Hm... Evening Sky is certainly greedier than El Stats, but much less greedy than Conclusion. Still, the fish thing was probably unnecessary given the level of risk-reward involved. But an amusing update!
The fish thing is what broke me. I was willing to spend arete recklessly and then we go and get a massive condition because people wanted to vote for the amusing option.
 
@Byzantine @BrainInAJar I am very, very tempted to put 2 markers with 1 Veto each up on offer right now for Azure Moon+2 options votes. In exchange for 1 Marker with 1 veto from each of you in exchange, I will add Pillars of Creation and Sleep In to my request, incumbent on you only if my markers are taken, are you interested? Best case scenario you're getting 2 votes for the price of one.
 
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What I'm off put by is the idea that (Is this arete for guaranteed availability thing a trap?) is a question that can't be answered satisfactorily without mind reading; will Rihaku slot things around quickly enough that you'd basically have access to spare, or will the cups spin to the exact tune such that we'll only see EFB equivalents when we're at 18.4 arete in a one day gap between chapters? Not to mention the proportion of upgrades likely to disappear permanently is similarly unknown.
 
[X] Sleep In
[X] [Pillars of Creation]

Both our Progression and Decimator Mitigation are based on killing challenging enemies. Pillars of Creation provides us with the perfect arena to do so, on the perfect schedule to keep the Mitigation running, while cutting off a third of our greatest combat weakness (sleepiness penalties) while providing us with enemies of the our preferred challenge level and with healing and refreshments between bouts. Even if we're not planning to grab it right now, spending 1 Arete to reserve the option to do so at a later date is worth it so that we'll have it for when we're fully recovered and need to training montage the shit out of ourselves.
 
I am very, very tempted to put 2 markers with 1 Veto each up on offer right now for Azure Moon+3 options votes. In exchange for 1 Marker with 1 veto from each of you in exchange, I will add Pillars of Creation and Sleep In to my request, incumbent on you only if my markers are taken, are you interested? Best case scenario you're getting 2 votes for the price of one.
You know what? I'm in. I think Pillars winning is more important than anything else anyway. You up @Byzantine ?

[X] Conjured Blade
 
Then just choose the option and spare us the salt later if we miss it. Even if you only want one pick, pick that. We will be offered more immediate power options after the next fight for sure. if you are so concerned about dying in the immediate yet fear the emotions elicited by Pillars, then pick it as the single option to assuage them while preserving as much Arete as we can for the next fight. Then, if our mitigation really troubles us, we can just buy it.
You misunderstand. I don't care for it, not after the watershed from seeing it the first time passed. I'm just under no illusion its timing and sheer get-out-of-jail appeal won't make it super popular regardless of my opinion.

I voted for the ones I want. It's the Robot/Research/Sleep In vote I'm willing to swing on.
 
@Byzantine @BrainInAJar I am very, very tempted to put 2 markers with 1 Veto each up on offer right now for Azure Moon+2 options votes. In exchange for 1 Marker with 1 veto from each of you in exchange, I will add Pillars of Creation and Sleep In to my request, incumbent on you only if my markers are taken, are you interested? Best case scenario you're getting 2 votes for the price of one.
...I'll agree. Though be aware my plan is to call in for either Maw or Cuts next chance we get. Whichever is *not* on the winning plan. That way we get both before they vanish and we lose that powerful synergy.

[-] Conjured Blade
 
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[X] Sleep In
[X] Save 3 Options
[X] [A Thousand Cuts]
[X] [Pitiless Maw]
[X] [Pillars of Creation]


Firstly, we must sleep in to survive the day and pay for our hubris.
Then, I propose we save 3 options, two of which are 7 cost, so we can secure synergy between our picks without overly delaying the next 7 Arete choice and so our total plan cost stays at something I think we can achieve. 39 is more manageable than 57.
The goal here is to follow up on picks like Huntress and Crown with a fleshed out combat build that has excellent burst power and endurance. We'll use these two synergistic 7 Arete options to hunt Sated targets then later use them in the realm of Evening to hunt worthy opponents.
From there our bountiful Experience and Decimator mitigation will lend us the agency we need for our mission and to enjoy exploring the setting with our companions.
 
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You know what? I'm in. I think Pillars winning is more important than anything else anyway. You up @Byzantine ?

[X] Conjured Blade

...I'll agree. Though be aware my plan is to call in for either Maw or Cuts next chance we get. Whichever is *not* on the winning plan. That way we get both before they vanish and we lose that powerful synergy.

[X] Conjured Blade

To confirm since I'm not sure what you think the terms of this offer is, as I understand it right now you're just offering to join me of your own free will. I offer to owe 2 people in exchange for them joining me in Azure Moon, you each owe me a vote if I include pillars of creation/sleep in my marker offering and people take it.
 
The fish thing is what broke me. I was willing to spend arete recklessly and then we go and get a massive condition because people wanted to vote for the amusing option.

Yup! It was pretty funny.

What I'm off put by is the idea that (Is this arete for guaranteed availability thing a trap?) is a question that can't be answered satisfactorily without mind reading; will Rihaku slot things around quickly enough that you'd basically have access to spare, or will the cups spin to the exact tune such that we'll only see EFB equivalents when we're at 18.4 arete in a one day gap between chapters? Not to mention the proportion of upgrades likely to disappear permanently is similarly unknown.

The way it works is: there is a model of the world which responds to the actions of Hunger. The model does not level scale whatsoever, so for example - if you are attacked by a group of enemies which the model says should attack you, there will be no accounting for your Exhausted Condition making you weaker than usual. Similarly, if you are powerful enough to just dumpster the opposition (such as, for example, Nameless vs the Fates), that is what will happen.

Similarly with access to any Arete purchase conditions, though I may stretch things out so that you have more time to accrue Arete for a given purchase if I feel the thread both wants that purchase and is making a good effort.

[X] Sleep In
[X] [Pillars of Creation]

Both our Progression and Decimator Mitigation are based on killing challenging enemies. Pillars of Creation provides us with the perfect arena to do so, on the perfect schedule to keep the Mitigation running, while cutting off a third of our greatest combat weakness (sleepiness penalties) while providing us with enemies of the our preferred challenge level and with healing and refreshments between bouts. Even if we're not planning to grab it right now, spending 1 Arete to reserve the option to do so at a later date is worth it so that we'll have it for when we're fully recovered and need to training montage the shit out of ourselves.

Pillars is great, but I do think you guys are sleeping on the 7 Arete options in general a bit. It's more viable for Hunger to go for a 25 Arete than for Nameless to go directly for an EFB since Hunger has Experience as well, but play style has been reckless so far so it may not be wise.
 
To confirm since I'm not sure what you think the terms of this offer is, as I understand it right now you're just offering to join me of your own free will. I offer to owe 2 people in exchange for them joining me in Azure Moon, you each owe me a vote if I include pillars of creation/sleep in my marker offering and people take it.
That was not my understanding at all. I apparently read it backwards then.

[X] Sleep In
[X] Save 3 Options
[X] [A Thousand Cuts]
[X] [Pitiless Maw]
[X] [Pillars of Creation]


For anyone reading: My plan for the day is to spend every option we have where rest is an option resting. I want exhausted entirely gone before the next Apocryphal proc. That means starting now and running with it before our fish vote kills us. We got our shiny, now please let us nurse our wounds (condition) as is appropriate.
 
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To confirm since I'm not sure what you think the terms of this offer is, as I understand it right now you're just offering to join me of your own free will. I offer to owe 2 people in exchange for them joining me in Azure Moon, you each owe me a vote if I include pillars of creation/sleep in my marker offering and people take it.
Yes, that's my request. Again, Pillar winning is more important than anything. I'm just consolidating the vote for better odds.

Hey, you all think that Maw plus Cuts is super strong because it gets us healing and multiplies the power of our strikes? Guess what, Seals can also do that, and also a billion different things. We know from past votes it has combat uses too; so as long as we put an initial investment in learning the basics it can benefit from Hunger too. Training is bad only compared to Hunger-boosted progression, we still are roughly equivalent to a normal person when it comes to training. And we have high intelligence and guaranteed talent for it to boot. So that initial start-up cost is far from bad. Let's put our intelligence and preparation to use!
 
That was not my understanding at all. I apparently read it backwards then.

For the sake of my curiosity what did you think I was offering?

Yes, that's my request. Again, Pillar winning is more important than anything. I'm just consolidating the vote for better odds.

Hey, you all think that Maw plus Cuts is super strong because it gets us healing and multiplies the power of our strikes? Guess what, Seals can also do that, and also a billion different things. We know from past votes it has combat uses too; so as long as we put an initial investment in learning the basics it can benefit from Hunger too. Training is bad only compared to Hunger-boosted progression, we still are roughly equivalent to a normal person when it comes to training. And we have high intelligence and guaranteed talent for it to boot. So that initial start-up cost is far from bad. Let's put our intelligence and preparation to use!

Very well, I'm going to put my markers offering up soon once I make sure of what Byzantine does or doesn't want.
 
That I was being offered a marker. I'm not willing to take Azure Moon for free. I'm at best on the fence about its value to us.

Ok then. In that case my marker offerings are open(I'm offering 2 with 1 veto each), tag me with your voting options being a 3 option setup containing Azure Moon and Pillars of Creation to Claim. Markers are as always on a first come first serve basis(Edit: For invoking in future votes).
 
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[X] Sleep In

Enough greed, I don't want to die.

[X] Save 1 Option

Spending 5 Arete for the long term when we don't even have a guarantee of surviving to the city is absolutely pointless, especially since there's absolutely no way we're getting enough to buy all of them, not till the quest is already over. There will be other options. Best pick the one that you feel is truly irreplaceable right now. If mitigation is your priority, then you'd probably go with the Pillars of Creation since there's no promise we'll get those guaranteed targets again. If you think ++Progression isn't going to show up after this, Ruling Ring is your best bet.

[X] [Once And Future]

Meanwhile, I think this is probably our only real shot at getting some information on the Hidden Ones within the scope of this quest. That this is also the option that raises our godstat is even better because it means the value scales hyperexponentially the stronger we get. Also, a +2 Rank for all military endeavours means we'll probably steamroll most armies in our conquest.
 
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I think pillars is the worst of the 25 arete options. It's nice to have but doesn't offer us long term growth like the two extra magic systems or immediate power like the ring and blade options. It's just quality of life.

Azure is nice and sealing would be a good magic system if we hadn't taken hunger. Anything that requires heavy out of combat study to use is massively anti-synergistic with our build. Plus it's effects are pretty much wholly encapsulated by Total Eclipse which also offers a bunch of feats seals can't replicate. Additionally I don't really like homestuck and I hate the four suit romance system.

Total Eclipse is so versatile that while it might not be able to perfectly match the power of pillars or azure it can provide graces that replicate most of the effects and more importantly doesn't need to be studied so we can increase our proficiency in it through hunger procs.

Sleep in still seems kind of pointless given we have to still sleep for most of a whole day to recover anyway. Better to use our time to do something now and take a day off afterwards.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by Byzantine on May 30, 2020 at 4:12 AM, finished with 99 posts and 19 votes.

  • [X] Sleep In
    [X] Save 3 Options
    [X] [Pitiless Maw]
    [X] [Pillars of Creation]
    [X] [A Thousand Cuts]
    [X] Finally Get in the Robot
    [X] [Once And Future]
    [X] Save 1 Option
    [x]Azure Moon
    -[X] [A Thousand Cuts]
    -[X] [Pitiless Maw]
    [x]A Thousand Cuts
    [x]Pillars of Creation
    [X] Save 5 Options
    [X] [A Thousand Cuts] - 7 Arete. In the Forebear's grip could even a common knife blaze with fell power. All melee attacks made with the Forebear's Blade now apply cursed wounds. Septuples the power and speed of the Fell-Handed Stroke and allows it to be used with blade projections. Such horrific offensive power allows one to challenge foes vastly stronger.
    -[X] Total Eclipse
    [X] [Pitiless Maw] - 7 Arete. A Conjunctional Advancement that requires the Forebear's Blade. How can hunger perish from this world? So long as there is one hungering thing, it will emerge again and again to feast upon this realm of mere phenomena. Passively restore health equal to 100% of the damage you deal in melee combat, and triples the Power of Ruin associated with melee strikes.
    [X] Fierce Vigor
    -[X] Save 3 Options
    [X] Research the Spoils - The pearl, the message, and the scale. Gisena's work is good, but you have your own perspective to add, the insight made possible through long experience and formidable Astral Rank. Though the latter has been somewhat depleted, hampering your efforts on every front, nonetheless it is critical to absorb or acquire whatever strength you can from the fish you spent so dearly to conquer.
    -[X] [Ruling Ring]
    [X] Do Not Spend Arete
    [X] Plan Punch Up
    [X] Research the Spoils
    [X] [Azure Moon]
    [X] [Ruling Ring]
    [X] Brunch
    [X] +Gisena
    [X] Decimator's - Huntress' Moon
    [X] Apocryphal - Direct Mitigation
    [X] Total Eclipse - 25 Arete. The numinous time of sacred transfixion. Night sweeps field and horizon in a thundering advance, halo of the blinkered sun the only residue of day. Twilight's orphaned half-brother, cast aside on the eve of creation and trotted out only for spectacle and occasion. No longer, for the flare of your cloak is this twilight pretender, the liminal glow that precludes day and evening both. Unlocks the [True Quintessence], by which She Who Was The Maiden attained supremacy over the Manifest Realm, and for which the Maiden's successors might one day be anointed.
 
I fail to see what makes Pillar so good. Do we really need a 25 Arete option to help us Sate Hunger when we literally just took a Curse Mitigation that should make that much easier to do in reality?

It's versatile, I see that. And it lets us get a mini vacation.

Total Eclipse is very interesting to me. I do like it in my build as it let's us transition from Warrior to Warrior/Mage, and we know the Graces give a lot of physical benefits so it should make for a better Warrior.

It's just really hard for me to give up ++Prog.
 
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@Box Lunch: for the love all that is holy can you please change your votes to be in line with the format of the more common ones?

@Rihaku: Can you just... remove the X's from the post where you recorded the winning votes from last time?

edit: This post, specifically
The winning votes were -

[X] Fierce Vigor
[X] Do Not Spend Arete
[X] Apocryphal - Direct Mitigation
[X] Decimator's - Huntress' Moon
[X] +Gisena

I want to not take 15 minutes to actually read this damn it.
 
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Even though the winner isn't decided by plan I can still make my vote into a plan, right?

Seems kind of at odds since this is for long term planning!
 
Synergies between magic systems are really goddamn good you guys; Pitiless Maw doesn't even compare. It front loads power when, must I remind you, we can only pick it when we have already won another fight; it provides zero help right now. Meanwhile, a whole new system of progression for just 7 Arete is steal. It's extremely doable compared to any other long term option and therefore way safer. It can provide everything Maw does and much more with just a little investment.

Azure is nice and sealing would be a good magic system if we hadn't taken hunger. Anything that requires heavy out of combat study to use is massively anti-synergistic with our build. Plus it's effects are pretty much wholly encapsulated by Total Eclipse which also offers a bunch of feats seals can't replicate. Additionally I don't really like homestuck and I hate the four suit romance system.
Sealing can be used in combat, so it still benefits from Hunger as long as we make an initial investment of time. It's also less then trice the price of Eclipse, and True Quintessence has basically the same problem of not being being able to train it safely. It's just so much more bang for buck.
I fail to see what makes Pillar so good. But do we really need a 25 Arete option to help us Sate Hunger when we literally just took a Curse Mitigation that should make that much easier to do in reality?

It's versatile, I see that. And it lets us get a mini vacation.

Total Eclipse is very interesting to me. I do like it in my build as it let's us transition from Warrior to Warrior/Mage, and we know the Graces give a lot of physical benefits so it should make for a better Warrior.

It's just really hard for me to give up ++Prog.
It is exactly because we took Huntress' Moon that Pillars can offer Hunt targets; it's synergy, not redundancy. We also would not need to wast any time hunting nor worry much about Apocryphal inside. We'd also be able to heal immediately with what the Realm provides. It's really, really good for mitigation, is what I'm saying.
 
I fail to see what makes Pillar so good. Do we really need a 25 Arete option to help us Sate Hunger when we literally just took a Curse Mitigation that should make that much easier to do in reality?

Pillars gives us guilt free targets. Remember how Rihaku mentioned that some of our targets may just be... prominent artists who have probably done nothing to deserve us coming after them?
 
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