TreeQuest: Magitech (Riot Quest)

The Forest has had only minimal hardship since the start of spring, and does not want to continue depending on that good fortune. We wanted to make sure we'd finish a Shield Tree this turn… And everything went so well that we had Intent and Resources for two, with the lessons from the first grown Shield Tree making the second's growth significantly easier. (2x Shield Trees built; cost of building a Shield Tree reduced to 10 successes for all after the 1st.) (Also: unlocks studying the Basics of Magic.)

By contrast, research into Clever Trees was slower and more difficult than expected. While we weren't expecting to finish this turn, progress was only modest despite the easy test-cases from the Magic(?) Sword.

On the upside, the sole Collector Tree finished growing this turn, with its ability to drink in the sunlight and nutrients allowing it to grow more in a month than most Trees can in a year - and some in a decade.

Another good success, the Heart Trees finished analyzing possibilities for placing new Trees down by the Creek. The Forest can safely grow several yards closer to the Creek, accessing that rich soil relatively safely. Indeed, the Heart Trees did slightly more than was even necessary, and started the first bits of work on trying to reinforce the banks of the Creek, which would open up even more locations - some with amazingly rich and well-watered (but currently very unstable) soil. (25% bonus to Grow the Forest active; applies to this turn as well as subsequent; 1 success overflows to next action in chain.)

Good progress was made in reaching out, seeking any intelligent Minds. You got a good look at the minds of a small group of Elves and Humans. Arthur Scrat gave you a good solid look at them (two Elves and three Humans, if you're wondering), and that proved invaluable in memorizing the feel of their minds. You weren't able to establish a link in the brief (very brief to Trees) time that they spent passing your Forest by, but the experience will serve you well later…

Not much work was put into Growing the Forest - but what work was done made great progress, taking you just past the halfway point to reaching the next Magnitude. The rich soil of the creek's vicinity was much-appreciated, as it will be for some time to come.

More Resources were stored, against any future need of the Forest. Those will be much appreciated, sooner or later, experience has taught you well.

Two Mind Trees and Arthur Scrat made a determined attempt to finish the bond between the local squirrel-population and our Forest, but - alas! - progress has been about as slow and difficult as it could be. On the brighter side, an attempt to find the best sorts of food to motivate the local squirrels succeeded well enough to give the Forest bonuses in later negotiations with the Squirrels - including finishing the bond. A Walnut tree that decided to Grow extra walnuts for Arthur Scrat to use in negotiating with the other squirrels, also (as a side-effect) made some progress in linking with the minds of squirrel-kind. (Trust matters in telepathy. Not that this surprises anyone.)

As a note, Arthur Scrat is easily old enough to venture into the Forest's immediate surroundings safely… While it will be a few more turns before he can roam properly, exploring up to a half-mile in any and all directions can be done safely.

No progress was made in seeking to Research Lens Trees, despite a small but definite attempt. Perhaps the thrill of all this Growth has distracted us from the calm contemplation that best suits Tree Research?

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Actions:

Communication:
[ ][Action] Reach Out to Minds (Psychic)
-Successes sort-of stack. You're not sure how difficult this will be. Better results if more successful. Possibility of finding "there's nothing within X miles" - but even something like that will be good to know.
-4 success banked.

[ ][Action] Connect to Local Squirrels (Psychic)
-You have successfully connected to one squirrel; how about making friends with more?
-This has +50% bonus in subsequent turns due to research into squirrel favorite nut-types.
-7 of 10 successes.

[ ][Action] Connect to Local Wildlife (Psychic)
-Wolves - scouts? Bears - heavy combat? Deer - trimming invasive plants? You know you've seen all these; you have only vague ideas on what to do with them.
-3 successes banked.

Research:
[ ][Action] Research Lens Trees
-5 of 30 successes; Lens Trees will give a permanent Growth Bonus

[ ][Action] Research Clever Trees
-24.5 of 30 successes; Clever Trees will give a permanent Research Bonus
-Bonus +50% due to Magic(?) Sword.
-Note that any overflow will be applied to the logical next action, which will be Research Lens Trees unless someone convinces me differently.
-Due to the unusual requirements of integrating Clever Trees with the rest of the Forest, you may build a maximum of 1 Clever Tree per Magnitude of the Forest (currently 1). Each Clever Tree will give +10% bonus to all Research successes. Each is expected to cost 20 successes.

[ ][Action] Research Thorns
-1 of 10 successes; unlocks a Defense action to build up a stockpile of Thorns that will damage any invaders

[ ][Action] Basics of Magic
-0 of 50 successes; begin the systematic study of this, this Magic/Intent/whatever, that you're starting to use. A larger project, but expected to grant immediate benefits and unlock further possibilities.

Survival:
[ ][Action] Store Resources Against Future Need
-17 stored; this will function as a spare HP pool against anything that gets through your Defense, and may be useful for other things

[ ][Action] Shore up Creek Banks
-Several promising locations, down by the creek-bank, have dangerously unstable soil. Shore this up to allow more Trees to be safely grown.
-1 of 20 successes.
-Grants a +25% bonus AND halves any Drought penalties, when Growing any Special Trees, until we have 12 Special Trees total (9 Special Trees with ~10-20 cost, or about 135 progress, to go… so again moderately more efficient than 1-to-1 progress in direct Growth).

Defense:
[ ][Action] Raise the Shield
-Use magic to defend the Forest. Effectiveness is generally fairly high, but depends on the exact nature of the threat. (Not effective against a plague of locusts or similar - that's a Survival roll.) Like most defenses, this does little to nothing if you are not attacked.
-Gains 2 automatic successes from Shield Trees, if at least 1 Player-Tree votes for this action.

Growth:
Note: You have the effects of Strong Sunlight (Growth +50%). The summer has been wet enough for good growth, if only just at times, so no Drought is expected next turn.
[ ][Action] Grow the Forest
-This has a +25% bonus from Analyze Creek and Tree Placement until we reach Magnitude 3.
-13.25 of 25 successes to Magnitude 2

[ ][Action] Grow <Treename>
-Replace <Treename> with the name of a Special Tree from the Front Page. Variable cost. You can have up to 10 Special Trees per Magnitude of the Forest.
-Currently, no successes are banked on anything.

Offense:
[ ][Action] Release Annoying Pollen
-Not a terribly powerful attack, but it could annoy invaders, at least. Like most attacks, this does little to nothing if you have no nearby enemies.

Focus

Choose any one action from the above for the Forest to focus on. This is voted upon by the entire group, and is in addition to the individual actions taken by each member.

[ ][Focus] Action Name

This Action will receive a number of automatic successes equal to the Magnitude of the Forest (currently 1) and any bonuses from other sources.

Squirrel Actions

Choose what to ask Arthur Scrat to do.
[][Squirrel] Train himself
[][Squirrel] Explore your Forest
[][Squirrel] Explore the Forest's immediate surroundings
[][Squirrel] Try to figure out a favorite food
[][Squirrel] Help your Trees connect to other Squirrels
[][Squirrel] Write-in

Your Votes should look like the following:

[ ][Action] Action
[ ][Focus] Action
[ ][Squirrel] Squirrel action

Newcomers should add one of the following:

[ ][Tree] Heart Tree
[ ][Tree] Mind Tree
[ ][Tree] Root Tree

This vote will always be open.