TPN Campus Guide

TPN Campus Guide

Hello everyone! Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens here once more. Over the past few months, I've given you the background of the first four Incarnate Trials. Today, I'll bring you the details about the next Incarnate Trial: TPN Campus.

TPN Campus is the public center of Emperor Marcus Cole's communications network. It provides Praetoria all of the information deemed fit for public consumption. However, it presents a valuable opportunity to Incarnates opposed to Emperor Cole. Now that you have learned the truth behind Emperor Cole's Praetoria, the only clear course of action is to deliver a message to the people of Praetoria, revealing the lie that is the foundation of Emperor Cole's iron rule.

You and your League plan to commandeer the facility to broadcast the truth to the world, which will incite an uprising of the citizenry against Cole. To prevent such a revolution, Cole has sent IDF and DUST soldiers led by Maelstrom to hold TPN.

At the center of this showdown is H.D., a mercurial AI who runs TPN Campus. H.D. is interested in seeing how this story plays out and may help you--or the Emperor. Should Maelstrom drive you off, the message of Cole's continued superiority will resonate throughout the world. However, if you succeed, you will deliver news of Cole's treachery that will shock the world.

TPN Campus Incarnate Trial

Personnel Needed: League of 12-24 characters
Character Level: 50
Alpha Slot: Can be unlocked here
Incarnate Slot Experience: Earn Alpha, Judgement, and Lore slot experience

Stage 1: Gaining Favor

The IDF and DUST forces have secured TPN. Unlikely assistance comes from within TPN, but at a price. To enter TPN, you must defeat the Emperor's forces without destroying the cameras sent to observe the battle. This allows you to build Favorability with H.D. to earn his help.

• Defeating five IDF/DUST soldiers increases H.D.'s Favorability by +5 points and spawns one Camera.
• Defeating one Camera decreases Favorability by -5 points.

You succeed when your Favorability reaches a total of 50. During this stage, your group cannot fail.

Stage 2: Start the Broadcast

Once you open the main building, activate four broadcast terminals unlocked by your new benefactor, H.D., to begin your broadcast.

IDF Technicians guard each broadcast terminal. Defeating them and using the terminals sways Public Opinion against Cole. Impenetrable Shielding protects the IDF Technicians as long as any of their allies remain nearby.

After you use the terminals to initiate your broadcast, Maelstrom arrives. You must battle Maelstrom and the IDF Technicians who are continually trying to undo your use of the terminals.

If you defeat Maelstrom without allowing Public Opinion to fall to 0, your message is broadcast to the citizenry--and Maelstrom loses one of his pistols in the fracas.

Stage 3: Building Your Case

The Emperor dispatches his forces to destroy TPN's systems and shut down the broadcast. Keep the signal going via the terminals to build Public Opinion. Now you must also protect the TPN and H.D. from the Emperor's wrath.

Three buildings on TPN Campus are assaulted by the Imperial forces. Unlock and use all four broadcast terminals within each building to boost your broadcast, allowing H.D. to secure the building and temporarily halt the Imperial assault. However, if H.D. is defeated, the Imperial forces temporarily secure the building, locking you out of its terminals until H.D. can reconfigure itself.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Imperial City arrive at the campus exterior, seeking answers. Mother Mayhem sends her Seer Telepathists to control the situation. The Seer Telepathists pacify those hostile to the Emperor and turn the minds of the citizens against you.

• Pacify: A Seer Telepathist controls the minds of aggressors with ease. While a single Telepathist's Pacify can completely pacify a normal individual, they can only reduce the accuracy, defense, damage, and resistance of Incarnates. This mapwide effect stacks for each of the Telepathists alive on the map.
• Telepathic Interference: Every Seer Telepathist surrounds and protects herself against attack with a massive bubble of psychic energy. This bubble interferes with those with hostile intent, causing ongoing psionic damage to all those within the bubble. The Seer Telepathists position themselves so that their bubbles overlap, causing significant damage.
• Mindwashing: Every 20 seconds, a Seer Telepathist mindwashes a protesting citizen to incite violence against you. Angered citizens become attackable, and this citizen anger causes a small drop in Public Opinion. After three minutes, hostile citizens come to their senses, stop attacking, and flee the battlefield. Defeating a mindwashed citizen causes Public Opinion to plummet!

Public Opinion effects during this stage are:

• Using H.D.'s terminals to boost the signal Public Opinion increases public opinion by +50 points.
• Terminal use also boosts Public Opinion generation by +1 point every 10 seconds.
• For every 10 seconds each Technician remains alive, Public Opinion Public Opinion decreases by up to -5 points. The longer a Technician remains alive, the greater this negative impact. It starts at -1 point every 10 seconds and grows every 40 seconds, up to -5 points every 10 seconds.
• For each citizen who is converted by Seer Telepathists, Public Opinion decreases by -2 points. The longer the Seer Telepathists remain alive, the more citizens they can convert.
• Each mindwashed citizen you defeat decreases Public Opinion by -10 points.

When Public Opinion grows to 500 and remains there for 30 seconds, Maelstrom returns with additional Imperial forces to assist him. Because he lost one of his pistols during your earlier encounter, he begins to execute more deadly maneuvers than in your previous battle.

Marked For Death: Periodically, Maelstrom marks members of your group in a 30-foot radius around him with a bullseye target above their heads. Marked characters are now Marked for Death and must escape the area around Maelstrom until the mark fades.

Time to Die: Anyone within a 30-foot radius of Maelstrom who is Marked for Death is killed instantly when Maelstrom uses Time to Die. Those who are not Marked for Death take significant, but survivable, damage.

You achieve total victory in this stage when Maelstrom is defeated again. In the chaos, he loses his second pistol.

Stage 4: Showdown

In this final stage, Cole's forces attempt to overwhelm you and the TPN Campus. You must continue to fight Seer Telepathists and Technicians as they arrive.

Maelstrom's continual presence during this stage, which is perceived as indicating he has control over the situation, degrades Public Opinion. Without his pistols, Maelstrom must rely on his Teleporting Martial Arts, the ability to combine the Teleportation ability granted by the Maelstrom Device with his Martial Arts abilities. You can drive Maelstrom away temporarily, halting his erosion of Public Opinion, but he returns after he recovers.

In addition to the Public Opinion effects still in play, this stage adds one more effect:

• Every 2 seconds that Maelstrom is present, Public Opinion decreases by -1 point.

When Public Opinion once again builds to 500 and remains at that level for 30 seconds, the final battle with Maelstrom begins. In this last encounter, Maelstrom uses his Teleporting Martial Arts and acquires Whirlwind Burst.

• Whirlwind Burst: Periodically, Maelstrom begins to channel energy through the Maelstrom Device into his hands. After five seconds, he releases this energy in a massive burst that knocks back every opponent within 30 feet, including pets (even the Incarnate ones), clearing the area around him to allow him freer use of his Teleporting Martial Arts.

Total victory comes with Maelstrom's annihilation. With your success, the truth about Emperor Cole's regime floods the airwaves, a truth that can no longer be ignored, suppressed, or covered up. Victory against Emperor Cole's regime is finally within your reach!