Fractured Fantasy: A CK2 Style Final Fantasy quest

[X] Plan: Information is the Key
-[X] Go On An Adventure: Ashe brought some interesting things to your attention. Sandstorms to the East, and a seaside town to the Northeast. Maybe you should visit one? Or both if you can? Basch will come along if you're headed to the seaside town, Freya if you're headed to the sandstorms. Alfyn will come along either way, and of course, you'd have to pay Shadow to come. [DC: None. Triggers "Adventure" phase at the end of the turn]
-[X] Indulge in Gossip: One of the best ways to keep an ear out is just to talk and listen. The whispers seem to have taken a much… darker tone now that Basch has been revealed. [DC: 30/70]
-[X] Home Brew Potions With Alfyn: Between yourself and Alfyn, you're sure you could make some good healing items for cheap. You can either sell them later or use them for an upcoming adventure. [DC: Auto Pass. D100 roll will decide the quantity and quality of items made]
-[X] Find an Easy Hunt: One way to open the door to Clan Centurio would be to solve an official hunt for them. If you work smarter, not harder, you might be able to score an easy win by finding a monster you're suited for killing. [DC: 70]
-[X] Monster Research: Maybe it's due to the close proximity to the Hunter Clans, but you've heard Rabanastre has a lot of information on monsters. Maybe it'll help you prepare for your upcoming journey, maybe you'll find a hint about that monster in the Waterway, or maybe you'll find a good target to hunt for Clan Centurio. [DC: 40/80]

Definitely want to at least go on the adventure to the seaside town this turn, in order to get Basch out from under public scrutiny for awhile, and hopefully indulging in some gossip will give us a better idea as to what he can do to improve his image while he's gone. We should prepare for the adventure by brewing some potions and doing some research on what monsters we might face. If we're lucky we'll even discover an official hunt that will be easy for us to do when we return as well.

edit: replace vote with
[X] plan: The Planet.

ok, thoughts on this turn:
sunstone ration's over now, so it's nice they didn't immediately shoot back, (makes getting them early not seem dumb)
basch's reputation being tarnished means he's in more need of a change of pace/salvaging his reputation would be more helpful
them being around for a while means more proof on the sandstorms being worth checking out, too.

there's lots of options now for things to explore, research, find out etc and they all appeal, but right now we probably need to prioritise. i'm prioritising things that make us money, since funds can be used to accomplish a whole bunch of goals, and being expedient means we produce them sooner

[X] plan: so much to do, so let's be efficient
-[X] Go On An Adventure:
-[X] Partner With Alfyn:
-[X] Consult The Planet:
-[X] What Could You Make?:
-[X] Get Alfyn's Help Picking Seeds:

adventure lets us do both sidequests, which will probs lead to a bunch of stuff. more potions may be a priority to make sure that succeeds though so brewing some's sensible and may synergise with garden stuff to boot. might be wasteful, but if it leads to better stuff later it's worth and it's definitely better than a failed quest.
(we probably can't delay doing sidequests to stack even more at once so don't even think about it, if we wait much longer we may miss a cuttoff on stuff!)
partnering with Alfyn would presumably enhance other Alfyn related actions (such as the two others on this plan) so it could have a outsized benefit to do now, plus it means becoming closer allies which is important for a potential future party
we can do multiple learning actions which is a great thing with all the options available. think it's better than selling garden stuff immediately. I'm thinking doing both of those should mean options in the stewardship section are better, so doing them before selling should be better long-term than trying to just get more money instantly (we have 3 funds atm+producing potions for this quest, so don't need more instantly and can wait on selling them to setup better if we want)

no intrigue, but those options tend to be for unlocking new stuff rather than getting boosts for what's already available, which isn't a priority with all of our options right now. similar situation on diplomacy, if partnering with alfyn is more of a upgrade than an unlock, it means we get bonuses we can use on actions we already have

DCs are pretty low/autopass too, so less risk of failure
sorry if i'm being pretty haphazard on explaining my thoughts for this plan, may have missed something

edit: @Laurent wanted to add consult the planet instead of brewing potions (i think). I think this is mostly fine, it should still accomplish the main goals of the original plan, and brewing feels the safest to put off business-wise

regarding cartographers
the fact that cartograpers aren't mapping the sandstorm makes sense from a "we have to find out ourselves" but also feels like a possibility. if we can explore that and share the info on it, giving that may be a good way to win some favor? so maybe next turn after the quest it'll be worth checking in
if we had free turns i could argue going there to start some possible "map the place" activity, but other actions appeal more and if there's a bonus for sharing information the only really important thing is the existance of a city, which if an option we can just do afterwards (at half the turn cost of doing it now)
hard to say if the cartograhers is relevant, we had it from turn 1 but if there's a "help map the place" sidequest or something than we've mostly missed our chance to join in, so may be best to ignore? meh, was thinking there could be something big there and even if not, maps would be useful when they're available anyhow so it hopefully won't be a complete wash (if we go there next turn when they're available)
what do you think, chance for a free map or something?

[X] plan: The Planet.
-[X] Consult The Planet: You're not really sure how the ancient Cetra did it, or even how you are supposed to do it. But in times of need, the Planet has granted you insight before. Maybe if you tried meditating… [DC: 80 (Note: Uses Magic)].
-[X] Find an Easy Hunt: One way to open the door to Clan Centurio would be to solve an official hunt for them. If you work smarter, not harder, you might be able to score an easy win by finding a monster you're suited for killing. [DC: 70]
-[X] Home Brew Potions With Alfyn: Between yourself and Alfyn, you're sure you could make some good healing items for cheap. You can either sell them later or use them for an upcoming adventure. [DC: Auto Pass. D100 roll will decide the quantity and quality of items made]
-[X] Partner With Alfyn: It just makes sense, doesn't it? A gardener and an apothecary will go great together, and he's a sweet guy. You don't have to broach the topic of Chaos yet, just a mutually beneficial agreement between friends. [DC: Auto Pass]
-[X] Go On An Adventure: Ashe brought some interesting things to your attention. Sandstorms to the East, and a seaside town to the Northeast. Maybe you should visit one? Or both if you can? Basch will come along if you're headed to the seaside town, Freya if you're headed to the sandstorms. Alfyn will come along either way, and of course, you'd have to pay Shadow to come. [DC: None. Triggers "Adventure" phase at the end of the turn].

[X] plan: so much to do, so let's be efficient

[X] plan: so much to do, so let's be efficient

We are short on funds, and if we do the two adventures together, we're gonna need as much supplies as possible. Not having to worry to much about potions would be a great help. I think this should be our focus for this turn. The rest can wait a bit longer without issue.

Omegahugger said:

Oh no, however will Wakka react!?

... No really, how is Wakka taking this? While Besaid itself is hopefully out of range for this, to him that is still the equivalent of the Vatican getting locked in time.

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I did consider revealing that Wakka has already left, since there were a few turns where he didn't show up or do anything of importance, not to mention Seymour visited.

But that felt mean so I flipped a coin, heads he stuck around, tails he left. It Landed on Heads. So let's assume he decided to stay to… I don't know. Keep the priests company.

[X] Plan: a Flower in the Desert
-[X] Explore the Desert Around Dalmasca: Now that the blizzard is gone there's less danger involved in exploring the desert. But should you explore around Dalmasca when you know other places to go further? [DC: 50]
-[X] Partner With Alfyn: It just makes sense, doesn't it? A gardener and an apothecary will go great together, and he's a sweet guy. You don't have to broach the topic of Chaos yet, just a mutually beneficial agreement between friends. [DC: Auto Pass]
-[X] Start Selling Flowers: This is what you used to do back in Midgar, gather up some of what you've grown in your garden and sell it. You'll have to get a cart or a wheelbarrow to use, but after that nothing will stop you. If you start doing it once or twice a week, you might make a lot of money. [DC: 40/100]
-[X] Find the Black Market: It's just a rumor for now… but there are whispers that a black market is forming in the lower city, where stolen and illegal goods are being sold. After Wall Market you're not too keen on the idea, but they might have useful stuff down there… [DC: 80]
-[X] Get Alfyn's Help Picking Seeds: Alfyn knows which plants are useful, you know which plants are beautiful. Between the two of you, it shouldn't be too hard to populate a garden with plants that everyone will love. [DC: 40]

[X] plan: The Planet.

[X] plan: The Planet.

griffinlw said:

Chaos Event: Time Compression (Yevon)

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Σ(°Д °; ) Oh NO!

griffinlw said:

Chaos Event: Paradox Rift

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*snip*
[Something in the world has changed…]
[If you find it, you can resolve it. But it won't be easy.]

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... Ominous!
Well, two Chaos Events certainly don't disappoint, I guess...

Do we know the weather report for the adventure? Might want to know the forecast for at least the next week if the monster population changes depending on the season.

[X] plan: so much to do, so let's be efficient

MagewyrmMira said:

Do we know the weather report for the adventure? Might want to know the forecast for at least the next week if the monster population changes depending on the season.

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Fun Fact, in Final Fantasy 12 the Seasons for Giza Plains last 2 hours for the dry season, and 1 hour for the rainy season. Which... says some pretty crazy things about either how long FF12 lasts, or how quick the seasons change.

Anyway, it's the rainy Season on the Giza Plains but you're not headed south so you won't have to worry about that too much. Forecast is cloudy in the Eastersands, sandstormy in the far East, and sunny in the North East. Cloudy and sunny weather is fairly mild so you won't have to worry about that. Sandstorms increase the power of wind and earth magic, and make ranged attacks less accurate but it doesn't like, drain your health or anything.

assuming a sidequest wins, it occurs to me we're probably able to bring both the Basch and Freya for both sidequests (which is convenient, if party max is 5 and the princess is unavailable (likely, reducing her workload was the whole reason we got the sidequests). plusthis time we're not even asking freya for a favor to get her along!
at the very least it'll be same difficulty as before to get a full group, assuming Alfyn's still willing? if any partnerships/closer relationships with him work out it should probably be fine, he probably has stuff to gain from working together too so we're not leaning *too* hard on him...
(getting a closer relationship with Basch is a plus too, if they keep their position he seems a helpful ally to have and if not he might be in need of a job:P)

Laurent said:

Convince Your Friends of Your Quest: Alfyn and Freya certainly like you, Ashe and Shadow probably do. But is that enough to convince them to help you fight... whatever Chaos is? Maybe you should save this until you have proof... [DC: ???].

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any reason for thinking success on this action is viable rn? we may be able to tell them fine, but it's not like we have any proof so even if they don't think we're lying they could think we're mistaken, and even if they believe us i doubt they're willing to drop everything

MagewyrmMira said:

Do we know the weather report for the adventure? Might want to know the forecast for at least the next week if the monster population changes depending on the season.

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the adventure happens as part of this turn, right? so if you mean the chaos events, then conveniently they aren't going to directly impact unless we're really lucky/unlucky with finding that anomaly (you never know).
if you mean seasons as mentioned in last turn's sunstone action, according to it "they've just dried up for the season" so we're probably getting normal desert stuff.
the rainy season could have been handy for giving us more water monsters that'd get hampered by the ice magicite's resistance boost, but no big missing out on that, and for fighting monsters at the very least we now have access to blizzard for most stuff, and bio for anything resistant/immune...

hmm, the equipment menu might be a bit outdated, do we have both the ice magicite/poison materia equipped right now, or are we only allowed the one non-weapon thing due to lacking materia slots? I'm guessing this would be decided during quest preparation if relevant?

if it's just the option between one or the other keeping poison materia may be better atm, there may be fire monsters we'd be weak to or stuff that's ice resistant(desert climates get cold at night), but unlikely to be monsters that'd use ice/water damage we'd benefit from resisting,
arguments against this are using ice magicite would be better for training long-term and there might be water monsters at the sea/poisonous monsters that'd logically be resistant itself? assuming bio and blizzard are about similar if elemental vulnerabilities don't apply
what do we think is likely to appear more? fire type/ice immune ones that are bad for ice magicite, or poison-using animals that are bad for bio?

hleghe said:

hmm, the equipment menu might be a bit outdated, do we have both the ice magicite/poison materia equipped right now, or are we only allowed the one non-weapon thing due to lacking materia slots? I'm guessing this would be decided during quest preparation if relevant?

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That one is my bad. I the way I had the Equipment laid out made sense for most Quests, but Final Fantasy is a bit more… equipment intensive.

I'll edit the character sheets to include an Equipment tab later, but the way I'm thinking of it, each character has a Weapon slot, Armor slot, and Accessory slot. So Aerith's staff goes in the weapon slot, her starting armlet (no stats but had a Materia slot) goes in Armor, and the Magicite goes in Accessory.

... Maybe they're more like warm/cool fronts?

Anyway, looks like we're going to be running into sun and sand if we choose to adventure, then.
... I say "choose to," but it looks like most the plans so far want us to go out and find new places and things, ahaha.

hleghe said:

what do we think is likely to appear more? fire type/ice immune ones that are bad for ice magicite, or poison-using animals that are bad for bio?

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For what it's worth--if we're allowed only one, I my gut says we'd want the ice magicite. In addition, I did a brief skim over the enemy tables for the areas around Dalmasca in the dry season and found one (1) ice-weak enemy, for what that's worth. ^^; If we just need to make up for resistances, Aerith already has Ruin, so there's no real need for bringing Bio along just for that.
Granted, it's not a guarantee that we'll find the same monsters in the area as we would in XII...
Plus, using it would count as "bonding," right? And you see, I'm a Summoner Propagandaist, so by the power of metagaming my knowledge about the FF series I know there's a summon in there that I want NOW.
If we're allowed both the materia and the magicite, I'm down for taking both--my brain says "more coverage is never a bad thing," and I'd hope that if there's any fire thrown about, we'd have teammates who can deal with it. Kinda wish we have Aero or Stone to take advantage of the sandstorm effect, but oh well.

[X] Plan: Information is the Key

MagewyrmMira said:

If we're allowed both the materia and the magicite, I'm down for taking both--my brain says "more coverage is never a bad thing," and I'd hope that if there's any fire thrown about, we'd have teammates who can deal with it. Kinda wish we have Aero or Stone to take advantage of the sandstorm effect, but oh well.

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yeah, the "hmm, maybe we can only take one" was under the assumption we could hold materia/magicite, but it would take our accessory/offhand slot so only one was an option. (the fact our armor has a slot's handy for sure:)

having access to both is pretty good news, and makes it a far simpler decision. while it's still an option to forgo the magicite so we don't get weak to fire, keeping it means we get more time to increase our sync with it, resistance to two elements (which could theoretically show up) and another spell to give us more options for versatility/dealing damage a bit more optimally, which would definitely outweigh the downsides when we don't have any alternatives
(plus, having it as a mainstay means we don't need to get an alternative accessory anyhow, so when we get the disposable currency to go shopping in the future maybe we can focus just on getting high tiered/more useful armour? we already have a decent weapon/accessory from chargen, and typically in RPGs purchasing a single expensive thing rather than a bunch of decent ones is more money-efficient)

[X] Plan: Information is the Key

hleghe said:

any reason for thinking success on this action is viable rn? we may be able to tell them fine, but it's not like we have any proof so even if they don't think we're lying they could think we're mistaken, and even if they believe us i doubt they're willing to drop everything

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Oh, right, also... I'm thinking that even if we do succeed on this, we're kind of up the creek without a paddle, or even a canoe, at the moment. Aren't we? As in, sure, we know Chaos is the Big Bad of the quest, but we don't have the support to get to him, the strength to fight him, or any leads to get to where he is right now.

... But you know what? This makes me think "okay, but what if Aerith finds Jack? That would be an easy perma-ally!"

MagewyrmMira said:

Oh, right, also... I'm thinking that even if we do succeed on this, we're kind of up the creek without a paddle, or even a canoe, at the moment. Aren't we? As in, sure, we know Chaos is the Big Bad of the quest, but we don't have the support to get to him, the strength to fight him, or any leads to get to where he is right now.

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yeah, sort of an issue. i'm mostly prioritising things that benefit rabanstre in the hope that them doing well means they're better able to oppose problems on a greater scale than us (waterways quest, providing info on the dangers of mako reactors, this turns's quests), but that's more of a general measure rather than direct big threat problem-solving. fine if they're only throwing natural disasters around though.
best case scenario, if they don't have an endgame we may be able to turtle and bear the various shenanigans long-enough to fully awaken our connection to the planet or such, which would presumably be helpful for solving the problem

following standard final fantasy logic, the obvious metholodology is for now to tighten relationships with allies in the hopes of forming a formal party/group while building up personal power/resources so we can actually fight crazy powerful demons or whatever.

if we're going out into the wider world, i would imagine getting the resources to for a sky boat would help a lot with rapid transport, so hopefully that will be a solvable problem. though would probably require a *lot* of cash if we're not just using someone else's (which have the downsides of either pissing someone off(theft) or them owning it (we can't do what we want))

I changed my plan a bit.

I replaced "Convince Your Friends of Your Quest" with "Partner With Alfyn" and replaced "Air Pirates?" with "Find an Easy Hunt".

I may change again on "Stewardship" and "Martial".

But, I won't change on "Learning: Consult The Planet".

I am willing to vote for any plan that has "Consult The Planet".

Vote update. Right now "Information Is Key" is in the lead, but both "The Planet" and "So Much to Do So Let's Be Efficient" are only a single vote behind.

hleghe

if you change "What Could You Make" you "Get Alfyn's Help Picking Seeds" to "Consult The Planet". I'll be willing to vote for your plan.

Vote for sale, very cheap!

For the low price of spending one action on a Yevon Sermon; this Omegahugger vote is yours!

[ ] *Your Plan Name Here*

eh, we're bidding on plans? this might be a bit dirty but if you've given me the opportunity, @Dinfinity , do you mind looking at the other plans?
you voted before basically anything dropped so there might be one you prefer more

Laurent said:

if you change "What Could You Make" you "Get Alfyn's Help Picking Seeds" to "Consult The Planet". I'll be willing to vote for your plan.

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regarding consult the planet , it's a decent action, but concerned about the high DC (it's a stat we have a lot in so not the worst, but still enough to make it less appealing) and how it isn't likely to help us at all in the short term? it's giving possibly very important information, but i doubt it's anything we'd be able to act on if it's related to chaos, and if it's related to that paradox my assumption was it was too far away to affect. (i may be wrong though)
I could feasibly drop something like seeds, but particularly want to get it out of the way before we make big commitments that might make it more of a pain to change seeds in the future/so we can get whatever improvement it'd give to our garden earlier. (and if we do it in a turn with other stuff they'll hopefully play into each-other?)

Omegahugger said:

For the low price of spending one action on a Yevon Sermon; this Omegahugger vote is yours!

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(admittedly attending a yevonite sermon with this turns disaster could be fun/more effective, yeah. if you had the choice, what would you drop for it in my plan? I'd be happy to do it, but didn't add it for practical reasons. seems primarily useful if we're doing stuff related to yevon, but that's not yet?)