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Bound to Earth: A CK2 Earthbound Quest in an 8-bit Dystopia

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That drawing at the start of the Founding chapter is very evocative. Does a great job of conveying C.D.'s current state.

We've got a faction! And so many possible actions.
I looked through them and this is my


[] Teach Members How to Brawl
[] Recruiting (Onnet)
[] Buy Baseball Bats in Bulk
[] Listen for Rumors (Porky)
[] Check Local Disturbances (Buzz Buzz)
[] Personal Actions:
-[] Try to Foster Loyalty
-[] Hang Out with a Hero: Porky
-[] Spend time with Kart and Floppy.
-[] Pick a Fight
[] Find Small Objects
[] Porky: Cope With What You've Gotten Yourself Into

The first three seem to have a pretty broad consensus behind them.
I still want to add that if we negotiate the order for Baseball Bats in Bulk through the same persona as the stock buying, that it'll probably help with future actions involving the factory, as we'll have established ourselves as a repeated important business partner that they'll want to keep happy.

I picked Check Local Disturbances because people who've experienced weird shit are one of our primary recruiting demographics (alongside teenagers and losers outsiders), and the effect has been shown during the founding. So I'm hoping that this will synergize with the recruitment action, both finding more recruits and the kind of recruits that have a personal stake in this project.

I know that actions like Listen for Rumors often get overlooked due to having no specified payoff and not dealing with established problems, but I think the general nature should help us identify what actually needs our most immediate attention. What are the other factions doing? Are there opportunities for profit or power gain? Are there any potential hero recruits around?

As for Personal Actions, I decided to Pick a Fight, rather than doubling up on hero talks, because we've already got 3 social's there, and combined with dealing with the training and other stuff, I think CD needs some alone time to vent.
As someone else mentioned above, getting one more Fund via Buzz Buzz would allow us to buy more factory shares, building further in that direction.

Edit: I just went back to turn 5 results and found smth that makes the 'disappearance scare' thing very worrying: The crit fail action that had the invaders take inspiration from media about parasitic insects puppeteering people around. This seems like another reason to check out local disturbances, so we can get an early warning if that's what's happening there.
Also, Porky still has a +10 to this turn's supported intrigue action, making for a total of +34.
Actions involving the Baseball Bat factory will get a little harder after next turn. (There was a DC reduction for 3 turns on the result that informed us of the factory).
 
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right now personally currently cool with the following
martial: training everyone to brawl, seizing the hill (only if researching wildlife, otherwise even with a success i bet the kids would do badly and only win via numbers, which would be embarrassing/tank motivation), or installing lab (probs best to wait and get other essentials like the previous two first, but long-term could be good, maybe even gives us counters to the hypnotism issue? we may need samples/people who can do the research first, but those should be easy )

diplomacy: recruit people, diplomacy with the sharks (bit awkward to fit right now and we might benefit from first being established (to give us more weight in negotiations) but sooner's better, definitely need to do before we do anything that'd cost us their respect/set us as enemies) diplo with school (guessing this gives recruits, maybe researcher-types for the lab?)

stewardship: only worthwhile actions seem to be buy baseball bats or buy baseball bat factory shares(latter may be best with porky/buzz buzz to try and hit higher DC?)(ideally do the other one next turn, there may be synergy? probs best to do weapons first regardless since we'd benefit from having them for a lot of stuff).
note that i actively don't want to do actions that give us funds directly since they're only handy in the short-term, especially ones with have caveats like drawing attention/tanking our rep (the one for searching the forest may be good if we have nothing better to do, it risks maybe running into slugs but that's arguably a good thing, and might even find something cool?)

intrigue: scout OPF (needs porky to boost) or scout slugs(may not need porky to boost, though our base is like 3 so would probs be wise). could also visit the sharks, but i feel like it'd be better to do it via diplo unless we only care about getting franky to respond to Giygas shenanigans/getting a measure of their strength and are cool with burning relations?

learning: either look into disturbances, look into animals, or research basic weapons. preferably one of the first two since they give us info about Giygas's shenanigans, so could help some very important things in the future. it would also get stuff not listed as research out of the way before unlocking the lab, which might boost research actions inherently? so they'll be stronger if done after then. that said researching basic weapons may let us do cheap upgrades to the baseball bats we get so might be a nice thing to add on top of them? buzz buzz should probably be here regardless of what gets picked, since it seems the best place he could indirectly assist at the moment? if it's something involving scouting and field research he could just go off on his own and contribute in parallel? which is better than nothing/what we'd get from putting him on a lot of objectives

personals: don't want to take any coping mechanism actions, they probably all have downsides and i'm convinced we won't just stop being depressed that easily (it's relevant to the plot). instead, thinking it's best to interact with as many people as possible. @Crosswire can we hang out with a hero multiple times in one turn? if so i'd be all for doing that, try to foster loyalty and spend time with kart and floppy. depression limits our options but there's still plenty to do so at least for now we can ignore it?

if buzz buzz hunts for loot and gets us a fund we might be able to afford investing in the baseball bat factory next turn which would be pretty sweet, so even though a cover could be pretty handy i think it'd be worthwhile putting it off, logistically. we probably wouldn't benefit from it this turn regardless of choice and next turn if the hunting for loot goes well we can put him on investing into baseball bats national, which only really needs him to give us advice so hopefully wouldn't require a cover?)

might as well give porky an opportunity to cope, it'd probably be for the best?


~~~​

oh and sorry @meridan , was going to respond to your message before last but forgot (iirc that had some good ideas, didn't even consider intrigue for the sharks lol)
if it's still relevant , my reading of the recruitment action is that recruitment gives a hero this time due to the convergence but may not normally (could only do so on a t3/smash success or such?), since unlike most quests we actually need mundane manpower and aren't in the position to be drawing in elites.
however, this is a good thing since it means kyoko would be a bonus on top of whatever the default is

also, for your current plan please note that "buy baseball bats" is actually an autopass, so buzz buzz probably works better on learning?. at the very least that's his best stat behind martial (which probably wouldn't work out since it involves other faction members so much?) and intrigue (which porky is probs best assigned to)
Jastolus said:
Edit: I just went back to turn 5 results and found smth that makes the 'disappearance scare' thing very worrying: The crit fail action that had the invaders take inspiration from media about parasitic insects puppeteering people around. This seems like another reason to check out local disturbances, so we can get an early warning if that's what's happening there.
Also, Porky still has a +10 to this turn's supported intrigue action, making for a total of +34.
Actions involving the Baseball Bat factory will get a little harder after next turn. (There was a DC reduction for 3 turns on the result that informed us of the factory).
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important info, though a bit awkward that the thing that it's both more important to be aware of the bugs/helpful to be aware of misc info (good point on general rumours helping us generally, should be pretty easy to instruct members to do) and we have a bonus that'd be best spent on a higher DC action :/ guess we can try to get lucky and crit any easy DCs we take?, but not sure of chances of that, so seems like it wouldn't get full value from the boost...
also good catch on the baseball thing being temporary, if so we could definitely do with a fund from buzz buzz, hopefully they succeed because it'd be lame if it doesn't work out (may even be worth investing first if we're not expecting any fights, but that'd mean missing out on the chance to reduce its DC more by being a good customer...)

i have no issue researching disturbances over wildlife, wildlife's only important to me if we're doing the hill
 
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Crosswire said:
I'm afraid that Hanging Out with a Hero is only applicable with the Heroes you currently have. Kyoko may be guaranteed due to past actions, but there will be a period of acclimation to actually get her properly involved in things.
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ty for your responses!
I do wanna confirm, can we take "hang out with a hero" multiple times, or just the once per turn?

hmmm okies, with what's been discussed I'm down for investigating disturbances, and likewise thus BB stays on learning. There should be a bit of synergy with monitoring the shack

Plan "Teamwork preps for the Dreamwork"

-[] Teach Members How to Brawl
-[] Recruiting (Onnet)
-[] Buy Baseball Bats in Bulk
-[] Monitor the Entertainer's Shack - PORKY Assignment
-[] Check Local Disturbances (Buzz Buzz)
-[] CD: Foster Loyalty
-[] CD: Hang Out with a Hero
--[] Hang Out with BB
-[] CD: Spend time with Kart and Floppy
-[] CD: Pick a Fight (or hangout with porky...)
-[]BB: Cover Story (OR: Find Small Objects, Lick Tree Sap)
-[]Porky: Try to get a mole (or Cope)

I'm still waffling, but hey, solidify what I can before submitting my plan (and then probably changing my vote to whatever is closet that ends up in the lead if mine doesn't)
 
hmm, people may prefer shack but i'm still skeptical about it paying off, the action said it only helps with next turn's info right? so probs will vote for something more longterm (with the +10 to rolls i think we have decent odds at doing OPF, and if not we could try and crit Rumors to cast our net wider?)

regardless of potential results though it's probs still useful and i do consider them a serious threat, but partially for that reason i want to get a handle on other issues now so we'd be able to focus more later (especially since in later turns we'd probably be better prepared for them, while there's less to gain from delaying OPF? next turn we'd have weapons/training to minimise risk of actions, and if after that action something more direct unlocks we could have better odds then as well?)
(though I'm still fine with it if needed for a plan with everything else great, just will probs submit my own one regardless since i'm specifically after buzz buzz being on a disturbances learning/searching for coins (was about to ask but just checked, we do get +1 funds per turn so should be on track for increasing that, which is definitely worthwhile if the opportunity's temporary)

say @Crosswire , if it's ok with you could you clear up whether or not the entertainment shack scouting only gives info about actions this turn or if that could be extrapolated for info on their wider plans/to know more of their actions over time?
I'm not complaining if it doesn't, but seems a bit ambiguous at the moment (from what i can tell the sharks/OPF have wider plans and we have actions to find them so it makes sense for there to be a pattern and the slugs are up to something too, but the entertainer's shack action doesn't say we'll find the slugs' one?)

ScribeTransient said:
That's a good plan, but I would like to have one CD action to cope and sleep in to have a nice dream. And I'm also worried that if we don't take a cope action, there'll be drawbacks. That goes for Porky as well.
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may be an issue piling on stress, but i would consider having time to spend with kart/floppy or where we can beat stuff up could serve as stress relief too? at the very least i'd assume they wouldn't make things actively worse.
if we're not taking beating stuff up then spending actions all on talking to everyone may be draining, but we could also get stress relief from sparring with our gang members if that works out well?
 
hleghe said:
may be an issue piling on stress, but i would consider having time to spend with kart/floppy or where we can beat stuff up could serve as stress relief too? at the very least i'd assume they wouldn't make things actively worse.
if we're not taking beating stuff up then spending actions all on talking to everyone may be draining, but we could also get stress relief from sparring with our gang members if that works out well?
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In the end the question of whether we should pick up a coping mechanism doesn't have a definite answer because we don't know what the underlying mechanics are supposed to be. It could be one of two general directions:
1. Picking a coping mechanism will give us immediate progress in managing the depression, but it comes with a significant downside. (Losing 1 personal action each turn, a vice, possibly addiction, future emotional/psychic complications.) Basically, it's an optional shortcut.
2. We're supposed to pick a coping mechanism, and not doing so will incurr a mechanical penalty. It's the intended path.

(Though personally, I'd like to try and make do without a coping mechanism first.)
 
Jastolus said:
1. Picking a coping mechanism will give us immediate progress in managing the depression, but it comes with a significant downside. (Losing 1 personal action each turn, a vice, possibly addiction, future emotional/psychic complications.) Basically, it's an optional shortcut.
2. We're supposed to pick a coping mechanism, and not doing so will incurr a mechanical penalty. It's the intended path.
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I was thinking that there'd be downsides regardless of if it was a course of action we're expected to take or not, but i guess that's semantics. to me, it seems the obvious path but may not be the best one? I want to say something like we might be expected to take it even if it'd backfire, but that's reaching a bit and i might be phrasing it wrong tbh :/
definitely hoping that not taking a mechanism doesn't make things worse than they are, though? I don't think we'd be punished for not taking mechanisms unless it's alluded to in the past updates that "we need to find a way to cope or things would become unbearable", for instance?
good good way of parsing the possibilities regardless.

anyhow, as things are, at the very least there's other stuff to do so we can ignore the locked actions? personally I want to socialise a bit, maybe commit some physical violence again as stress relief and see what happens? it may not pay off immediately barring very good rolls but i imagine even mediocre ones wouldn't make things worse

oh, that's a factor worth bringing up, actually? it could just be that the reliability of personals like mechanisms/interactions/physical stress relief is in part based on a dice roll? if they roll 90+ even something like self medication will probably work out positively (e.g: actually do it correctly, problem solved, maybe even stat boosts if it's something we should have gotten a prescription for ages ago)? or in the case of a resorting to vice we could pick up something that eases social interaction (like social drinking, or a mutual interest we can bond with people over)
could be that some actions are risky but if we roll well they'll be more helpful, whilst some safer ones have less consequences on a poor roll in exchange for not being as effective?

with that in mind, the best pick would depend on how desperate we are to shake it and unlock new actions. i'm personally fine being patient and doing what's available at the moment but won't fault people if they want to gain access to stuff like studying/taxes sooner? social interaction actions are pretty important when we need to build up relationships with our heroes, but those other options might be some handy stat training things which would be worth doing too. just need to not forget about the risks, I'm certain everything speedy would have the chance to go poorly as a cost so I don't want anyone to assume the one that's the least worst is the best, basically?
 
hleghe said:
say @Crosswire , if it's ok with you could you clear up whether or not the entertainment shack scouting only gives info about actions this turn or if that could be extrapolated for info on their wider plans/to know more of their actions over time?
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I should have been clearer on that, I'll elaborate:
- The shack watch intrigue action will give info over the next x amount of turns depending on success regarding the local alien's actions.
- However you the players will have to extrapolate that info purely from what the watch sees and hears. It doesn't cover what the aliens have already done or are potentially actively doing. It's focused on Giant's Foot rather then the town.

Jastolus said:
In the end the question of whether we should pick up a coping mechanism doesn't have a definite answer because we don't know what the underlying mechanics are supposed to be.
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This is something I hadn't considered!

For the sake of letting you all make informed decisions, I will say this:
  • CD's depression right now only effects her personal life and personal actions. However it can and will get worse if nothing is done. Her condition has the potential to directly hinder her stats or interfere with faction actions if it gets too severe.
  • This is not something that will go away on it's own or fully go away anytime soon for this matter, but it's gameplay debilitating effects can be avoided. Either in the short term or somewhat longer form depending on the actions taken to deal with it.
  • Personal actions have a chance to fail just like faction actions, however in the case of the Coping mechanisms, they will always alleviate CD's problem. Success or failure will simply bring boons or complications. Future personal actions regarding the chosen method of dealing with things may have to be taken to continue dealing with CD's state, but it will happen every couple of turns rather then every turn. The choice of how to cope may also open up other interesting things, as well as interesting challenges to deal with. There are no un-fun options!
 
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huh, that's some info, thanks for clearing up
entertainer shack seems better than feared, worse than hoped. in that case, if our concern is the people who got bodyjacked over the location itself then we're better off intriguing some rumors, or something else around the city (could be ideal to do this turn since it's currently new too, so there's more to find out/avert?)

the depression info's not what I *wanted* to hear (since I was hoping for excuses to do other stuff and hope that it helped incidentally) but I'm not actively against coping mechanisms being something we need to try to see if it works out?
I guess we're best off picking what we think would actually help, rather than just what's the least risky in this case (and maybe not be afraid to try new things if it doesn't fit). they each have downsides so I'm not sure what's best, but ideally we don't bandwagon here?

other than that, remaining 3 actions should probs be ensure loyalty, chat with kart/floppy, and chat with porky (since we've previously chatted with buzz buzz so best to mix it up? and they're +25 loyalty so not much to gain from them stats wise either.) while we're not sure porky's loyalty there's a chance it will give boosted stats, and even if not there's a chance there's something new to find out from them/synergy to combine us trying to cope and them trying to cope
 
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