[ ] Sharpbright - The sharp bright sword of will that brings mere physical law to heel! A focused form of Pressure itself that allows Letrizia to improve her effective Rank in situations where being "sharp" or "bright" would be relevant. Both literal and metaphorical interpretations fall within its remit.
the mental benefits of this seem super useful for her role as a Duchess
 
Actually, Staying and Training is a low-risk way to acquire more power and control over your Element (leading to increased effectiveness) without lethal stakes! It's quite good, leaving aside that it allows you guys to generate more Arete before facing the Inner Temple.
We are the wearers of Hunger though, combat is how we improve! I don't think the gains we will have by dallying around will be worth that Arete loss; especially considering we only have so many Apocryphal-free days anyway. Besides, after this...contentious...vote; I expect Arete generation to be depressed for a while anyway. No need to delay ourselves.
 
Exavolt might throw off Bearic's system-assisted intelligence gathering, depending on how it works? He knew Verschlengorge's phases, was even aware of a final trump card. But if Hunger's metaphorical DLC's derailed things, then he won't expect Letrizia's tsundere dual-classing. Misaka Mikoto levels are useful, but I think she could stand to spec into the Tohsaka tree too for the parental issues synergies...
 
Hmm... How much gains would we be looking at by improving our elemental control from Stay and Train? Is it comparable to the amount of power advancement we'd get from farming the encampment? If so, it might be worth the 1 Arete and having to subject ourselves to Teenagers to avoid any chance of a complication at all.

If we can, say, improve the allstats bonus from 20% to 30%, or get consistent flight and attack negation, or access to a Sorcerous Grace synergistic with our build, that would provide a good amount of stuff for no risk at all.
 
[ ] Farm, then Clear - Challenge those in the Encampment to duels; if victorious, proceed to attack the Middle Temple until Outrider patrols are exhausted; if victorious, proceed to attack the Inner Temple. Combat will hone the edge of his prowess in his new magic.

May theoretically encounter useful allies
Chances can be improved by tactics

Hunger's estimated risk assessment for the first stage:
*60% chance of uneventful victory
*20% chance of challenging opposition (enter battle or 1+ conditions)
*20% chance of potent opposition (enter battle or 1+ major conditions)
The first thing to remember when looking at the probability tables is that all probabilities for this vote are only Hunger's estimation.

That said this option seems pretty reasonable, we benefit optimally from our progression by taking on progressively more powerful enemies. There is the disadvantage that if the Temple inhabitant can benefit from prep in some form, they are guaranteed to be able to get in that preparation. We must also be wary of taking so much time that the Apocryphal come back online.
[ ] Offensive Bias - You've dithered long enough. Cut through.

Discounts Once and Future by 1 Arete
+5% Effectiveness in battle, improves Rank gains from battle.

Hunger's estimated risk assessment:
*40% chance of uneventful victory
*15% chance of potent foe (1 major condition)
*35% chance of peer-level foe (enter battle)
*5% chance of overwhelming foe (enter battle)
*5% chance of stupendously dangerous foe (enter battle and prepare to die)
Remember how I mentioned that those probabilities were Hunger's estimation and don't necessarily reflect reality? Because, given Hunger general level of recklessness, I fear that those probabilities might be overoptimistic. Technically they could be overpessimistic but do you really believe we're that lucky?

Even if we take Hunger's estimations as accurate this is still 5% chance of death, 5% chance of another Vanreir and 35% chance of an enemy just as powerful as us. Hard Pass.
[ ] Stay and Train [-1 Arete] - Though it physically pains him to do so, it's best to get reasonably familiar with his new powers before challenging the Temple. Letrizia's hangers-on are more than willing to spar with Hunger, and by wagering days of service he can mitigate the penalty for non-lethal sparring. May also represent an opportunity to recruit more manpower, though the ethical considerations are potentially fraught...

*Letrizia's new friend group is mostly composed of juniors and seniors, aged 17-18. Too young for war in Hunger's eyes, and support positions are difficult to make feasible given the nature of 'High Elementalism.' That said, there are those among them who possess Elements of incredible utility.
*You can get more party members by having them run away from home to join you.
*Hunger is considerably more adept at controlling his Element than he otherwise would be.
Might be the wiser choice, but given the very limited time we have before the Apocryphal comes back online, the ethical issues with kidnapping some kids so that we can have one more party member and the Arete cost, I'm not sure I want to vote for this. I'd rather this than Offensive Bias, but...
[ ] Sharpbright - The sharp bright sword of will that brings mere physical law to heel! A focused form of Pressure itself that allows Letrizia to improve her effective Rank in situations where being "sharp" or "bright" would be relevant. Both literal and metaphorical interpretations fall within its remit. With sufficient control, Letrizia can even permanently increase her actual Rank by such means, though this is a slow and arduously difficult process...

*Doesn't work if she tries to buff other people, though she can still fight on the same side as other units with Rank
*Reaching the apex of Low Rank is trivial, reaching the apex of Middle Rank extremely difficult, and anything involving High Ranks involves legendary levels of mastery
*Allows her to advance her research into the nature of Pressure and Astral Rank!
Worse in combat and not particularly synergistic with piloting a rank 10 Armament, but good for social and the mystery box that is Letrizia's research.
[ ] Exavolt - A tremendously versatile and staggeringly powerful energy that would actually be relevant in combat even at your scale. Combining broad varieties of electromagnetic force with the concept of excessive scale, this would allow Letrizia to easily defend herself in combat from the Astral Beasts currently attacking Verschlengorge, and can eventually develop into wide-ranging control of magnetism, visible light, gamma radiation, microwaves, and so on.

*Substantially increases Verschlengorge's effective firepower
*While many noncombat applications are possible, almost all require extensive mastery to pursue
*Far more capable in physical combat than an equivalent level of Sharpbright
More useful in combat and synergize with Verschlengorge.

I don't really have a strong opinion on Letrizia's element, but for the moment I'll go with:

[X] Farm, then Clear
[X] Exavolt
 
We are the wearers of Hunger though, combat is how we improve!

That's why Stay and Train involves combat! And you've already been told it will increase Hunger's effectiveness!

Exavolt might throw off Bearic's system-assisted intelligence gathering, depending on how it works? He knew Verschlengorge's phases, was even aware of a final trump card. But if Hunger's metaphorical DLC's derailed things, then he won't expect Letrizia's tsundere dual-classing. Misaka Mikoto levels are useful, but I think she could stand to spec into the Tohsaka tree too for the parental issues synergies...

I would encourage you guys to think carefully about the full implications of Sharpbright vs Exavolt; not only are they very different aesthetically, and not only do they chart different paths for Letrizia's character, but they also have different interactions in the context of Hunger's own build! For example, Sharpbright might eventually let Hunger train against a friendly human-scale opponent with higher Rank, Exavolt can help Gisena build things, etc.

Hmm... How much gains would we be looking at by improving our elemental control from Stay and Train? Is it comparable to the amount of power advancement we'd get from farming the encampment? If so, it might be worth the 1 Arete and having to subject ourselves to Teenagers to avoid any chance of a complication at all.

If we can, say, improve the allstats bonus from 20% to 30%, or get consistent flight and attack negation, or access to a Sorcerous Grace synergistic with our build, that would provide a good amount of stuff for no risk at all.

Consistent flight and shielding is certainly possible, though the shields won't be unbreakably strong or anything. You can also pick up some tricks from the boys on how to do buffing safely with things as unwieldy as Surges! Stuff you might otherwise have to discover via trial and error.
 
[X] Stay and Train

I think it's worth the time to train up a bit. Not terribly worried about Apocryphal Curse, strange as it sounds, I think we're just going to have to deal with the fighting anyway.

[X] Sharpbright

Just seems more interesting and closer to what I see as Letrizia's theme.
 
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Remember how I mentioned that those probabilities were Hunger's estimation and don't necessarily reflect reality? Because, given Hunger general level of recklessness, I fear that those probabilities might be overoptimistic. Technically they could be overpessimistic but do you really believe we're that lucky?

Note that Hunger has in the past underestimated how much power he's gained from Progression, such as in A Moment's Reprieve! He's basically estimating himself to still be 'a little weaker than Vanreir' overall, since he doesn't have much practice with Cut Through. Is that accurate? You guys may be able to figure it out with reasoning...

When would the option to heal Vers come up? If an opportunity to do so (modulo getting shrekt and/or killed) is guaranteed before Apocryphal runs out, Exavolt does drop in value a bit.

Depends which option you pick! It's hard to heal him if you're full out, but Staying and Training, Hunger could squeeze it in if you're willing to fork over the Arete.
 
Exavolt would be a lot more useful if Bearic and his merry band show up while we're inside the temple and away from Letrizia, probably...
Merry band? We killed them all! From his perspective, the genre must've swerved hard into seinen.
We are the wearers of Hunger though, combat is how we improve! I don't think the gains we will have by dallying around will be worth that Arete loss; especially considering we only have so many Apocryphal-free days anyway. Besides, after this...contentious...vote; I expect Arete generation to be depressed for a while anyway. No need to delay ourselves.
Unfortunate, since after the latest sprinkling of sodium chloride we might be halfway to affording Ruling Ring. But accurate, the costs in time & Arete of Stay and Train are quite high. Maybe if we were taking out the Rotbeast and saving their civilization it'd be worth it, but that risks another period of recovery, so it's just... not really viable. Two days of downtime at the Kaguya's already more than we can spare. Gisena should try and sell her analysis of the springs to the Sovereignty's government before we leave, though. Their currency's not too useful, but maybe she can get a look at an Armor Prototype or some better guns.
 
Mmmm. I'd highly recommend that we either take an option that gives us the time to heal Vers and then follow through (Training definitely does, Farm might), or we pick Exavolt, or we go all-in on clearing the temple before Apocryphal comes back.

Anything else is just asking for Riz to get pasted while we're busy fighting moon ring assholes.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by Orm Embar on Jun 24, 2020 at 11:19 PM, finished with 61 posts and 20 votes.
 
Aaaagh, Edeldross won? How am even supposed to draw a second murky liminal blurry energy that surrounds Hunger? It doesn't even have an explicit color!

...despite being relatively invested in this vote, I'm surprisingly not very salty. A 20% buff to all Attributes is pretty darn good, after all. Anyway, back to backreading the 14~ish pages that popped up while I slumbered.
 
Hm... I think you guys are strongly underestimating the value of staying and training! For all that you're a Progression type, these guys do have years of actual experience using their Surges and practicing High Elementalism in general. Even a few hours' sparring with them could lead to noticeable gains, in use and execution if not raw power. And that matters highly for a Surge since power scales easily but control does not!
 
Hm... I think you guys are strongly underestimating the value of staying and training! For all that you're a Progression type, these guys do have years of actual experience using their Surges and practicing High Elementalism in general. Even a few hours' sparring with them could lead to noticeable gains, in use and execution if not raw power. And that matters highly for a Surge since power scales easily but control does not!

I'm swayed, and I haven't even read the story post yet!

[X] Stay and Train [-1 Arete]
 
Merry band? We killed them all! From his perspective, the genre must've swerved hard into seinen.

Unfortunate, since after the latest sprinkling of sodium chloride we might be halfway to affording Ruling Ring. But accurate, the costs in time & Arete of Stay and Train are quite high. Maybe if we were taking out the Rotbeast and saving their civilization it'd be worth it, but that risks another period of recovery, so it's just... not really viable. Two days of downtime at the Kaguya's already more than we can spare. Gisena should try and sell her analysis of the springs to the Sovereignty's government before we leave, though. Their currency's not too useful, but maybe she can get a look at an Armor Prototype or some better guns.

Since you guys have 7+ Arete and Zweihander now, you do have the safety blanket of snap-buying a Martial Stance if you take a risky option. That may change the calculus somewhat, though obviously it'd be preferable to SAVE.
 
Hm... I think you guys are strongly underestimating the value of staying and training! For all that you're a Progression type, these guys do have years of actual experience using their Surges and practicing High Elementalism in general. Even a few hours' sparring with them could lead to noticeable gains, in use and execution if not raw power. And that matters highly for a Surge since power scales easily but control does not!

So, we don't get the stated options from the blurb right out? How surprising, I wonder how we could have ever predicted that the long term investment power would have immediate problems.
 
Hm... I think you guys are strongly underestimating the value of staying and training! For all that you're a Progression type, these guys do have years of actual experience using their Surges and practicing High Elementalism in general. Even a few hours' sparring with them could lead to noticeable gains, in use and execution if not raw power. And that matters highly for a Surge since power scales easily but control does not!
Training is boring though. Why train when we can just bash our sword into things and figure it out on the fly!
Note that Hunger has in the past underestimated how much power he's gained from Progression, such as in A Moment's Reprieve! He's basically estimating himself to still be 'a little weaker than Vanreir' overall, since he doesn't have much practice with Cut Through. Is that accurate? You guys may be able to figure it out with reasoning...
It's hard to tell exactly how much stronger Cut Through made us but the stat buffs from it and Uttermost should put us ahead of Van in stats at least since he wasn't insurmountably stronger at the time and we've picked up a ridiculous number of pluses since then.
 
Merry band? We killed them all! From his perspective, the genre must've swerved hard into seinen.

Unfortunate, since after the latest sprinkling of sodium chloride we might be halfway to affording Ruling Ring. But accurate, the costs in time & Arete of Stay and Train are quite high. Maybe if we were taking out the Rotbeast and saving their civilization it'd be worth it, but that risks another period of recovery, so it's just... not really viable. Two days of downtime at the Kaguya's already more than we can spare. Gisena should try and sell her analysis of the springs to the Sovereignty's government before we leave, though. Their currency's not too useful, but maybe she can get a look at an Armor Prototype or some better guns.
To be fair, I think we've been told we've outscaled the Apocryphal Curse and subsequently gotten a lot stronger.

I suspect we can deal with the Curse for a short time while waiting to get our next mitigation.
 
To be fair, I think we've been told we've outscaled the Apocryphal Curse and subsequently gotten a lot stronger.

I suspect we can deal with the Curse for a short time while waiting to get our next mitigation.
Speaking of mitigation, am I the only one who is slightly worried about the lack Decimator's Affliction targets in the temple? Is the character sheet up to date on that front, do we have 21 days? And if we do, is that enough?
 
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