I don't know if it's entirely necessary, since Splitter is autonomous and could come to the same conclusions on his own. An example of this would be a thought I had about Manifest Will, and how it might let Splitter use Bone Magic to boost his speed. I'm alright leaving something so experimental for later, and letting Splitter decide, but since one of the ACs that has a lot of support is to get rid of the SOC bones, it seemed worth it.
Well, you had already incorporated {CUN} into the plan, which was my biggest idea for a suggestion. Getting a dose of strategy as we face up against the big boss will be super helpful (with possible follow-up doses when Splitter is stuck on how to actually damage the blasted thing) . We could also potentially use it for getting clues on how to unlock our other skills (granted, right NOW might be a bit too late to unlock anything we're hoping to rely on for the boss fight).
A few other reactions:
If we get some downtime after this, it might behoove us to learn how to read, write, and 'rithmatic using the materials in the mall. We've been frustrated that our Language and Mathematics skills aren't currently doing us any favors (telepathy's a bit of a cheat), so it might be useful to try and get a baseline going while we still have the Skills to accelerate our growth.
Looks like some Perks can help us bypass some of the "mutually exclusive" limitations of skills (Unarmed can give minor bonuses to Armed limbs, etc). Perks can also provide comprehensive bonuses to our overall abilities, and potentially give a preview of what further capacities await. Of course, this is a bit of a Catch-22: we have to level up the Skill to 20 to see its Perk, but if we decide that the Skill's not as valuable for our build...we have to give up the juicy Perk.
So grinding eventually reaches diminishing returns when fighting fodder. Now, can we still grind Skills we've just unlocked on the Shards, or do those slow down as well?
[X] We Need Focus
- [X] [AAP] +2 MEN
- [X] [R5] Drop: Duel Wield, Improvised Combat, Stealth Add: Appraisal, Death, Still Magic
- [X] [FM] Manifest Will
[X] [CoT] I figured I already had the right idea, being able to negate an unlucky hit was the best use for it.
[X] [TA] We would stand together
- [X] [TA-Stand] Trying to head them off at the entrance to the food court from the swamp. Activate Manifest Will, boost {INS} with Bone Magic, and use {Deadthink} to examine the creature. Then, with {CUN} boosted by Bone Magic, use this information to formulate a plan of attack.
[X] [AC] You won't be needing SOC, so you should replace them with PHY bones on your bandolier to give you the use of your other hand.
[X] [AC] Translucent is very reminiscent of what the Red-Mutt was capable of. It's likely that animals also have access to Mutations.
[X] [AC] Slippy says that her range is 200 meters, and we have no reason to believe that she's wrong about that. That's huge, and she should be able to detect whatever is being lead here. Unless she has some other sort of Skill, then it's possible that Slippy will have to sit this one out. For her own good, and yours.
How intriguing. If I was a betting man I'd have put my money on people not respeccing yet and going all PHY, what a fun new direction.
Next chapter is the final one of the prologue.
We could also potentially use it for getting clues on how to unlock our other skills (granted, right NOW might be a bit too late to unlock anything we're hoping to rely on for the boss fight).
We've been frustrated that our Language and Mathematics skills aren't currently doing us any favors (telepathy's a bit of a cheat), so it might be useful to try and get a baseline going while we still have the Skills to accelerate our growth.
You know how I feel about Mathematics, but I feel like Language still has the potential to be useful. It's supposed to help you learn localized languages. So, presuming Splitter can even speak, that Skill should really help him make connections when he finally encounters some civilization. Being able to talk, without going into people's minds, should help keep them from seeing Splitter as some sort of demon or something. It'll humanize him, as it were.
As for trying to figure out Skills, and with this Diplomacy and social stuff, there is Slippy. I sort of regret not having an AC to try and figure out what other Skills she may have and how to level them last chapter. She's only been here for a few hours more than Splitter, but her Psionics are honestly ridiculous. It's at least level 20, but there's the question of how it even got to that quickly enough for her to survive.
Having a Remorse Internalism is what would make the most sense. Internalisms are supposed to be far more natural and have in-built safeties. So maybe this, on top of all the other potential social Skills she has, plus Animal Handling gave her a push in this direction.
I included Climbing and stuff because of Anypath. It's unique to Slippy, and all of those Skills are about travel in some way. But I don't think it'd be as simple as just 3 Skills. Splitter identifies Anypath as a substance that's a combination of many different properties. So that might be an indication that she has Skills like Life, Anatomy, and Medicine.
Of course there's the question of how she even managed to activate it in the first place, as well as some more about some of the other effects we see from Anypath. Like how maybe Gravity Magic is what let's her ignore it to a degree. But that's an entire ordeal of it's own, and something that I can come back to look at closer later.
Lastly, on this point, Language has gotten exp. I think it can only have happened in 0.2, so just from memory I'm wondering if that exp came from the moments Splitter kind of read the Mutt's minds. The only other thing I can think of is that it might've come from Splitter trying to get some understanding of the growls and yips the Mutts were directing at one another. I don't know, this is such a minor thing. But maybe it's more indication that Slippy has Animal Handling.
I'm guessing this is about how grinding is effected by overall level, and Skill level. Like if we also had two-handed and tried to grind it on standard Shards. Just after maxing out Unarmed Combat on those same enemies. My guess is that we would be able to level it, but it would still slow down. We'd be higher leveled, which means a Mutation and more stats, and we'd have the extra help of Unarmed Combat.
If we surprised you, then maybe we will be able to surprise the ROB (we really need a better name for what ever is running this). Which seems like it would be a good thing. Since, with everything we've seen and everything Splitter's been through, has indicated that this thing doesn't care if the tests results in death. It seems like it's trying to push Splitter and Slippy's limits, and I don't think it's interested in any sort of safety net.
Well, I've been meaning to spend some brain power on this. The site is back up, and I've finally got some time. I want to think about Slippy, her skills and stats, and the ROB. I'll preemptively apologize for rambling.
I'm unsure where to start off, so I guess I'll just bring up how convenient Slippy has been. She's totally open and friendly, she's been completely accepting of Splitter's plans, and her Psionics give them a level of control that was totally absent before. Of course the ROB has seemingly decided that this isn't okay, and is throwing something at us that's unaffected by Slippy's tricks. The thing is, I don't know if I'd call the ROB unfair.
I say this because of what happened when Splitter got injured. The Red-Mutt, not to mention the other Mutts, could've finished him off easily. Instead, the ROB seemingly gave Splitter time to heal before throwing more stuff at him. I'm not completely sold on this idea, but it's the best explanation I currently have as for why Splitter was allowed to heal. Slyvena could've always just hand waved that, but I don't think that's the case. It doesn't seem to be his style, this quest seem like death might just mean a restart or something, and there are enough hints dropped that we know that something suspicious is going on.
From here, part of me wonders if Slippy is more of an actor on the stage than another subject for the test. Her abilities are incredibly convenient and she's been remarkably open, as I said above, but we also need to consider the test being run. We quickly made use of Slippy's abilities to great effect, and this upcoming test seems like Slippy won't be able to help. But that's something we've worked out on our own. What if this test is about not relying on Slippy too much? Or, perhaps more accurately, about being able to stand on your own. While her Skills and their levels are suspect, and I do want to try and look into them, I don't necessarily think Slippy is in on it. One of my fears was that Slippy was actually what some stronger being was showing us, but among other things Deadthink's insight leads me to believe that Slippy is a Homun like Splitter. But what if she's more of a prop, and Splitter is the true test subject? I don't know if I really believe this though. What we've seen of the ROB's efforts have been pretty slapdash so far, and the process that determines what skills one has seems fairly unpredictable beyond the fact that it may be influenced by the Homun's last life. So I'm thinking that Slippy is genuine.
Which means I'm less sure that this upcoming fight is supposed to be more of a test, or if the ROB is trying to end this experiment that has gone off the rails. So maybe we survive this, escape the Thinnlands, and the quest is kind of like an adventure. Splitter and Slippy traveling, because they're being hounded by the ROB, and trying to get powerful enough to kill the thing. Of course there is the the synopsis, which suggests that we'll be under the ROB's complete control and have to try and work our way out as it drops us in new places. But then there's another post Slyvena made that might suggest otherwise.
I don't consider it a real Quest yet because so much is outside your control. Finishing the first quest and surviving the Thinnlands will put you into the true setting for this story.
So maybe I'm pretty close about Splitter and Slippy traveling to stay out of the ROB's reach. If that's the case, then it brings into question the accuracy of the synopsis. But maybe this isn't the first time the 'Splitter' has been tested, and the ROB is recycling resources. Maybe, if Splitter dies, the protagonist then becomes another Homun. I don't know, but the second option seems like it'd be closer to what the synopsis promises. Even if I'm right, this doesn't change too much. We don't want to risk Splitter dying to begin with, this just means that if I'm right then his death doesn't necessarily mean the end of the quest. This also makes some sense from the perspective of figuring out the system and trying out the plethora of potential builds. But, putting aside how this is merely an assumption, I like the idea of going all the way in one go. Shooting for the sky and all that. Of course now I'm feeling like I've jinxed myself, and the unknown enemy next chapter will completely crush Splitter. Then there's also the red flags I'm seeing for Slippy, made worse by the fact that the AC vote that brings up her range and involvement in the fight only got 3 votes. But who knows. Maybe that's enough to get it brought up next chapter, and Slippy is her own person and she was already showing fear and confusion last chapter so she may stay back on her own.
Now, that out of the way, I want to move onto Slippy's skills and stats. But before I dive into speculating on the specifics, I want look at when we first met Slippy and what we know of her power.
But as seemed to be the pattern that could sum up my entire existence so far, something unexpected happened.
The two Mutts both peaked their heads, looking behind them further south, before yipping in a high-pitched panic and bolted left and right away from me at a fast clip.
My curiosity and worry were immediately answered not six seconds later when a young girl's voice spoke inside my head.
Gosh not anoth- … Oh my goodness you're intelligent!
My range is over 200 metres, there are one or two animals that direction but as long as your memory is correct then they are not where the building is.
I was wondering if there was any chance that Slippy might've had some role in what happened with the Red-Mutt, but looking at this it's pretty clear that while she can detect minds from far off she's lacking in detail. But one of the things we gain from this, that we'd been overlooking previously, is that Slippy was seeking out these minds. I don't know what other reason she would do this than to kill them and gain levels. That puts a bit of a sinister spin on things, but maybe that plays a small part and she was mostly just looking for someone that she could try and figure things out with. I don't know, but it's clear that she's done this multiple times in the past and I don't know if she would've just Mind Whammy what she finds and move on. Does she kill what she comes across? Then again, those two Mutts ran off in fear presumably directly caused by Slippy. It seems like Slippy saw them first, and sent them running. But she was clearly seeking out minds. So I see two possibilities. One, she's just wondering and she chases off anything that's just an animal. Two, she can to some degree sense the strength of minds and sought out Splitter's signature and was just surprised that it was a Homun. In regards to that second option, she had only come across dumb Homun's so maybe she thought she was special/the exception.
Okay so Slippy probably wasn't power leveling before she ran into Splitter, but this does have some use. Her decision to chase things off is further evidence in my mind that Slippy has Remorse and/or Animal Handling. This being further proof of something I felt that was likely to begin with. Her growing reluctance about Splitter's grinding, and how potent and how quick leveling her Psionics are.
Slippy was handling things decidedly less well. We hadn't taken many breaks, but I could tell she was less eager each time we resumed. To hear here describe it, she got a sense of the Mutts' panic the moment she mentally hit them.
I hated it all. If a hiss could sound like a swear, that's the inflection I put in mine.
Psionics +1 (1)
Psionics +1 (2)
I definitely wasn't expecting the blur-mutt to flinch suddenly, letting out a pained howl in response and actually becoming ever so slightly opaque for a moment.
Even when he touched the Mutts in 0.2 and seemingly read their minds to a degree, it wasn't really something Splitter reacted to. Maybe that's just because Psionics was at such a low level? Then again, we didn't get anything like that when he was pummeling the Red-Mutt. So maybe the Mutts have some Psionic potential, and that makes it easier for them to be understood. I don't think this lessens the chances that Slippy has Remorse and/or Animal Handling, it might be further evidence. This is all speculation, but I'm still willing to believe that those skills make sense.
Looking at these chapters, I gave at the perks a bit of a closer examination and I have some observations.
So, the perks are gained at level 20 so let's just go with that as the level. Is that last one supposed to be to the power of 5, or is it supposed to be multiplied by 5? If we go with 20^5, we get 64 million times the resistance. Whereas if we go with 0.2x5, we get 1. Which would effectively be twice the resistance. That makes more sense to me.
Aside from this, I wanted to talk about {Distributed Load}. It says that all limbs give 20% (at level 20) of their attributes to any other limb that required it automatically. But also that half of that is lost in the transfer from the arms to the legs, and vice versa. Lastly, it says that the bonus cannot exceed 40% (at level 20) on any square inch of flesh. That's like 20% from one arm going to the other, and 10% coming from each leg, reaching the 40% max. So it'd take everything to reach that max. Last thing I want to point out is that it says it transfers the attributes. Which is significant because this seems like it could be a great defensive ability, not just for offense. Provided Splitter has enough time to know a blow can't be dodged, he could get a functional 40% boost to his END in that specific limb he takes the strike to. For us it'd be 52% though. Hopefully Splitter is able to figure this out next chapter, and put it to use in the fight. I'd like to dive further into this, but we can circle back after looking closer at Slippy.
The prompt appeared half-way back to the concrete structure I'd originally surveyed. Things were much less tense now and as an unexpected additional boon, the camouflaged drone that drew creatures to me twice before had not made a reappearance. Perhaps it knew that Slippy would simply drive them away long before I even saw them?
Just covering our bases, I would say that Slippy had nothing to do with that window of time Splitter had to heal. Her range is 200 meters and, even climbing, it shouldn't take 30 minutes to cross it entirely. So while there is the possibility that she was lurking for the entire time, I don't believe that. Which just leaves that window up to the ROB, or some other shenanigans. Already kind of covered this, but it's even more evidence that Slippy is a GoodGirl™.
Now, finally, we can try to guess some of her Skills. Which isn't easy. We already have 3 skills, but the question is how we can guess more. There are two directions forward that I can see. One, going over her conduct and guessing for SOC Revelations. Two, looking closely at {Anypath} to get an idea of what skills she has that would've shaped Green that way. While I can look at both, I at least want to start by looking at {Anypath}.
I think something that should be kept in mind while examining {Anypath} is {Pixie}. They both come from Green, and are thus similarly shaped by the individuals other skills. While Feisty is clearly using Duel Wield and Improvised Combat, those aren't the skills that play the largest role in the shaping of her form. She's a separate entity from Splitter, that he can control, while also being just an extension of him. So, at the very least, Divergence Magic plays a big role here. Other skills like Effigy, Memetics, Life Essentalism, and Spirit may play a part that's just too hard to tell. Keeping this in mind, I want to look for a skill that just really screams {Anypath}. There's a lot here, so buckle up. I'm going to break it down into parts, and tackle it piece by piece.
I'd grown curious of clear-mucus that allowed Slippy to live up to her namesake. It had become clear that while it was a slush to anyone else, to Slippy it was as sticky or frictionless or hard or soft as she needed moment to moment. On one occasion she literally went upside-down along a branch next to me without needing to hold onto anything.
and branched into outright magical effects such as negating the impact of her weight and momentum on objects she applied it to as well as letting her partially ignore such phenomena like gravity
Really not sure about these, but I included them just in case. Dancing and/or Feng Shui might contribute to {Anypath} allowing Slippy to move pretty much wherever, and however, she wants. Though of the two, Dancing seems like it'd be the most probable.
Not sure about Anatomy, but it leveled when Splitter was examining {Anypath}. As for Medicine, I feel like it is a fair fit. It goes along with Anatomy, and it also is like Alchemy with the emphasis on creating things. As sort of a meta reason, these Skills also go along with Slippy being being more support oriented.
I'm not sure of all of these, but there is the possibility of some shenanigans going on with this. Air Magic, Earth Magic, and Water Magic all with their matching Affinities plus Essentialism seems like it could be a Thing but I doubt it's the case. We're looking for a stand out skill like Divergence Magic, and even if that's not the case for {Anypath} there is the combo of Alchemy, Anatomy, and Medicine that's another possibility. So this could be a thing, it could just be the Water focused stuff, or it could be none of them.
Conjoinery:
Create links between associated things. Mimicking effect and cause. Rainbow splashes that spread Instinctive Collective voting system of where damage/healing finally resides.
An interesting skill, and it has some potential with the part about transferring properties, but I don't think it fits. This skill is part of another combo that doesn't really fit with Slippy. We've already got the potential Medicine+Alchemy combo and the elemental stuff I brought up before, and so I don't think smithing and enchanting really has a similar place. As for the use of this skill, it brings to mind Chevalier's (from Worm and Ward) ability. But in this case, I'm imagining that it's something that is used during the crafting process. Swords, especially thinner blades, need to have a degree of flexibility. But what if it could have that flexibility, while also having the hardness of an axe blade or something. Just an idea, and that's unrelated anyway.
I don't think this really fits, but the only potential connection I see is how {Anypath} is like an excretion. So that enhancement to the body might fit, but I really don't think it's likely.
Gravity Magic:
Alter your interaction with gravity. Temporarily change the direction and strength of gravity in your surrounds (ramp up and down delays).
Skills like these might play a part in letting Slippy go where she wants, but I think that's looking at the problem from the wrong direction. Reality doesn't bend to let her go where she wants. It's {Anypath} that changes to achieve that.
This is definitely a stretch. I threw it in on the odd chance that Slippy's motions of simply moving, as if she were using Groove Casting, is what trigger's {Anypath}. I don't know, there's a chance but I don't think it fits.
I feel like the part about this being temporary and solving problems tangentially could go with {Anypath}. Plus, Slippy's tentacles makes me thing of cephalopods and their ink. So there's that as well.
Imply seems like it might nullify the expense of Ink Magic, but it seems like Green already does that by and large. Then again, using {Deadthink} does put strain on Splitter. So there's a chance. On the topic of Reaches, this is the only one that seemed like it could fit. Any of the other ones would be totally shots in the dark, not that it seems particularly likely.
Orbit Magic:
Move yourself and another object around your mutual centre of gravity. Control of distance, direction, momentum and maximum mass increase with experience.
Maybe she has Gestalt, but Determinant is only there because of the potential for movement. But it seems more like a fate power, so I don't really think it fits.
I'm only throwing this in for the odd chance that it somehow plays a part in the principle of Slippy being able to go anywhere, but I doubt it. I don't know if Spectrums can really interact like that, and if Yellow did play such a big part then {Anypath} would just be from Yellow.
Investing in Wroth might see Harold become innately aware of the weak points to target in others. Investing in Sloth might see those around Harold always take longer than they should to react to his movements.
This is an example of how Vices as a power were used in another of Slyvena's quests, so maybe the Virtues would work along the same lines. For what it's worth, I feel like Slippy's virtues are more likely to be character traits than skills. But who knows. I'll put off trying to guess at how these powers may work until they become more relevant. From here, I think we can move on from {Anypath}. I'll see about doing some sort of round up at the end.
Normally, my next question would have been what the heck Slippy was talking about. But like I said, the {Green} just made sense on an instinctive level. Just by her talking about it I felt myself become aware of her power the same way she was clearly absorbing information about mine.
There is this, where Slippy seems to instantly know that Feisty and her {Anypath} are the result of the same ability. While this may signal some sort of meta ability, I'm willing to believe that this was a remark she made as she and Splitter discussed things. Though if that's not enough, there's another quote that gives us some more information.
The interaction of our two Green powers synergistically expanded both slightly, the effect being more pronounced on me given that I was starting from close to zero. (Though I knew Slippy had received a bonus of some kind for awakening my Green.)
Given the choices of Slippy having some sort of meta power that let her know this or she learned this from the bonus she received for awakening Splitter's Green, I'll choose the second one.
All of this out of the way, we can finally look at Slippy's social skills.
These are all of the main social Revelations that I could find, and it seems like a lot of them don't really fit.
From the top: Comedy, Command, Debate, Intimidation, Leadership, Lying, Romance, and Singing.
All of these are things that don't jump out at me when I look at Slippy and her actions. Even some of the ones that I left are questionable in their own way. It's possible that she has some of the skills that I kind of ruled out and she just hasn't leveled them, but I think the biggest thing is that she just has a lot of SOC.
A while back I was guessing the primary and secondary stats of some of Splitter's skills. Psionics was among them, and I put INS and POI as it's primary and secondary. Slippy's Psionics has to be level 20 by now, and I find myself believing that it could have already reached level 40. If we assume that it is level 40, then that means that Slippy's SOC stat has to be at least 10. Let's have a look at that.
SOC: Social - Your personality and connection to other entities. Governing stat for all relational skills and the three supra-social abilities.
CHA: Charm - How much entities like you. Used to convince princesses, barter with barmaids, or plead for your life.
INS: Insight - How well you can read entities. Used to uncover a demon's secret, call a bishop's bluff, or avoid being stabbed in the back.
POI: Poise - How well you withstand other entities. Used to withstand interrogation, keep a blank face during a hearing, or keep dry eyes during a wedding.
{CHA}=10: Exceptional
Remarkable Charm. Whether it's not causing offense to someone particularly prickly or impressing a God with just the right amount of praise/boasting, you tend to avoid the guffaws that inevitably follow others around.
{INS}=10: Exceptional
Remarkable Insight. Be it superior empathy or just an innate understanding of what makes people tick, you are frequently able to spot the leverage points on what others consider most valuable and what will stir them to action.
{POI}=10: Exceptional
Remarkable Poise. Thrust into unfamiliar situations with difficult social ramifications, you find it significantly easier to keep a level head and conduct yourself unaffected.
(In practice, actual performance exceeds raw skill numbers due to added versatility and enhancement of other skills and raw stats. For example, the likely minimum of 10 in PHY needed to reach a skill of 40 in One-handed would allow you the physical strength to bash through some blocks that your raw skill did not provide a counter for.)
There is no such thing as a threshold bonus. There may be threshold Perks, but the 5/10/15 etc descriptors are just a general summary of the feats and capabilities you should expect from a human in that rough ballpark.
So even if her stats are 'only' around 10, that's still significant. Enough so that she's leagues ahead of Splitter socially, even if she doesn't have access to the plethora of social Revelations. It's a good thing that Slippy has been totally open and cooperative. Maybe that's a rational decision that she made with the goal of ingratiating herself with Splitter for mutual benefit, but I'm not so sure. She could be leading Splitter around without him having a clue, but she's only been following Splitter's lead. I imagine that her character is what's shining through here. The skills and stats she had when she was dropped in made her effectively untouchable, and she was aimlessly wondering trying to find someone.
Slippy really is a GoodGirl™, and I hope she makes it out of this alive.
Before I forget, here's the rough round up for some of Slippy's Skills.
I'd let Feisty get in on the action herself to try and raise {Green-Pixie} up a bit. Though it stalled at 10, I had the distinct sensation that the lack of any risk or true need for her help was what was capping her there, rather than any innate limit.
Looking at everything got me wondering how big Feisty is at level 10, but she was only the size of a clenched fist at level 6. Maybe she'll be infant or toddler sized by level 20? Even if she does get bigger than that, I don't imagine that she'll be adult sized by that point. On the topic of her though, there is this to consider.
So much so that I knew she could borrow any Skill or Magic I ever learned and use them herself with an efficiency equaling her level. Which right now was an abysmal exchange rate, but one day would be profound.
Does this mean that Feisty could, among other things, duplicate herself with Divergence Magic? Was Green that last skill in the Divergence Magic, Mirror Magic, and Effigy combo? This seems like it'll be insane at high levels, especially with Essentialism. Just look at this perk.
Prestige [Spirit|Mentalism|Essentialism|Psionics] (80) Perk: The Anywhere Self
Your entire being can exist and project separate to your physical body for no penalty. You can use Skills and Magic from either or both as if they were your full self. If you inhabit and destroy the being of another body, you may choose to permanently possess that physical body instead of your own.
You may regenerate your body from your being or your being from body if either are destroyed automatically every (lowest of) 80/[Spirit|Mentalism|Essentialism|Psionics] weeks.
Just an instant army, that can all use these types of abilities. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'm feeling pretty confident about that combo.
Okay, what was the plan again? Oh yeah, Splitter's perks. Let's see what I can get from them.
Mentalism (20) Perk! "Plate Juggler"
[Your working memory is now increased by MENTALISMLVL%x2 and all penalties from multitasking are reduced by MENTALISMLVL%. At level fifty, this boon's multipliers double and at level eighty double again.]
[You may reduce your working memory in a direct tradeoff instead of experiencing mental trauma.]
Manifest Will: Prereq: {MEN} ≥ 5
Your concentration and focus become discrete forces akin to stamina, allowing you to 'sprint' with your mind for associated bonuses and penalties. Likewise, you can forgo things like sleep/etc indefinitely if you do not over-exert your mind.
So that's currently a 40% boost to Splitter's memory, and a 20% reduction to all multitasking penalties. At level 50 that becomes a 200% boost to memory, and a 100% reduction to penalties. So that's 3 times the memory, and no penalties from multitasking. At level 80, that's a 640% boost to memory. Which is 7.4 times the memory.
Putting aside all the obvious utility for the moment, this seems like it'd work as a stamina well for Manifest Will. As we level up we get more working memory, which can then be temporarily sacrificed to endure mental strain. That's not necessarily a good thing, but it could be like an overclock function.
I'm really looking forward to seeing where Mentalism goes, and I'm glad we pushed it's cap up.
Bone Magic (20) Perk! "Calcium on Tap"
[You may save up to one normal charge of Bone Potential to be released automatically or on command.]
[The exchange rate for replenishing this perk is BONEMAGICLVL% of your normal efficiency.]
[At level 40, you no longer need to pre-specify the type of use prior to reserving Bone Potential.]
[At level 50, you may now save up to two normal charges.]
[At level 100 you may save up to the total equivalent of your body's bone-mass in charges.]
This one looks more complicated, but it all surrounds Bone Potential and the storage of it for use later. Bones hold the attributes of those they came from. The first rib Splitter uses to boost his POW had 6, which raised his to 14. The exchange rate seems like it's all about expense. Let's say that a bone has a potential of 5 END. Well trying to store that potential with Calcium on Tap at level 20 means we'd only get 1 END in the tank. What this brings into question is what qualifies as one normal charge.
I could not go further than doubling my own attributes or pulling double of the base stats a bone had held in life; the limit was always whichever of those two were lower
Since 10 is the natural peak, it seems like a boost of 20 points is the absolute highest Splitter can get. That is unless he comes across a person or monster that has a stat higher than 10. Regardless, while he'll come across these eventually I don't think they'll ever be common enough to use liberally.
So, with Splitter's highest stat being PHY at 8, the highest boost he can store is 16. Which would mean it currently takes 50 total stat points to reach. Which seems like a lot, and it relatively is, but with 5 as the average it's not too bad. That's 10 bones. When Bone Magic reaches level 100, then there won't be any points lost in the process. By that point Splitters stats will probably be at or over 10, but which means an average of 4 bones to top things off.
The level 40 bonus seems like it makes the use of the stored Bone Potential an automatic thing. The level 50 bonus is pretty straight forward. At level 100, does that just mean that bone mass now represents what can be stored? But the skeleton doesn't weigh that much. Google says somewhere around 20 pounds, which is no different from the current max, and going with kilos takes that down to 9. Even bumping that up an additional 3 kilos to account for Splitter's size, that's only 26. Better than the average max, but that doesn't really seem like a level 100 bonus and it doesn't seem comparable to the 7.4 times passive boost to memory that Plate Juggler offers at level 80.
It's getting late so maybe it's obvious, but I feel like I'm missing something. It could be something we currently have access to, but it could also be a case where this only becomes significant with other perks Bone Magic picks up or something.
Unarmed Combat (20) Perk! "Distributed Load"
[All of your limbs automatically supply UNARMEDLVL% of their Attributes to any other limb (when unoccupied) that requires it. Efficiency of transfer from legs to arms or vice versa is halved until Lvl 50.]
[At Level 40, Armed Limbs can receive this bonus from Unarmed Limbs at half efficiency. Efficiency Malus is removed at Level 80]
[Maximum bonus cannot exceed UNARMEDLVL%x2 on any square inch of flesh.]
Let's start at level 20, with 5 in each attribute. All limbs naturally give 20% of their attributes to any other limb that requires it, but this is capped at a concentration of 40% for any one place. Which takes everything due to the efficiency penalty that halves the transfer between arms and legs. This basically means that any 1 limb can collectively gain 2 attributes points, presumably raising all of the PHY sub-categories to 7 in that moment.
At level 40 this bonus can be applied to armed limbs from unarmed limbs, at half efficiency. So the stats would be 10, and the max bonus would be 80%. So that'd still be 20% going from one arm to another, and 10% coming from each leg. Meaning that using a one handed weapon cuts the bonus in half, that's still a bonus though. When completely unarmed though, the bonus to 1 limb is 8 additional stat points. Almost double while only at level 40.
At level 50, so SPD(?) is at 13, the penalty to the transfer of attributes between the arms and the legs is lost. The maximum bonus cannot exceed 100%, which means a doubling. But, with the penalty gone, that's only a total of 3 limbs being used. Does that mean that another limb, or a part of the body, could get a ~6.5 increase to it's PHY?
At level 80, so SPD is 20, the efficiency malus to armed limbs is removed. But it can still only come from unarmed limbs. The max is a 160% boost, and it still only takes 2 limbs to hit that max. This seems like it would open up the ability to use two handed weapons and duel wielding while getting the max bonus from both legs. Though it also looks like it'd apply the fully bonus to both hands when fighting with them. Which all told holds the potential to boost the attributes of those limbs with an additional 52 stat points on top of what's already there. That's over 70
Am I getting that right? It seems insane, being twice the limit break.
{END}=35: Limit Break
The conventions of what a body can physically survive break down in your case. You are a unique circumstance, bulletproof to small arms fire, essentially tireless. It is reasonable to expect you will survive anything short of your heart or brain being annihilated.
I should probably stop for tonight, but I really don't want to push this project on for a third day. That said, this seems right. As it's at the threshold for Guru. I guess most would reach this point by having a focus on the primary and secondary attributes for Unarmed Combat. Which, if I'm right, would make this more of a technique thing. Well, here's the Limit Break for SPD. Just try to imagine what double that would be.
{SPD}=35: Limit Break
While time flows normally for you, sometimes it feels as if everyone else moves in slow motion. With casual grace you can perform tight and complex manoeuvres around people before they really realise what is happening. When you move, you frequently reach your destination faster than the number of steps you took should allow. When drawing a weapon, it is almost as if it were already in your hand as the thought comes.
I think the reason this seems so crazy is because of how fast Homun's seem to grow. I still think investing in PHY as a whole is the right move though. It'll take a while to level up Unarmed Combat, and it'll only take longer the higher level it is. What I'm saying is, this means it shouldn't be necessary to focus on SPD and INS only.
[You no longer suffer the doubled hit penalty from weapon -> flesh strikes and possess dermal layers that are a further UNARMOUREDLVL% tougher overall.]
[Your skin is UNARMOUREDLVL%*5 times more resistant to environmental effects and applied toxins.]
[You are immune to all damage that inflicts less than UNARMOUREDLVL%/10 of your total health pool per second.]
So first off, this gets rid of the extra vulnerability from not wearing armor. I wonder if this is the reason the Mutt's strike was so devastating, or if it was just that strong. At this level it increases Splitter's toughness, whatever that means exactly, by 20%. I'll assume that the second part is saying that it is 100%, or twice, as resistant to environmental effects and applied toxins. That last part says means that Splitter is immune to any damage that does less than 2% of his health pool per second.
There aren't any actual thresholds here, so we can just scale it all the way up. Why not go to 100?
That makes Splitter twice as tough, 6 times as resistant to environmental effects and applied toxins, and immune to all damage that does less than 10% of his health pool per second. This all requires END to be at 25, or Supra-Human.
{END}=25: Supra-Human
Deadly poison gives you an upset stomach. A bullet through the eye will only probably kill you. They'd have to cut off both your arms for the blood loss to become an issue. Knives fail to pierce your skin unless they are particularly sharp and weapons frequently penetrate far shallower than expected.
Does doubling toughness actually just double END? If so, that's another beyond limit break deal. Except it'd be totally passive. That's...huh. Maybe. I can think of anything else that would fit under the definition of 'toughness', and I imagine getting the skill to this level would be the most difficult part.
I'm not against it in principle, but I'm pretty hesitant.
While the common thread between both quests is that Slyvena drops of ton of hints and gives a lot of information in each chapter, they is also a big difference. This quest has a Gamer-like interface that quantifies pretty much everything, and Sly has made 3 big informational posts giving us a ton of information.
That's all to say that while I may be able to analyze this quest pretty well, I'm a lot less confident about being able to replicate that for A Girl's World. Another consideration is that A Girl's World has a lot more attention, and a lot more engagement. So you have quite a few people that are chipping away at things and having a discussion that works at figuring out what's going on. So, to me, that quest has less need of me. Lastly is the time invested. That big post took 2 days of on and off work, and I probably should've waited to finish it on day 3.
I won't say that I'll never try to do stuff like this for A Girl's World, but it's not currently a priority.
I'm not against it in principle, but I'm pretty hesitant.
While the common thread between both quests is that Slyvena drops of ton of hints and gives a lot of information in each chapter, they is also a big difference. This quest has a Gamer-like interface that quantifies pretty much everything, and Sly has made 3 big informational posts giving us a ton of information.
That's all to say that while I may be able to analyze this quest pretty well, I'm a lot less confident about being able to replicate that for A Girl's World. Another consideration is that A Girl's World has a lot more attention, and a lot more engagement. So you have quite a few people that are chipping away at things and having a discussion that works at figuring out what's going on. So, to me, that quest has less need of me. Lastly is the time invested. That big post took 2 days of on and off work, and I probably should've waited to finish it on day 3.
I won't say that I'll never try to do stuff like this for A Girl's World, but it's not currently a priority.
Fair enough! Though you should know, we do have a spreadsheet.
I'm mostly hoping you can find the Delicious Delicious Secrets tbh (like, the "why is Splitter" analysis) than any particular number-crunching, if that helps?
I'm unsure where to start off, so I guess I'll just bring up how convenient Slippy has been. She's totally open and friendly, she's been completely accepting of Splitter's plans, and her Psionics give them a level of control that was totally absent before.
One crucial aspect has also been Communication. I think it was mentioned back in 0.1 or 0.2 that Splitter can formulate thoughts into "complete sentences", but doesn't actually know a formal language (See our Language skill, which is still at 0). Even if he was able to form vocal chords, he wouldn't know how to properly express himself. We really lucked out on Slippy having telepathy, because if ANY other Homun had found us, there would have to be a whole game of Charades to even establish that we are two sapient beings, let alone seeking an alliance.
If we are saying that the ROB gave us the Game System, that would include the Party System, so the possibility of an alliance shouldn't be considered "out of bounds". I don't think the test has gone "off the rails" or that the ROB is going out of it's way to bring the Homun Crew down; this is just your standard boss battle. Also, while the Crew may be leaving the swamp, I strongly doubt that they're anywhere NEAR leaving the test.
She's a separate entity from Splitter, that he can control, while also being just an extension of him. So, at the very least, Divergence Magic plays a big role here. Other skills like Effigy, Memetics, Life Essentalism, and Spirit may play a part that's just too hard to tell.
Even when he touched the Mutts in 0.2 and seemingly read their minds to a degree, it wasn't really something Splitter reacted to. Maybe that's just because Psionics was at such a low level?
Splitter hasn't really tried really putting Psionics through its paces yet. All of our communication with Slippy has been based off of her Telepathy skill; our Psionics level has nothing to do with it. All Splitter has really USED Psionics for has been the Mental Yell. He hasn't really tried jacking in to any of the Mutt's minds, which is what Slippy has been doing for Operation: Grind. Slippy gains the advantages of "steering" the Mutt, but gets the disadvantage of having a front-row seat to the reaction of a dog seeing a tentacle monster leaping out to attack it.
I'm mostly hoping you can find the Delicious Delicious Secrets tbh (like, the "why is Splitter" analysis) than any particular number-crunching, if that helps?
Do you mean trying to figure out questions like why Splitter and Slippy look like they do? Like why Splitter is conscious of this system when Slippy is not? Stuff like that? That seems fun enough to look into, but we really don't know too much and my thumbs still aren't at 100%.
If we are saying that the ROB gave us the Game System, that would include the Party System, so the possibility of an alliance shouldn't be considered "out of bounds". I don't think the test has gone "off the rails" or that the ROB is going out of it's way to bring the Homun Crew down; this is just your standard boss battle. Also, while the Crew may be leaving the swamp, I strongly doubt that they're anywhere NEAR leaving the test.
Well, the first thing that I would point out is that I don't think the ROB gave Splitter this interface. I'm thinking that is the reason that he is a 'Blessed' Homunculus, and that what's normal for people is more like what Slippy has going on. Though it seems like Homun's on the whole level up incredibly quickly, even when you consider that they're thrown right into the deep end.
As for thinking that this has gone off the rails for the ROB, let me try to explain my perspective better.
I see it as extremely unlikely that Slippy's abilities were something the ROB was entirely aware of, or had full control over. Secondly, you have how Splitter was being tested before joining up with Slippy. While there was seemingly a time out of sorts, that gave him the opportunity to heal himself, the test kept throwing things at him that very nearly killed him.
It's these two points together that makes me think that what Splitter and Slippy did last chapter was beyond the scope of this test. The apparent trajectory of the ROBs test seemed more like a sink or swim boss rush deal, but working together has allowed Splitter and Slippy to totally cheese things. Tying this back to how unlikely it was that they would be able to communicate to one another, maybe the ROB was expecting that. It would been much harder for all Homun's to cooperate, and that's before you consider that most of them are apparently only focused on PHY.
So my idea for what the ROB's test is that it diverged when Slippy and Splitter started to cooperate. Maybe they were supposed to fight, but the ROB seems more like a 'see what happens' type. Either way, I don't think a test normally goes how this has gone for Splitter.
I suppose it comes down to the fact that I don't think the ROB is the type to say 'I'll allow it', to what Slippy and Splitter have been doing. It's been leading something towards them that's was pretty clearly chosen for it's apparent immunity to Slippy.
All of that, with Slyvena's words that the prologue is the Thinnlands and that next chapter will be the end of the prologue, is why I think this way.
Sure this serves as a boss fight from a game/story perspective, but I don't think that's really the ROB's intent. How long has the ROB been leading this thing towards them? Is it the only, or one of the only, things in the Thinnlands that is apparently immune to Psionics? Or was this thing teleported in, and was deployed by the ROB? What level is it? Level 10? Higher?
Lots of questions, and at the end of the day it doesn't really matter that much if this is a part of the test or not. The result is pretty much the same. If it's a test and Splitter loses, that means death and/or being brought back under the control of the ROB. If this isn't a test, that means death and/or being brought back under the control of the ROB.
That's true, but the efficiency malus really hurts. I have to wonder how vulnerable she is, and if she can be resummoned if she ever gets destroyed. I think that would really open up how we can use her. Liberally as a harasser in a fight, maybe use her to test or otherwise test ways to train our skills, and lastly as a way to extend Splitter's reach with scouting and stuff. On the topic of Feisty using Divergence Magic, I wonder if using it through her could be a way to bring a Splitter Facsimile into being from a distance.
Unless you're just using that as a catch-all term for all the other skills, and stats, that Slippy might have that let's her do what's she does. Even with this though. He was seemingly able to read the Mutt's minds by simply making contact with them, but he didn't acknowledge it. There isn't any invisitext when he's pummeling the Red-Mutt, nor when he's grinding.
So maybe Splitter is kind of always getting that invisitext when he touches something, and it only ever showed up to us in that one chapter. And maybe it hasn't shown up again, and wasn't acknowledged to begin with, because Splitter himself is unaware of it.
'Slippy?' I stood and looked directly at my gooey skinned acquaintance.
'Uh… yes?' She replied, shifting somewhat nervously at my formal inflection.
Do you want to join my party?
At that, I beamed my full unreserved understanding of what I was at Slippy. What Skills were, Attributes, the 'System', Caps, the 'Add to Party Y/N' situation, everything.
Yes, Slippy being on board was all the confirmation I needed.
Slippy: Add to Party [Yes]!
Other than the subtlest sensation of some space inside me becoming a little bit used up, there was almost nothing different. Something had changed, but what? It was too soon to know.
Here we see that Splitter is actually communicating with Slippy in sentences, and that they're also able to communicate with concepts. For that first part, I imagine that the italicized parts are coming through for Slippy like her dialogue does for us. With the color change. I wonder what Splitter's Psionic color is? For the second part, that just seems like the more natural use of Psionics and was how it was used to begin with.
Maybe Slippy has Illusion Magic, or a Light affinity, but I don't think that's necessary. I imagine that her Psionics is relatively high level, she has Remorse, and she has supplementary skills like Animal Handling and Etiquette. All of that held up by a high SOC stat seems like it'd be what let's her do what she does.
This isn't the most important thing, but my big take away from this is that Splitter won't be able to truly replicate what Slippy does. Not unless we decide to make an overhaul on the build.
I just had a thought about the upcoming fight and the whole prologue deal end, and I felt like I should share it.
What if, whatever this thing is, it absolutely crushes us. If I can make another comparison to video games, it could be like boss fight that you're not supposed to win. Where the only way you ever beat them is with NG+, or by starting a new run with all of your personal experience and skill. Even then, there are times where bosses like that are simply unable to be beaten.
If this does come to be, what would it look like?
A new protagonist with a new build?
Are we dropped into another place like the Thinnlands?
Would Splitter keep his memories? Would he keep his skills and their levels, his stats?
Would this be the end of Slippy, as she lacks any of the blessings Splitter has?
I don't know. I just hope that we have been able to cheese the system effectively, so we'll never have to find out what happens.
But, then again, Sly made a declarative statement that next chapter would be the end of the prologue. So next chapter is the last one in the Thinnlands.
I suppose I'm just feeling engaged right now, and I'm really looking forward to the next chapter.
I'm hesitant to bump the thread again like this, but I felt like this would be worth sharing. Let me know if it gets to be bothersome though.
I've been chipping away at The Menocht Loop, and I came upon a scene that seems like something Splitter will totally be able to recreate once he's higher leveled. I'll put a trimmed down version of things in a spoiler for size.
"You can just heal your hand on your own, can't you?" Ian asked.
"I can, but it'll take time. At our level, I find it's not necessarily a question of capability, but of convenience. For instance, pairing an upper-tier Life practitioner with a Death practitioner of even the lowest rung can increase the former's efficiency by over 200%."
...
"Here, touch my bad hand. Okay. Do you see what I'm doing?"
Ian's eyes followed trails of glowing white vitality coursing through Caffrey's skin. "What are you trying to do, exactly?"
"Look at how I am structuring my energy."
Ian noticed the energy forming into a few distinct sections, looking almost like honeycomb grids. They then started to hug and encapsulate the muscles, bones, and vessels of Caffrey's deformed limb.
"This is what we call the scaffold. Right now I've formed a scaffold around everything that's currently present; for most operations doing so is overkill. Establishing the scaffold is a tool that the Life and Death practitioner can both utilize together. Try joining your own energy with mine."
...
His energy slotted in cleanly atop hers, clinging to it hungrily, but the two of them kept the energies from mixing.
"Your surgeons must be fairly skilled," Ian observed. "They all use the scaffold?"
Caffrey smiled. "The best ones do. And by best, I mean the most well-paid. Like I said, it's easy and efficient to pair one of the best with a few mediocre practitioners of opposite affinity. As long as one party can keep their energies separate, the scaffold will be a success."
...
Ian felt a tug as Caffrey's energy began to shift. All of the different scaffolds covering different parts of her hand began to contort in different ways. Ian focused on the areas where the scaffold moved inwards, carefully flaring his Death energy to kill the outer tissue layer, while using it as a foothold to progress deeper. Meanwhile Caffrey inspired growth, mostly in areas where Ian's energy had already rent and restructured flesh.
The two of them moved the scaffolds for the next thirty seconds, rapidly restructuring and reshaping the limb until it resembled its former appearance.
I figure that even if Splitter can only channel Life or Death energy one at a time, he can have Feisty and a Facsimile there to help him.
Maybe them being Internalisms means that Splitter would be able use both types of energy with little trouble, and there are Practitioners in The Menocht Loop that utilize different arts at the same time, but at the very least I'm coming around to the idea of using Facsimiles and Feisty to test things for Splitter.
