Finally, I just wanted to point out that
Soft's request won't be a RA.
At first I wanted to start this with a "jesus effing christ, where is that coming from?" but I get that Paranoia is a very good boi who does a very good job, even through the fourth wall.
So, to be clear, she won't ask you for anything like that.
I mean, the stuff I had in mind for her requests were "buy me a cute dress" or "teach me how to summon Windigos" or "
half-siblings or not, please approve of my marriage with Evil"
But not something that would cause THAT much damage.
Bird, you're contradicting yourself here!
I'll helpfully underline the contradiction for you.
And in case you guys are wondering (although no one asked
) a compromise would have been something big and prohibitive, and possibly permanent. Something like "Velvet agrees to never go on an Expedition again (Except for "All In")". An agreement with your husband, and everypony else by extension, for your safety.
EDIT: forgot to comment on this, I'm just VERY glad we didn't have to make such a big sacrifice... though to be fair Velvet is barely going on expeditions as is...
and what they DON'T know about Mansus expeditions will surely harm them
Thank you so much! That actually helps immensely! I asked what setting my friends wanted, and they chose Harry Potter. With all the magic involved from literally everyone, the bonuses for specialties got a bit complex, so I used higher Base stats instead of endless unique bonuses to have an easier time keeping track, but that threw all the other balancing from here out the window.
Seeing this actually helps me process the purpose and meaning behind the break points, and that is SO much more useful than almost anything else could have been. Thank you!!!
to build up a bit on what Bird said, his 120 DC is effectively at the higher end of what a Mortal can accomplish, and even the very best mortal has basically a 1 in a 100 chance of accomplishing a DC 130.
Keep in mind, max stat is 20, and it's quite literally the best of the best of the best. And you can maybe get something between a +10 and a +20 from combined traits.
But the odds of a single person having a 20 in a stat AND traits applying to the same roll adding up to another +20... we're talking of a LITERAL one in 100 millions. We're talking EINSTEIN, and maybe not even him! We're talking fictional Sherlock Holmes and L from Death Note.
so, even the very best, maybe never-happened mortal, with the best suitable traits and stats, might MAYBE make a 140 DC.
150 is LITERALLY impossible though. We're talking "make the Iron Man Suit in a cave like Tony Stark did" level of impossible. The "Convince Twilight Sparkle to betray Celestia in a single conversation" level of impossible. The "build a cold fusion nuclear reactor in your garage" level of impossible, even.
or, more mundanely, as Bird said, the "pickpocket a rusty lock that won't budge"
Basically even with the lores it's extremely hard, and even with an influence, quite literally the laws of the universe aligning in your favour, it's only AT BEST more likely than not.
and to put an influence into perspective...
Take a random person, that knows LITERALLY nothing of the thing they're rolling for.
a tier 4 influence makes them the equivalent of the best mortal to ever live. It can turn a paraplegic into the equivalent of Myke Tyson, an uneducated farmer into Einstein, a kid into Lupin and so on.
the +40 an influence can grant is quite literally the difference between the most untalented person in a field, and the best mortal practitioner of it.
You've mentioned this possibility a couple times and while I'm not counting it out and it could be fun because there's so much left to explore, I think it's probably the actual ending, at least for Velvet. Being the first to reach Glory since the Manse's collapse feels like a capital E ending to Velvet's journey. Really most of the possible endings do.
On the other hand, with all the loose ends I could see a sequel quest where we take the role of one of her family or friends who have to try and fix what's left, follow her up a restored Manse, and/or fix whatever complications arise from her going through the last gate. As long as this has been going, probably not likely, but I also doubt there's a huge amount left for Velvet beyond the locked gate.
I like to mention it repeatedly, and it DOES feel weird that we'd end the quest with so much stuff left unexplored (the heirlooms, the other villains from MLP that should come in the future, the nature of Harmony...), but I recognize I have no proof beside feelings and hopes.
Though I'll point out one thing: Let's say we had achieved the Harmony ending first. Velvet reaches Harmony and something-something the world is now safe from the Worms.
...what exactly is stopping her from continuing the Climb for Glory?
