Thread: MLP: Perquisition is Magic (Mission 0)

I peer carefully at the coin. "...aaaand heads. Okay, I'll do my best to lead the team!"

I put it back in my bag after I'm sure Cogs has seen the result.

"Right. So, now that that's out of the way..." Kitsune said, putting the journal back into his saddlebag. He then turned toward Lucky. "What shall we do, leader? Buy some supplies? Or jump straight into the mission?"

"Well, I think we should probably head for the shops. Better to have it than need it and all that, and if we're lucky we might meet somepony who knows more about the Scrolls than we do." I pause for a moment, smiling, then add, "Also, I'm hungry."

The team decides to head to the Marketplace to purchase supplies before heading out. They needn't go far - as soon as Lucky noses open the door of the Guild hall, the sounds of ponies hawking their wares, scents of fried hay and flowers, and gaudy colors of tents and stalls assault their senses, each competing for the attention of ponies passing by. The shops that stand out to them are:

Shady Deal's Magic Stone Emporium:

"Hey kids, wanna get legit magic stones for cheap?"

Illumination Stone - Creates a bright light. 5 bits
Fire Stone - Bursts into flames. Used in combat or to ignite objects. 7 bits
Water Stone - Disgorges 10 oz. water. 7 bits
Restoration Stone - Heals wounds for 10 HP. 7 bits
Lode Stone - Creates a powerful magnetic current. 10 bits
Marker Stone - Relays a message or symbol to anypony who gets near it. 15 bits
Blast Stone - Explodes violently. 25 bits
Smelling Stone - Revives an unconscious pony. 50 bits

Black Smith's Gear and Gizmos

"Oy! You look awful under armored for explorers. This gear'll save your hides!"

Chain mail - Raises Stamina by 2. 30 bits
Plate Mail - Raises your Stamina by 5. 50 bits
Flight Goggles - Increases Athleticism by 1. Pegasus only. 20 bits
Amplifier Ring - Increases Perception by 1. Unicorn only. 20 bits
Steel-Shod Horseshoes - Increases Stamina by 1. Earth Pony only. 20 bits.
Spear - Increases Strength by 1. 20 bits.
Magnifying Glass - Increases Streetwise by 1.
Reference Guide - Increases Intelligence by 1.

General Store

Purchase any random bit of mundane equipment here for 10 bits.

Scrapyard

Upgrade a gizmo's stat bonus for (n x 10) where n is equal to the current bonus. (i.e., if Cogs wishes to use the Scrapyard to increase his Leg to +3 Stamina, it costs (2 x 10 =) 20 bits.)

Explorer's Journal:
Current Mission: Mission 0
Completed Missions: -
Team Leader: Lucky Star
Team: Kitsune, Cogs a-Turning
Status:

Lucky Star:
STR: 4
ATH: 1
INT: 0
PER: 2
SWI: 3
STA: 4
$$$: 25

Kitsune:
STR: 0
ATH: 2
INT: 4
PER: 4
SWI: 2
STA: 2
$$$: 25

Cogs A-Turning:

STR: 2
ATH: 2
INT: 4
PER: 2
SWI: 1
STA: 3
$$$: 25

Dungeoneering 101:
*Dungeoneering 101
Team Leadership

Alright, before you rocket off to the mission site, you'll need to choose a team leader. It may sound awful fancy, but it's hard work. Trust me, I am one! Normally it's the highest ranked team member by default, but you three joined up together and you all have equal explorer points, so you'll have to work it out yoursleves. I'd give a recommendation, but you'd all do great - Lucky's infinite optimism, good old Cogs is inventive equuinified, and Kitsune keeps a nice level head in tight fixes. The leader gets the final say on loot distribution, the deciding vote on what to do when you reach a fork or an odd mechanism that could open a door or spray you full of arrows, and all that good stuff, but he's also gotta prevent the team from getting themselves killed and most likely to lose points should something go catastrophically wrong. Choose well!

--Glory Blaze

Glossary:
Greenwood Forest: A large forest with a town at its center.
Ever City: The capital of pony civilization and where the Explorer's Guild HQ is.
Explorer's Guild: An organization dedicated to mapping the world and helping ponies in need. You work for the Greenwood branch.
Apprentice: The lowest Explorer rank. Must be accompanied by an Explorer-Mentor at all times on missions.
*Graduation Mission: A mission that treats Apprentices as if they were full Explorers. Should they pass, they will rank up.
Explorer: The second rank of Explorer. Explorer teams operate in groups of two or more. Requires 100 points and a Graduation Mission to achieve.
Explorer-Mentor: The third rank of Explorer. these are authorized for solo missions and can take Apprentices onto their teams. Requires 1,000 points to achieve.
Guildmaster: The most prestigious Explorer rank. These run their own branches of the Explorer's Guild. Requires 1,000,000 points to achieve. ((No, this is not intended to be attainable in the game))
Team Leader: Pony in charge of keeping the team together, gets the deciding vote in debates
Explorer Points: These points are awarded for successful missions and detracted for failures. Accumulating them earns you fame, better gear for sale at shops, and rank-ups.
Loot: Magic stones, bits old gear, and other goodies you find in dungeons.
Shady Deal's Magic Stone Emporium: The place to go for questionably legal magic stones
Black Smith's Gear and Gizmos: The only smithy in Greenwood
General Store: You can get just about anything here!
Scrapyard: Professional tinkerers will be happy to use random stuff from the scrapyard to upgrade your gizmos.
Graph Paper: The wise and kindly Guildmaster for Greenwood City. Cartographer Profession.
Morning Glory: A boisterous white pegasus who hates his girly name. He goes by Glory Blaze, and is the Explorer Mentor you worked under up until now. Bodyguard Profession.
Quill Scribble: Blaze's equally rowdy partner. Cartographer Profession.
Kitsune: A quiet unicorn rookie under Blaze. Cartographer Profession.
Lucky Star: An oxymoronic pacifist bodyguard apprentice with a tendency to space out. Bodyguard Profession.
Cogs a-Turning: Inventive Earth pony apprentice with a prosthetic leg. Explorer Profession.
Scroll Manor: Supposedly haunted manor in Greenwood Forest.
Scroll Family: Xenophobic and eccentric family of unicorn scholars
Health Points: A number derived from the Stamina stat. Every time you start a dungeon or take a short rest, a d20 is rolled and the result added to your STA. This is how much damage you can take until your HP is reset.

((The Explorer's Journal has been updated! Stats are now shown! Shady Deal's Magic Stone Emporium has been added to the Glossary! Black Smith's Gear and Gizmos has been added to the Glossary! General Store has been added to the Glossary! Scrapyard has been added to the Glossary! HP has been added to the Glossary!))

Kitsune browses Black Smith's Gear and Gizmos for a while but, as nothing really catches his eye, he turns and walks away from the shop.

After some careful consideration, I purchase some magic stones: a Restoration and a Water. I'm reasonably sure that the colt selling them is being intentionally shady as part of his store's atmosphere, or at least that I'll have a good reason to buck him if his products don't work. I also buy some food, for another bit. That leaves me with 10 bits in my bags.

((Do we get to know how the HP stat is determined? Never mind, just barely noticed it in the glossary.))

((I have to wonder just how the scrapyard works, if it can upgrade things like books and genetic conditions.))

(A very good question, Banjo. How does one upgrade a genetic condition?)

Originally Posted by banjo2E

After some careful consideration, I purchase some magic stones: a Restoration and a Water. I'm reasonably sure that the colt selling them is being intentionally shady as part of his store's atmosphere, or at least that I'll have a good reason to buck him if his products don't work. I also buy some food, for another bit. That leaves me with 10 bits in my bags.

((Do we get to know how the HP stat is determined? Never mind, just barely noticed it in the glossary.))

((I have to wonder just how the scrapyard works, if it can upgrade things like books and genetic conditions.))

Originally Posted by RuBoo

(A very good question, Banjo. How does one upgrade a genetic condition?)

((An excellent question! I hadn't anticipated genetic conditions as gizmos, but maybe you could get special goggles that enhanced your chameleon abilities? As for the books, I imagined simply getting new entries to guidebooks or sequels or finding a lost chapter in the heap or something. We'll start the mission as soon as Spymodio checks in and confirms whether or not he wants to buy anything.))

Originally Posted by -Glory Blaze-

((An excellent question! I hadn't anticipated genetic conditions as gizmos, but maybe you could get special goggles that enhanced your chameleon abilities? As for the books, I imagined simply getting new entries to guidebooks or sequels or finding a lost chapter in the heap or something. We'll start the mission as soon as Spymodio checks in and confirms whether or not he wants to buy anything.))

((I think I could come up with a few plausible ways to enhance my vision-based stat bonuses. Also, I just realized: The blacksmith's shop is named "Gear and Gizmos". Does everything he sell count as a gizmo, or is it just some of the things? And when you upgrade gizmos, can you add a bonus to a stat that gizmo doesn't already boost, if you can justify it? The latter would be especially useful if anyone decided to go 100% genetic with their gizmos for roleplaying reasons, but wanted to have more than one of the things.))

Cogs looked over everything with a grin spread across his face, before, shaking himself and telling himself to keep the Bits.

"Is everypony done shopping?" Kitsune asked. "I looked, but found nothing good."

Originally Posted by banjo2E

Originally Posted by -Glory Blaze-

((An excellent question! I hadn't anticipated genetic conditions as gizmos, but maybe you could get special goggles that enhanced your chameleon abilities? As for the books, I imagined simply getting new entries to guidebooks or sequels or finding a lost chapter in the heap or something. We'll start the mission as soon as Spymodio checks in and confirms whether or not he wants to buy anything.))

((I think I could come up with a few plausible ways to enhance my vision-based stat bonuses. Also, I just realized: The blacksmith's shop is named "Gear and Gizmos". Does everything he sell count as a gizmo, or is it just some of the things? And when you upgrade gizmos, can you add a bonus to a stat that gizmo doesn't already boost, if you can justify it? The latter would be especially useful if anyone decided to go 100% genetic with their gizmos for roleplaying reasons, but wanted to have more than one of the things.))

((Gizmo is the name of anything that enhances stats. Gear is special items that do other things. He sells all non-mundane equipment. You can add non-existing stats to a gizmo, but not yet. That's something that will be unlocked later.))

After the party finishes shopping, they set out through the woods to the Scroll Manor. The, tall, bright oaks and apple trees near Greenwood give way to a veritable thicket of gnarled old fruit trees. There doesn't seem to be a straight or healthy tree in the lot. A thick mat of dead leaves, dry twigs, and rotten fruits cover the ground, making disgusting squelching noises underhoof. A few decrepit, old stone buildings are scattered through the decaying orchard. An overgrown path winds up a hill to an old manor perched at its tip, and a smaller hooftrail winds around the hill's base.

"Kinda creepy." Kitsune said. He grinned. "My kind of place."

I sigh. "I can't believe everypony just let this place go like this. I'm sure the Scrolls would've wanted their orchard to be healthy even with them gone..."

"It looks like nopony has lived here for years." Cogs paused and grinned. "My kinda place. Come on- we've adventure at hoof."