- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Crake
A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
-
- Tags
- a song of ice and fire a sword without a hilt d&d 3.5 dungeons & dragons 100% high octane dragon fuel ave corvidae battle action dragon diplomacy best sister bureaucromancy delicious soul-stuff dragon dreams come true dragon ta'veren greatest uncle hubris is a coward's word in defiance of gods and men mammon's folly mutually assured mage's disjunction qm murderhobo top tier coatl
[X] Crake
Is it a good idea to tease them with how broken everything is? The natural follow up to a pronouncement like that is "well what the fuck do you mean by that?" which derails this whole session even if we duck around it.
Is it a good idea to tease them with how broken everything is? The natural follow up to a pronouncement like that is "well what the fuck do you mean by that?" which derails this whole session even if we duck around it.
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
commensurate to the weight of his post
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
We are uncapping this gourd, like, days away from now. The obvious rejoinder is "we will cover that on the 22nd."
- Pronouns
- He
Yes, but it's still effectively announcing to the room that something is turbo fucked, then refusing to explain in any detail before refocusing on the task at hand for the next few days.
Viserys is not the kind of guy you hear a proclamation like that from and just shrug it off afterwards. I don't really see the point of hanging a nebulous (and distracting) threat over their heads when we're trying to smoothly start up the mechanisms of our government.
- Location
- United States
I'm really looking forward to that part of the quest. I hope we get to see POVs of the lords on the ground as they realized how utterly alone we are in all this.
[X] Crake
We ere always going to be informing them. It's too much of a security threat to not tell them and leave them open to falling to despair by some opportunistic Void servant or something. So best shot is to tell them here and now, in a controlled setting where we can help them not go insane.
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I get that, and agree with it. I'm not saying we shouldn't tell them, just that making a mysterious proclamation of doom in the middle of a meeting and then moving on to the next item on our itinerary while they stew on it is a mistake.
It would distract and disturb our officials when we need them focused, and doesn't actually get us anything except a good line to end an argument we're already winning on.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Eh, I like ominous warnings as much as the next guy, but BronzeTongue raises a point that we want to actually get some boring shit done and out of the way before the real squabbling begins--and trust me, we have seen nothing yet, and there will be squabbles. Everyone has a bone to pick or some kind of pet issue they want to unload on everyone else, and with over a hundred people in the room, there's virtually no chance of everyone having the same opinion as person next to them.
MagnificentMind
To Live is to Suffer
[X] Crake
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
[X] "The simple truth of the matter, Lady Breolis, is that when it comes to selecting those who will serve the Imperium, especially in such an important capacity as Minister of Taxation, whether or not my choice would be welcomed by the citizenry mattered far less than the skill in which they could carry out their duties, as well as their adherence to the strictures and tenets of the Imperium."
-[X] With a fraction more levity than the onlookers might expect, you then smile at Urraka: "Perhaps that does lean upon reiteration more than is required at this point. That these words will satisfy those who are already assured of the vetting process of the Inquisition and those trusting of my own good sense, does not answer the heart of your inquiry, my lady."
-[X] To everyone else: "If a person's loyalty is not in doubt, and his skill at the matter at hand is not in question, the only cause for distress remaining is the moral obligate of whether one's own past deeds are undeserving of judgement. I raise the point now, then. The Imperium has been birthed at the dawning of a new age, and many living in that age have undergone a rebirth of sorts themselves. Should Minister Iziku cause more intentional good than accidental harm in the undertaking of his duties, I will count myself well content. And if he should perform intentional harm out of malice for his fellow citizens, you can rest assured he will not be maintaining his post for very long." Or likely his life.
-[X] "I am concerned with utilizing the talents of those who approach me and gather around the hearth fire I have lit to the best of their abilities, in order to allow more to join in that warmth. We are each of us a portion of that light cast, and each responsible for excising the darkness in our fellows where we see it, and not mistake it for the shadows cast by the ones close to us."
-[X] With a fraction more levity than the onlookers might expect, you then smile at Urraka: "Perhaps that does lean upon reiteration more than is required at this point. That these words will satisfy those who are already assured of the vetting process of the Inquisition and those trusting of my own good sense, does not answer the heart of your inquiry, my lady."
-[X] To everyone else: "If a person's loyalty is not in doubt, and his skill at the matter at hand is not in question, the only cause for distress remaining is the moral obligate of whether one's own past deeds are undeserving of judgement. I raise the point now, then. The Imperium has been birthed at the dawning of a new age, and many living in that age have undergone a rebirth of sorts themselves. Should Minister Iziku cause more intentional good than accidental harm in the undertaking of his duties, I will count myself well content. And if he should perform intentional harm out of malice for his fellow citizens, you can rest assured he will not be maintaining his post for very long." Or likely his life.
-[X] "I am concerned with utilizing the talents of those who approach me and gather around the hearth fire I have lit to the best of their abilities, in order to allow more to join in that warmth. We are each of us a portion of that light cast, and each responsible for excising the darkness in our fellows where we see it, and not mistake it for the shadows cast by the ones close to us."
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- Location
- Germany
Now that I thought about it, this is weak.
Ask Mereth, several mortal Empires have come and gone in her lifespan.
Ask the scholars of our realm the following things:
Who was the first Minister of Taxation in the Empire of Dawn?
What policies did the highest administrator to Yi-Ti's first Emperor introduce?
Or even much closer, can anyone without Dragondreams say what decisions the first Lord Freeholders of Valyria made in regards to their trade- and customs-laws?
All these things are lost within the lifespan of any Devil that actually survived from the first Fall to today, simply to the grinding of time, the forgetfulness of mortals and the limited duration of all their works.
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Remember, the parts said out loud by him as part of his introduction are lip service for the mortals in the room, who don't have the necessary context or perspective to properly frame how hollow this argument is.
I imagine what really motivates Iziku is that he fucking despises working for Mammon, none of his service rewarded, because it's just about the minimum expectation to keep up with all the rest of the rife corruption in Baator where the only way to undercut someone with a better quarterly performance than you is to cheat like a motherfucker without getting caught at the same time.
Here, he knows he's trading some of the expediency of simply resorting to lower-key treachery in order to secure better position, but he has some assurance that he is working to instate order in the universe to some measure, and he will be able to raise in influence and power with more "buying power" for how he can spend the capital he does earn.
We know he's ambitious. He wants to earn that capital in order to spend it on something. Therefore he has a greater desire he is playing closer to his chest. But the desire is so great that he is willing to play our game, be loyal, and do his job the best that he can, in order to get it.
He doesn't have the relationship of a sworn warrior fighting at our side and slaying our enemies that Mereth holds with us. Trust comes easy when you are putting your life in the other person's hands, even if only to a limited degree, or even if you are buying trust in the blood of people that person hates (though that costs more blood than the drops you shed yourself).
Its the disadvantage of trying to earn trust the long route, but it might have a bigger pay off since the path of the warrior is often a humble one where proximity to power and the regard of others is often the desired payment, compared to more abstract requests.
- Pronouns
- Tenno
I dont think the faith , the people or most of the curia will take iziku as taxation minister well
They still dont know about the Hellven and will probably think we are in league with devils
We are giving proof to lannister propaganda
They still dont know about the Hellven and will probably think we are in league with devils
We are giving proof to lannister propaganda
Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Well, the same argument could be made that we are in good with the angels, since we gave multiple Celestials high office... it at least short circuits the most common rhetorical tricks people would use. Which is more important at the end of the day. Viserys says, "I've given this devil the chance to prove himself trustworthy and reliable, such that he has risen to high office", then in the same breath says, "and this Angel sees my cause as worthy to follow and provide aid in".
Therefore Viserys must be doing something right, or one must first prove to the Angel, likely in public forum, that Viserys is wrong, first, or it undercuts their own argument.
Therefore Viserys must be doing something right, or one must first prove to the Angel, likely in public forum, that Viserys is wrong, first, or it undercuts their own argument.
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- Location
- United States
Even leaving aside the Tax Devil, we've been public about hiring devils already. We announced the Erinyes loyal to us a few months back, iirc. The train has long since departed for people freaking out about Viserys vassalizing devils.
- Pronouns
- Tenno
I personally think we can reason having devils if only we reveal the broken heavens to them besides most people have preconceptions about us
- Pronouns
- Tenno
Most people would try to ignore those but appointing a devil as minister is like shoving them into your face
Besides iam worried about people and mages going like aemon sykes who went to abraxas justifying we ourselves hired devils and demons
- Location
- Philippines
...he totally wants a Gold Cape of his own, doesn't he? That shit is copyrighted fool!.. Do dress designs have copyrights?
- Location
- Germany
@DragonParadox
Looking through your KoM combat system.
Mobility is good to have, but you'll either have to denote "flying" somewhere or just take it into account when going through the battle manually. Most units just can't attack non-melee flyers, particularly fast and long-ranged ones like our Wyverns.
On the matter of Attack and Defence you'd have to make a lot of manual judgements while running things as well, as things are right now. One thing I found very sensible from Azel's combat system were the different types of attack and the defence against them.
A group of wraiths has a deadly offense against mortal foes, but could barely scratch Golems or other Undead since their whole attack is based on ability-damage, just as one example. Same way their defence is very high against most weapons, but falls low against certain spells and ghost-touch effects.
Attrition is also an important consideration, but due to the very different nature of combatants it comes with vastly different speed. Regular fighters tire quickly, Legionaires with rations of Dawnfruit somewhat less so, enhanced Unsullied or most Outsiders take a lot more fighting to slow down, Undead ignore the mechanic alltogether.
You might have to think over how to apply command-boni, since most of our actual fighting-groups will be led by generic officers and it would be a shame not to let those generals of ours (or our enemies) have any effects in terms of boni.
Looking through your KoM combat system.
Mobility is good to have, but you'll either have to denote "flying" somewhere or just take it into account when going through the battle manually. Most units just can't attack non-melee flyers, particularly fast and long-ranged ones like our Wyverns.
On the matter of Attack and Defence you'd have to make a lot of manual judgements while running things as well, as things are right now. One thing I found very sensible from Azel's combat system were the different types of attack and the defence against them.
A group of wraiths has a deadly offense against mortal foes, but could barely scratch Golems or other Undead since their whole attack is based on ability-damage, just as one example. Same way their defence is very high against most weapons, but falls low against certain spells and ghost-touch effects.
Attrition is also an important consideration, but due to the very different nature of combatants it comes with vastly different speed. Regular fighters tire quickly, Legionaires with rations of Dawnfruit somewhat less so, enhanced Unsullied or most Outsiders take a lot more fighting to slow down, Undead ignore the mechanic alltogether.
You might have to think over how to apply command-boni, since most of our actual fighting-groups will be led by generic officers and it would be a shame not to let those generals of ours (or our enemies) have any effects in terms of boni.
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It wasn't a big deal. It's a single planet. With the amount of psychic power he has he could have literally mind controlled the entire planet and nothing would have stopped him. Like genuinely, what was stopping him from taking his sword, teleporting to his enemies base and killing their entire command structure in a day. Repeat that by however many warlords he had to kill.