Heck yeah we're gonna kill more people. We will be a queen one day, we can't be squeamish about these kind of things. Even at the age of ten. Also got to gank this hero unit here.
A queen that would decide to openly feast on people would probably find her rule to be pretty troubled.
Meh. Can't say I like how SAN is being handled here. A stat with a maximum of 100 that can undergo a -50/+68 swing in the course of a single update does not look too meaningful, and more like it is whatever it needs to be for a scene. That -20 at the beginning and +10 at the end especially feel like they came out of nowhere. I am also sceptical about big chunks of SAN being tied to a satiety status. So what, if we are feeling anxious with SAN < 50 and cast a spell that makes us a little bit peckish we reduce ourselves into a gibbering mess instantly? How does that work?
The scale of gains and losses feels off.
[X] No!
[X] Last resort
[X] Go after Mother and Anna.
Meh. Can't say I like how SAN is being handled here. A stat with a maximum of 100 that can undergo a -50/+68 swing in the course of a single update does not look too meaningful, and more like it is whatever it needs to be for a scene. That -20 at the beginning and +10 at the end especially feel like they came out of nowhere. I am also sceptical about big chunks of SAN being tied to a satiety status. So what, if we are feeling anxious with SAN < 50 and cast a spell that makes us a little bit peckish we reduce ourselves into a gibbering mess instantly? How does that work?
They do come a bit out of nowhere, but Elsa's a ten year old girl being kidnapped by a cult worshipping her and trying to kill her familyeverything. She's really not in a good place, and this is a rather exceptional circumstance from everyday life, even with magic. The plus ten probably comes from not having the crazy lady around any more and being able to regain our composure. It'd probably make a little more sense if it also came after she resolves herself on her thoughts of who she is and whether she'll kill anymore, however the vote goes, but that's pretty minor.
The biggest part of the San loss was from killing someone for the first time, and not jut killing them, but completely devouring them. That would throw anyone for a loop. It won't be as big an issue later because:
We won't be taking as many penalties to it in the future. Eating people does give us huge gains through the increase of Satiety, but that can come with it's own drawback (beyond even the whole eating people willy-nilly thing likely to get us in trouble).
...
That was so worth the wait. Literally can't imagine a better way for that to have turned out. Elsa tried to resist non-lethally, which for a sheltered young girl shoud be expected, but failed utterly in resisting the hunger and bestial nature that lies under her skin. It was written so awesomely as well! Empassioned celebration from the cultist who was apparently into it and the description of the jaw unhinging and ice shattering, seriously more than I could've hoped for. This is what I hoped the quest would be, not just grimderp Frozen where Elsa just kills for the lolz (which admittedly might be fun) but another scarier aspect of her magic that warrants the fear in which it was treated.
Looking at where I want this to go, I don't just want angst though I feel it'll be an important part of the story. Also considering how young she is I don't want to just set her up as an unrepent killer from the getgo, that's something we can work towards as we turn her into a tyranical siscon Ice Queen. I am happy to see her make mistakes though so it may not work out but I want her to be pushed to act when stressed beyond her limit. There was earlier contention about this with how our votes sounded and whether Elsa cares about anything but Anna and I'd prefer that to be a trait that develops over time than to randomly have her not care about morality and family. I suppose we could give her an utterly alien perspective from the start and go blue and orange morality but I think seeing her warped by her powers progressively is more interesting.
[x] Perhaps
[x] Last resort
[x] Go all out.
So choosing to be consistent with the realist characterisation. We don't know what'll happen in the future and we can't necessarily control it. I don't want to be too passive but acceptance over futile struggle goes a long way when it comes to mental health. I want a slow fall if any so I think jumping immediately towards killing would be premature. Still need to warm the family up towards the idea of housing a super powered cannibal! Then picking to go all out because I want Elsa to care, I want her to be proactive in using her magic and defending those she loves. Plus, what better time will we have to go all out without guilt and disappointment?
[X] Perhaps
[X] Last resort
[X] Go all out.
Let us kill some Cultist, leave them to rot and to decay, i don´t want to see them anymore so send them far away (doesn´t have to be in one piece).
[X] Absolutely
We won't deny our nature. And we know it's not evil, it's a tool to be used in service of the kingdom and for protecting Anna. Surely, there are criminals sentenced to death that we can devour without doing harm to society.
[X] Yes
Others may think it vile, but we know better. It's a tool to be used - just like a sword or bow.
[X] Go after Mother and Anna.
Father will survive. But Anna might not! Search for Her and kill anyone who wants to touch Her! Yandere-Elsa!
That mindset sounds more like killing is a 'Yes' than a 'Last resort' for you. It's your choice either way, I'm just a little curious at why you chose that, given your attitude to the cultists.
Mostly perhaps, because we really don't know. And it truly doesn't matter...if we are bound by fate, then fuck it, we will break it and make it ours as we see fit. And if we are not, then who gives a hoot anyway?
As for yes, if i kill someone with a sword hes just as dead, its not more vile, otherwise the act of killing someone with a sword and getting better at killing people with swords because of it would be just as vile. That aside making killing a last resort is not good. Not in this case anyway. We have currently a moderate chance of success if we go all out. Avoiding to kill people means we have to control more of ourselves, it means we have to take care, it costs extra time and energy to incapacitate someone and then making sure he doesn't cause more trouble when he awakes as opposed to simply braining them with a chunk of ice. In short going last resort here while going all out means we lower chances of survivals and success all around.
And go all out, because fuck them, i don't know about you but whether i would be that kid or myself, i'd try to save everyone.
I see 'avoid killing people' brought up quite often, when it's 'avoid killing people in a certain manner', aka 'avoid eating people'.
You can argue that one is no worse than the other, but I maintain that the two are very different, and we are being asked specifically about the latter.
That mindset sounds more like killing is a 'Yes' than a 'Last resort' for you. It's your choice either way, I'm just a little curious at why you chose that, given your attitude to the cultists.
i just sung it to myself to the melody of let us build a snowmen while reading the chapter so i felt like including it.^_^
I would indeed rather prefer not killing the cultist ourselves because we may/will get permanent mali on the in my opinion rather wonky Sanity we possess, but we need to do it to protect Anna and for our Elsa NOTHING else matters.
And with last resort i DO mean the literal cannibalism we have shown, I would truly prefer to avoid that if at all possible.
Alright, since I'm finally awake and fully rested for the first time in, like, three days, I feel like I'm up for answering some questions.
Namely, the biggest one people seem to be talking about that I can answer.
Sanity.
Ok, first off, I'm not even sure I like the system I have for it at the moment. I mean, I kind of like it, but I'm not sure how good it actually is. In theory, it sounded good, but in practice, it might not be that great. If I end up tossing it I'll just reset you guys to 75% sanity.
But onto the actual details. There are two types of san gain/loss. Temporary and Permanent. Though perhaps short-term and long-term would be better, but those are the terms I use to describe them to myself.
Temporary San Loss/Gain: This means that for this moment or instance, Elsa has lost sanity. In this most recent case, panic and feeding frenzy caused her to, well, panic, and temporarily reduced her sanity. It's basically just a spike of insanity, and it goes away as soon as the situation is resolved. As such it usually has more highs and lows.
Permanent San Lose/Gain: This is more like what First Blood is, in that you've lost sanity in a more permanent fashion. It's usually a low amount, but it also usually last forever, or until you take steps to regain your sanity and resolve the turmoil in your mind.
Sanity: Sanity in this quest is kind of a few things, but most notably a metric just to describe to you folks in mathematical terms how mentally ok Elsa is. This provides flavor for Elsa, especially when she falls under 75% Sanity, which is where you're usually at. If she went above that then she'd be totally fine.
However, once you fall under 50% Sanity, you start experiencing some actual dice penalties. You'll have a sanity penalty to your dice checks, applicable ones, anyways. In some case, you might even have sanity checks. It'll be a one-for-one ratio. For every 1% below 50% you are, thats another point in penalty to your dice check. For example, say you 27 sanity and you were rolling to give someone a hug. You'd have (27-50) = -23 to your dice roll in order to hug a person without eating them.
I think I can see where some of you guys who are complaining about the fluctuation of Sanity are coming from, but, again, Sanity is a measure of how ok Elsa is at the moment, not long term. And when shit's going down hard for a 10-year-old, you're going to have some serious fluctuations.
The other thing is that you've picked Angels and Demons, which means that narrative is still a very big factory. This means that something that's added for flavor still matters a lot when talking to people and interacting with them. Sure, it's flavor, but it's also a descriptor for why she's doing what she's doing in mathematical terms. "Why's she freaking out inside? Because she's got low san." Shit like that.
Though to be honest, it'd be more like, "Why's she freaking out inside? Because she just ate someone and she was not ok with that, and it is being expressed with low San"
Which reminds me, I'm going to have to shift your traits around. I don't think Calculated is a good fit for you, all things considered. Instead, I'll give you Grounded or something, where instead of an Int buff and Cha debuff you'll have a San buff.
I will, however, endeavor to make sure this is all more consistent and reliable. I'm still learning how to properly apply these things in relatable mathematical terms as opposed to just showing you a slow spiral into madness in the story itself.
But on that note, I'd actually like to hear what you guys think.
Would you rather I show you in mathematical terms (San lose/gain) Elsa's mental state constantly as it is at the moment? Or would you rather I just use the narrative to express it and only show you her sanity in the long-term, the deep scarring shit?
Adhoc vote count started by Metaldragon868 on Aug 18, 2017 at 6:55 AM, finished with 491 posts and 33 votes.
But on that note, I'd actually like to hear what you guys think.
Would you rather I show you in mathematical terms (San lose/gain) Elsa's mental state constantly as it is at the moment? Or would you rather I just use the narrative to express it and only show you her sanity in the long-term, the deep scarring shit?
I like the inclusion of sanity, adds an interesting element to the story and is fitting that it would be an issue considering the psychological aspect of Elsa's powers. I do think that large fluctuations running throughout updates can be slightly distracting though. They happen in high emotion scenes and I think closing each fluctuation in mental state with numbers can detract from that. As well as that, it might just make it too complicated? I'd suggest just noting and applying overall changes at the end of each chapter and just using fluff in between. It's less complicated and should flow better.
For every 1% below 50% you are, thats another point in penalty to your dice check. For example, say you 27 sanity and you were rolling to give someone a hug. You'd have (27-50) = -23 to your dice roll in order to hug a person without eating them.
That just sets us up for a cascading failure and eventually murdering someone horribly instead of saying hello. The example you gave is pretty apt. We joke about it now, but you can imagine the reaction once it happens. Whether you want it to be that way is up to you.
Elsa is not going to be most stable of individuals as it is unless she desentisizes herself to traumatizing situations completely, which is probably its own brand of insanity. We'll likely be coasting on 70-80 Sanity on a good day, and that's one panic attack from becoming unwell. Since panic occurs at stressful/high-stake situations, a failure there would likely lead to further SAN loss, and any attempts to recover become less likely to succeed as penalties start being applied.
That's to say nothing about 20 SAN points being tied to Satisfaction. Should we go all out and rely on our Magic, we start expending Satiety and that may cause a SAN loss in itself (how would it even work, narratively?), with us dipping below the 50% threshold.
We'll either descend to insanity quickly, or end up surrounding ourselves with cakes and plushies amidst the carnage (i.e. you'll have to come up with options to artificially raise SAN to counteract the damage).
As for the transparency... I'd probably feel less if I didn't know that eating well balances out on SAN scales with eating a human. Doesn't matter, had lunch!
Because Fuck Fate, Fuck Cultists, let's GET OUR FUCKING SISTER (and mom too, I guess).
(I edited the post so that "Last Resort" became "Yes". Not sure if I was supposed to do that or post again.
So far so good we get rid of the crazy cultist , though it would have been nice to have them as minions. Too bad
Let's hope father and mother get offed so we can become the ruler then