Not Quite Lovecraft

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Considering how unprepared the guards were for Robert's murder, I don't expect their response to one here will be particularity adept.

You guys deciding to kill the waitress is hilarious XD what is the rational behind that again?
The hound is big and scary, and being killed by it might have cross-loop consequences. The thought then would be that to prevent her from being killed by the hound, we kill her with a bullet first.
... Now this is certainly a whole bunch of speculation. But if nothing else it should be less painful then being eaten and mauled
It is very loop-oriented thinking. If everything is going to reset anyway then death is a momentary inconvenience, whereas pain and suffering sticks.

Hopefully with it's target gone the hound will leave too. Though that too is an assumption. It might just switch targets, and we would be wasting the distraction the waitress provides.

Not to say that it is necessarily uh, a good idea. I think this is the first vote that has Oliver actually decide to outright murder a human? Sure it should reset, but that is still, uh, something.

You know what, I'm going to vote for something else:
[X] Grab Robert and run. Head for the luggage compartment.

If the waitress is still alive next loop, this experience should make her more willing to listen to us. Whereas uh, she probably won't take shooting her in the spirit it was intended.
 
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You guys deciding to kill the waitress is hilarious XD what is the rational behind that again?

I mean, begin mauled by the Hound might mean she dosen't return next loop. So we are indirectly saving her life by killing her ourselves.

Also, she is really really dumb for playing with forces she dosen't understand while begin smug abaout it. Shooting her will help with Oliver stress, probably.

If the waitress is still alive next loop, this experience should make her more willing to listen to us. Whereas uh, she probably won't take shooting her in the spirit it was intended.

Come on, let's not go for the boring option this time.
 
I'm switching to And.. only I think. But.. henges a lot on Oliver getting the keys off of the Waitress's body. And that might bring him close to the hound which is worrisome.

[X] Kill the waitress, and..

The waitress is of course going to be traumatized, but there's no helping that. Devoured by the Hound is a dreadful fate than death. Oliver will just have to deal with her hysterics next turn.
 
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Murder
You don't think as you draw your revolver and shoot. You've practiced, but you've never used it on a person before now. The waitress looks briefly stunned before she collapses dead. The creature keeps investigating her dead body once she drops, but it's no longer mauling her. It doesn't seem aware of you and Robert either, so you grab your friend and retreat.

The train guard rushes down. "Hold! Drop your weapon!"

"There's a beast in there! It killed the waitress!" you cried.

The guard frowned and headed forward. He barely rounded the corner before he was staggering back rubbing at his eyes and muttering. You eyed the space the creature was trapped in, waiting to see if it'd come after you.

[ ]Write-in
 
Okay, so I couldn't really think of a way to have Oliver yell at the waitress that he's saving her by shooting her, so just left that to be explained when you meet the waitress again. She was rather occupied with getting mauled by the hound, so she's not going to blame you for murdering her right away
 
I'm just glad Oliver wasn't the one who got a time mauling. It's hard to model plans with so many active variables in a scene.

We should take advantage of the locket's hiding and head towards the baggage site. We still don't have the key through so that's one to half hour gone trying to open it.

We could also go after the cultist. They would be spooked after the waitress's death. We need to find out if they're in the ritual site at twelve. But that might mean we're forgoing the bracing for the devouring..

Or maybe I'm misreading and the encounter with the Hound isn't over yet?
In that case we need ideas.. the hound if it decides to go after us would not be bound by space and corners - so locking Oliver and Co in the baggage won't stop them from entering. Only curved space would deter them.. Pachamama's runic circle maybe?

Or we could try something to send it after the cultist, who is the biggest violator of time here.
 
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It depends if the Hound is still inside or not.

If it is, we should just run and search for the cultist.

If it isn't, we can try to take the keys from the waitress corpse.

Either way, i think the time for caution is over. We can just break down the door of the luggage car with Nemo claws at this point.
 
[X] Plan Pursuit
-[X] Attempt to use the Hunger Lure to amplify the Hound's hunger.
-[X] So it seeks out the next strong connection remaining - the Cultist.
-[X] Stay hidden and watch who it goes after.
-[X] To ensure the Hound's hunger doesn't target you and Robert:
-[X[ Make a circle of the remaining water into Pachamama's sigils - or a simple circle if there's little time.
-[X] Grab the keys if the Hound leaves from the body. Try not to spook the guard.

[X] Plan Immolation
-[X] Head straight for the Ritualist's cabin, if they manage to escape the Hound and the guards.
-[X] Use the Hunger Lure to set fire on the runes, the magic of the runes feeding the fire.
-[X] Watch for the Cultist in the chaos and take protections against the Hound. Or the guards if they're drawn in.

[X] Plan Ransack
-[X] Head for the baggage cabin instead, if they manage to shake the Hound and the guards.
-[X] Destroy the lock channeling Nemo, shoot it apart if the gun is still with Oliver.
-[X] Alternatively if he smells the Hound is gone grab the keys to open baggage cabin.
-[X] Oliver barricades himself and smells for magic inside. He is so sure the gemstone might be here.
-[X] Make protections against the Hound, steeling his and Robert's mind for the end of the loop.


To start things along.. Feel free to modify and add or remove tactics where appropriate. Depending on what you guys think we should do I'll switch to one later in the thread.
 
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We should take advantage of the locket's hiding
The locket doesn't hide us in this case, it makes us look normal. Which will reinforce the conclusion that there's no beast.

More broadly, I want at least one more loop. My vote for shooting the waitress was predicated on her resetting. Therefore, I strongly favor the baggage car over setting fire to the runes. I think the latter might destroy the loop.

[X] Plan Ransack
 
The locket doesn't hide us in this case, it makes us look normal. Which will reinforce the conclusion that there's no beast.

We did overcharge the locket though in the vote, and that maybe played into the hound's focus to narrow down on the waitress who didn't drink the water as well. I think these two factors along with Oliver being a lesser violator of time led to him and Robert being ignored by the Hound. As well as rolls probably.

I don't want the end the loop as well, but we should do something about the cultist. They have proven quite crafty and illusive.. I also am not holding out much hope for the Waitress to help us next loop in that regard - other than the keys if we pull a special action.

That leaves one repeatable loop left and the final showdown loop. If we can ascertain the identity of the grey haired person all the better for the next loop..
 
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It hides Oliver's supernatural presence. The hound knows there's a time mess, but overcharging the locket meant it couldn't sense it's connection to Oliver
 
Vote closed
Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Jan 25, 2024 at 8:26 PM, finished with 9 posts and 4 votes.

  • [X] Plan Ransack
    -[X] Head for the baggage cabin instead, if they manage to shake the Hound and the guards.
    -[X] Destroy the lock channeling Nemo, shoot it apart if the gun is still with Oliver.
    -[X] Alternatively if he smells the Hound is gone grab the keys to open baggage cabin.
    -[X] Oliver barricades himself and smells for magic inside. He is so sure the gemstone might be here.
    -[X] Make protections against the Hound, steeling his and Robert's mind for the end of the loop.
    [X] Plan Immolation
    -[X] Head straight for the Ritualist's cabin, if they manage to escape the Hound and the guards.
    -[X] Use the Hunger Lure to set fire on the runes, the magic of the runes feeding the fire.
    -[X] Watch for the Cultist in the chaos and take protections against the Hound. Or the guards if they're drawn in.
    [X] Plan Pursuit
    -[X] Attempt to use the Hunger Lure to amplify the Hound's hunger.
    -[X] So it seeks out the next strong connection remaining - the Cultist.
    -[X] Stay hidden and watch who it goes after.
    -[X] To ensure the Hound's hunger doesn't target you and Robert:
    -[X] Grab the keys if the Hound leaves from the body. Try not to spook the guard.
 
Breaking In
Time was ticking. You didn't want to face the hound, and the guard seemed rather distracted by his brain being shattered by it. Other passengers were starting to get up to go and see what the fuss was about. You stepped around them the best you could and headed for the luggage compartment leaving Robert behind. You half wished you had thought to grab him and drag him along, but he wasn't handling the occult so well. Once you got out of this you could take the time to properly sit down with Robert and talk, but for now you wanted to focus on getting as far as you could before you were once more thrown to the start of the loop.

You took a moment to breath and summon Nemo's claws. You sliced through the lock on the door and pressed onward into the luggage compartment. Immediately you found yourself crowded by luggage. You shut the door behind you and took out honey, taking the time to seal the door behind you with Isis' blessing. The unclean wouldn't pass through here. You added a talisman you had carved of one of Pachamama's sigils just to make sure.

The clock struck ten thirty and you looked around sharpening your eyes with magic. You were sure the gemstone was near. And it seemed this time, finally, you were on the trail. You could see thicker traces slowly spreading out from the back end of the luggage car, where yet another door stood.

[ ]Focus on bracing for the next loop
[ ]Break open the final door
[ ]Go back for Robert
[ ]Write-in
 
[X]Break open the final door. And..
-[X] Go into a predator's blood frenzy, reflexes on alert and strength coursing through your frame.
-[X] So whoever inside has no time to react.
-[X] Share delving into Nemo's alien mind, becoming more eldritch than human to deal with the devouring towards the end.

Going inside is a no brainer.. Looks like a boss fight though potentially.

Robert option is left behind. Means there would be consequences for leaving him behind. He could get attacked by the Hound now that Oliver is no longer Hiding him. If Oliver goes back that might mean facing down the Hound or the guards.

This means next loop Robert and the Waitress are both going to be useless to account for San damage. But that's okay, we have leads.
 
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Something that might be worth pointing out... if we break the ritual and end the loop now then things won't reset. Which would would ah, leave us in rather a pickle.

So I would rather fortify now, and come back to deal with things next loop. With the location of the gem confirmed we can beeline straight for it at the start of next loop. Ideally with the help of both Robert and the waitress.

[X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
-[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.
 
Might still be useful to actually see who the cultist is though (if they're there) They might change their plans next loop to account for our competence. I'm sure we'd be given an option to stop the loop - or not.

Bit confused which is the ritual site, here or back in the cabin..

Actually.. is the cultist Robert? Kinda suspicious seeing he lagged behind. He could be faking being affected.
 
Might still be useful to actually see who the cultist is though (if they're there) They might change their plans next loop to account for our competence. I'm sure we'd be given an option to stop the loop - or not.

Bit confused which is the ritual site, here or back in the cabin..

Actually.. is the cultist Robert? Kinda suspicious seeing he lagged behind. He could be faking being affected.
It would be a really big brain move to arrange for your own murder in the initial run, knowing you will be brought back via the loop. But seeing as doing so would be entirely unnecessary if he was in on it I don't think it is likely. (Also he would have to be faking way too much, and I think we would have noticed.)

The cultist changing their plans next loop is exactly why I don't want to confront them this time. We would be giving them information on us, including our combat abilities. Whereas if we stay in the luggage car they might not even detect us. It would be better to save revealing our combat ability for the real final confrontation.
 
Could be a savaging by the hound, could be a blood sacrifice to set off the loop. I still haven't ruled out the grey hair thing. Might be a red herring though.
 
The cultist changing their plans next loop is exactly why I don't want to confront them this time. We would be giving them information on us, including our combat abilities. Whereas if we stay in the luggage car they might not even detect us. It would be better to save revealing our combat ability for the real final confrontation.

This is exactly why i don't want to confront the cultist right now.

Despite what we have done until now, the cultist still dosen't know we have found them. If we attack now, we lose the element of surprise next loop.

[X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
-[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.

Next loop, we first speak with Robert and the waitress. We make sure they both stay safe and then we rush to stop the ritual.

Maybe it will finnaly be time to set the train on fire?
 
[X]Focus on bracing for the next loop
-[X] Fortify against mundane intrusion as well. Jam both doors with the luggage. It wouldn't do for someone to disrupt your preparations.
 
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