the necklace
>write in your suggestion

The endurance stat applies after armor application, as it deals with just health, and the skin of this protagonist just happens to function like an armor. It doesn't injure him too gravely to peel the skin off, but that in itself is a problem. Each injury is a chip away at his armor.

Rolled 6, 2 = 8 (2d10)

>>510911
I assume the dice decide if we get it


>Put on the necklace

Rolled 6, 4 = 10 (2d10)

>>510911
>yes, I got it
>put on the necklace

I'm starting to think this rolling system is simply too good at producing a median outcome. Does anybody have any objections to me shaving down the partial success zone to 10-12?

>>510989
after this update, of course.

>>510989
I'm okay with it.

I'm gonna call it curtains for tonight guys. it was fun, I'll be back with a new update tomorrow morning. I'm hoping some new interest will be invoked overnight.