...I was wrong. The thread is, indeed, suicidal.
Adhoc vote count started by Byzantine on Jun 1, 2020 at 8:40 PM, finished with 67 posts and 27 votes.
 
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend

It's time to get ahead of Apocryphal's curve.
 
Civ shopping list:
-Magic, Gear, Repairs. Healing potions? Don't really want more teammates, but that's just preference.
--Accretion trainer would be good, maybe this civ has tricks like the wind blade. Not hopeful, given how personal and intuitive it is.
--A big fucking bomb. Something we can use to trivialize a hard fight for lots of XP, jumping ahead on the curve.
-"Map" or other navigational aid. There's gotta be a way other than Rank to do it.
-Comfy pillow. Books. Luxury stuff, so when we are in crazy wilderness mode it's less stressful. Movie night?
-Therapy! Actually think I had a good idea here. Not that I want to play therapyquest, that sounds boring, and we can't stay long, so downsides, but might be worth a shot?
-Info on MMO murderhobos?
-Monster bait? We already have two of the best kinds, but a more controlled kind might be nice.
--Actual monsters, since there was the Plumed Offering so I guess we could slaughter a zoo?
-Tech stuff for Gisena, but I don't have to mention that, she'll take care of that no matter what we do.

Metaphorical shopping list
-Sidequesting is a good way to get Rank
--More fishing minigames? Rather, things that we can throw ourself into that aren't just combat.
-Heads-up on monsters to hunt. Find a shady patron to throw you at enemies! Take inspiration from Ber, he really seems like he has his shit together. /s
-Plot? I feel like the Jackal-Dragon attack is basically old news, but I thought the same about Sielle and whoo boy.
-Whatever's up with Zee, maybe she can send a message home?

Don't mind me, just brainstorming.
 
>fourteen votes for temple

where was this enthusiasm for the praxis, huh
[X] Hunt
[X] +1 pick
during next Experience spend

While Temple of the False Moon is basically bait; we were still warned of the danger Ber poses if allowed to scale right now. We gotta keep up with him; so we'd be well served in picking the highest progression rate possible. Civilization is basically not good enough. The chance of meh stuff is just too high.
 
[X] Hunt
[X] +0.5 Arete

So, after thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion I like Hunt the best.

The fact of the matter is, Hunt is where we have the most control over our risk-reward ratio. Civilization is always going to be low-medium risk, medium reward, and Moon Temple is always going to be extreme risk extreme reward. Hunt we can customize to an extent.

I considered going to civilization in the hopes of picking up a magic system, but there's just a little problem with that. We only get our super-progression powers when progressing by fighting stuff. As such, if we pick up a new magic system we'll need to find conflict to make the most out of it. That might be hard to do in a city! They might have an gladiatorial arena or local dungeon or something, or they might not.
 
Re-thinkng about all of this, why did we invest so heavily in charisma and int, when given an opportunity to go to civilization, everyone wants to continue being a loner?

[X] Make For Civilization
[X] +0.5 Arete
 
Re-thinkng about all of this, why did we invest so heavily in charisma and int, when given an opportunity to go to civilization, everyone wants to continue being a loner?

The problem is we have a scaling enemy. Civilization vastly broadens our options, but it is not so great for rapid power growth. We might need rapid power growth.
 
Temple will get us killed. Come on guys, we just went through this.

Edit: Approval voting for "Not the damn Temple"
Hey, it's only guaranteed suicide if we use the forum dice-roller.

Hunting ideas: tracking down the Tyrant Beast now that we're in better condition, using Pressure to find something that'll give us Scent early in the hunting spree, suicide bombing with Versch munitions right before Second Stage triggers to exploit overflow damage immunity, using the King Fish's meat as bait since we didn't sell it, etc.
 
It was said earlier but it bears repeating, picking the shiny option would have ended the quest literally last update, let's try to avoid running the same play but doing what we did right that time wrong now.
 
[X] Hunt
[X] +0.5 Arete



Dungeon delving is fun (and considering where we are it's like double delving) and I always felt it was a bit of a pity we skipped the legacy zone in EFB. But I'm just not sold this time. I feel like with second form we'll be able to hunt aggressively enough to maintain a decent clip while also attracting more beasts to kill. After a long day of battles we can draw in even the wily ones by hanging around at sub 10% so they thing us weak and bang! Back in action.
 
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Well friends, it looks like no Arete is going to be expended this time. I wonder what the reactions will be when you enter society and the Tyrant's Curse triggers in full! Let us hope the consequences do not fall upon your companions as well, and that it does not lower their regard for you.

Found an extremely cool and not at all ominous quote from Rihaku while indexing. Charisma is great but the civilizations of the Voyaging Realm could very well take us and the Doom is social poison. Temple is also out because suicidal options were what got us into the mess we were in last update.

[X] Hunt
[X] +1 pick
during next Experience spend

Hunt for a beast that gives +Rank and keep upping the godstat without spending Arete. When we've built up to 24, we can get Once and Future and start steamrolling.

suicide bombing with Versch munitions right before Second Stage triggers to exploit overflow damage immunity,

That's quite an interesting idea. Do Verge's munitions count as magical? Because if they don't in their own right and we can perhaps retract our Pressure to prevent it from making them magical, we could suicide bomb with up to nuke level firepower and be absolutely fine afterwards thanks to Evening Sky.
 
Tyrant Beast didn't really yield any noticeable benefits compared to Mire (+1 Arete, +0.25 Rank), and that was while we were Exhausted & Injured. Temple of the Moon isn't anywhere near as bad in comparison in terms of Risk vs Reward.
 
My understanding is that the high risk in this vote is comparatively much easier to stomach than in the last vote, since we have more mitigation, an operational party, and no more exhaustion
Very high risk is very high risk, my man

The risk isn't quantified the way it was the previous update, but that doesn't mean things can't go terribly wrong
 
Hey, it's only guaranteed suicide if we use the forum dice-roller.

Hunting ideas: tracking down the Tyrant Beast now that we're in better condition, using Pressure to find something that'll give us Scent early in the hunting spree, suicide bombing with Versch munitions right before Second Stage triggers to exploit overflow damage immunity, use the King Fish meat as bait since we didn't sell it, etc.

I'm not sure if we'll be capable of hunting the Tyrant Beast, since it seemed to be the result of an Apocryphal proc, and the blurb made it sound like The Tyrant Beast found us. I like the idea of suicide bombing, but I don't know if there's a safe way to test if it bypasses overflow immunity.

It was said earlier but it bears repeating, picking the shiny option would have ended the quest literally last update, let's try to avoid running the same play but doing what we did right that time wrong now.

Again, it's unclear if it poses the same amount of risk as the Tyrant Beast (I'm not sure about the conversion rate of very high risk to the percentage table we were presented with the Hunt for Healing options). Comparatively, we're much stronger, safer (with double the effective HP bar!), and have our companions with us. We have time to plan and write-in tactics for assault and escape. All previous arguments about needing to scale quickly apply here as well, except we have a more solid foundation from which to springboard off of.

I don't think Hunting would give us the Arete we need to pursue a 7 Arete option, which is a major breakpoint in power and a reasonable goal to aim for that would put us comfortably above Ber's projected powerlevel.
 
Tyrant Beast didn't really yield any noticeable benefits compared to Mire (+1 Arete, +0.25 Rank), and that was while we were Exhausted & Injured. Temple of the Moon isn't anywhere near as bad in comparison in terms of Risk vs Reward.

Feels worse to me, 'very high' I would interpret as significantly more than 10%, probably around 25%+. The saving grace is it's not a flat chance here and can be ameliorated. How much though is unknown.
 
Flawlessly Typical Creature
Hunger lurked among the blades of grass, his own blade gripped tight in a less than corporeal hand. In the middle distance, easily visible and producing a strain on the ears, he watched the herd of beasts. Huge, ungainly things, they lumbered in an endless charge through the lowlands.

Stealth was perhaps superfluous, as the herd was already surging heedlessly forward, but the jungle's fierce predators had shown themselves all up and down the clearing in pursuit of the vaguely bovine tide. Something kin to a Tyrannosaurus, a bit smaller and less symmetrical, snapped the neck of a passing beast with a single great bite, heedless of the vultures squabbling over an abandoned carcass only a few yards away. White lions, regal and beautiful, shared their latest kill among their pride. Further east, a Roc carried off a prize-winning example of the herd, and a group of baboon spearmonkeys carefully monitored the fierce appetites of the plain as their tribemates dressed their kill. Other hunters and predators of all shapes and sizes accosted the endless herd all along its run.

Dozens of scenes such as these repeated all along his way as Hunger followed the path of the herd. Astral terrors, mundane animals, strange hyper-predators, and hunters of human origin and otherwise took from the herd, and yet the endless tide of flesh continued. The tense truce of the hunters held everywhere hunger looked, and only the wariness of the Cursed kept him concealed. He noted a number of creatures worthy of his consideration, but continued his search for an explanation to the creatures mindless and often suicidal charge towards its destination.

Or rather, its terminus.

The charging horde continued right up to the end of the plain, but before a single hoof could enter the bog and feed the hungry hippodiles, they vanished. There was no portal, no astral activity he could detect. Each of the great beasts which passed a particular point simply vanished into thin air.

Further investigation yielded little explanation of the phenomenon. Taking down and gutting one of the beasts revealed nothing to his untrained senses beyond a charming flavor and an abundance of stomachs. Concerned with the implication of violating the hunters truce in his own search for worthy prey, he resolved to approach one of his more intelligent contemporaries.

The band of humans looked right out of a modern safari, but for their weapons. The high-tech looking longarms fired something very bright and energetic at the beasts, and seemed impressively lethal. Only a few of their party carried guns, the rest equipped with cameras, or manning the grill at their campsite. Hunger floated forward cautiously, bringing some finely carved steaks along as a grilling-gift. Luckily this custom was universal enough to grant him tentative entry into their camp, even if the mustached gentleman kept his weapon at hand.

Unfortunately, the hunters could add little to Hunger's understanding. They explained that the beasts appeared in a semi-annual fashion on the same length of plains, wherever those plains happened to manifest in this cobbled together realm. Beyond an appealing flavor and their capacity to dissapear and re-appear, the creatures were quite normal. The truce was supposedly a matter of convenience, but even the guide of their hunting party had no great insight into the strange behavior surrounding the beasts.

Unfortunately, a gently worded request to stop talking while he was eating escalated into an abrupt withdrawal from the party.

---

I haven't written in a while and I forgot where I was going with this, but basically I want Hunt! We get to grow stronger while exploring this exotic locale, what's not to love!?

500 word drabble for the pile.

[X] Hunt
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend

Also I had a good laugh at the "Hmm, I think I'll become a lich." Bit.
 
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If we want to save up Arete, we definitely should not go to the Temple. The biggest measure to increase safety is more power, and so to survive the very high risk expenditure of some kind will be damn near required.

Your Rank having been augmented by recent efforts, you can navigate the Voyaging Realm nearly as well as Verschlengorge himself
Wow, so the lessened Verschlengorge is only around Rank 4? That is an insane diminishment. Letrizia didn't seem to have any special moves with the mech either, I wonder if we can help her develop some.
Re-thinkng about all of this, why did we invest so heavily in charisma and int, when given an opportunity to go to civilization, everyone wants to continue being a loner?
Hey, plus intelligence and charisma already helped us a lot without going to civilization! You can't say they are useless here, they have in fact contributed quite a lot.

I don't think Hunting would give us the Arete we need to pursue a 7 Arete option, which is a major breakpoint and power and a reasonable goal to aim for that would put us comfortably above Ber's projected powerlevel.
Trying to become safe from Ber by immediately jumping into a very dangerous endeavor is, um, counter-intuitive? If the point is to be safe from threats, we shouldn't actively seek out more than we can chew. What is the point of preparing against him if we just die without even facing him because we overextended?
 
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