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So would the picks and the Arete we put on Fisher King be gone or would we just need to find another foe that qualified for the Advancement to buy the rest of it?
Gone unless you get more Core Panoply type effects.
So would the picks and the Arete we put on Fisher King be gone or would we just need to find another foe that qualified for the Advancement to buy the rest of it?
I recall you've already written one! With the Staff of Mage...
@Byzantine
I remember you knowing things pretty well, in the before time, before I lost track.
If I want to vote for smart, what should I vote for?
This is not just about arete - without the Core Panoply piece-by-piece gimmick we are about to burn, we cannot purchase that thing at all.Ring of Essence is funny. Hunger can get something that costs 1 Jade for the price of me writing for one day. I'll always be here to bring the Arete in.
... Wait a minute, is this an EFB, or is this just two 1-pick 14-Arete Advancements bundled together? It feels like the latter, as EFBs are 25 rather than 28 Arete. Unless they're Relationship EFBs, but that's because those are four 7-Arete Advancements.[ ] November Sky (2 picks, 28 Arete). Conjunctional (Tears of Winter + Evening Sky).
Fisher king does give the following:...Is Fisher King good for SMRT? Can we have both? I got so confused by all the talk about builds for characters who are not Lord Hunger in settings that are not Lord Hunger's settings that I no longer understand things.
Is why I vote for SMRT. Everything is too complicated. Only hope of survival is for main character to become smarter than voter-base, myself especially included.
[ ] The Ring of Power - Ring of Essence [5 picks, 50 Arete, Defining Advancement].
For the arete itself... when you say wasted do you mean the arete disappears into thin air, or do you mean that the 12 arete gets applied as a discount to this 50-arete thing? (It doesn't seem that way, as the cost of this is 5 picks and 50 arete, but... I'm confused because arete was mentioned as being wasted, but picks weren't mentioned as being wasted, so...)*Only your ability to buy Defining Advancements piecemeal allows you to take this, so:
*You'll basically have wasted the Fisher King Arete until you get more Defining Advancement slots.
[ ] November Sky (2 picks, 28 Arete). Conjunctional (Tears of Winter + Evening Sky).
*Unlocks the Imperial Praxis technique, Closing the Fist (1p, 7 Praxis picks), whereby a group of individuals or artifacts
This isn't quite right. When the gang is together, Companions grants +50% all stats, which is something like +11 INT
Yes, but I had an idea for another one in the style of The Furthermost Reaches and the subsequent CYOAs. I'm a bit worried there may be too many CYOAs flying around right now though, so I was kinda subtly floating the idea.
I'm not Byzantine, but I will note that -
November Sky grants 4 Int.
Fisher King can be taken with November Sky and grants 2 Wisdom and 1 Int.
No other option grants mental stat bonuses, but Ring of Essence could in the long run be used to amplify anything, including smarts. It's not a sure thing like November Sky and Fisher King though.
[ ] Companions of the King [5 + 25 Arete] - A hero out of myth deserves a company of legends, but what foremost company could withstand the presence the Forebear's presence itself? No mere shadow these; not his callously-refracted light, but true champions of power everlasting - for a King must have his Knights.
Requires Undying Vanguard, which can be purchased for 5 Arete and 0 picks. The character may ignore the other requirements for this Advancement during this experience spending point. You may designate up to five companions each of which is treated as possessing active Rank no lower than [Your Rank - 1]. This includes your base Rank as well as any permanent external modifiers to general Rank. Once designated, a companion cannot be replaced until they are slain beyond the possibility of recovery; take care that you do not raise up a Mordred or Lancelot.
So long as you are accompanied by a given anointed companion, your teamwork is effortless and masterful; you both receive +10% All Stats. The exploits of your companions redound on your own mythic history; receive +20% Rank gain for each companion anointed, so long as they are either directly assisting you or participating in tasks of legendary import. These effects can both stack. Finally, so long as even one companion is alive, you can always be revived from death via an incredibly difficult ritual.
[ ] Forebear's Blade: Fisher King [12 + 12 Arete] - The hand that steadies the rod, rules the world.
Or perhaps that is not always so. If not, then make it so.
Fish, even if it cannot be fished.
Costs five picks total. One of the Defining Advancements that could have been unlocked by [Feat: Crown].
*Double the proc rate and mitigation effect of Huntress' Moon against fish-based targets
*+50% to All Stats for purposes of fishing. Only works on literal fishing.
*++Wisdom, +Int, +Wits, +50% Rank growth
*Wait for it
*+10 Accursed Favor
*Holy fuck
*Grail Keeper: At any time while within a land he rules the wielder may take on the Decimator's Affliction into himself. For the duration, the Decimator's Affliction merely poisons the land, rendering it barren and and its residents infertile, rather than claiming lives. Territories not under the wielder's rule are not affected by this mitigation. This causes him to suffer the Affliction of Leprosy and the Mutilating Affliction for the duration.
*No immediate power, costs a lot of Arete. You are only required to spend 12 at this juncture.
*Immensely powerful Decimator's mitigation, allowing it to be weaponized against opposing polities
*May be used to immediately unlock Sword in the Stone in lieu of one of its requirements
Majesty is the first on the list, and first off the list for me. I don't like Sword in the Stone, never have, the majority of its power is tied into kingdom building effects, which while useful give our task are not currently relevant, and further more are uninteresting to me. While the rez is useful, the fact that we would need to give up our sword almost full time to use this is a flat out deal breaker for me. I am unlikely to ever vote for any combination that includes this option.[ ] Majesty: Fisher King + Sword in the Stone. 37 Arete, 2 + 1 picks. Fisher King is a potential Decimator mitigation Advancement that also offers valuable Wisdom and priceless Accursed Favor. Sword in the Stone finally grants Hunger some form of insurance if his Second Stage is slain, a safety net woefully lacking for a being of Hunger's strength. While the domain-limited mental Attributes from SitS don't correlate perfectly to control over the Realm of Evening, they do improve Hunger's power of rulership, including those components of Realm manipulation related to direct rule. Also empowers his companions somewhat, though not to the degree of the option below:
I have mixed feelings about this one, on their own, I'm not particularly interested in either Fisher King, or Companions of the King, companion buffs have never been much of an interest of mine, that being said, this may be the time.[ ] True Champions: Fisher King + Companions of the King. 37 + 6 Arete, 2 + 1 picks. Elevating all your companions to Rank 9, and improving your Mental and Physical attributes by 50%, will dramatically increase the overall effectiveness of your entire party. Gisena will be able to squeeze out another Major Grace for only 6 additional Arete before you have to return to the external world, allowing you to achieve one of the Amazing Grace builds from last update. Adorie won't benefit much, as she already has greater than 10 effective Rank, but Letrizia should see enormous improvements to her out-of-Armament effectiveness. Should also make Aobaru stop complaining, though he'll have mixed feelings about being simply 'handed' such enormous power...
*Now Hunger can have others fish for him!
*Or fish aside him with a modicum of competitiveness.
*Don't let the shininess of the new options obscure the solid value of these FK choices.
Oof, now that is an exciting advancement, double the value of present and future Echos, cut to 1/5 the cost of persistent Praxis techniques, expand our Panoply slots by 3![ ] Exalted Battle Array (3 picks, 26 Arete). Conjunctional (Forebear's Blade + Seraph's Favor).
Far reminiscence of a technique that was ancient when the dust of stars was still young, repurposed now towards an unforeseen purpose, though no less fierce.
*Panoply slots set to five, or increased by three if already five or greater.
*The Cursebearer may now link with up to five different Armaments, should he bear the requisite Curses. This subsumes the Curses of the Armaments as usual. Why take hostage their Armaments when you could take them entirely?
*Unlocks the Imperial Praxis technique, Closing the Fist (1p, 7 Praxis picks), whereby a group of individuals or artifacts may temporarily fuse to attain exponentially greater power. This technique is exhausting to use, but can be counted on in truly dire exigence to exceed even the Hour of Reckoning in might. Effects such as this are useful for handling the more dangerous Apocryphal activations...
*The endurance cost of persistent Praxis techniques is reduced by four-fifths.
*Upgrades Echo of the Forebear: Now grants ++Might, ++Agility. Applies to existing purchases, though does not stack with other sources of +Progression.
Requires Hunger to engage in a 3-pick fight during this training session, for which you will have to roll to survive. That said, chances of survival are great. Strengthening your Echoes means future pick-farming sessions will be vastly more productive. Would also synergize heavily with the likes of Refinement of Battle, or King of Winter which you already have. Closing the Fist offers power greater than the Hour of Reckoning and more flexible in activation - so long as you have someone, or something, to fuse with.
I won't argue against the potency of this advancement, it would be a fine addition, both to Hunger, and our play style.[ ] The Ring of Power - Ring of Essence [5 picks, 50 Arete, Defining Advancement].
Requires Chief Dominion: Blood, Crimson Flare. Incompatible with Ruling Ring.
Hail Nameless king, of shadowed throne, your golden glamours tell
of Winter's maze, your sloven's gaze, was steward for a spell.
Thy Essence raised, by sage's thews,
by hated toil grasped;
Now heeds the world, of distill's news:
comes Grail and Fire, clasped!
The wielder acquires a restricted version of the Colour Magic, the Emperor Red, as mediated by his Ring of Power. This reduces the personality-warping effects of the Colour, but ensures the Colour may only be channeled directly through his Ring. Its chief function is to broaden the Chief Dominion of the Ring, incorporating Essence into the nature of Blood such that any sort of being with a foundational essence can be affected by the Chief Dominion, including modifiers from other Advancements (chiefly, Crimson Flare). Advancements acquired by slaying enemies gain +Progression if those enemies are absorbed by the Emperor Red.
This Advancement does not grant any skill with Colour Magic on its own, but in time the wielder will be able to use most of the facets of the Red with the proficiency of a native: He may drain the essence of foes by touch, and eventually affect first nonliving, then even abstract or conceptual objects: depleting a fireball as it strikes his skin, unmaking magics that target or encompass him, even reducing the effects of plagiarism upon his repute, or age upon his form.
Effects that physically touch his blood are much easier to affect in this way. Conversely, by expending essence he may reinforce the fundamental existence of his body, implements or allies, augmenting their physical and spiritual power to superhuman heights. This effect is similar to, and does not stack with, the blood augmentation Hunger already possesses, though with a greater spiritual component. Infusing essence into an attack, he may amplify its effective damage; into a verbal argument, its emotional salience.
*As the Colour suffuses, and is directed, by the Ring of Power, the wielder cannot directly employ the compounding function of the Colour. Though he and the Ring are one and the same, the Colour simply is not present within those body parts that are 'not the Ring.'
*Allows Hunger's Second Stage to benefit fully from Quickening and subsidiary Advancements.
*Can pretty much fix Versch.
*With training, Hunger's disgustingly powerful Bloodcasting can now be applied to enhance or diminish all sorts of phenomena. An absurdly, almost unfairly versatile ability that can eventually be leveraged into full scale reality alteration.
*That said, at present this doesn't offer 50 Arete worth of power. Much of its cost is justified only by potential.
*Still, an Ascendant Ring cannot be Ruled, and is free from the petty strife of the Ringwar.
*Only your ability to buy Defining Advancements piecemeal allows you to take this, so:
*You'll basically have wasted the Fisher King Arete until you get more Defining Advancement slots.
There's a quote somewhere in the statement index about how Letrizia can do artificial Shrouds. Depending on how that works, she might be a match for Gisena in terms of various utility effects.And of course, considering how powerful Shroud effects are, Letrizia's is pretty wild too, especially if we unlock True Sharpbright or some way to give her Cursebearer permissions while piloting Verschlengorge.