Saving a Nation, By Any Means Necessary (Modern/Sci-Fi meets Fantasy CK2)
- Thread starter dnzrx
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi Fantasy
Have a fun little bit of a tidbit of trivia information and world building while you continue to vote a bit more.
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Additional Notes Regarding Reactions to Movies/Movie Genres, Horror Movies:
Reactions to this genre among your new world native employees are scattered all over the place ranging from strongly positive to strongly negative, with the overall data suggests an opinion leaning slightly negative response. You hypothesized that the main problems with making well-received horror fiction for the new world populace, or at least Leofarinians, was two-fold.
First, it is probably difficult to scare someone who has seen and suffered quite a bit worse than what could possibly shown on film for the most part. This is definitely more obvious as bandit attacks, bloody warfare, and (for the Bunnies of the Unhallowed Marshes Warrens at least) undead are regular enough occurrences that some people might be a bit desensitized to the genre.
The second problem is a very common problem seen back in your world: tastes varies wildly between two people. What might scare the daylights out of someone would probably make someone else laugh their guts out. Having little knowledge on the cultural tastes of the new world, you are practically exploring unexplored territory here.
However, with your data, you have noticed a few clues and patterns that will help a budding horror-movie maker when catering to Leofarinians.
First of all, you have noticed that depictions of undead like heavily decomposed zombies or skeletons tend to work very well in evoking horror unless the subjects have regular enough experiences with undead. While convincing costumes are enough for most parts, convincing CGI also works just as well, if not better. You noticed that the zombies has to be badly decomposed; "fresher" zombies like the ones shown in Romero's films don't work. Alice, the Commanding Officer of the Onyx Rabbits, remarked that the zombies in Romero's films "act more like raiding Bravian Bunnies in heat when they found a man rather than any feared undead," before adding to the statement that "the situation could be scary for some people..."
Adding to the first point, serious and scary depiction of ghosts and malevolent being that possess people is a bit of a safe bet if one wants to spook the Leofarinians. The Exorcist caused quite a scare among your watchers. Apparently, scaring the daylights out of each other with ghost stories is a popular pastime in a tavern or around the campfire. In addition, the Temple of Divine Word does actually have a dedicated order for exorcising ghosts and the like. How effective they really are is unknown to you, but it must have been even slightly effective since the order still exists even now...
Painful transformations into monsters tend to be a safe bet too. The more monstrous the transformation, the more intense the reactions from the Leofarinian watchers will be. That scene from The Fly caused more than a few watchers, some of them battle-hardened warriors, to run out of the room, with vomiting noises following soon after. Although, relatively mundane werewolf transformation tend to be unnerving too for some watchers. You had to reassure Sister Melancholy many times that there are no werewolves in your world, showing that, despite mostly getting over it, she still have some deep mental scars from the werewolf attack that scarred her many years ago...
Splatter horror and torture porn movies can work in scaring the new world natives, but you found out that the scenes and the entire movie itself must be really-well done or else it might garner a negative reaction. Common points of criticism includes how unreal it looks like to real violence and torture or how boring it is in comparison to, again, the real thing. In fact, sometimes the gore-scenes might just cause laughter on how fake or absurd the whole thing looks. You figured that right now would not be a good time for this sub-genre to flourish.
Slasher Films also have problems preventing them from being well received, but for different reasons. It turns out that the Leofarinians can see and recognize set pattern of tropes within the films after seeing a few and are pretty quick to point them out. They are pretty quick to point out the common pitfalls of the sub-genre, like how people tend to die after having sex, how no one is smart enough to stick together when the killer is on the loose, or how no one is smart enough to carry self-defense weapons, not even so much as a chastity dagger. Particularly well-done slasher films avoided being mocked as harshly, but, like splatter horror films, you don't anticipate widespread appeal among the native populace at this time.
As small note related to the topic of slasher films, it seemed that some of the designs of the killers in these movies are far more well received and has created at least one fan. War-Sister of the Mace Selene has taken it a bit further than many. She had found an old hockey mask in your company's storage room and decided to keep it, decorate it with Temple of the Divine Word symbols and lots of red paint, and wear it around whenever possible. You don't know if she is doing it as a fashion statement or she just likes to scare people with the mask. What you do know is that the mask earns her a variety of nicknames like Sister "Smasher", Sister "Blood", and "The Scary Sister". She eventually settled upon Sister "Thirteen" as her preferred nickname.
You still think she's plain silly...
=====
Additional Notes Regarding Reactions to Movies/Movie Genres, Horror Movies:
Reactions to this genre among your new world native employees are scattered all over the place ranging from strongly positive to strongly negative, with the overall data suggests an opinion leaning slightly negative response. You hypothesized that the main problems with making well-received horror fiction for the new world populace, or at least Leofarinians, was two-fold.
First, it is probably difficult to scare someone who has seen and suffered quite a bit worse than what could possibly shown on film for the most part. This is definitely more obvious as bandit attacks, bloody warfare, and (for the Bunnies of the Unhallowed Marshes Warrens at least) undead are regular enough occurrences that some people might be a bit desensitized to the genre.
The second problem is a very common problem seen back in your world: tastes varies wildly between two people. What might scare the daylights out of someone would probably make someone else laugh their guts out. Having little knowledge on the cultural tastes of the new world, you are practically exploring unexplored territory here.
However, with your data, you have noticed a few clues and patterns that will help a budding horror-movie maker when catering to Leofarinians.
First of all, you have noticed that depictions of undead like heavily decomposed zombies or skeletons tend to work very well in evoking horror unless the subjects have regular enough experiences with undead. While convincing costumes are enough for most parts, convincing CGI also works just as well, if not better. You noticed that the zombies has to be badly decomposed; "fresher" zombies like the ones shown in Romero's films don't work. Alice, the Commanding Officer of the Onyx Rabbits, remarked that the zombies in Romero's films "act more like raiding Bravian Bunnies in heat when they found a man rather than any feared undead," before adding to the statement that "the situation could be scary for some people..."
Adding to the first point, serious and scary depiction of ghosts and malevolent being that possess people is a bit of a safe bet if one wants to spook the Leofarinians. The Exorcist caused quite a scare among your watchers. Apparently, scaring the daylights out of each other with ghost stories is a popular pastime in a tavern or around the campfire. In addition, the Temple of Divine Word does actually have a dedicated order for exorcising ghosts and the like. How effective they really are is unknown to you, but it must have been even slightly effective since the order still exists even now...
Painful transformations into monsters tend to be a safe bet too. The more monstrous the transformation, the more intense the reactions from the Leofarinian watchers will be. That scene from The Fly caused more than a few watchers, some of them battle-hardened warriors, to run out of the room, with vomiting noises following soon after. Although, relatively mundane werewolf transformation tend to be unnerving too for some watchers. You had to reassure Sister Melancholy many times that there are no werewolves in your world, showing that, despite mostly getting over it, she still have some deep mental scars from the werewolf attack that scarred her many years ago...
Splatter horror and torture porn movies can work in scaring the new world natives, but you found out that the scenes and the entire movie itself must be really-well done or else it might garner a negative reaction. Common points of criticism includes how unreal it looks like to real violence and torture or how boring it is in comparison to, again, the real thing. In fact, sometimes the gore-scenes might just cause laughter on how fake or absurd the whole thing looks. You figured that right now would not be a good time for this sub-genre to flourish.
Slasher Films also have problems preventing them from being well received, but for different reasons. It turns out that the Leofarinians can see and recognize set pattern of tropes within the films after seeing a few and are pretty quick to point them out. They are pretty quick to point out the common pitfalls of the sub-genre, like how people tend to die after having sex, how no one is smart enough to stick together when the killer is on the loose, or how no one is smart enough to carry self-defense weapons, not even so much as a chastity dagger. Particularly well-done slasher films avoided being mocked as harshly, but, like splatter horror films, you don't anticipate widespread appeal among the native populace at this time.
As small note related to the topic of slasher films, it seemed that some of the designs of the killers in these movies are far more well received and has created at least one fan. War-Sister of the Mace Selene has taken it a bit further than many. She had found an old hockey mask in your company's storage room and decided to keep it, decorate it with Temple of the Divine Word symbols and lots of red paint, and wear it around whenever possible. You don't know if she is doing it as a fashion statement or she just likes to scare people with the mask. What you do know is that the mask earns her a variety of nicknames like Sister "Smasher", Sister "Blood", and "The Scary Sister". She eventually settled upon Sister "Thirteen" as her preferred nickname.
You still think she's plain silly...
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Speaking of votes...
@Reliable_2IC , @Just Some Guy , Plan Efficient Warfare does a fair amount of what Plan Close the Gaps and The Middle Front is doing (hitting the enemy in the resources on multiple fronts), except it's stealing the resources instead of destroying them. Stealing the things is cheaper and thus can be done more (leading to putting Leofarinia in a better position for doing the big crazy battle turn next time). It's the sort of sustainable warfare shenanigans (gained loot can be turned into wealth which can be used to do more things) that can start to snowball.
Also, both plans acknowledge the necessity of setup and auxiliary raids and the like before making a big push, unlike Going On The Offensive, which is going high-risk win-now; not something we actually need to do. The one "win-now" thing I've got in Efficient Warfare is the Southern Front, and that mostly because there's a medium-risk absurd-reward option that's too good to not heavily invest in.
The vote is currently 4-3-2 Offensive-Efficient-Gaps. To turn it 5-4 those votes are needed, and I'm not sure how many more voters are incoming.
@Reliable_2IC , @Just Some Guy , Plan Efficient Warfare does a fair amount of what Plan Close the Gaps and The Middle Front is doing (hitting the enemy in the resources on multiple fronts), except it's stealing the resources instead of destroying them. Stealing the things is cheaper and thus can be done more (leading to putting Leofarinia in a better position for doing the big crazy battle turn next time). It's the sort of sustainable warfare shenanigans (gained loot can be turned into wealth which can be used to do more things) that can start to snowball.
Also, both plans acknowledge the necessity of setup and auxiliary raids and the like before making a big push, unlike Going On The Offensive, which is going high-risk win-now; not something we actually need to do. The one "win-now" thing I've got in Efficient Warfare is the Southern Front, and that mostly because there's a medium-risk absurd-reward option that's too good to not heavily invest in.
The vote is currently 4-3-2 Offensive-Efficient-Gaps. To turn it 5-4 those votes are needed, and I'm not sure how many more voters are incoming.
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- Location
- Manila, Philippines
okay changed my vote to Efficient Warfare
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
Meep.
[X] Plan Efficient Warfare
[X] Plan Efficient Warfare
NeonLights
Formerly Reliable_2IC
- Location
- In shambles
I feel taking the enemy straight in an open field is too much risk for me, so I'll have to pass. The plan itself is solid though, and I can see it going off without a hitch should it win.
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Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
We're taking a (guarded!) machine gun on a van against medieval (plus magic?) enemies. My aim is something about like this, except out the sliding door of the van. Every other strike / resource raid is intended to have "just enough to go smoothly" so I can throw everything else at the engage-in-the-field ploy. We've also got the Light Mages there (targeting lasers?) for assorted stuff.
Worst case?
Drive guns to hill.
Set up guns.
Mow down the less mobile enemy (citation below).
As the enemy gets close, disassemble guns, pack into van.
Retreat to next hill.
Considering the van will have Bo Jackson In Tecmo Bowl mobility compared to the enemy? I almost feel sorry for them having to deal with an Outside Context Problem like this, especially because the Maxim gun is pretty much designed to beat charging tactics.
Except for the little fact of them being inclined to rapie, pillage, and burn. That has earned them their death sentence, to be carried out on the field of battle.
- Location
- Texas
I like it, but I'm curious as to what they think of;
Alien: A movie where the monster isn't a murder or a supernatural entity, but an ambush predator no one has ever seen before. Do the Leofarinians know of any similar creatures?
A Nightmare on Elm Street: I know this is a slasher film, but what are the thoughts of someone who can kill people via dreams?
The Sixth Sense: Do any of them guess the ending?
Predator: What was it like for the Leofarinians to see the action heroes they liked in the first half get hunted for sport in the second half?
- Location
- Manila, Philippines
I was wondering how would they react to the final destination movies.
Disclaimer, I haven't seen known some of these movies that are being thrown out there, so I'm only going to answer the ones that I have watched or known.
In all seriousness, the more novice troops are a bit spooked about the Xenomorph, but the more hardened and experienced veterans have more of a "meh" expression about the Xenomorph since it behaves more like a very much like a sadistic hired-killer than any beast that they encountered. Sure it is a lot tougher and has acid blood, but such things can be killed, it is just of a matter of how. And while there are creatures out there that can be just as deadly as the Xenomorph in the movie, there are well developed procedures and methods to deal with them. You probably want to check with Captain Raymond or Georgia for advise...
The use of dreams to kill people is a rather creative and a bit spooky for the Leofarinians. This makes the film better received than most of the slasher movies that were watched, but it still runs into problems with common horror movie tropes that the Leofarinians tend to mock relentlessly, especially the whole part about people dying after having sex or the adults being useless as always. Not to mention that the lead villain is a pushover in a fight.
This one's a bit controversial. On one hand, there are quite a few people who don't like seeing brawny badass men getting picked off like that. On the other hand, it is a bit of a sobering reminder that even the best warrior can be felled from the shadows and that the Foundation as a whole needs to be prepared if the enemy decides to employ very talented rangers, assassins, and other shadows to combat your forces, especially when it is time to fight Brava. Their assassins are on a much different level than their very mediocre rank-and-file and, allegedly, could be seen as the Predators within the film, only much more ruthless and not as sporting.
Comedy films from your world tend to be a real hit-or-miss affair with the Leofarinian audience. Either they work to make people laugh or they don't or worse. The showing of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is ground breaking to see what kind of comedy would work on the Leofarinians. Apparently, physically dynamic comedy and slapstick are well received while comedy that is even remotely verbose is not. Maybe you could use this to tailor the movie watching list a bit more...
Bravian Assassins?
In all seriousness, the more novice troops are a bit spooked about the Xenomorph, but the more hardened and experienced veterans have more of a "meh" expression about the Xenomorph since it behaves more like a very much like a sadistic hired-killer than any beast that they encountered. Sure it is a lot tougher and has acid blood, but such things can be killed, it is just of a matter of how. And while there are creatures out there that can be just as deadly as the Xenomorph in the movie, there are well developed procedures and methods to deal with them. You probably want to check with Captain Raymond or Georgia for advise...
The use of dreams to kill people is a rather creative and a bit spooky for the Leofarinians. This makes the film better received than most of the slasher movies that were watched, but it still runs into problems with common horror movie tropes that the Leofarinians tend to mock relentlessly, especially the whole part about people dying after having sex or the adults being useless as always. Not to mention that the lead villain is a pushover in a fight.
This one's a bit controversial. On one hand, there are quite a few people who don't like seeing brawny badass men getting picked off like that. On the other hand, it is a bit of a sobering reminder that even the best warrior can be felled from the shadows and that the Foundation as a whole needs to be prepared if the enemy decides to employ very talented rangers, assassins, and other shadows to combat your forces, especially when it is time to fight Brava. Their assassins are on a much different level than their very mediocre rank-and-file and, allegedly, could be seen as the Predators within the film, only much more ruthless and not as sporting.
Ooh what about Comedy Movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Comedy films from your world tend to be a real hit-or-miss affair with the Leofarinian audience. Either they work to make people laugh or they don't or worse. The showing of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail is ground breaking to see what kind of comedy would work on the Leofarinians. Apparently, physically dynamic comedy and slapstick are well received while comedy that is even remotely verbose is not. Maybe you could use this to tailor the movie watching list a bit more...
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
3 Stooges, Groucho Marx, and Jackie Chan it is!
Yes, Jackie Chan. Because he combines action and physical comedy extremely well and seems an excellent fit.
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
When does the vote close?
I'll give it a few more days until I close the votes on the main action phase and move onto the votes for using poison gas in any of the listed operations and battles. That should take a few days, but I'll push out the deadline should the discussion gets lively. Then it is onto the post and writing parts. To make things more manageable for myself, I'll be posting each front as its own separate post, with the decisive battle getting its own post too.
Interlude: The Frank Foundation’s First Fight, part 2
The Frank Foundation's First Fight: Poison Gas Confirmation/Denial Vote, etc.
With your overall plans and strategy to stop the Xelmian Invasion coming together nicely, the topic of putting the recently developed poison gas weapons to use inevitably came up within your discussions. Many of your new world employees, allies, and fighters are advocating for their use, but the ultimate decision to use or not use the weapons lies on you. Looking at your expenses, you noticed that you probably need to take out a loan from one of your trusted partners to finance the production of the gas weapons, but you are quite certain that the payoff from their use will be more than well worth the cost. Of course, there will probably be consequences for the use of the gas beyond the immediate financial cost and gain. With time growing short, you looked at the situation in front of you to formulate a plan...
(Vote to select the operations to use poison gas weapons in. Not voting for an option means that poison gas will not be used in that operation. The cost and effects of the poison gas weapon use is listed beside the options. Below are the methods to pay for the production and use of poison gas weapons; please select the method for each use.)
Operations:
-[]Northern Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Raid Camps (Cost: 6 Wealth, +30% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -20 Xelma)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
-[] Middle Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Raid Camps (Cost: 6 Wealth, +30% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -20 Xelma)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
-[] Southern Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Eliminate the Reinforcements, Open Field (Cost: 9 Wealth, +35% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -35 Xelma, additional loot)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
Methods of Financing:
[] The Temple of the Divine Word: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +6 Taken from Income
[] Village of Greenhill: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +5 Taken from Income
[] Princess Athene the Wise: A Favor to Fulfill at Later Date
[] Old Tower Warren: A Favor to Fulfill at Later Date
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Apparently, I have given some more thought about the whole "going into the negatives" part I have said months ago and I decide to revise that a little so you can take a bit of loan to finance something a bit... special. The mechanic will need some improvement and will be refined throughout the quest...
With your overall plans and strategy to stop the Xelmian Invasion coming together nicely, the topic of putting the recently developed poison gas weapons to use inevitably came up within your discussions. Many of your new world employees, allies, and fighters are advocating for their use, but the ultimate decision to use or not use the weapons lies on you. Looking at your expenses, you noticed that you probably need to take out a loan from one of your trusted partners to finance the production of the gas weapons, but you are quite certain that the payoff from their use will be more than well worth the cost. Of course, there will probably be consequences for the use of the gas beyond the immediate financial cost and gain. With time growing short, you looked at the situation in front of you to formulate a plan...
(Vote to select the operations to use poison gas weapons in. Not voting for an option means that poison gas will not be used in that operation. The cost and effects of the poison gas weapon use is listed beside the options. Below are the methods to pay for the production and use of poison gas weapons; please select the method for each use.)
Operations:
-[]Northern Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Raid Camps (Cost: 6 Wealth, +30% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -20 Xelma)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
-[] Middle Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Raid Camps (Cost: 6 Wealth, +30% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -20 Xelma)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
-[] Southern Front
--[] Ambush Convoys (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
--[] Eliminate the Reinforcements, Open Field (Cost: 9 Wealth, +35% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -35 Xelma, additional loot)
--[] Steal Logistics Animals (Cost: 3 Wealth, +20% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -10 Xelma)
Methods of Financing:
[] The Temple of the Divine Word: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +6 Taken from Income
[] Village of Greenhill: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +5 Taken from Income
[] Princess Athene the Wise: A Favor to Fulfill at Later Date
[] Old Tower Warren: A Favor to Fulfill at Later Date
------
Apparently, I have given some more thought about the whole "going into the negatives" part I have said months ago and I decide to revise that a little so you can take a bit of loan to finance something a bit... special. The mechanic will need some improvement and will be refined throughout the quest...
taovkool
Forever Gone
- Location
- The Library, Department of General Works
Agreed. We really don't need other armies copying us and started spraying poisonous gas all over the place. It's deadly, unhealthy, and unbearably gross. Sets a really bad example, yanno.
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Agreed. The temptation to almost guarantee open field reinforcements is there...but there's about three reasons not to:
1) costs. It's expensive.
2) consequences. They'd figure on using poison gas on us and we have fewer places to run to.
3) ethic. Efficient warfare is intended to be that: efficient. Get the most output from the least input. I have no issue with tainted arrows, overchanneled fireballs, or other traditional means of war, because those will probably be used against us.
[X] Do Not Use Poison Gas
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- Location
- italy bologna
We are at risk, we must use the gas, we have put one of the few grups of mages to stop the Reinforcements, and.... 38% Chance!????
nothing else need to be said.
-[x] Southern Front
--[x] Eliminate the Reinforcements, Open Field (Cost: 9 Wealth, +35% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -35 Xelma, additional loot)
[x] Village of Greenhill: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +5 Taken from Income
nothing else need to be said.
-[x] Southern Front
--[x] Eliminate the Reinforcements, Open Field (Cost: 9 Wealth, +35% Chance of Success, +0 Leofarinia, -35 Xelma, additional loot)
[x] Village of Greenhill: Cost of Deployment Of Gas +5 Taken from Income