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View Resume|Official Photos » Tyler Perez was born in the St. Louis, Missouri area but grew up in Brevard County, Florida. Tyler began pursuing acting at the age of 16 and moved to Los Angeles, CA at age 19. He was accepted into the University of Texas at Austin to study Radio, Television and Film but decided to pursue acting full-time instead. He is known for Code Black (2015).. See full bio » |
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Infinite materialsTo duplicate materials after Version 1.02, put a material in the fabricator and split it up across as many slots as desired, but make sure each slots has less than 1 material in it. Then, save the game and quick load it. The materials in the fabricator will now be rounded up to 1. Thus, if you put 1 material in the fabricator and split it up 48 times across all slots, save and load, you will get 48 materials from just 1 material. This duplication glitch after Patch 1.02 works a lot slower than the original infinite materials exploit, but still allows you to stock up on materials whenever desired.
Early in the game you will find recycling machines to turn unwanted items into materials to use for crafting. This duplication exploit only works on materials; it does not work for weapons, food, or other items. Put the material (best in a stacks of 10) that you want to duplicate into the recycle machine, and then split them up inside the machine. So if you put a stack of 10 inside the machine, split them so each slot is filled with 1 of the material. You can check your duplication gain on the monitor in the middle before you start recycling. Simply start the machine and collect your duplicated materials on the right. Note: This glitch was performed on an unpatched version of the game. It was patched in Version 1.02. To avoid not being able to use this exploit, either do not install new patches before using this exploit or delete the patches. You can avoid patches being installed by disconnecting from the internet until you are ready for the game to install new patches.
Getting the Golden GunBefore you can get the Golden Gun, you have to find an audio recording. Once you reach the 'Arboretum' area of the ship, locate the deep storage grav shift. Look for a sign with an arrow pointing left to an area called 'Looking Glass'. Proceed left to find the 'Looking Glass Scene Selector' screen. Smash the screen, then climb up the small shaft using your Gloo Cannon. Next to Alex's house is a body with the Golden Gun audio recording that gives you access to Jada Marks' safe in the Crew Quarters. You can then follow the side quest marker directly to her safe and collect the Golden Gun.
Getting the Nullwave TransmitterWhen you enter Life Support through the Cargo Bay, go straight ahead into the Atmosphere Control Room. Proceed to the back right corner and look for a maintenance shaft. Use the Gloo Cannon to get into the Oxygen Flow Control Room. Look at the note to get the storage room code. Return to the room you started in, and use the grav shaft past the electric floor. A Nightmare is probably already waiting for you downstairs. The storage room is just right from the grav shaft. Inside is the Nullwave Transmitter fabrication plan in a closet. The Nullwave Transmitter disables Nightmares and prevents them from launching its heavy attacks.
Getting the Q-Beam Laser weaponTo get the Q-Beam Laser weapon, go to the Hardware Labs and enter the machine shop. Go outside the ship and find the breached section to the right. Locate the Breach Failsafe and fix it (Repair Level 2 required). After the breach is fixed, go back inside and enter the breached section through the Atrium second floor. Use the computer to open the door to the testing range, and grab the Q-Beam Laser weapon. It shoots a concentrated beam of particles and lets the target explode. To get the fabrication plan for the Q-Beam ammo, halfway through the story you will automatically reach the Deep Storage. Once you are inside, use the note on the computer on the right to get up the stairway in the next room and up to the data vaults. Turn right and enter the command center. In the top right corner is a safe with the Q-Beam Cells fabrication plan. The code can be found on a note pinned behind Danielle Sho's computer screen.
Getting the shotgunBefore you can get the shotgun, you need to get the keycard for the Security Office. It is located in I.T. Security on the first floor. You can get into the room with a Level 1 hack. Prepare for a fight and grab the keycard on the left. Return to the ground floor of the Lobby and go into the Security Station, located next to the stairs. The shotgun is sitting on the table. There is a book next to it with a hint for the safe where you can find the fabrication plan for the shotgun shells.
Crafting NeuromodsEarly in the story, Alex will give you the Dr. Kelstrup's safe code where the Neuromod fabrication plan is found. Progress a bit in the story to get the general key that gives you access to the Psychotronics section of the ship. Follow the quest marker into Psychotronics until you reach Dr. Kelstrup's room and open the safe with the code. After you built a few Neuromods, you will get an error that prevents you from building any more. This triggers the next side mission. Return back to the Neuromod Division and repair the grav shaft to reach the upper floor. From the upper floor, enter the Volunteer Quarters, proceed through the door to your left, and go inside the room behind the desk. Use the Gloo Cannon to get up there and enter the main room, where there will be a lot of enemies. Get Dr. Kelstrup's keycard from his body. Use the grav shaft to get to the upper floor again and enter the room with the keycard. Dr. Kelstrup’s workstation can now be used to lift the copy protection so you can build as many Neuromods as desired.
Crafting Recycling ChargesThe Recycling Charges are a powerful grenades that sucks in objects and enemies and spits them out as materials for you to use. The fabrication plan for the Recycling Charges are in Deep Storage that you reach through Arboretum. Before you can enter Deep Storage, you must find Danielle Sho's Voice Samples in the Crew Quarters. Once you can enter Deep Storage, grab the note on the monitor in the first room and go upstairs. The Recycling Charge fabrication plan are in Danielle Sho's office on a desk in the back.
Crafting weapon upgradesThe Weapon Upgrade Kit fabrication plan can be found in the Crew Quarters, but you need a few upgrades in order to get it. The room it is found in belongs to Sarah Elazar ,located in Crew Cabins A. There is a shaft next to the door that is blocked by a large box. You have the option to use 'MORPH - Mimic Matter 1' or 'ENGINEER - Leverage 3' to get into the room. The workstation inside has the fabrication plan for the Weapon Upgrade Kit. You gain access to the workstation with the 'Hacking 2' ability.
Alternate endingsIt is possible to escape the Talos I space station early in the game and get the 'Abandon Ship' achievement. Since it does not count as a full playthrough, it will not count towards the 'Split Affinity' achievement or the achievements for no kills, everyone killed, and no needles. It will result in a game over screen afterwards and reload your last save game. The earliest you can do it is in the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission. All you have to really do is complete the 'Who Is December?' side mission that started earlier in the Talos I Lobby. However, it is possible to do this without even completing that side mission. Do the following to get the alternate ending:
1. In the Arboretum area, climb up the hill in the middle of the map and enter Alex's office (you can use the Gloo Cannon to create a climbable path along the wall).
2. In Alex's office, use the Lift skill or throw a Recycler Charge to get rid of the box blocking the vent. Then, open the vent. Behind it is a safe. The safe can be hacked (requires skill), or you can get the code from completing the 'Who Is December?' side mission.
3. From the safe, grab the keycard to Alex Yu's suite. Then, go to the Crew Quarters area.
4. In the Crew Quarters, go up the elevator (code can be found in the storage room up the stairs to left of the area entrance). On the top floor, enter Alex Yu's suite and get the EP101 keycard from under the globe.
5. Go back to Alex Yu's office on the Arboretum hill. You can see the escape pod in the distance on a metal structure. Climb to the very top of the house and shoot some Gloo to reach the steel framework. It is a bit tricky, but with proper use of the Gloo Cannon, you can make it all the way to the escape pod. Enter the pod using the EP101 keycard and escape. Later in the game, during the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission, you can extend the bridge to the pod.
There are two different endings possible at the end of the game. Note: This information contains multiple spoilers. Successfully complete the indicated tasks to view the corresponding ending:
A Mind Without Limits: First, get the Prototype Nullwave Transmitter fabrication plan from Alex and witness the Typhon attack. Then, make sure to avoid hitting the Apex Tendrils and proceed towards Psychotronics (through Talos I Lobby). From the G.U.T.S., open up a hatch to go inside the Containment Chamber. You need to proceed to the area from the Live Exam, but beware of multiple enemies in the area. From the micro-gravity section, proceed towards the middle of the Coral and insert the Prototype Nullwave Transmitter. Next, proceed towards the Command Deck on the Talos I Bridge to meet Alex –- since you did not kill him earlier. Continue towards the console in the area. Do not let January prevent you from doing what is necessary and activate the Prototype Nullwave Transmitter. This allows you to get rid of the Typhon on the Talos I space station.
Perdition: To view the second ending, shoot Alex to acquire the Arming Key and everything else on him. Like the other ending, you must avoid the Apex Tendrils since they deal a lot of damage. Then, go towards the Power Plant from G.U.T.S. and defeat the enemies inside. Proceed to the ground floor and go towards a panel marked on your map. This panel allows you to open up a hatch, leading you to a console. Open up the console to insert both Arming Keys and turn them. Then, proceed to Talos I Bridge and towards the Captain's Loft to activate the self-destruction sequence. At this point, you can stay with Alex (if you saved him) and let the timer reach zero to die with him. However, there are also two ways to avoid death. The first way is to escape using Alex's escape pod, but it requires the EP-101 keycard, found in Alex's room in the Crew Quarters. If you have the keycard, simply fly towards the escape pod and launch it. The second way is done by going to the Arboretum and proceeding towards the Shuttle Bay. Beware there are quite a few enemies in the area. Continue towards Dahl's command shuttle, speak to everyone, and join Dahl in the cockpit to view the cutscene.
During the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission, you are tasked with finding all of Danielle Sho's Voice Samples in the Crew Quarters without the use of Human Abilities or Typhon Powers (No Needles playthrough). If you play without skills, you cannot repair the TransCribe from Danielle's cabin. So you must find some additional ones. After finding them all, you can open the voice lock to Deep Storage.
Timeline
- Voice Sample 1: Recreation Center - 0:05
- Voice Sample 2: The Yellow Tulip - 1:05
- Voice Sample 3: Theater - 3:04
- Voice Sample 4: Looted from Emma Beatty's body - 3:39
- Voice Sample 5: Will Mitchell's Cabin - 5:07
- Voice Sample 6: Danielle Sho's Cabin - 7:00
- Voice Sample 7: Abigail Foy's Cabin - 7:49
- Voice Sample 8: Crew Habitation Pods - 8:38
- Bonus Sample: Danielle Sho's Cabin, on the floor (requires Repair ability)
Search the indicated locations to find all six Smuggler's Dead Drops and get the 'Black Market' achievement. Finding all Dead Drops is part of the 'Talos Smuggling Ring' side quest. They are safes hanging on walls, with a red circle on them and a red light above them. The Talos Smuggling Ring side mission starts by listening to the TransCribe of Lily Morris, found in the lobby of Arboretum. You can still get all Smuggler Dead Drops during the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission. You can free roam in all areas of Talos I and go back to find missing collectibles. You can also collect them while going through the story.
Timeline
- 1. Arboretum - 0:05
- 2. Crew Quarters - 1:27
- 3. Talos I Lobby - 2:28
- 4. Talos I Lobby - 3:03
- 5. Hardware Labs - 3:34
- 6. Cargo Bay - 4:24
Search the indicated locations to find all six Starbender series collectibles and get the 'Prism Master' achievement. The first five books of the series can actually be found in multiple locations. They have three spawn points each. They will always be at all three points simultaneously -- so it is not random. You only need to find each book once. The video below shows the easiest locations. All books except for the fifth one can be found in the Crew Quarters. The sixth book only has one spawn point -- it is always in Alex Yu's suite in the Crew Quarters. They can be collected in any order desired. You can still go back during the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission and free roam around the entire map. The video shows them in chronological story order so you can collect them while playing through the main story. You can track the ones you have already found in the game stats under 'Data' - 'Notes'.
Timeline
- 1. Crew Quarters - 0:05
- 2. Crew Quarters - 0:46
- 3. Crew Quarters - 2:30
- 4. Crew Quarters - 3:39
- 5. Cargo Bay - 5:12
- 6. Crew Quarters - 7:26
Chipsets provide many different boosts, bonuses, and protections. After obtaining a chipset, open your Suit Chipsets or Scope Chipsets page to install it. At the start of the game, both your TranStar Uniform and Psychoscope will only have two slots for chipsets, but you will unlock more with the Suit Modification and Psychotronics skills. Since chipsets do not consume a permanent slot, it is recommended to switch them out regularly, depending on the situation. There are many chipsets available in the game. The following is a list of all the TranStar Uniform and Psychoscope chipsets in the game:
TranStar Uniform Chipsets
Adventurer's Toolkit v1.X: It increases the Fabrication yield, increased critical hit chance with Wrench, better flashlight, and the ability to crawl through tight spaces more efficiently.
ARTX Propulsion Gen 2: It adds a jet boost to the Artax Propulsion System.
ARTX Propulsion Gen 1: It increases the glide speed of the Artax Propulsion System.
Backlash Reactor S-p58: The Backlash has a chance to deal some return-damage to the attacker.
Battery Optimizer IMI7: It improves the battery life of the flashlight.
Beam Shielding 19.4GHz: It decreases the damage received from the laser attacks.
Care4Yu S-i34000x: It reduces the trauma infliction chances.
Cell Refurb 00q-x1: It allows you to salvage additional Disruptor and Q-Beam ammunition from destroyed robots.
D.F.A.: It allows you to damage allies and enemies by falling on them.
EMP Shielding 19.4GHz: It allows you to receive less EMP damage.
Etheric Shielding 19.4GHz: It enhances your resistance against Ether-based attacks.
fSlide infBS_99: It decreases the damage received while sliding.
Game Master's Ire v1.X: It is the exact opposite of the Adventurer's Toolkit v1.X and reduces all those effects.
Grounding Resistor 19.4GHz: It enhances your resistance against Electric-based attacks.
Heavy Gear Optimizer CRU: It increases your movement speed while aiming with the GLOO Cannon or Q-Beam.
Hepatocytic Amp S-m186: It removes the drunken effects of alcohol.
Impact Amp S-390: It makes Wrench attacks have a chance to knock back enemies.
Impact Dampener CRU [v1]: It decreases damage taken from crashing during flight in zero-g.
INTegral Structor b5nm: It increases your suit's resistant to environmental hazards that damage it.
Kinesthetic Assister CRU: It allows you to regenerates stamina more quickly.
Last Chance CoREV1: It allows you survive the life-ending attacks with 1 HP and has a five seconds cooldown.
Leverage Assist CRU: It drastically decreases the time required to pick heavy objects.
PolyShield CRU: It increases your defense against physical attacks.
Prowl S-6400: It provides additional movement speed while sneaking.
Radiation Shielding 19.4GHz: It provides radiation resistance.
Recycler Shielding 19.4GHz: It provides a specialized shield that makes you immune to recycler charges.
Thermal Shielding 19.4GHz: It provides resistance to fire damage.
V-Amp .23: It allows your sneak attacks to refill a small portion of health.
Psychoscope Chipsets
Aggressor Amp 1337Si: It slightly increases the damage of all Psi attacks.
Coral Detector 64Si: It allows your Psychoscope to scan Coral.
Coral Psi Extractor (*) 21.4GHz: It allows you to regenerate Psi by touching Coral.
Electrostatic Amp +6qw5: It increases the damage of the Electrostatic Burst.
ESP Targeting 163xf: It increases damage to marked enemies.
FarScan 002Si: It increases the Typhon scan range of the Psychoscope.
Fear Reactor 0322Si: It provides a small chance to trigger a Fear blast on nearby Typhon after killing a Typhon enemy.
Fear Shielding (*) 21.4GHz: It increases resistance to Fear.
Governor 1400Si: It increases the duration of Machine Mind and Mindjack Neuromod skills.
Kinetic Amp +6qw5: It increases the damage of the Kinetic Blast.
M3chT3ch dx_2.0: It reduces the repairing time.
Mimic Detection Gen 1: It allows you to see the hidden Mimics.
Mimic Detection Gen 2: It allows detection of hidden Greater Mimics.
Nullwave Shielding (*) 21.4GHz: It shields the effects of the Nullwave Transmitter.
Optimizer (Energy) 00100z: It reduces the Psi cost of Energy powers.
Optimizer (Morph) 00100z: It reduces the initial Psi cost of Morph powers.
Optimizer (Telepathy) 00100z: It reduces the Psi cost of Telepathic powers.
Pistol Critical++: It increases the critical chance rate when firing pistols.
Potentializer 23-0948Si: It increases maximum Psi pool by 50.
Psi Reflect >(*)< rev609-1: It provides the chance to reflect a Psi attack.
PsiV-AMP .24: It allows sneak attacks to restore a small amount of Psi.
Psychoactive Charger S-i286: It slowly regenerate Psi over time.
Psycholitic Converter =/~: It allows you to use your HP to cast powers when the Psi meter is empty.
Psychoshock Amp +6qw5: It increases the amount of damage done by Psychoshock.
Psychoshock Shielding (*) 21.4GHz: It grants resistance to Psychoshock.
ReActivator x2t-00: It decreases the cooldown time of Psi powers.
RecoverE++ 2094i: It enhances the regeneration rate of health.
Shotgun Critical++: It increases the critical chance rate when firing the shotgun.
SpeedScan 001Si: It decreases the amount of time needed to complete a scan.
Superthermal Amp +6qw5: It increases the amount of damage done by Superthermal.
Wrench Critical++: It increases the critical chance rate when attacking with a wrench.
Zero Point Psi 19-03weOS: It provides a chance to cast a Psi power without any cost.
These two achievements can easily be combined. To get the 'A Different Side Of Yu' achievement, buy the 'Phantom Shift II' Typhon Power (if you have a scope chipset for faster scanning, you only need Phantom Shift I). Then, equip your Psychoscope, cast Phantom Shift, turn around, and scan your phantom double. Using this skill creates a phantom shape of yourself that can be scanned for the achievement. To get the 'It's Alive!' achievement, buy the 'Phantom Genesis I' Typhon Power (requires you to first buy Phantom Shift I). Cast Phantom Genesis on any human corpse to summon a creature that will fight for you. Dead bodies are found almost everywhere throughout the game. To unlock 'Shift', scan Etheric Phantoms. To unlock 'Genesis', scan Weavers. Etheric Phantoms are dark ghostly shapes walking on two legs, often encountered later in the game. Weavers are large flying creatures with yellow mist around them and appear frequently throughout story missions. Scan all enemies you come across to unlock the various Typhon Powers.
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Easy 'Adrift' achievementYou can rescue Dr. Igwe during the 'This Side Up' main mission. This is a timed event and missable. After escaping from Deep Storage, you will be floating in outer space and have to reach the Cargo Bay. Just as you reach the Cargo Bay, the 'Rescue Dr. Igwe' side mission will pop up. It will automatically mark a container floating in space. The container has the number '2312' printed on it. Fly over to the nearby workstation (by the Cargo Bay) and enter the container number '2312'. Then, choose 'Dock Shipping Container' to rescue Dr. Igwe and get the 'Adrift' achievement.
Easy 'Ball Lightning' achievementThis achievement is a bit glitchy. It may not unlock when hitting just two Operators with one Electrostatic Burst. You may need to hit up to five in one blast. If it does not unlock, you just need to hit more at once. Operators are flying drones that use flamethrowers or laser beams to attack you. At the end of the game, there will be Military Operators everywhere on the map. The best place to get this is in the 'Help Luther Glass' optional side mission. It unlocks when you free roam in Talos I Lobby during 'The Repo Man' main mission. The 'Help Luther Glass' mission leads you into a room with lots of Military Operators. Buy the 'Electrostatic Burst' (Level III recommended) Typhon Power, and shoot it at the floor near 5-6 Operators. The Level 3 Electrostatic Burst has the most range, so it is significantly easier to hit multiple Operators at once. You can also do it with the Level 1 version, but it may take a few more tries. Create a quick save before entering the room with the Operators so you can retry if something goes wrong.
Easy 'Best Served Cold' achievementThis can be done in the 'Crew Quarters' area. There is a man hiding in the kitchen called 'Will Mitchell'. Kill him to get the 'Best Served Cold' achievement. You go there for the first time during the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission. The explanation for this is the guy posing as the kitchen chef is not who he says he is. His real name is Luka and he murdered another crew member called Abby. By killing him you avenge Abby.
Easy 'Coffee Break' achievementThe secret stash is located in the 'Hardware Labs' area in the 'Dr. Calvino's Workshop' room. You enter this room automatically during the 'Through A Glass Darkly' main mission -- and that is the earliest you can go there. Inside Calvino's Workshop is an item called 'Dr. Calvino's Tumbler'. It is on a large red toolbox. Grab it and carry it to the opposite side of the room. Place it on the small radio console to open the secret stash and get the 'Coffee Break' achievement. One way to figure this out is by watching the second video tape on Calvino's computer (the one you have to interact with as part of the main mission). During the video, you can see where he places the tumbler.
Easy 'Dear Future Self' achievementThere are a total of 11 messages required to get the 'Dear Future Self' achievement. Three of them are automatically unlocked during the story (videos that you have to watch as part of main objectives). Six are audio files that are found on the PC in Morgan Yu's suite on the top floor of Crew Quarters (can go up there using the elevator; requires keycard found in your office in Talos I Lobby). One is found in the safe of Alex's office in the form of a TranScribe collectible called 'I Keep Having This Dream' (you can hack it with the hacking skill or get the code from the 'Who Is December?' side mission). The final one is found in the form of a TranScribe collectible called 'If Things Go Sideways' at the end of the game inside Alex's bunker, during 'The Keys To The Kingdom' main mission. You will have to go there to get the aiming key from Alex Yu.
Easy 'Deprogramming' achievementThis can be done during the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission in the 'Crew Quarters' area. Scan the mind-controlled humans in this area with the Psychoscope to unlock the 'Psychoshock' and 'Mindjack' skills. Then, buy those two skills with Neuromods and use Mindjack on a mind-controlled human. It will instantly knock out the human and unlock the 'Deprogramming' achievement.
Easy 'Escape Velocity' achievementThis achievement requires the 'Morph I' and 'Kinetic Blast I' Typhon Powers. Go to any point where you can fall down 20 meters. The roof of Alex's office in the middle of Arboretum works well. Drop a small object from your inventory (like a crafting resource), use 'Morph' to transform into the object, and 'Kinetic Blast' to blast yourself over the ledge. You must stay in the air for 20 meters or more to get the 'Escape Velocity' achievement. This has to be done in normal gravity; you cannot do it in low-gravity areas. Kinetic Blast is unlocked by scanning Phantoms and Morph by scanning Mimics.
Easy 'I And It' achievementTo get the 'I And It' achievement, all humans must die by your hands. Make sure to kill all mind-controlled humans yourself. Do not let them explode their own heads or allow the environment to kill them (happens if they walk into fire or electricity), and make sure no other enemy kills them by accident -- if any of this happens it voids the achievement. Check your statistics after each kill to make sure it counted (view 'Human Kills'). The best way to kill humans is to sneak up behind them, use the Disruptor stun gun, then kill them. Do not leave humans to die on their own in side mission -- kill them yourself (rescue Dr. Igwe from the container so he does not suffocate, then shoot him when you meet). Danielle Sho cannot be killed (even though it shows her being alive at security terminals, she can be ignored). You must kill everyone by the end of the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission. If done correctly, you will get a new side mission from Dahl when he arrives, called 'Showing Initiative'. There are four mind-controlled humans that can only be killed during this mission. Make sure you create a backup manual save before uploading data to Alex's PC in the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission. If Dahl does not give you the mission, you have done something wrong and need to reload the manual save to track down the remaining humans. The following is a list of all human encounters in chronological order:
Trevor J. Young [0:17]: He is a mind-controlled human test subject in Talos I Lobby (Trauma Center – Quarantine room).
Frank Jones and Emmanuella DeSilva [1:54]: In the Shuttle Bay, you can can interact with the Escape Pod Console to kill them both. After viewing the second video in your office in Talos I Lobby, a flying drone named January will give you the General Access Keycard. Use this keycard to enter the Shuttle Bay through Talos I Lobby (path behind elevator). While in the Shuttle Bay, proceed straight ahead to where the large monster is flying around. Turn left and proceed through the door, then downstairs to the Escape Pods.
Aaron Ingram [4:23]: A test subject in Psychotronics. There is a computer near his test chamber that can be used to kill him or let him out and shoot him in the head.
Arborteum (Greenhouse) [5:20]: Three mind-controlled humans are found in the Greenhouse of Arborteum.
Crew Quarters [6:40]: 18 mind-controlled humans are walking around this area. Shoot them before they kill themselves (head explosion). This is extremely easy to miss. It is recommended to make a lot of quick saves in this area.
Will Mitchell (aka Luka) [9:46]: He is the kitchen chef in Crew Quarters. Kill him through the window.
Dr. Igwe [13:03]: He is an optional character that must be rescued during the 'This Side Up' main mission. Afterwards, you meet him in the Cargo Bay and can shoot him in the head.
Sarah Elazar and her security officers [14:58]: You meet them during the 'Shipping And Receiving' main mission in the cargo bay (eight total people).
Mikhaila [16:09]: She is found in the Power Plant area, after opening the door of the cooling chamber and before going to the reactor room. She is sitting on the floor of an office. Shoot her in the head.
Life Support [17:01]: Four mind-controlled humans that can only be found during the 'Showing Initiative' side mission. This mission is given to you by Dahl. You must have killed all humans listed above before Dahl arrives (so everyone except Dahl and Alex Yu). Dahl arrives after the 'Before I Give You The Key' main mission is complete. Create a manual save before completing this mission. If Dahl does not give you the 'Showing Initiative' side mission, you have missed a human and need to go around to double check.
Dahl [20:13]: During the 'Incapacitate Dahl' side mission, shoot him in the head.
Alex Yu [21:18]: You meet him near the end of the game, outside his office bunker.
This is best done in the 'Hardware Labs' station (area names are displayed when viewing the world map or saving the game). In this station there is a side room called 'Ballistics Lab'. There are two recycler charges inside. To get the 'Inrinsic Value' achievement, throw a recycler charge and walk into it to instantly die and get the achievement. To get the 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' achievement, throw the recycler charge around the tables, chairs, and boxes in the Ballistics lab. The recycler will suck them in and turn them into crafting resources. You can do this wherever enough tiny objects are nearby. Offices are usually a good place because they have lots of tables, chairs, and collectable objects.
Easy 'Makeup Exam' achievementThe test rooms are located in the 'Neuromod Division' area. You go there at the beginning of the game. However, it is not possible to get the achievement until much later in the game. Once you automatically unlock the Typhon Powers during the 'Detour' main mission, unlock and buy the following three Typhon Powers: Kinetic Blast I, Mimic Matter I, and Remote Manipulation I. To unlock powers, scan enemies with the Psychoscope (just scan every enemy you encounter). Once you have those three skills unlocked, return to the test rooms from the start of the game. Later in the story, you will go back to the Talos I Lobby and from there can go to the Neuromod Division (same way you took during the main mission). There is a computer near the test rooms. Use the computer to reset the test. Destroy the window to get into the room and do the following to get the 'Makeup Exam' achievement:
- Room A: Use Kinetic Blast power on the canisters.
- Room B: Use Mimic Matter power on the chair.
- Room C: Use Remote Manipulation power on the blue button.
This achievement requires the 'Mimic Matter' Typhon Power. It allows you to transform into any object you target (chairs, tables, etc.). Mimics do the same thing (hide in plain sight by mimicing solid objects). Use the Psychoscope to scan the environment for Mimics posing as objects (this tool is obtained automatically in the 'Detour' main mission). Buy Mimic Matter (Morph skill tree) in the Neuromods menu and use it on the Mimic from afar. Then, transform into the same object as the Mimic to get 'Mimesis' achievement. This can be done in the 'Crew Quarters' area during the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission, but it can also be done in many other places. Mimics are the most common enemies and appear in lots of places. Note: The Mimic is not allowed to see you. If you get too close, it will run away and you cannot use the skill while the mimic is in its black goo shape.
Easy 'Mimic Massacre' achievementThere are very limited opportunities to kill five mimics in five seconds. The best place is in Psychotronics, on level 3 in the 'Labs A' room. There is a glued window in the lab. Behind it are five mimics sitting in one room. Create a manual save, then shoot open the window, throw a Typhon Lure (lures all enemies to one spot), and throw a Recycler Charge (sucks in all enemies and kills them instantly). You can also shoot or melee the enemies once they are standing at the lure. They will not attack you while the lure is active. If something goes wrong, reload the save game. Typhon Lures and Recycler Charges can be found nearby. Typhon Lures are in Lab B and Recycler Charges are in the secret hall behind the Director's office (level 2, use his PC to open the secret path). You can still return to this area at the end of the game (enter from Talos I Lobby, same way you went in the story).
Easy 'No Show' achievementThis can be done at the start of the game. After starting a new game, the first thing you will have to do is put on your suit and go to the rooftop where a helicopter is waiting. Jump on the front of the helicopter and then into the blades to instantly die and get the 'No Show' achievement.
Easy 'Suicide By Proxy' achievementThis can be done during the 'Speak With January' main mission in the 'Talos I Lobby' area. When returning to your office for the second time to view a video, you will be greeted by a flying drone called January. It will drop a keycard and Neuromod. Destroy the drone to get the 'Suicide By Proxy' achievement. It is recommended to then reload the last auto save after getting the achievement because killing January could void the 'I And Thou' achievement.
Easy 'Tee One Up' achievementFirst, buy the Kinetic Blast I and Lift Field I Typhon Powers. Then, use the Lift Field on an enemy to cause them to float in the air for a short period of time. Kill the floating enemy to get the 'Tee One Up' achievement. To unlock Lift Field for purchase, a total of three Poltergeist enemies must be scanned. The earliest you can do this is during the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission in the 'Crew Quarters' area. There are a lot of Poltergeists in that area. They are invisible, but you will know they are there when you are all of a sudden lifted in the air, or if furniture comes flying at you. Always have the Psychoscope equipped to scan them. Explore the Crew Quarters carefully to find three of them.
Easy 'The Gates Of Hell' achievementThis can only be done in the 'Shipping And Receiving' main mission, during the defense of Cargo Bay B. To open the cargo bay door, you must first complete the 'Cargo Bay Defenses' side mission that tasks you with placing three turrets at Cargo Bay B. As soon as you open the door, lots of enemies will come charging out to attack you and the allied security officers. The turrets will do most of the work, but you should also throw a Nullwave Transmitter and shoot them with your shotgun. The faster the enemies die, the less risk they pose to your allies. None of the security officers are allowed to die during the defense. It is highly recommended to play on Easy difficulty for this (difficulty can be changed in game options at any time) since enemies die much quicker on this difficulty. Also, create a manual save game before placing the three turrets so you can keeping retrying until you get 'The Gates Of Hell' achievement. You can also craft additional turrets if you have trouble.
Easy 'Thoughts Can Kill' achievementThis can be done during the 'Gathering Echoes' main mission in the 'Crew Quarters' area. Scan the mind-controlled humans in this area with the Psychoscope to unlock the 'Psychoshock' skill. Then, buy this skill with Neuromods and use Psychoshock on a mind-controlled human. It will instantly kill the human and unlock the 'Thoughts Can Kill' achievement.
Easy 'You Rang?' achievementBuy 2-3 Typhon Powers to make a Nightmare enemy spawn. Then, kill the Nightmare and wait 5-10 minutes (do not move, just wait) until you get a call from January (assuming you did not kill him earlier). This will trigger the 'Mixed Signals' side mission. Successfully complete this side quest. First, go to the Hardware Labs and repair a console. It requires the 'Repair III' ability (costs 13 Neuromods to unlock) and 8 Spare Parts. The rest of the quest is easy -- just follow the waypoint markers to install a chip on a satellite in outer space. This unlocks two audio logs that you can play to attract/repel the Nightmare. Go back inside (Hardware Labs or any other area), open your inventory, and go to 'Data' - 'Audio Logs' - 'Satellite Signal: Attract Nightmare'. Play this signal to get the 'You Rang?' achievement.
AchievementsAccomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:
- Engineer (15 points): You repaired (20) objects on and around Talos I.
- I and It (15 points): You killed every Human on and around Talos I.
- No Needles (90 points): You completed the game without ever acquiring any Typhon power or Human ability.
- Do No Harm (30 points): You completed the game without killing any Humans.
- Mimic Massacre (15 points): You killed (5) Mimics in 5 seconds.
- Dead Calm (15 points): You killed an enemy while using Combat Focus.
- Mimesis (15 points): You mimicked a Mimic.
- Shapeshifter (15 points): You mimicked (20) or more unique objects.
- Know Thine Enemy (10 points): You acquired a Typhon power.
- Know Thy Self (10 points): You acquired a Human ability.
- Split Affinity (90 points): You completed the game once acquiring only Typhon Powers and again acquiring only Human abilities.
- Operator (15 points): You hacked at least (20) hackable objects on and around Talos I.
- A Different Side of Yu (15 points): You scanned your Phantom Shift duplicate with the Psychoscope.
- Deprogramming (15 points): You used Mindjack to free a mind-controlled Human.
- Tee One Up (15 points): You killed an enemy while they were Lifted.
- Escape Velocity (15 points): You blasted yourself as an object for at least 20 meters while in normal gravity.
- It's Alive! (15 points): You created a Phantom using Phantom Genesis.
- Thoughts Can Kill (15 points): You used Psychoshock on a Human.
- Ball Lightning (15 points): You used Electrostatic Burst to drop two or more Operators at once.
- TranStar Gourmand (15 points): You consumed one of every type of food and drink on Talos I.
- Cold Dead Hands (15 points): You fully upgraded a weapon.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (15 points): You used a single Recycler Charge to recycle at least 20 objects.
- Missing Persons (30 points): You located all employees on Talos I.
- Press Sneak (30 points): You read all the e-mails on Talos I.
- Psychometry (30 points): You found and listened to all TranScribe recordings.
Additionally, there are 23 secret achievements:
- I and Thou (90 points): You completed the game in the most empathetic way possible.
- Intrinsic Value (10 points): You recycled yourself.
- No Show (10 points): You died to helicopter blades on your first day on the job.
- Awkward Ride Home (15 points): You escaped Talos I aboard Dahl's shuttle with only Dahl.
- Push the Fat Guy (15 points): You killed Alex.
- Abandon Ship (15 points): You fled Talos I aboard Alex's escape pod before completing your mission.
- Self-Incriminating (15 points): You found out what happened to Mikhaila's father and let her know.
- Brain Trust (15 points): You helped Igwe, January, and Mikhaila meet in your office.
- Dear Future Self (15 points): You found and listened to all the messages you left for yourself.
- Best Served Cold (15 points): You killed Luka and avenged Abby.
- Suicide by Proxy (15 points): You killed January.
- Open Says She (15 points): You used Danielle's voice samples to access Deep Storage.
- This Never Happened (15 points): You performed an apto-regressive neurotomy on Dahl.
- Facsimile (15 points): You met January for the first time.
- A Friend in Need (15 points): You recovered Mikhaila's booster shots and healed her.
- Prism Master (15 points): You read the entire Starbender series and don't regret it.
- The Gates of Hell (15 points): You completed the Shipping and Receiving objective and no human lives were lost
- Adrift (15 points): You rescued Dr. Igwe from a cargo container.
- Black Market (15 points): You found all the smuggler's dead drops.
- You Rang? (15 points): You used the Psychotronics satellite to dismiss or summon the Typhon Nightmare.
- Makeup Exam (15 points): You returned to the Simulation Lab and completed the tests in Rooms A, B, and C.
- Coffee Break (15 points): You found Dr. Calvino's secret stash.
- Gift to the World (30 points): You found Gustaf Leitner's Connectome for Dr. Igwe.
Posted by1 month ago
Link to part 2 ( https://www.reddit.com/r/rpghorrorstories/comments/by4nsg/the_house_guest_from_hell_part_2/ )
Greetings! This is my first time posting on this subreddit, so I hope you guys enjoy my descent into madness. And if anyone thinks they can cram this massive post into a youtube video or two, feel free to link it to me after it’s been posted.
This is going to be a bit different than the usual posts I’ve seen, told from a full on narrative standpoint. If you don’t like slow-burn stories of ever increasing insanity, this might not be the story for you.
Edit: Also, I'd like to add that this story was written from a deep wellspring of anger that's festered and boiled for some time. I don't hold racial views, and if things come across as politically incorrect, just know that I hate this one particular asshole, not his entire race.
Like any good gaming story, we must first establish our cast of colorful characters. (Some names are changed to respect people’s privacy.) For context, we all worked at our local Renaissance Festival near the base of the mountains, a position that allowed us to occasionally play games amid the festival grounds during the week when guests weren’t allowed. There’s nothing quite like playing in the colorful town square of an empty Ren-Fair, especially when the performers are practicing nearby. It’s truly a unique and wonderful experience that I would recommend to any gamer. This isn’t particularly relevant to the story however, aside from explaining how we all knew one another. Anyway, onto the players who had to experience this hell with me.
There were 5 people at this game:
Myself (The DM)
Kenny (Newbie Player)
Sven (Kenny’s brother, also a newbie)
Tim (Awesome D&D veteran and assistant DM)
And..Kevin (That Guy)
Kenny
First up is Kenny. He was white, at least 6’0 and had dark black hair with brown eyes. He was a rather hardcore Christian conservative type whose parents strictly raised him on regimented bible studies, mandatory family time, restricted access to videogames..and an abhorrent fear of Dungeons and Dragons. He shared his parent’s apprehensions about the game, but due to his love of Tolkien and Lewis, he found himself questioning the evils of the game. He was the manager of the kitchen I was working at for that year, and as such we were co-workers for the entirety of that festival. After finally breaking down his will to resist, we met up during lunch and I ran him through a little encounter. The moment the dice hit the table, he was utterly hooked. Dungeons and Dragons set him free and allowed him to express himself creatively in a manner he’d never known to be possible.
The D&D bug got him so badly that it was impossible for him to think of anything else. Our impromptu lunchtime sessions at work were all that he looked forward to during the week, and he constantly tried to sneak out to do weekend games before festival season hit. This all culminated with him eventually running a secret underground game for his younger siblings, which unfortunately got busted by their parents when the second eldest left their character sheet laying around their room..but that’s a story for another time.
This obsession and love for the game lead him into trying to rope his brothers into playing, though only the youngest (Sven) was interested.
Sven
Despite the fact that Sven was 6 years his brother’s junior, he towered over both of us at 6’4. I’m 5’6 and Kenny is 6’0, so Sven was a giant at age 14. My first encounter with him was before the festival opened on the second weekend. I had been clocked in for nearly an hour and had the first few batches of food prepared and pulled off of the grill, and as such I had time to take a break and get out of the heat. This was when I was met by the giant of a boy; his shoulders broad, frame limber and swathed in a green tunic trimmed with animal fur. Dappled freckles shadowed his cheeks, complimenting his shock of red hair. He wore two fake swords on his person, one at his waist and the other across his back and he stood tall with confidence and pride. He clearly enjoyed playing the part of a tall barbarian with some of the serving girls ogling him.
That facade all came crashing down the moment that Kenny introduced me. Sven’s eyes lit up and he immediately dropped his act..and one of his swords to boot as he crouched from sheer excitement, allowing me to see eye to eye with him on a rather literal level. He began to act his age within seconds, hammering me with question after question about D&D and expressing his delight at finally meeting me. When he finally ran his character concept by me, I nearly passed out from laughing so hard. This giant, 6’4 mountain of white skin and red hair wanted to play a gnome ranger, something that had caught me completely off guard. I agreed to let him join the group, which lead us roping in our next player; Tim.
Tim
Tim was the first minority person to join our group, though we never really asked him about his race or heritage. His last name was hispanic, but he could have easily passed as middle-eastern with his coarse beard and slightly curly hair. As the oldest of the group, he commanded a certain presence that I couldn’t quite match, but he was probably the single most laid-back gamer I’ve ever had the pleasure of DMing for. He was in charge of pretzels for our kitchen, and with the grill-pit being just a few feet away we got to bantering back and forth. This quickly evolved into Kenny discussing D&D and asking if Tim could join us, which I quickly agreed to. I was prepared to reff for a bunch of newbies, but Tim surprised me. He’d apparently been playing the game for 10 years, and was very knowledgeable. He offered to help me put the new guys through their paces and guide them along, which I readily accepted.
And thus, everything was set. There were two other guys that were invited to our session, but they ended up not showing..but in their place, unbidden and uninvited by me..came Kevin.
Kevin
The single most entitled, incorrigible, defiant and disrespectful pain in the ass I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting, yet alone DMing for; Kevin was at least my height; 5’6 and skinny with glasses. As the spitting image of a ghetto Steve Urkle, his black hair was coarse and curly, shimmering with pent up grease. His clothing was frumpy and stained, clearly nice and preppy once but now muddled by neglect. He looked very young, seemingly no more than 14 years old..and he had a pathological addiction to social media; instagram in particular.
Supposedly he had over a thousand followers at the time, though nobody really believed him enough to verify said claim. He believed that his presence on that platform entitled him to certain privileges at my table, but that was minor compared to what really he really believed fueled his sense of entitlement; his race. Kevin tried to use the fact that he was black as a weapon, beating us over the head with it during critical moments when he didn’t get his way.
On top of being a minority and an instagram whore, Kevin was also autistic; a triple threat of cards he constantly tried to play. He didn’t seem to realize that everyone in the group to one degree or another was on the spectrum..and that he wasn’t the only minority in the group. He drove me nuts for the entirety of the time I was trapped with him, but I’ll get into that quickly.
Prologue
It all began on a warm Friday morning. I’d been expecting 6 people for our game when we had laid our plans; setting up for a session at the Fairgrounds on our day off. I’d gone all out, filling up 2 coolers with the necessary ingredients for an amazing day in the town square. 3 racks of ribs that’d been pressure cooked the previous night, 4 glass half-gallons of fresh-brewed A&W rootbeer, ground bison patties for burgers, buns both normal and gluten free, gluten free seasonings, condiments and 2 24 packs of Mountain Dew. Every bit of expense came out of my pocket, every bit of time I spent preparing. I wanted these guy’s first time getting together to be spectacular. But, the day before we went up there was a change of plans.
A huge thunderstorm was set to roll through the area that day, dashing our hopes of playing in the festival. However, a secret of mine came through to save the day. You see, my family owns property up in the mountains themselves, overlooking the foothills and rolling plains below. On 10 forested acres of land rested a cabin, built by my family when I was still a toddler. I didn’t talk about it much, most of my friends didn’t even know about it, but given my close working relationship with my group built over 2 festival seasons, I felt that I could trust them. We were all locals to the state, and as such I didn’t have to worry about Rennies breaking into my cabin in the woods and crashing there.
As such, I proposed using this cabin to Kenny and Tim, keeping it a secret from the others in order to surprise them. Both thought it was an awesome idea now that the festival-grounds were a no-go, and given the fact that my cabin was half way between where we lived, it was an ideal solution. I asked my grandfather for permission to use the cabin for that day, and he agreed. Everything was going great as I drove an hour from town and into the countryside, hardly able to contain my excitement. I’d just picked up Tim from his hospital shift the next city over and we were discussing his character. That was when I got two calls telling me that my other co-workers couldn’t make it, just leaving us with Kenny, Sven, Tim and myself. It was disappointing to be sure, but I felt there was still ample opportunity to make this a great experience for all of us.
Oh how wrong I was.
When I pulled up to the gas station, Tim quickly climbed out of my Subaru and headed into the convenience store, deciding that the chips would be on him after he saw how packed my coolers were. My hatchback was crammed full of things, but every article was easily stowed away. Two coolers, my gaming supplies, books, miniature boxes and my 3D dungeon pieces (Made by my father when I was just a kid). There was more than enough room for the people I planned to take up.
Then Kenny pulled up, his brother immediately piling out of the car before it’d even stopped moving. Sven rushed over to me, bouncing on the balls of his feet, gushing with excitement as he gave me more of his character backstory. I smiled at him, finding his unabashed enthusiasm to be rather refreshing. Kenny hopped out of his car and waved at me, but something seemed rather off. He had an odd expression on his face..his smile tinged with regret and apology. I frowned and came forwards, wondering what was going on. At first I feared that he might be cancelling on me last second, or that his parents wanted him home by a certain time..but that wasn’t the case. Then I heard his rear passenger door open, catching me off guard.
Out stepped Kevin.
The moment I saw him Kenny knew he was in trouble. I quickly pulled him aside as his uninvited passenger exited the vehicle, still messing around with his phone.
Me: “Kenny, what the fuck dude? This was just supposed to be between us! I don’t know this person, why is he here?!”
Ken: “I know man, I didn’t really want to bring him here either. It’s just..I told him he could play with us. When the festival was still an option.”
Me: “You didn’t think to run that by me?”
Ken: “I didn’t think I had to, you always said you were open to walk-ups at the festival.”
Me: “This is different. I don’t want to take some stranger up to my family cabin. You know it’s not inhabited most of the time, we don’t want a break in.
Ken: “Kevin wouldn’t do that, he doesn’t even have a vehicle.”
Me: “Kevin? You mean that annoying guy who works at the elephant kitchen?” (There was a kitchen down by the elephant pen as an FYI)
Ken: “Yeah..he’s been my friend for years, and I think this would be a good experience for him. You know what I’ve said about him..he’s got issues like us. But we’ve worked through all of them, he hasn’t. I think that D&D could really help him with that, and you’re a great GM! You’re the best dungeon master I’ve ever had!”
Me: “I’m the *only* DM you’ve ever had. And I get it, your heart is in the right place..but now isn’t the time. Can we get an Uber to send him home?”
Ken: “I mean..we could, but his parents aren’t home. He doesn’t have a key to get into his house, and I don’t have the money for that. I also don’t want to have to drive an hour and a half back home to drop him off…”
Me: “Fuck..well we don’t have much of a choice. That storm is moving in fast and I don’t want any of this food going to waste if we reschedule..fine, but make sure he’s blindfolded or something when we go up.
Ken: “Won’t have to, he never takes his eyes off of that phone.”
Me: “I’m thrilled…”
After a few moments Kenny told me he had to go to the bathroom and motioned towards his brother. I cleared my throat and mentioned that we should all go to the bathroom before we headed up into the mountains. Sure enough Kevin stays texting on his phone for a few moments before quickly looking up, laying eyes on me for the first time. I repeated myself and he nodded, immediately going back to his phone as he followed us inside.
Tim came out of the bathroom first, cocking his head to the side when he saw Kevin. At first he assumed that the newcomer wasn’t a part of my group, but he frowned once he realized it. As he grabbed his chips he motioned towards me, pulling me aside.
Tim: “Hey OP, I know it’s your family cabin we’re going to right? Did you know about this new guy coming along?”
Me: “Nope, Kenny sprang it on me at the last second. I didn’t even know about it until he stepped out of the car.”
Tim: “Shit, that sucks. We gonna call it off?”
Me: “I’m willing to stick it out..we just need to keep a close eye on him. That’s Kevin…”
Tim: “Yeah, I heard about him. Guy’s lazy and pisses everyone off at the kitchen. Not sure why Ken brought him up.”
Me: “He’s been friends with Kevin for a while.”
Tim: “Hmm..I’ll make sure he doesn’t piss you off too badly.”
Me: “Sounds like a tall order.”
Tim chuckled slightly and made his way over towards the counter, and that’s when Kevin came out of the bathroom and cornered me at the back of the line. I was a bit uncomfortable with how close he was. He didn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space very well, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt given the tight confines of the aisle we were standing in.
Kevin: “So, you’re the DM? We’re going to your cabin right? I’m Kevin, I like to play videogames. Is this going to be like Skyrim? I hope it’s like Skyrim..or Fallout! No! Assassin’s Creed! I wanna play a character that can-”
Me: “Whoa whoa, slow down there. I can’t follow a conversation if you keep bouncing around like that. Just take a deep breath and focus on one topic.
Kevin: “I was getting to that! Geeze..anyway, I wanna play a character that can sneak around and oneshot people, I wanna be able to fight, I wanna be able to cast spells, I wanna be able to shapeshift..oh! I also want a magic raven and a bunch of handguns! Oh! Can I have hidden blades as well? Or hidden guns? Or hidden gun-blades? What about gliders? Can I turn invisible?”
Me: “Kevin! One thing at a time, you’re not even giving me a second to answer you. You can’t do all of those things at once, at least not without multiclassing at later levels. Also you’re not going to be good at all of those things for a while if you really want to head down that path. Dungeons and-
Kevin: “But I thought this was going to be like Skyrim! Kenny told me I could do or be whatever I wanted! He said-”
Me: “Kenny isn’t the DM, I am. Now please, let me finish. I’m not running a whole bunch of home-brew stuff, so there aren’t going to be any-”
Kevin: “What’s home-”
Me: “What did I just say? There aren’t going to be any guns, there aren’t going to be any Assassin’s Creed style hidden blades. Turning invisible is a very high level spell, you’d have to specialize into a certain class to cast it.”
Kevin: “But you’re the DM, what you say goes..you could just give me invisibility! It’d be so cool!”
This caught me off guard, as I’d never had a player insinuate that I should use my powers as a DM to break the system specifically to cater to their power-play fantasies. He went on a little longer about how since I was running the game, I could give him anything he wanted as a character. I had to put my foot down and tell him that he was starting off as a level 3 character and that I wasn’t going to give him a bunch of broken abilities. This seemed to annoy him, but he shut up about it as Kenny came over with Sven following behind.
Sven had a rather confused and concerned look on his face as the dark clouds rolled in. The sky had already been blanketed in unbroken grey clouds, but the roiling tempest that was approaching from the north seemed to make him uneasy. I assured him that we had a back up plan, and that the festival grounds weren’t feasible for us to play in anymore. He looked over towards an old Gazebo outside of the station, gesturing towards it. I shook my head, smiling and told him we were going somewhere special.
We all piled into our vehicles, though unfortunately Kevin had elected to ride with me. He tried to get into the front seat, but Tim quickly put his hand out and called shotgun, blocking him from entering the passenger seat. Kevin glared at him for a moment before opening a rear door and sliding inside. Despite his greasy looks, he didn’t really smell..but I loathed having him anywhere near my carseats. He immediately went to looking at his phone however, sparing me from the effects of his drivel for at least a few moments. Tim shot me a look that screamed, “is it still too late to kick him out?” as he got in the car. I sighed and shrugged, turning the key in the ignition.
The Drive
The drive up to the mountains wasn’t that bad as we hit the winding twists and turns, clinging to the base of a cliff on our right. I was experienced with mountain driving; Tim wasn’t. He swore a few times once we turned off the asphalt and onto dirt road, taking the inclines and turns more quickly than he would have liked. Kevin complained about his phone being low on power, deciding to shut it off and finally take a look around. I winced as he started to speak again. He pestered me more and more about what sort of character abilities he could have, barely rewording questions before asking me again..as though hoping the slight adjustment would change the outcome of my answer.
Tim handed him his 5th edition player’s handbook and told Kevin to look through it. Kevin stared at it for about five minutes before asking me to explain everything in detail. I was clearly growing annoyed, but before I could start speaking Tim patted me on the shoulder and began to speak. Kevin immediately cut him off with a dismissive “I wasn’t talking to you.”
Me: “Listen to Tim, he knows what he’s talking about.”
Kevin: “But he’s not the game master, you are!”
Me:” I don’t care, Tim has more experience with D&D than I do, listen to what he has to say.”
Kevin: “Why isn’t Tim running the game then?”
Me: “Because I was already running it when he was invited. He’s gonna help me coach you guys along and offer advice. D&D isn’t like other games, the tutorial is a whole process in of itself.
Kevin: “Fine…”
Tim went on the explain the basics of all the classes, but Kevin tuned him out and went back to staring at his phone, which was steadily dropping in power by the minute. By the time we reached my cabin, his phone was near death. He asked me if I had an Android charger around, but everyone else in the group had Iphones, myself included. He got annoyed with us for not having a charger for his phone around and dismissed us, getting out of the car to start walking down the slope towards my cabin. He seemed hopeful that there as a charger down there for him to use, but I knew there wouldn’t be. My family had long since learned to stop leaving their chargers up in the mountains.
Kevin also seemed rather unimpressed with the architecture of our temporary dwelling. It was indeed a log cabin with concrete foundations and a wood-fire stove, but he turned his nose up at it all the same and began to complain that he couldn’t get a phone signal out here. I rolled my eyes as I started unloading my vehicle. Kenny’s car pulled up behind me, and together we got everything down to the cabin..all while Kevin sat in a rocking chair out on the porch and watched us, not even bothering to help.
I quickly fished my keys out of my pocket, unlocking the various doors around the property; the generator shed, basement and finally the cabin itself. We all came inside, except for Kevin who remained on the porch for a few more seconds before heading towards the door. For just a split second I felt the urge to slam the door in his face and then lock it, but I took a deep breath and stepped back, allowing him inside just as the first drops of rain began to patter on the roof.
No More Room In Hell Cabin Code 10
By this time it was 10 AM, we were all getting everything set up. I got my dice box out and sorted out my DM dice whilst Kenny and Tim produced their own sets. Much to my surprise, Sven pulled out three sets he and his brother had purchased, ones that were meant to go the co-workers who never showed. Kevin started to whine about not liking my fancier dice, only for Sven to push a sparkly pink dice set towards him. Kevin glared at him for a moment, displeased with the set before seemingly changing his mind and unboxing them, dumping the polyhedrons out on the table.
The Instagram Incident
Everyone at the table went over the various roles each die played, tutoring Sven and Kevin in the mystic art of dice rolling. This was more of a refresher for Sven given the fact that Kelly had ran his brother through a crash course over the previous weekend. All throughout the process Kevin questioned everything; why were there so many dice? Could he just roll normal dice instead? Could he use the d20 for everything? Why did he even need dice at all? It was rather frustrating to explain this to him, especially given the fact that he compared everything to Skyrim constantly. “Well in Skyrim this and in Skyrim that” until Tim finally noped out of the situation and put a pot of coffee on to brew. Everyone else thought a hot beverage sounded good, and as such they killed time until it was ready.
Kevin poured himself a mug before anyone else, absolutely drowning it in dehydrated creamer and sugar, and then began to pull out his phone. He fat fingered his password a few times and began to type something. Then he aimed it around the room and a bright flash of light went off. I blinked, was he seriously taking photos of the inside of my family cabin. Tim got to him before I could say anything, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Tim: “Hey, put that away. It’s disrespectful to do that up here without asking.”
Kevin: “Why? I’m just taking pics for Instagram.”
Me: “You’re WHAT?!”
Tim: “Dude, not okay! And turn your location off, OP doesn’t want you to fatfinger your phone and tell everyone where this place is!”
Kevin: “But I want my followers to know what I’m doing, this place is pretty chill and looks good to crash in.”
Me: “That’s exactly why I don’t want you to tell the fucking internet where my cabin is!”
Kevin: “Come on, I’ll make this place instagram famous! Besides, it’s not like anyone can tell where this place is.
Me: “You keep taking pictures showing the view outside! People can easily figure out where the fuck this place is!”
Kevin: “Fine..can I at least instagram this coffee? This coffee looks so good. I wanna show everyone what I’m drinking.”
Me: “No! Delete the pictures you’ve taken and turn that damn thing off!”
Kevin: “Fine, I’m deleting them..but I’m still gonna instagram this coffee.”
I rolled my eyes and bit back my anger, realizing that I’d have to compromise with this idiot. He punched his touch screen and glared at me for a moment. “Done” he said before trying to take a picture of his mug again. He cursed for several seconds, complaining about the lack of signal until his phone suddenly died. He whined and bitched, looking around at everyone who had already told him they didn’t have any phone chargers. Tim motioned for Kevin to hand over the phone.
“I think I have a charger that might work. Give it here.” Tim said, smiling as Kevin eagerly handed him the android..to which Tim quickly slipped the phone into his hoodie pocket.
“I’ll make sure it gets charged in the car. You’ll get it back once we’re done playing.”
No More Room In Hell Brainstorm Codes
Kevin gaped at him like a fish, his eyes wide as he tried to process what had just happened. He protested weakly for a few seconds before realizing his defeat, dropping his eyes back to his coffee and the dice that lay scattered on the table before him.
The Character Catastrophe
We got down to the business of character creation..or rather finishing up character creation for Sven and beginning the entire process for Kevin. Kenny already had his character from our lunch sessions, (A centaur Paladin) and Tim had come over to my house earlier in the week in order to create his own character (A monk named Little John). Kenny had walked Sven through the creation of his gnome ranger, but he left several steps incomplete for me to assist with. In order to make things move along more smoothly, Tim suggested that we split up and each help a different person. Before I could do anything he started walking towards Kevin, clearly intent on helping him create his character.
I sighed in relief, glad that I wasn’t going to have to deal with Kevin for a little while at the very least..but just a few minutes later I hear him screech my name. I looked over at him, frowning as he began to point emphatically at Tim.
Kevin: “Tim said I’m not allowed to multiclass! Why? He’s not the DM! Why shouldn’t I be allowed to multiclass?”
Me: “Because I told him I don’t want you guys multiclassing with your first characters, it brings in too many different complexities.”
Kevin: “But I wanted to play an Assassin from Assassin’s Creed! I wanna be Ezio!”
Me: “Look, I don’t want any multiclassing right now, okay? Once you get to a higher level and feel more comfortable with the game, then I’ll let you multiclass. But for now, just pick a class and stick with it.”
Kevin: “Fine..but why is Tim helping me make my character and not you? He’s not the DM!”
Tim: “I’m the assistant DM right now.”
Kevin: “I don’t care, I only have to listen to what the DM says, piss off!”
Me: “Kevin! As the DM I’m telling you to listen to Tim!”
Kevin: “Fine…”
I took a deep breath and returned to finishing Sven’s character, all the while hearing Kevin argue with Tim. I was already deeply regretting my decision to let him stay, but I was under the impression that he was just a teenager and as such I really couldn’t throw him out in the woods during a thunderstorm. Half an hour went by and I finished things up with Sven, giving him a small upgrade he’d asked for (a d8 horn shortbow to bring his damage in line with other rangers) before moving on to Kevin.
When I got there, I realized that they hadn’t even rolled Kevin’s stats yet, and on top of that he hadn’t even decided what sort of class he was shooting for, nor did he even have a player race. I was damn near done with his nonsense, but after several long minutes of arguing back and forth he finally pointed to the rogue picture..a dark-elf assassin.
Kevin: “I wanna play this character!”
Tim: “You want to play a rogue?”
Kevin: “No! I want to play them!”
Tim: “You want to play that exact character?”
Kevin: “Yeah! I wanna play the cool elf assassin!”
Tim: “We’ve been over this page at least 4 times, you could have mentioned that earlier.”
Kevin: “Yeah, well I decided I want to play him now.”
I came over, already frowning and realizing what sort of trouble this could cause. We were playing in the Forgotten Realms setting, specifically on the Sword Coast near Neverwinter. Kevin didn’t understand why we were hesitant to let him play a Drow assassin in a party of Good players. We read him the subrace passage from both the player’s handbook and Sword Coast book verbatim and he still didn’t catch-on that playing as a Drow was a bad idea.
Kevin: “I’ll just play as a nice dark-elf!” Lee enfield no4 mk1 t.
Me: “I don’t want to crush your creative freedom, but it really isn’t a good idea for a new player to mess around with a Drow.”
Kevin: “Why not?”
Me: “Mostly due to their disadvantages in sunlight, and the prejudice that typically comes with playing a race that’s usually seen as evil.”
Kevin: “I can deal with that, it’ll make it interesting!”
Me: “Alright..what’s your alignment going to be?”
Kevin: “Uh..Good?”
Tim: “Okay, Neutral Good. Let’s keep this ball rolling along.”
We moved on to rolling his stats, of which he chose the best set out of three and started distributing his numbers. This was then quickly followed by him whining that I should give him better stats because he was new, before I reminded him that he hadn’t even adjusted for the racial attributes and abilities of the Drow yet. I really didn’t want him to play as a dark elf, as I didn’t have a good idea as to how I wanted to include such a character into the story. I’d had plans for everyone else who had their characters ready ahead of time. As such I tried to steer him towards different elf species, but he was insistent due to the Drow’s dark skin. I told him that he could play an elf who came from a hotter environment or who simply had more melanin in his skin..Kevin refused point blank because he thought the charcoal-black skin and white hair was a cool design.
At this point I just gave up and let him play the Drow..and then things started to get weird.
Kevin: “I want her name to be Olesya, and she’ll be the most beautiful elf in the whole world!”
Me: “Uh..what? I thought your character was a guy?”
Kevin: “Yeah, he was, but I thought of how cool he’d look in pink Assassin’s Creed robes, and then thought it’d be cool if he was a girl. Can I have Assassin’s creed robes? With like a white and pink diamond pattern?”
Me: “Uh..okay. I guess that’s fine. Clothing choice seems pretty odd for an Assassin.”
Kevin: “She’s lived among humans for a while, so she likes their clothes..but she prefers them being pink because she just wants them that way.”
Me: “Whatever you say.”
Kevin: “Can I have a crossbow that shoots exploding arrows?”
Me: “What? No. I’m not giving you a crossbow with explosive bolts at this level.”
Kevin: “What about my magic raven?”
Me: “Kevin, not yet. I’ll figure some way to give you one but not right now.
Kevin: “But I will get one?”
Me: “Not if you keep annoying me. It’s almost 12, we’ve been sitting here for 2 hours just fighting with you to make your character. Just finalize her already so we can get down to playing.”
Kevin rolled his eyes and huffed, giving a loud “Fine” as he went to write on the paper with his pen. Knowing that it was around lunch I went out to the porch and started the grill, getting ready to sear the ribs I’d brought up with me. At that altitude the burners heated up fast, bringing it all up to temp within mere minutes. I quickly went about unwrapping the racks of ribs, peeling apart the gleaming foil to reveal the juicy, tender meat lying within. The aroma made everyone antsy with excitement as I painted each rack with barbecue sauce. Once that was done, Kenny volunteered to go slap them on the grill and watch the meat as it warmed up.
No More Room In Hell Mods
I stood chatting with Kenny for a while beneath the covered porch as the rain poured down all around us in drenching sheets, washing small rivulets into the mountainside. After a few moments he apologized for bringing Kevin up here, and that if I wanted to uninvite him from future games, he would tell him personally as to break the news more easily. I told him that Kevin hadn’t even been invited in the first place, and that Kenny should have told me before he even came up. Kenny nodded sheepishly at me and sighed, shaking his head. He knew that he screwed up royally, especially given just how much time Kevin had already wasted. He desperately wanted to play, and his friend was just holding everything up.
After around 15 minutes, the smell of grilled pork filled the cabin, drawing everyone back outside as we started to plate up the ribs, cutting all 3 racks into quarters to make sure everything was in decent portions. I’d figured we’d eat all of them and didn’t worry about leftovers to take back down the mountainside. Cans of soda were opened, bottles of rootbeer were unscrewed and poured into waiting glasses, all in preparation for the feast that was to begin.
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