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A Simple Transaction I

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[X] Vendetta
-[X] Remittance: The King's

Why yes, I do like Baenlixnaire.

In the end, I guess it's not the same if we aren't living on the EDGE. That said, we've done well last quest by not doing stupid things when Rihaku told us not to, so I'll try to continue in that vein and... abandon the Praxis. No matter how much it pains me.

Eh, we probably have a higher-than-average chance of attracting the Accursed's attention again and could beg for the Praxis then, even without Wishes. Another Simple Transaction?

Whatever helps me sleep at night.
 
Rihaku said:
[ ] Dread but Dreaming
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Well this is just depressing. Pass.

Rihaku said:
[ ] The Forsaken Mask
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Very tempting, and it's the only path with a guaranteed waifu, but can we really pass up both revenge and the chance to learn the Praxis?

Rihaku said:
[ ] Vendetta
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Edge! Maybe too much edge, but Decimator's Affliction is supposed to be relatively easy to mitigate, so the main problem will be our utter inability to work with people we don't command. Giving oneself completely over to the path of vengeance has it's costs though. One day the hidden masters will lie dead at our feat, and what then?

Rihaku said:
[ ] Balance
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Also tempting, since this doesn't affect the Hero's mentality and doesn't fully give him over to the path vengeance with all the associated costs. One could imagine the Hero being happy, not just grimly satisfied, after completing this path.

Really the only choice I'm against is Dead but Dreaming, but:
[X] Balance
I would like to be able to give the Hero a happy ending of some sort, and gain some Rihaku lore out of this.
 
[X] Dread but Dreaming
-[X] Keep the Plenary Brand, gaining 3 more Lesser Remittances.

He's been through so much. A requiem and knowing no master is deserved. In time and with power, new purpose will arise.
 
DkArthas said:
[X] Vendetta
-[X]Remittance: The King's

i was tempted by forsaken Mask but not ambitious enough for me!

Edit: Though, interesting that the wife isn't a suitable Lunacy target but I suppose that would have been too easy and lacked the drama.
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You don't know whether the wife would be a suitable Lunacy target at the time of decision-making, so that's why it's worded so.

Sickul said:
[X] Vendetta
-[X]Remittance: The King's

Rather not die stupidly and end the quest early.
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Indeed! If vengeance is important to you, isn't it better to improve its chances of actually succeeding, rather than minimizing them?!

cheesyme said:
We got edge and power leveling over and over in the last quest, I wanna see you write something fluffy and more purely social/slower this time. Besides, Lunacy and the setting you make still leaves you leverage to direct us around in likely interesting ways since we'll have to protect our loved ones.
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I wouldn't say Nameless was particularly edgy. There was a lot of power-leveling though. EFB was basically build votes + slice of life.

fictionfan said:
[X] The Forsaken Mask

I love me some synergy. This is the only build that actually gets some advantage out of curses.
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Synergy is important, but the nature of a Cursebearer even more so! For all its suitable interactions, the Mask will never measure up to either Progression build in terms of getting things done. The effects of its synergy are all geared towards living a comfy life!
 
[X] Vendetta
-[X] Remittance: The Sword

I wanted to vote for Dread but Dreaming, for a protagonist able to purse power without vengeance, but that characterization just sounds awful. Choosing slumber not out of mercy for the world, but a simple desire to escape just makes me question how such a person could survive the toll of the Praxis.

Balance is a compromise, but the Champion's Brand and lack of Praxis make it intolerable. Mask is a good build, but not the quest I want to read (and the inevitable geas of lunacy for our waifu is just bad)
 
Rihaku said:
Synergy is important, but the nature of a Cursebearer even more so! For all its suitable interactions, the Mask will never measure up to either Progression build in terms of getting things done. The effects of its synergy are all geared towards living a comfy life!
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Which is nothing to sneeze at.
 
[X] The Forsaken Mask

Just grab your waifu and have a happy laifu.

1/4 the power of a Combat Cursebearer is nothing to ignore either, to be frank, and with this we can, like, actually talk to people and society and not be an asshole?

We'll still probably be stronger than we were at our peak in the previous world, especially once we actually heal our injuries, so I don't see much reason we couldn't use that power to still progress towards building that better world, should our new home require such efforts.
 
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Rozencrantz said:
[X] Vendetta
-[X] Remittance: The Sword

I wanted to vote for Dread but Dreaming, for a protagonist able to purse power without vengeance, but that characterization just sounds awful. Choosing slumber not out of mercy for the world, but a simple desire to escape just makes me question how such a person could survive the toll of the Praxis.

Balance is a compromise, but the Champion's Brand and lack of Praxis make it intolerable. Mask is a good build, but not the quest I want to read (and the inevitable geas of lunacy for our waifu is just bad)
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Mm, Dread But Dreaming has a pretty open-ended characterization. He's a broken man but you guys can rebuild him into what you prefer, more or less. Pursue ambitions with the power of the Sword That Ends the World or live a comfy secluded life as a Praxis Scholar! Or go adventuring if you want. It's what he's good at, after all.

Redshirt Army said:
[X] The Forsaken Mask

Just grab your waifu and have a happy laifu.

1/4 the power of a Combat Cursebearer is nothing to ignore either, to be frank, and with this we can, like, actually talk to people and society and not be an asshole?
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You could do that with Balance as well! Honestly I'm not sure why the Champion's Brand gets such hate. It can be mitigated and there are people naturally immune! The simple fact of its mitigation means that it's probably less annoying than Tyrant in the long run.
 
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[X] Vendetta - He did not volunteer for service, he was compelled. And his enslavers have betrayed and discarded him. So much for heroism. So much for ideals. So be it. Aside from his benefactor, he stands alone. Until the architects of his ruin lay broken beneath his feet, he will know neither peace nor rest. If Justice is five fingers made a fist, then Vengeance is a blade held aloft. Let it be their sword of Damocles.
-[X]Remittance: The King's
 
If people want some kingdom/democracy building and Praxis exploration, Dread but dreaming is the way to go.

Forsaken Mask will be more slice of life untill the plot comes calling or the MC decide to intervene when someone starts being too assholish to ignore. Basically the retired hero returning to kick ass in that case.

Vendetta is the maximum fights, tension and power levelling path.

At least that's my reading.

Edit:

[X] Dread but Dreaming
-[X] Drop the Plenary Brand, removing the risk of it exposing your Curse-related weaknesses
 
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[X] Dread but Dreaming
-[X] Drop the Plenary Brand, removing the risk of it exposing your Curse-related weaknesses.

Fun praxis times ahoy
 
[X] Balance

This offers us progression, without the drawbacks of Vengeance and its higher difficulty margin. We get to enjoy the geas, and we get to grow our power. Less now, more later. Ideal. Let's find out what was pulling the strings behind our first being pulled into this world. Maybe there's a way back, maybe it wasn't a normal earth. Who knows? They do. Let's get 'em.
 
Rihaku said:
You could do that with Balance as well! Honestly I'm not sure why the Champion's Brand gets such hate. It can be mitigated and there are people naturally immune! The simple fact of its mitigation means that it's probably less annoying than Tyrant in the long run.
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If there was a guarantee that our wife and children were naturally immune to the Brand, I'd consider it. But as is, there would be an enormous chance that we basically wouldn't be able to have any kind of rest with them in the long run, which renders the whole idea of Balance rather pointless.
 
I like Forsaken Mask because it gives us all the possibilities. It has the Three Wishes, yes Least and the Lesser will be used but they will recharge and could be used in the future. And in the future with True Wish we could do one of the following;
A) Gain Imperial Praxis
B) Get rid of Hidden Masters
C) Change our type from Combat to Progressive
D) Get rid of one of our curses
E) It's an nearly unlimited wish from nearly Omnipotent being. You decide.
 
Redshirt Army said:
If there was a guarantee that our wife and children were naturally immune to the Brand, I'd consider it. But as is, there would be an enormous chance that we basically wouldn't be able to have any kind of rest with them in the long run, which renders the whole idea of Balance rather pointless.
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Well, Mitigating it to make exceptions for individuals is probably one of the simpler cases.
 
Indecisive, current vote:

[X] Dread but Dreaming
-[X] Drop the Plenary Brand, removing the risk of it exposing your Curse-related weaknesses
 
Honestly, forsaken Mask will likely be fun too. Plenary Brand ensures there will be all sort of people interested in meeting us, we might get someone coming to beg us to help them against some rising tyrant or evil for all we know.
 
[X] The Forsaken Mask

This is literally the only option that doesn't have us be the sort of bastard who, when given the chance to have back what he'd lost and claimed to value so much, ignores it in favour of either power (praxis) or goes "revenge before actually having back what I claimed to value".
 
Humbaba said:
[X] The Forsaken Mask

This is literally the only option that doesn't have us be the sort of bastard who, when given the chance to have back what he'd lost and claimed to value so much, ignores it in favour of either power (praxis) or goes "revenge before actually having back what I claimed to value".
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Well, one might say getting revenge first is the prudent choice. They give us a weak point our secret enemies might use against us.
 
[X] Dread but Dreaming
-[X] Drop the Plenary Brand, removing the risk of it exposing your Curse-related weaknesses.
 
DkArthas said:
If people want some kingdom/democracy building and Praxis exploration, Dread but dreaming is the way to go.

Forsaken Mask will be more slice of life untill the plot comes calling or the MC decide to intervene when someone starts being too assholish to ignore. Basically the retired hero returning to kick ass in that case.

Vendetta is the maximum fights, tension and power levelling path.

At least that's my reading.
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Hm... Vendetta will probably have the most fights, but it wouldn't be constant tension and battle. Vendetta with King's Scepter probably resembles playing First Age Odyssial immediately post-exaltation. Consumed with hatred of the titans, faced with incredible danger, but possessed of the will and the power to see his mission through. Not as capable as Odyssial was, but the power of Progression advances more quickly than a baseline Solar Exalt as well.

It's been a while since we've had a really determined protagonist. Nameless was spoiled and easy-going, Seram was isolated and neurotic, Arthur plain and ordinary.

Redshirt Army said:
If there was a guarantee that our wife and children were naturally immune to the Brand, I'd consider it. But as is, there would be an enormous chance that we basically wouldn't be able to have any kind of rest with them in the long run, which renders the whole idea of Balance rather pointless.
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The Brand already includes natural immunity for some, so a form of high-level mitigation that conveys that immunity to selected others should be entirely feasible. And before that, some form of partial immunity like making a relationship more transactional than usual. It's a spectrum.

Maragas said:
I like Forsaken Mask because it gives us all the possibilities. It has the Three Wishes, yes Least and the Lesser will be used but they will recharge and could be used in the future. And in the future with True Wish we could do one of the following;
A) Gain Imperial Praxis
B) Get rid of Hidden Masters
C) Change our type from Combat to Progressive
D) Get rid of one of our curses
E) It's an nearly unlimited wish from nearly Omnipotent being. You decide.
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Well, to get anywhere close to a True Wish, you would have to perform feats that are decidedly un-comfy... and well beyond the wherewithal of the average Combat-type Cursebearer!
 
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