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A Simple Transaction I

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BrainInAJar said:
The Apocryphal Curse is already putting us into trouble lol

Grabbing power will always be risky because of Hunger; we can't just sit and train. We have to take the risk anyway.
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Not quite. You do have the opportunity to seek out worthy opposition independent of Apocryphal Curse procs. This is preferred as you won't be laboring under the "interesting" circumstances of the Apocryphal Curse. Example - if you'd found this ship when not under attack by Astral Beasts, your chances of being injured while fighting this particular Experience-granting opponent would be much lower, as you would have Gisena's backup and possibly the mech's.

The Apocryphal Curse is the test. Endeavours you seek out are the prep.

That said, if you guys wanna try making some severe demands and see if he caves, there's nothing stopping you from writing that in as a suboption. "Throw your sword and scatter your armor into the ocean," "Have your crew disarm," "Your GP or your HP" etc.
 
Well, if this is a test, we have already met a success condition with his offer; the choice is to push further for more gains or fold now. I think we can afford to do do; especially because there's a limit to how many "settle the Hero's past" options he will be given. Best to deal with this here where the option to not do so isn't that appealing. It may be wise not to procrastinate further on this.
 
BrainInAJar said:
Yes, but there are zero mitigating circumstances here. If they were really non-hostile, they should have responded with non-hostility. Just a fucking scream would have been helpful.

That requires that both Letrizia didn't know that information and that they didn't bother waiting for a response because..? If they wanted to help, they don't need the harpoons, the mech can just give them a lift. Why even restrain the mech like that?
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Letrizia not knowing the information is explainable by it being a native to the artificial universe society and her having no knowledge of their culture. The samaritan scenario is not the only scenario, the one where they didn't see us and thought it was entirely an Astral Denizen is also a scenario. As for my attempt at defending the Samaritan Scenario angle, that would first necessitate us getting within mech arms reach of the ship. The River is up to our robot's shins. It's a legitimate question whether or not the robot could get low enough to actually reach a ship meant for the river.
 
[X] Prudence Dictates
[X] Power

The current highest option in the other vote doesn't give us any amount of immediate power. Moreover, this is a fight we haven't prepared for against enemies we don't know in a situation that does not favour us i.e. the worst possible circumstances for our current build. These guys could be the scum of the Earth and parlay would still the better option because entering negotiations allow us to leverage Nightmare Praetor's real strengths: intelligence, charisma and ruthless calculation.

As things are now, any fight will deplete us since we've got limited resources and are far from any kind of support network to ensure our safety. That being the case, extracting concessions from these guys and then parting ways would leave us better off than fighting to the death. Even if we come out victorious without a scratch, that's hardly going to be the case every time. Take the win that we're offered and keep moving.
 
To be honest I'm voting no quarter because I want to see a cool fight scene and unburdening because I want to see more Gisena. It might be more optimal to vote in a different combination but if I don't vote for what I want to see what's even the point.
 
[X] Prudence Dictates
[X] Power

With this in mind, changing my vote. While knowledge is nice, it's pointless without the power to fight. Or if we are dead.
 
I'd like to call out this scenario as an Argument for Unburdening, specifically using the Decimator's mitigation we get from Name of the Curse and Putting Gisena on Doom of the Tyrant.

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A Simple Transaction I Original

Current vote count? Well, you did take the +Charisma option! There are certainly ways to manage that, or to delay the return to her employer so that you have more time to work with, such as by doing sidequests... Hm... kind of. Something like working as a mercenary with extreme latitude is...
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The real problems might arise when you get to civilization while carrying around a giant magic sword...

"Will you come quietly, sir?"

"...No."

But it's a great chance to level up with Hunger! At least eventually once they start sending worthy opponents...
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BrainInAJar said:
Well, if this is a test, we have already met a success condition with his offer; the choice is to push further for more gains or fold now.
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That's a pretty good metaphor; the gains are certainly higher if you push through and win, but the expected value may not be depending on the probability of loss or injury. It's complex because there's also the situation where you win and gain significant power from Hunger, but are injured - either to a degree that counters your gains, or one that doesn't.

Conjured Blade said:
It's a legitimate question whether or not the robot could get low enough to actually reach a ship meant for the river.
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It can, though it'd be fairly clumsy at doing so. Verschlengorge is capable of far more agility but not when its internals, Rank and support systems are this badly damaged.

runeblue360 said:
The current highest option in the other vote doesn't give us any amount of immediate power. Moreover, this is a fight we haven't prepared for against enemies we don't know in a situation that does not favour us i.e. the worst possible circumstances for our current build. These guys could be the scum of the Earth and parlay would still the better option because entering negotiations allow us to leverage Nightmare Praetor's real strengths: intelligence, charisma and ruthless calculation.
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Do you really want to solve this the way Nameless would, though!?

runeblue360 said:
As things are now, any fight will deplete us since we've got limited resources and are far from any kind of support network to ensure our safety. That being the case, extracting concessions from these guys and then parting ways would leave us better off than fighting to the death.
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It'd be better than getting nothing, though you are spending time that could be used to help Gisena, but its unlikely any material gains they could provide you would be worth the Hunger Experience of ending this dude.

LordOfMurder said:
To be honest I'm voting no quarter because I want to see a cool fight scene and unburdening because I want to see more Gisena. It might be more optimal to vote in a different combination but if I don't vote for what I want to see what's even the point.
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Completely understandable!
 
Conjured Blade said:
I'd like to call out this scenario as an Argument for Unburdening, specifically using the Decimator's mitigation we get from Name of the Curse and Putting Gisena on Doom of the Tyrant.
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Mm, it's difficult to mitigate the Doom of the Tyrant, moreso than the other Curses. You'd have better luck just delaying the return to civilization so you can scale up more before interacting with society!
 
I do suppose the maximum fight options are the ones which guarantee the most safety if we succeed. We are getting a ride here and can't set our own pace; we should take the power when it's offered.
 
BrainInAJar said:
I do suppose the maximum fight options are the ones which guarantee the most safety if we succeed. We are getting a ride here and can't set our own pace; we should take the power when it's offered.
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You took the greedy option of long-term INT and CHA with long-term scaling over short-term physical power; would immediately engaging in repeated physical contests play well to those strengths? Remember, you are determining not just Hunger's response to this enemy but also setting his level of risk tolerance for this journey.

Or, put another way: why would the Apocryphal Curse put you in this situation?
 
I suppose hoping for a good mystery box unlock for communing with the robot has potential. Like I said, that route is probably going to go either horribly or Awesomely depending on what we get out of communing. No Quarter, while there's legitimate basis for the misunderstanding scenario as I've explained, makes non-unburdening options justifiable from its decimator's mitigation. Except maybe power is justified. Take Curse Mitigation or the Mystery Box? The Mystery Box could be anything, it could even be curse mitigation, you know how much we've been wanting some of that! Except I'm being entirely non-ironic here and am seriously considering it for some reason.
 
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Speculation/Scenario for Apocrypha's Methodology: Maybe I'm engaging in wishful thinking, but we've established ourself as a guile protagonist with Nightmare Praetor. Can we use our Guile to realize the truth of the scenario and avoid a risky fight that may get us badly injured? It's something like the question test from early Hunter x Hunter. Or realizing the monsters are the actual navigators.

 
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Rihaku said:
You took the greedy option of long-term INT and CHA with long-term scaling over short-term physical power; would immediately engaging in repeated physical contests play well to those strengths? Remember, you are determining not just Hunger's response to this enemy but also setting his level of risk tolerance for this journey.

Or, put another way: why would the Apocryphal Curse put you in this situation?
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What, it's a long term set-up?

ughhhhhhhh, this hurts

[X] Prudence Dictates
[X] Power

Very tentatively. I guess there's no reason to double down. But I want to fleece him for all he's worth! We could use some dosh, or some of that cool armor; we are lacking a defensive Artifact.
 
Now that we know that things we seek out usually don't benefit from Apocryphal Curse; skipping this for a planned expedition is much safer. More power would be very helpful when we reach civilization, but apparently we need to worry about long-term conditioning from the Curse, so let's condition ourselves to be "wise".
 
Current vote count?

BrainInAJar said:
What, it's a long term set-up?

ughhhhhhhh, this hurts

[X] Prudence Dictates
[X] Power

Very tentatively. I guess there's no reason to double down. But I want to fleece him for all he's worth! We could use some dosh, or some of that cool armor; we are lacking a defensive Artifact.
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That armor isn't evil at all! It's not like you're trying to avoid becoming that which you despise or something, b-baka!

BrainInAJar said:
Now that we know that things we seek out usually don't benefit from Apocryphal Curse; skipping this for a planned expedition is much safer. More power would be very helpful when we reach civilization, but apparently we need to worry about long-term conditioning from the Curse, so let's condition ourselves to be "wise".
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Mm, I would say that your independent expeditions usually aren't affected by the Apocryphal, but there's no hard rules. It is the nature of interesting times to create changing circumstances!

It's not conditioning from the Curse, it's retroactively determining Hunger's characterization.

Conjured Blade said:
Looks like I'm taking the Mystery Box.

[X] Prudence Dictates
[X] Power
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There is an argument to be made for taking Knowledge or Unburdening alongside Prudence Dictates, since you won't be getting the Decimator's mitigation from No Quarter. Power is the only option that doesn't reveal the nature of Curses (and thus get help from) Gisena, after all!
 
I forgot about Knowledge having a Gisena option in it. Hrm... after consulting Random.org apparently I should go for Knowledge.

[X]Prudence Dictates
[X]Knowledge
 
It just provides the Decimator's mitigation to make power justifiable without unironically going for the Family Guy Mystery box joke I briefly fell into before getting talked out of it.
 
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