What do you folks think? (the update is more or less done, I just need to finish writing up the new rules for hugareida bonuses, which kind of hinges on this)
My own thought is that multiple Instances on attack Hugareida effectively work like speed bonuses from shapeshifting, letting you get out more attacks in the same amount of time (since you're doing multiple simultaneously), but without actually giving you more attacks per dice roll or per Orthstirr spent. We know that works okay and is still valuable based on shapeshifting and how that's been working.
My own thought is that multiple Instances on attack Hugareida effectively work like speed bonuses from shapeshifting, letting you get out more attacks in the same amount of time (since you're doing multiple simultaneously), but without actually giving you more attacks per dice roll or per Orthstirr spent. We know that works okay and is still valuable based on shapeshifting and how that's been working.
For this, I'll let you in on a little something that I fear you may have forgotten (or perhaps that I've misremembered the rules for). Using your Aspects to add crafting bonuses means that they're burnt for that turn, right? Or am I misremembering?
[x] The respect of those underground! (Increased gain of relations)
[X] Prep: Leave our Fylgja outside in the sunlight (with our friends).
0~0~0
The first few days of the campaign were mostly spent waiting for the rest of the brothers to arrive. You, as a mercenary, didn't have much to do with the organization process, which left you with a lot of time on your hands and nothing better to do than socialize and acclimate to the darkness.
Of course, as with all things, this doesn't last forever.
"Wait, how many brothers do you have, exactly?" You watch, wide-eyed, as more and more dwarves pour into the expansive war room. Drawn-up mine maps and spreadsheets cover every square inch of the walls. The information takes up so much space that they had to make more walls for it!
"Dwarves are born in clutches of twelve," Toki explains as around four or five times that number crowd around a truly gargantuan table. A massive table cloth runs end to end, which is where the information on the walls coalesces into an incredibly detailed map of the chosen enemy mine. "Who then own and operate a mine together, under the guidance of their father. If more workers are needed, then their father will negotiate with the queens for more clutches."
Well, that sure raised more questions than it answered. You don't get a chance to get any further answers as Oinn rings a small, handheld bell.
The low-level clamor settles down instantly as the gruff dwarf coughs into a fist. "As we all know, Gort Kunettisson is the dwarf responsible for father's death," a few dwarves scowl and grumble, one dwarf even muttering some foul curse that has nearby dwarves shuffling away. "My clutchmates and I have spent the last several months collecting as much information about him as possible and this map is the result of that work." He coughs again and a tapestry unfurls from the ceiling, revealing itself as a series of spreadsheets and graphs. Oinn jabs a finger at the tapestry, his eyes alight with bloodlust. "This is the face of the man who turned our father into a fucking shower curtain!" Sizzling spit flies as he roars his hatred. The table rattles as he slams his fist against it. "And this is his mine!"
The dwarves all erupt into an elevated, death-lusted grumbling as they lay eyes on their father's killer. Or, at least, that's what you assume they're looking at? Is the data a picture or something? Are you just missing it?
'No matter how human-like they may seem, never forget that dwarves are not human. To us, it's just a bunch of numbers and lines and growth estimates, but to them it is the very literal picture of a dwarf.'
Honestly, sometimes you forget that dwarves are dwarves and not just short humans. But then things like this happen and you wonder how you ever forgot in the first place!
Regardless, there's a battle to be fought. Oinn rings the bell again and the choleric clamor lessens to a mere murmur.
"As they have us at a three-to-one numerical disadvantage, we need to stop them from coalescing into a single unit. To this end, we hit various spots simultaneously and from different directions. There will be two groups of three teams each. The Sedimentary Unit will attack from the top, with Team Dolomite taking the barracks, Team Lignite taking the command center, and Team Shale securing the warehouses. The Igneous Unit will attack from the bottom, with Team Basalt hitting the crossroads and setting up a killing field for the hostiles that Teams Andesite and Gabbro drive up from the tunnels." Oinn grins as he spread his arms wide, "Remember: we do this like dwarves! No prisoners, no mercy, and no holds barred!"
Another cheer goes up as assignments in the form of colored sashes are handed out. Eventually, he comes to you.
"So," you grin, "where am I going?"
Oinn grunts as he lays out a selection of sashes. "Well, as a free-mercenary, you're free to pick where in the battle you wish to be. So, where is it?"
What team do you wish to go with?
[ ] Team Dolomite in the worker housing (Red Sash)
[ ] Team Lignite in the foreman's suite (Blue Sash)
-Oinn is going here
[ ] Team Shale in the ore storage warehouses (Yellow Sash)
[ ] Team Basalt in the crossroads (Orange Sash)
-Toki is going here
[ ] Team Andesite in the left-most tunnels (Green Sash)
[ ] Team Gabbro in the right-most tunnels (Purple Sash)
Also, how do you wish to set up your loadout? This includes things like hugareida bonuses, shapeshifting, alloys, equipment, and capacity.
[ ] Write in
0~0~0
AN: Not much to say here other than that dwarves have a sophisticated supply chain system.
No moratorium, but this is the only update for today.
There are three bonuses that hugareida can have. They can give bonus dice, bonus damage, or bonus usage instances. Only hugareida with ranks higher than 1 are valid for this.
Bonus dice are pretty simple, it's how hugareida have been up until this point. +2 dice for every rank applied (save for Rank 2, which is simply +1)
Bonus damage is also pretty simple. Every rank that's applied adds an extra damage to the trick.
Bonus instances essentially functions like extra speed, meaning that you can get more attacks out at once. It also, if you have one-at-a-time hugareida, allows you to have multiple tricks out at once.
For this, I'll let you in on a little something that I fear you may have forgotten (or perhaps that I've misremembered the rules for). Using your Aspects to add crafting bonuses means that they're burnt for that turn, right? Or am I misremembering?
You said that we could get 1 success each by burning them normally (creating a moment of weakness, but only a moment), or 3 successes each for burning them for the whole turn (creating a longer period). We very specifically did the first, not the second.
You said that we could get 1 success each by burning them normally (creating a moment of weakness, but only a moment), or 3 successes each for burning them for the whole turn (creating a longer period). We very specifically did the first, not the second.
I like Toki. That's...basically my whole logic here.
On Hugareida, I am torn, so here are two plans:
[X] Plan Overwhelming Firepower
-[X] Assign 2 Forgefire Levels to Damage
-[X] Assign 1 Emberwind Level to Damage
-[X] Assign 2 Standstill Levels to Instances
-[X] Assign 1 Campfire Level to Instances
-[X] Assign 3 Ignition Levels to Damage
[X] Plan Endless Flame
-[X] Assign 2 Forgefire Levels to Damage
-[X] Assign 1 Emberwind Level to Damage
-[X] Assign 2 Standstill Levels to Instances
-[X] Assign 1 Campfire Level to Instances
-[X] Assign 2 Ignition Levels to Dice and 1 to Damage
Basically, as I mentioned previously, we have no rolled Forgefire Tricks, one die on Emberwind is not worth as much as one damage, Standstill does no damage and is rolled maybe once or twice a fight (and we can compensate for a few less dice when it is), and Campfire is also rolled very rarely but dealing with multiple poisons at once has theoretical uses.
The question is Ignition. Our choices are +1 die and +3 damage, which is better for high die attacks (7 damage Kindle Spinners and 7-9 on Firebomb-Strikes), and +4 dice +1 damage, which is worse if you're already putting in a lot of dice, but lets you make 5d6+5 Kindle Spinners for 5 damage (or 5d6+5 Firebomb Strikes for 5-7) at 1d6 combat pool per attack, which is great.
So, the first is better on single big attacks, but the second is a lot better for attack spam. I dunno which tactic is better vs. Dwarves, so it's hard to pick. If we were fighting a foe we were more familiar with, we'd have a better idea (we'd go Overwhelming Firepower against a Knight, and something involving Dice and Instances only vs. Troll-Men, and so on).
'That... is something I have not yet considered. Perhaps?
I mean, you deal with spirits because they can do things that you can't, or at least in a much easier, far better way. I don't exactly have a lot of power at my disposal and Sagaseeker isn't quite fully sapient, so our capabilities are little.'
I assume the way to make Blackhand more powerful is to go meet the various other people named after him in the family and try to somehow funnel their fragments into Halla. In a more morbid sense he might get strengthened if someone named Hall(letter) dies because then there is less to be divided up.
I assume the way to make Blackhand more powerful is to go meet the various other people named after him in the family and try to somehow funnel their fragments into Halla. In a more morbid sense he might get strengthened if someone named Hall(letter) dies because then there is less to be divided up.
That's been the implication, yeah. The svartalfar, who they are related to, even have mandibles and carapace. This is sort of mythologically accurate (or at least adjacent) since Dwarves supposedly originated from the maggots eating Ymir's dead flesh (which was used to make the world).
I find it interesting that Blackhand knows how many cousins we have that are named Halla and Hallr.
... Also did Blackhand have 27 children in total?
I went to find the post and we have 9 cousins named Hallr, and presumably 0 named Halla.
###
In lost opportunities, I wonder if Aki could have helped with Stigr when he had Nidheart/a Dark Spirit.
###
I think one implication of us having 9 cousins named Hallr is that at least 9 of Blackhand's other children survived? They are probably dropping from age at this point though.
I think one implication of us having 9 cousins named Hallr is that at least 9 of Blackhand's other children survived? They are probably dropping from age at this point though.
There's also the other people who got Charred Soul before Blackhand died. IIRC Charred Soul started showing up 1 decade before Blackhand died, which I think coincides with him getting Ilmarinen's Fire, which burnt his hand so badly it could not be healed. Kind of a similar sacrifice to Odin losing an eye and never getting it back, really.
Honestly I wonder how Charred Soul worked prior to Blackhand dying? Like people were getting it, right?
... Blackhand didn't have children after getting Charred Soul?
I don't think so. I think it only passed from Blackhand to people in his bloodline named after him, and naming people after someone while they're alive is bad luck. It now passes on a bit differently than it did the first time, but that has to do with him being awake and bound to Halla.
The low-level clamor settles down instantly as the gruff dwarf coughs into a fist. "As we all know, Gort Kunettisson is the dwarf responsible for father's death," a few dwarves scowl and grumble, one dwarf even muttering some foul curse that has nearby dwarves shuffling away. "My clutchmates and I have spent the last several months collecting as much information about him as possible and this map is the result of that work." He coughs again and a tapestry unfurls from the ceiling, revealing itself as a series of spreadsheets and graphs. Oinn jabs a finger at the tapestry, his eyes alight with bloodlust. "This is the face of the man who turned our father into a fucking shower curtain!" Sizzling spit flies as he roars his hatred. The table rattles as he slams his fist against it. "And this is his mine!"
"As they have us at a three-to-one numerical disadvantage, we need to stop them from coalescing into a single unit. To this end, we hit various spots simultaneously and from different directions. There will be two groups of three teams each. The Sedimentary Unit will attack from the top, with Team Dolomite taking the barracks, Team Lignite taking the command center, and Team Shale securing the warehouses. The Igneous Unit will attack from the bottom, with Team Basalt hitting the crossroads and setting up a killing field for the hostiles that Teams Andesite and Gabbro drive up from the tunnels." Oinn grins as he spread his arms wide, "Remember: we do this like dwarves! No prisoners, no mercy, and no holds barred!"
Halla: Blackhand, any other information you can tell me about dwarves? Blackhand:Hmm... oh, I recall a few dwarvish insults you can use. Now, bear in mind, these are some of more biting ones, so don't use them frivoulously.
--Later...-- Dwarf: Those bastards have a killing corridor set up. We could take them on in a fair fight, but they're never going to leave such an advantagous postion. Halla: ...Your return on investment is so low, a treasury bond would be considered a more profitable venture! Enemy Dwarf: You DARE!?
