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- Omniverse #1345
hm
[3:11 PM]
the winning combo is still be the change + walls of myth
[3:11 PM]
that's pretty risky
FYI.
If you want walls switch off of change/crown. If you want Change/Crown switch off of walls. Please.
hm
[3:11 PM]
the winning combo is still be the change + walls of myth
[3:11 PM]
that's pretty risky
An empire is made of a million-and-one shitty polities no one elsewhere cares about. I expect once we start conquering the Human Sphere, we're going to keep conquering it, throwing up puppet governments as we go. For momentum's sake if nothing else.It could take us hundreds of years to conquer the Human Sphere. As soon as we start though, we will take control of some human population with intent of holding on to them and remaining involved in in their rule for the long haul. I.e. we will do Be The Change properly and remain in position to make it stick rather than setting up some slapdash cargo-cult picture of reform over a long weekend and fucking off. And we will still have 99.9% of the job in front of us to benefit from the picks we get doing it.
I'll point out if you don't want to get Crown here because you'd rather save for OaF, you're probably better off going for Change and Tower rather then Intervention and Wall, since the latter might end up throwing some magic system or artifact that people desperately want to grab at and putting you in this same position again before getting OaF, where as that happening during the Elixer reformation seems somewhat less likely.
OaF is enough for Ber, but there's no evidence that it's enough to make the Tower safe. We were warned that depending on our decisions, this adventure might end up being as dangerous as the Temple and Tower is explicitly more dangerous than Walls. Don't underestimate the danger we've put ourselves in.i'll point out that we'd need only about 4 updates of regular arete generation to hit Once and Future which should be enough to molly-whop Ber and the Tower.
How is that an argument against Crown? Nothing short of SJUC will beat having 9.9 rather than 9.4 Blood Rank..OaF is enough for Ber, but there's no evidence that it's enough to make the Tower safe. We were warned that depending on our decisions, this adventure might end up being as dangerous as the Temple and Tower is explicitly more dangerous than Walls. Don't underestimate the danger we've put ourselves in.
Because you are completely discounting the different time frames involved?How is that an argument against Crown? Nothing short of SJUC will beat having 9.9 rather than 9.4 Blood Rank..
What does that have to do with anything? Moving from 9.3 to 9.9 Rank is, in no uncertain terms, great increase power than anything else we can possibly access. If your argument is that OaF can't solo the temple, then the Crown is the best choice.Because you are completely discounting the different time frames involved?
OaF is enough for Ber, but there's no evidence that it's enough to make the Tower safe. We were warned that depending on our decisions, this adventure might end up being as dangerous as the Temple and Tower is explicitly more dangerous than Walls. Don't underestimate the danger we've put ourselves in.
Oof. The vote closed well before I expected it to. I had a devious plan to call in 2 markers to guarantee that I ended the update with the same number as when we started. But then the vote closed. "Surely there will be a 30 minute warning, as has been the case in previous votes," I thought to myself while putting together a pull up bar to hang in my doorway. But then the vote closed. "The value of vote tokens goes up as we get closer to the end of the night, because it gives the opposition less time to arrange or purchase counter-defections," I told my partner while carefully applying thick white clown makeup. But then the vote closed. "My side has a decisive lead in fan-work because of Talace dropping a bunch of pictures and because I dredged up old survey responses to brow beat Projectile out of voting for the suicidal option," I said into my audio diary. But then Projectile revealed their true nature as a Bet-rayosaur and the vote closed.Realms of Myth
The winner was [X] The Opalescent Tower with [X] Decimation Lens. A very close vote on multiple fronts, and well-fought by both sides!
This is even more callous than the thread's approach to the Temple. With the Temple, we used Ennoblement to modify the abilities of the remaining defenders, and directed our mind crushed puppet ruler to seek prosperity for the surviving Temple Remnant. By giving such an instruction to Sten, the highest Ranked member of the society, we left them with the closest thing to good governance as was feasible at the time. There were drawbacks of our haste, of course: Larissa was just the worst and her influence wasn't excised. But the underlying moral poison at the heart of their society was removed. Lingering rot or corruption can be handled without completely remodeling the nature of their society. A bit of scaffolding was all that Sten really required to rebuild their nation, given the resources available.With the Decimation Lens pointing Hunger towards a valid Huntress' Moon target, the group prepares to set out from the Sovereignty. But what is Hunger's attitude towards the governance of the Sovereignty itself?
[ ] Laissez-faire - Hunger is unconcerned about the internal politics of this remote Voyaging nation. They've given him plenty of free stuff and there's neither the time nor the inclination amongst most of his party to remain entangled here for long.
The crunch here is fairly straightforward. 1 Arete is about 5% of the cost of Once and Future, or 1/3 of an average update's generation. Putting Aeira's family in a position of power would lessen her need to work as a mercenary, but would also wildly increase the resources that she could offer her good friend Letrizia. Since we have not been terribly proactive about letting our Party members actually do things, trading Combat Aeira in exchange for Royalty Nouveau Aeira is probably an excellent transaction. The meta-consideration of Update frequency per day is trumped by a meta-meta consideration higher along the infinite singularity husk; If you don't care that much about the Sovereignty, this option will conserve the most important resource of the quest: wordcount. It would wrap up fairly quickly and let Rihaku move on to writing things that you find more interesting.[ ] Intervention Mk. I - Aeira's family has some experience ruling this nation, right? They should be in power. Two allied civilizations are better than one. [+1 Arete, Starts Elixir Sovereign sub-plot. Should be fairly brief]
Hoo boy. This is a very exciting option, and it isn't getting shit on the way Army Made, so I'm of course looking for the "catch."[ ] Be the Change - While the Decimation is a pressing concern, no less so is the governance of this nation on which turns the lives of millions. Given the power and versatility of these High Elementalists, the Elixir Sovereignty is sure to be relevant in greater Voyaging Realm affairs going forward. With Stenallon occupied in the Temple, it falls to Hunger to marshal the courage of his convictions and bring to these people what he failed to in his second world: a well-functioning society, with reasonable laws and free of excessive burdens on its populace. How hard could it be? [+1 pick to next experience point, unlocks a Defining Advancement if successful]
*There isn't time to overhaul everything so he'll have to keep the general framework of their civilization, but there's nothing wrong with an amendment that makes Hunger the constitutional monarch with theoretical veto power over the ministries of government.
*He can then wield this authority to root out corruption and make sure everyone is doing their jobs properly within the bureaucracy, no flagrant abuse of power is occurring, and so on and so forth. Those who Gisena and Aeira vets, he will Ennoble, granting them a near-insurmountable tactical advantage in office politics.
*With the help of his well-feted reputation, and a certain renaissance woman, this task goes from improbably difficult to merely challenging.
*Will saddle you with some modest responsibilities to the governance and protection of the Sovereignty, potentially escalating to major responsibilities should the Sovereignty be endangered again.
*However, you'll also receive massive potential benefits in time, such as an army of High Elementalists with a dizzying away of capabilities...
*Could take a while OOC even if IC it's the whirlwind effort of a few days.
"Cloud-piercing battlements" strikes me as a hard-counter to the protection offered by our Evening Sky mantle. The strength of this option is in the quality of its blurb. Dangling the potential for D E E P L O R E is a great way to get an early vote-lead. Hunger & co have already tunneled through one set of walls; the Temple had some kind of spatial nonsense going on when Hunger cut through into the Ritual Grounds. With Gisena on hand, I am cautiously optimistic that we can repeat that feat. However, what would be even more exciting would be some kind of resonance between Versch and the (foremost) protection systems imbued into the Wall.Venturing to the lands enclosed by the Walls of Myth, what is Hunger's primary destination?
[ ] The Walls of Myth - It's a long trip to get there, so why not take a slight detour to examine the fabled walls themselves? There is sure to be high magic in plentiful supply here by the lidless cloud-piercing battlements that have successfully severed all they enclose from a domain as formidable as the Voyaging Realm. Do they wield Foremost magics themselves, or arts of a school of comparable power? Or are the Walls themselves merely some form of trick or exploit, failing to match the Foremost in puissance but superior to their unattended works in treachery? Either way, there is much to learn.
*Detour means your journey will tend towards the longer side of the estimate (closer to 10 days than 7 for the entire trip)
*Magics, artifice, ancient lore - who knows what awaits buried within the Walls of Myth?
I like the benefit of I am The Danger, but it seems like it isn't enough to compensate for the riskier nature of a headlong charge into the unknown. Skipping the Wall fails to give Gisena a heads up about the Opalescence connection: We should expect Nullity to be mostly ineffective in the demolition task, in my estimation. During the walk back from the Wall, Gisena can focus on tinkering up a demolition charge that doesn't rely on the power of Nullity. Alternatively, an amplifier might be a good strategy...[ ] The Tower Itself - Straight to the Tower, all else can wait. Perhaps it's reckless to charge in without an overview of the lands' magics but Hunger wields both the Praxis and the power of Ruin and is assisted by the wielders of Nullity and True Vigorflame. There are very few supernatural threats he would lack an adequate answer for.
*Somewhat riskier, but swifter.
*May generate more picks
*Gain beneficial condition, I Am The Danger for the duration of the Tower hunt.
I posted this segment earlier, so I'll paraphrase (despite the reduction in Arete / OMake power from putting the word count in an earlier post). Be the Change unlocks a Defining Advancement, so it is a mistake to buy Stranglethorn before we've at least seen what the alternative would be.Finally, Hunger has gotten some experience from slaying Astral Beasts attracted by the healed Verschlengorge these past days. 2 picks were acquired; what shall they be spent on? You currently have 10.9 Arete. Choose only one.
[ ] Towards Stranglethorn - Commits you to Stranglethorn, but also gets you halfway there! It's a potent Defining Advancement that suits Hunger well and scales greatly with All-Defeating Stance, while the power of Establishment gives Hunger a source of passive power in most timeskips. Doubled Willpower +s are also tremendously valuable given Cut Through's Willpower modifier to physical stats.
*If you don't commit to Stranglethorn now you may be distracted by other options in the future
*Stranglethorn's good, no need to overcomplicate things!
This would be a wise non-Stranglethorn pick if I thought it had any hope at all of getting traction. Unfortunately the Honing upgrade is going the way of Pearlescence. Combat intelligence is probably the most important stat boost that we can have going in to the fight with Ber. Hunger needs to quickly evaluate how Ber's powers and abilities have changed since the previous encounter. Remember that he brought along a party to fight Verschlengorge the first time. One of them shot Gisena with a crossbow. We are likely going to be forced to let the Teenagers fight alongside us; being able to quickly identify the biggest threats and direct our allies to good matchups will help keep everybody alive.[ ] Honing (2 Arete) - Take Honing and unlock the Blood Advancements beyond it! Combat intelligence and more Agility are rarely bad. It's good value for your Arete and substantially improves Hunger's tactical acumen for most fights.
*Cheap and good, what's not to love?
*Efficient and unlocks future efficient picks.
This makes me sad about Threefold again.[ ] The Ring of Power - 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.
*Stacks additively with All-Defeating Stance
*Grants a fairly major combat upgrade, as you already have high Strength and Strength-scaling Ruin
*Increasing your rate of healing works well with your high Health pool from Inherit the World
*You can also take one Echo alongside this ability, increasing your Strength even further!
Arete miner goes brrrr.[ ] Feat: Crown (12 Arete) - Requires Be the Change. Unlocks the potential for Feat: Saber and Feat: Orb. You may find an opportunity to acquire this Feat again, but it is rare and dependent on circumstance...
If you survive, no power will be beyond you.
The Accursed had told him that. These three short weeks have felt like a lifetime, filled with harrowing challenge, foes and travails over every horizon. He has never worked so hard or so furiously in his life, even against the world-pervading crush of the Tyrant's presence. But the reward of discipline is power, and power has been attained at last. Power enough, in some ways, even to eclipse the Hero who stood against that Tyrant of yore, all those long months ago... power to triumph where he failed.
Now, child of Earth. How will you use that power?
At last attain the outcome that Hunger died for, what he set out to do before age and treachery taught him what may have been his final lesson, but for the intervention of the Accursed. Gain +.25 Base Rank; +.5 with modifiers. Rank gain may be reduced (with partial Arete refund) if reforms are not successful. This Feat would normally put you into pick debt, but Be the Change covers the difference.
*That's a lot of Rank.
*A lot of Rank.
*But it's also a lot of Arete...
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What does that have to do with anything? Moving from 9.3 to 9.9 Rank is, in no uncertain terms, great increase power than anything else we can possibly access. If your argument is that OaF can't solo the temple, then the Crown is the best choice.
We can take more than 4 days setting up Human Sphere puppet govt 1 though, and we will keep in contact with it because it will serve as part of our power and resource base for the rest of our conquests which an isolated Voyaging Realm state can't do.An empire is made of a million-and-one shitty polities no one elsewhere cares about. I expect once we start conquering the Human Sphere, we're going to keep conquering it, throwing up puppet governments as we go. For momentum's sake if nothing else.
Right now our conquest is stymied by lack of both power and easy targets. This is the best time for Feat: Crown - though I'll concede arguments exist other things could be better for us than it right now.
Well, he is a known Tsundere. He might have expressed distaste for it once, but there's a whole paragraph dedicated for Change while the other options only get a single line each...
Crown only has a very minor lead.[X] Be the Change
[X] The Tower Itself
[X] Feat: Crown
Tactical switch, not confident we can overcome the Change/Crown lead, so hoping to at least optimize the most popular options/Tower can catch up instead, since Walls+Change/Crown delays us the most
sigh, that aside, I thought Hunger didn't want this?
Average Arete is probably closer to 3 per update. One must account for momentum effects of fewer updates per day, after all...