My dream of pulling off the ultimate moustache-twirling villain was crushed most brutally today. I cannot use the magic brofist AND get the lovely ending from the Abyss as the Chosen One, since I fall short by ONE measly character point.
The well check (7 dex and 7 con) combined with the Abyss checks (7 per and 7 int) can be passed by a Loremaster with 8 charisma, but not by one with 9, which is the requirement for the Chosen One reputation. Now granted, it is a real Garrett/Indy stunt to dive into an old tunnel like that. Such tomfoolery may not be suitable for a slick and slimey con-artist riding high on the fundie craze. If the game offered another source of tubes for talkative and big-yehzah characters, it really would not matter.
Unfortunately, it does not! The Abyss exploration and magic brofist activation are mutually exclusive events for 9 charisma dudes, simply because there aren't enough tubes available. I see no good reason for this. Slick sweet-talkers should have an easier time than most to get their grubby hands on relics of the past, and surely there must be more than two tubes in all of Maadoran?
I say, fun should be allowed! Please add a few more tubes for social characters, available only through high charisma and skills like streetwise, persuasion and trade. That way brutes and Kangaroo-Jacks won't get obscene amounts of tubes, whereas Herveanus Caenus will at least get what other Loremasters have access to, while also being able to twirl his villainous moustache in style.