The Heart of Titania
Moonbeams shatter against the eldritch mass,
The Lancer's last efforts stifled by Titania's wrath!
Carving through landscapes with such fury obtained,
That even Savage and Redeemed could seek not to remain.
Yet standing alone, stalwart and unmoved.
Stood the Hero still, bloodied and bruised.
"Your allies have scattered, the end truly nigh,
But if you grovel and beg, you-"
"SHALL NOT DIE!"
[ENTER RIGHT, THE QUEEN OF FALDEREN]
A golden light, a queen most bright!
D'vangelline arrives, wielding the gods' own might!
"Your comrades have paved a path with their life!
And the Damsel fears, her power declines!
Fight on, Starcalled, clad in the Aureate Aura,
To usher in a more benevolent era!"
Tch, so this is what it is in the end. Just some feudalist propaganda co-opting a purely player-only achievement. Should've expected this after four years. FUCK!
WHERE'S THE TRI? WHERE'S THE TRI?! The hype-o-meter literally broke three thousand, so RELEASE THE TRI!!!
GODDAMNIT LANCER! YOU HAD ONE JOB!!!
WHERE'S THE REVIVES?! GIVE HER BACK, YOU BASTARDS!!!
...
Ah, the Queen looks beautiful today as well. Thank you, kami-sama.
Down beneath the stage, the stagehands were indeed working in overdrive, the temperatures almost sauna-like as they worked not only to operate the complex magitech machinery that allowed Titania to operate such massive weapons, but also pre-emptively repair the stages inbetween the Redeemed's
genuine attacks. Still, while the majority of them were busy attending to what was happening with the play, there were still a few whose very job description was to attend to the actors instead.
As soon as Moonsong and Celestine dropped down into the chaos of the stage pit, they were seated on plush chairs while a crew of workers cleaned up their stage makeup while doing what quick fixes they could on the various rips and tears in the costuming. One of them pulled over a tray of bite-sized, high-energy snacks (including dense, but very tasty, cookies), while others offered both bottles of chilled water, as well as a bucket to spit into if a mouth rinse was required.
"Great job, kiddos, especially you, Celes! Ya got some real talent for stage illusions, I'll tell ya that. Almost made me wish I hired youse instead of those slackers over there, RIGHT JERRY? JONESY?!"
The loud-mouthed Faerin ignored what cuss words were tossed back at her, eyes settling back onto the two of them again.
"And Monsoon, was it? Had ta pull ya out even though I knew you got more gas in the tank than that. Can't have ya outshining the Hero over there, after all. But, ey, seeing that the two of ya got the audience so riled up..."
From her baggy pockets, she pulled out two...cups. Cups with string taped on.
"What's say ya two figure out a duet to cheer on your buddies with? Like, some ghostly stuff? Get it figured out. We'll go live with it after this act."
Combat
Map navigation, from left to right, goes from 1 to 18. From top to bottom, goes from A to H. Note that once you go to G and H, you are off the stage amongst the audience.
Movement in this stage is triple its base (so you would be able to move six squares). Dynamicism passives that take this into account are reduced to one-third.
Melee attacks can strike from one square away. Support and Protect actions can affect from two squares away. Magic and Ranged attacks can strike from 4 squares away. With the Extension passive, one can affect any target from anywhere in the map.
Multiple characters cannot occupy the same space. If possible, try not to line up vertically either, or you'll be blocking the audience's view.
<< HYPE: 3076 >>
Hype counts upwards for damage dealt to Titania. Every 1000 damage dealt increases the value of the Universal Loot at the end, as well as offering up extra boons from the audience during combat.
<< Props and Bonus Actions >>
Stagecraft is an art in and of itself, and in this case, using such devices could grant plenty of opportunity for dramatic mobility that would otherwise not be possible! And of course, if you wanted to lean in on the art of theatrics as well to further excite the audience, that would be great too! Just to note, though: everything here costs a
Bonus Action.
- Flying Systems: Grab onto near-invisible handles or step onto glass-swingsets, and be swung up into the air by the capable stagehands, who will transport you to set destinations around the stage. Move yourself to one of the four corners of the stage (A1, A18, F1, F18).
- Lift Systems: Tap the ground a specific way, and be dropped down beneath the stage dramatically, only to reappear elsewhere in a true display of switcheroo madness. +4 to Movement, and remove one status effect from yourself.
- Drive Systems: Using agreed-upon hand-signals, work with the stagehands to alter the terrain features of the stage with your heroic strength and sorcery. Remove a terrain feature from the map.
- Invoke Dramatics: Can only be used once per Challenge. Drop your catchphrase or reveal a juicy character detail and hype the ever-loving heck out of the audience! Grant a +50 modifier to your Action.
- Audience Participation: Utilize an Expertise roll to encourage active participation from the audience for a creative bonus to your battle efforts, as decided by the DM. Overuse will tire the audience out.
