You guys are seriously jumping straight to torturing ourselves for a niche defense stat? Doesn't make sense to me unless you just want to be edgy.
 
The fact that AN is offering us, on turn 3, a 'You wanna go insane? It'll be fun!' Option should speak volumes.
I'm not sure we're actually getting a choice in the matter. We either take an enhancement that gives us psychic defenses and some form of altered cognition, or we head back to Razorleaf Meadows with no protection from reavers altering our cognition.
 
You guys are seriously jumping straight to torturing ourselves for a niche defense stat? Doesn't make sense to me unless you just want to be edgy.
The situation implies it's a niche defensive stat we need. We've played barely three turns and two of them had reaver attacks, one of them aimed directly at us. There's "why do I need fire resistance, it's raining" and there's "why do I need fire resistance, it's raining oil".
 
You guys are seriously jumping straight to torturing ourselves for a niche defense stat? Doesn't make sense to me unless you just want to be edgy.

It is willpower, useful for a bunch of things, among other as protection against psyonics, something that affected us extremely negatively twice already, in three years of play.
Hardly a niche.
 
Embracing the madness has lead to the death of at least 2 AN quests at this point i'm pretty sure, so... (also just in general, it sounds like a horrible idea likely to lead to off-brand-warp-fuckery)

On the other hand, it thoroughly revived another while driving off the moralizing white knights, culminating in a demonic engine of war donning a tuxedo made by Ork tailors.
 
You guys are seriously jumping straight to torturing ourselves for a niche defense stat? Doesn't make sense to me unless you just want to be edgy.
Paladins.

Also entertainment. Both in the amusing 'What'll she do next?' factor, and the more somber existential character exploration.

I've always embraced character insanity in AN quests because it makes it more enjoyable. To me at least.

It helps that the 'nightmare' cube is likely going to provide the type of madness we missed out on from the early death of Shapers. This won't be the adhd of Harzivan, or the 'get out of my head' deal with Dia's index. This'll be more of a 'why am I doing this, is it all worth it? what's even real?' Type of deal, which hits closest to home and which I suspect AN could write write well.

Edgy is if you're trying to look cool or get attention.

I'm just trying to influence the quest to be entertaining; it's why we're all voting, and why votes often conflict. We all seek out entertainment according to our own values. Sometimes we manage to convince each other.


Alright, I've been arguing primarily from a meta-perspective about madness. If you aren't buying it, I can switch to in-quest reasoning instead.

I think this'll provide the best reward, and, despite appearances to the contrary, the smallest risk. This is something we can control. Something we can use or discard at will.

This is, effectively, that psyker cube for none psykers. We train with it, we boost skills. We leave it alone, it gathers dust.

Instead of solving it and getting a force-sword, it gives us madness, which is incentive to use it less and avoid the all-too-common power creep of such a choice.

So to summarize:
It gives us power
It avoids power creep
It's entirely within our control
Even the potential negative effects are interesting from a meta-perspective
 
[X] Nightmare cube (Guarantees minimum +1 base willpower per year used; greatly improves willpower training; additional side effects when in use)

[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)

These side effects sound interesting.

Edit: I'm actually voting in hopes of positive side effects. Increasing our will and rolling for will on trait gains from the cube seems like it would be net positive in the future.
 
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Sounds like only the 'additional side effects' can be turned off.
If you can turn off the nightmare cube at all, that implies it's not a full implant like it's peers. It's best to look at it like a perpetual willpower check, tuned to always be 'difficult (success at 30% or less)' for the character using it, regardless of bonuses. You fail overall for the year, you pick up a new trait disorder, or existing ones may evolve. You succeed, you avoid that problem.

They're permanent, in the sense that the only penalty it can give is traits or temp modifiers. Considering the level of permanence the other two options have (permanently altered mental faculties) and then balancing it all against taking none (and letting reavers play patty-cake with our minds forever, which they've shone they enjoy quite a bit), the cube is the safest choice.
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)

[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)
[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Nightmare cube (Guarantees minimum +1 base willpower per year used; greatly improves willpower training; additional side effects when in use)

[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)

Nightmare cube's probably basrd on the puzzle box
 
Technically it was a psychic attack by way of putting a finger on the scale in her mind weighing whether or not to take the risk or accept the loss. Subtle but pretty damn effective in that it is merely biasing thoughts you are already having.
Hmm...basically making her more cautious by working with the quite real dangers of her risk assessment. Feels like Exodite style stuff.

If you can turn off the nightmare cube at all, that implies it's not a full implant like it's peers. It's best to look at it like a perpetual willpower check, tuned to always be 'difficult (success at 30% or less)' for the character using it, regardless of bonuses. You fail overall for the year, you pick up a new trait disorder, or existing ones may evolve. You succeed, you avoid that problem.


...that would be how the puzzle box worked yeah.
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)

[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Nightmare cube (Guarantees minimum +1 base willpower per year used; greatly improves willpower training; additional side effects when in use)
[X] Elder Shrine (where the networked brains of the most devout whose bodies have failed now rest)
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)


[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)


[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Pedagogical accelerator muse extension (Improved learning success; doubles age for the purposes of educational trait requirements)

[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)
 
[X] Nightmare cube (Guarantees minimum +1 base willpower per year used; greatly improves willpower training; additional side effects when in use)
[X] Stone Reliquary (final resting place of Dia Stone's stasis chamber)


I'm kind of fond of reflecting on our great grandmother, because she had to deal with this bullshit too. I'm not married to any location, though.

The Nightmare Cube, however, is an absolute necessity. If we're really in this for the long haul, we should be taking the hard road with the big payoff. We're going to pretty much HAVE to start frequent willpower training if Reavers are targeting us. +10 is good but static. The Nightmare Cube can get us just as much in 5 years' time if we grind at it and a great deal more in the long run.
 
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