Kalkin
(╯ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ╯︵ ┻─┻
- Location
- AK
I'd be all for this. I voted for Jack of all trades because I thought it'd apply to pretty much anything we could do. I'd rather not specialize until we get more knowledge of the world.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Ok, so rereading the thread:
[x] Walked around on her own (gain trait: Self-motivated)
[x] Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
[x] Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
[x] Be insightful
Ok, so, new information!
First, it's kinda funny that a world with literal magic is less spiritual than ours, explaining thunder and lightning as a scaled up spark.. Kinda funny, and drastically revises my opinion of both Pandora's dad and their society upwards. With this drastic upwards revisions , the idea that we can leverage a tech advantage or just hint at Pandora and "miraculously" come up with a flash of insight decreases.
Second, the dating system is lunar, and the year is 482. This implies that the lunar calendar is reliable enough, and Radvic's use of months implies a correlation between a month and a moon. How many months a year is unclear, as well as the correlation between moons and years. Also, the dating of the 24th implies at least 24 days to a moon, with a definitive day night cycle. We don't know the exact start date of of the calendar, but it is probably an event close to Xerax's birth.
Third, I haven't seen anything capital-S special about us yet, which means we can't count on the attribute of main-characterness at all for anything we do. Any advantage we get will be created by ourselves, so we have to assume everyone else has access to a trait. This means we should probably specialize while we still have a chance, to avoid becoming Background Jane #5201. The XP system automatically forces us to become average due to exponential growth in difficulty of skill acquisition and only linear increase in usefulness of skills, if at all. However, the Jack of All Trades is still worth voting for, because at the current moment, it gives us a maximum of X1.5 bonus across all subjects no matter what we do. Plus the greater enthusiasm for everything should give us some real benefits. I think that Be insightful is a little more powerful because the moment we find another toddler, we're gonna start getting X2 bonuses and just not stop for the rest of our careers.
[x] Walked around on her own (gain trait: Self-motivated)
[x] Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
[x] Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
[x] Be insightful
Ok, so, new information!
First, it's kinda funny that a world with literal magic is less spiritual than ours, explaining thunder and lightning as a scaled up spark.. Kinda funny, and drastically revises my opinion of both Pandora's dad and their society upwards. With this drastic upwards revisions , the idea that we can leverage a tech advantage or just hint at Pandora and "miraculously" come up with a flash of insight decreases.
Second, the dating system is lunar, and the year is 482. This implies that the lunar calendar is reliable enough, and Radvic's use of months implies a correlation between a month and a moon. How many months a year is unclear, as well as the correlation between moons and years. Also, the dating of the 24th implies at least 24 days to a moon, with a definitive day night cycle. We don't know the exact start date of of the calendar, but it is probably an event close to Xerax's birth.
Third, I haven't seen anything capital-S special about us yet, which means we can't count on the attribute of main-characterness at all for anything we do. Any advantage we get will be created by ourselves, so we have to assume everyone else has access to a trait. This means we should probably specialize while we still have a chance, to avoid becoming Background Jane #5201. The XP system automatically forces us to become average due to exponential growth in difficulty of skill acquisition and only linear increase in usefulness of skills, if at all. However, the Jack of All Trades is still worth voting for, because at the current moment, it gives us a maximum of X1.5 bonus across all subjects no matter what we do. Plus the greater enthusiasm for everything should give us some real benefits. I think that Be insightful is a little more powerful because the moment we find another toddler, we're gonna start getting X2 bonuses and just not stop for the rest of our careers.
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- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Yeah, those were some of my thoughts while designing it - I had a knee-jerk response of "I want to be a social character" but really at 18 months old and knowing so little about how our society functions not limiting ourselves seems best.
At the moment the "skills" seem very broad - will they become more specialised in the future? I doubt you mean for a musician to have similar instrument-playing skills as a farmer. And it could be argued that some musician skills only carry across so far - playing the guitar is related but significantly different to playing the piano, for example.
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Many skills are quite broad, especially the plot relevant skills a toddler picks up (though there is at least one option currently which provides a specialized skill). Specialized skills will come later. In general, I expect most things the be done using fairly broad-based skills. That said, for musical instruments, I expect that a musician would have both a general musicality skill and an instrumental skill. Both would add towards their roll. Complete unfamiliarity with their instrument would provide a penalty to their musicality skill roll. They would also have modifiers for their performance based on things like the acoustics of where they were performing. If they were trying to impress someone, then song choice with respect to the tastes of the person they're trying to impress would also matter.
I plan on modeling languages as traits instead of skills, which means a 2x bonus doesn't really matter. That said, a high communication would mean you are better at expressing yourself, even non-verbally or with limited words. Thus, higher communication would make you gain the language traits faster.
Also, have a vote tally. This is likely going to be the last vote tally before voting closes.
CounterBot, version 1.5
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Deathbybunnies, @Dissonance, @Kalkin, @schlega
Num votes: 5
Plan name: Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @elpachosan, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 5
Plan name: Tried to make sparks like her father.
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @The Grey Mage
Num votes: 4
Plan name: Imitated her mother (gain trait: People person)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @rangerscience, @The Grey Mage
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Walked around on her own (gain trait: Self-motivated)
Voters: @Dissonance, @Silently Watches, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Be insightful
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint, @Vecht
Num votes: 2
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Imitated her mother
Voters: @Hannz
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Looked around and observed
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Smelled and licked sparks (gain trait: Laser Focus)
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Walked around on her own
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Number of voters: 14
Voting will remain open for ~13 hours
Currently, there is a tie between doing a little of everything and looking around.
[X] Be insightful
Having insights and sharing them with others sounds like a good direction for the narrative. This would also help us develop the Teaching skill as a child, which I'd expect to be useful long-term for sharing any specialized skills we develop with our companions.
The collaboration mechanic implies that if we want to do original research in a specialized area, we'll probably need a group of friends that share the relevant skill.
Having insights and sharing them with others sounds like a good direction for the narrative. This would also help us develop the Teaching skill as a child, which I'd expect to be useful long-term for sharing any specialized skills we develop with our companions.
The collaboration mechanic implies that if we want to do original research in a specialized area, we'll probably need a group of friends that share the relevant skill.
- Location
- USA
[X] Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
- Location
- USA
[X] Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
I don't know if this is the most "powerful" option, but Radvic said this was not that kind of quest. I think the enjoyment I will get out of this quest will be discovering the world and this option seems to be the one most in line with that.
I don't know if this is the most "powerful" option, but Radvic said this was not that kind of quest. I think the enjoyment I will get out of this quest will be discovering the world and this option seems to be the one most in line with that.
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Voting is open for ~3 more hours
CounterBot, version 1.5
Plan name: Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dieb, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @elpachosan, @OliWhail, @schlega, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 8
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Deathbybunnies, @Dissonance, @elpachosan, @Kalkin, @schlega
Num votes: 6
Plan name: Tried to make sparks like her father
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @The Grey Mage, @veekie, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 6
Plan name: Imitated her mother (gain trait: People person)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Hannz, @OliWhail, @rangerscience, @The Grey Mage
Num votes: 5
Plan name: Be insightful
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint, @kataklyst, @Vecht
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Walked around on her own (gain trait: Self-motivated)
Voters: @Dissonance, @Silently Watches, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Imitated her mother
Voters: @Hannz
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Looked around and observed
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Smelled and licked sparks (gain trait: Laser Focus)
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Walked around on her own
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Number of voters: 18
CounterBot, version 1.5
Plan name: Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dieb, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @elpachosan, @OliWhail, @schlega, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 8
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really (gain trait: Jack Of All Trades)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Deathbybunnies, @Dissonance, @elpachosan, @Kalkin, @schlega
Num votes: 6
Plan name: Tried to make sparks like her father
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Dissonance, @eaglejarl, @The Grey Mage, @veekie, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 6
Plan name: Imitated her mother (gain trait: People person)
Voters: @Cariyaga, @Hannz, @OliWhail, @rangerscience, @The Grey Mage
Num votes: 5
Plan name: Be insightful
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint, @kataklyst, @Vecht
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Walked around on her own (gain trait: Self-motivated)
Voters: @Dissonance, @Silently Watches, @Zeitgeist Blue
Num votes: 3
Plan name: Did a little of everything, really
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Imitated her mother
Voters: @Hannz
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Looked around and observed
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Smelled and licked sparks (gain trait: Laser Focus)
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Plan name: Walked around on her own
Voters: @huhYeahGoodPoint
Num votes: 1
Number of voters: 18
Last edited:
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Voting is closed. Looked around and observed (gain trait: Observant) is victorious. Expect the update to drop in the next day or two.
Chapter 1: Observing and Adapting
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Observing and Adapting
"How was Pandora today?"
Juno looked thoughtful. "Not too different, you know Pandora. She was the model child. Quiet and attentive." As Juno spoke, Pluto brought the sparks away from Pandora so he could pay more attention to his wife without worrying about burning Pandora. "She's absorbed in the world around her. She wants to see, feel, taste, and" she glanced at Pandora who had just leapt up to touch one of Pluto's sparks, "touch it all. I'm sure she'll grow into a great young woman one day. No matter what she faces, she'll find out what she needs to do to adapt to the challenge."
Pandora gains trait: Observant
-o-
19th day of the 10th moon of 482
19th day of the 10th moon of 482
Pandora awoke to a voice at their door. Curious, she roused herself awake and listened. She didn't know this voice.
"Juno! Are you home?" The voice shouted, "We've got a reading for you."
Mama responded quietly, "I'm here. But can we do it outside? My daughter is napping."
Much more quietly from outside, "Sorry, outside is fine."
Mama left through the doorway and went outside. Curious, and wanting to watch, Pandora got up and walked over to the doorway.
By the time she had reached the doorway and looked outside through the opening, she saw Mama, now in her brown skin, talking to a man Pandora didn't know. He had red skin and dirty blond hair. Pandora hadn't seen that form before. He spoke again to Mama, but Pandora couldn't hear what they were saying from where she was.
The man gestured to three lanky blue skinned men in loose togas. Juno glanced at the blond haired man, then walked up and down the row of men, looking into each of their faces. Eventually, she turned to the red skinned man, and spoke. The strangers then turned and walked away.
Mama walked back to Pandora, shifting back to her native blue skin as she did so. Starting from her feet, her skin turned blue and her legs elongated, making her taller as it went up. It reached the bottom of her toga and continued upwards, skin color change masked by the loose fitting clothing, but the effect continuing to make her head rise up until it was about a foot higher than in her empath form. The change went through her neck, elongating it and sharpening her facial features when it got there. Her hair turned from black to white. The final thing to change were her hands, as the transformation wound down her arms and ended by elongating her fingers.
Pandora clapped. She always liked watching mama or dada Adapt!
"And what are you doing out of bed little 'dora?" Mama asked.
"Voice hear. Look want." Pandora spoke.
"Did we wake you up by talking?" Pandora nodded vigorously. "And of course you wanted to see what was happening." A single heavy, unbalanced nod. "Well, what did you think of it?"
"Not hear. What do?"
Deciphering her speech with the deftness of a regular listener, Juno responded, "The man in the scout form was an overseer." Pandora looked confused, "or see her?" "He watches over people and keep track of things. Like a Mama or dada." Confusion resolved, Juno continued with her explanation, "He thought the men had stolen food." Another frown, "He thought the men had taken food without permission." Pandora's frown disappeared. "Anyways, he hasn't trained his empath form, and heard I did. He wanted me to check who had taken the food."
"Who taken food Mama?"
Juno shook her head. "'Took' Pandora." She lowered her voice, "And none of those men took any food."
"Why?" Pandora said what quite possibly was her favorite word.
"None of them were guilty."
"Who took food?"
Juno shook her head, "We don't know Pandora. Why don't you go back to sleep."
The excitement dying down, Pandora returned to her bed to complete her nap.
Pandora learns skill: Intrigue
Intrigue is the mundane art of determining when someone is hiding something from you, and, in turn, hiding something from others by reading their body language, examining word choices, and listening for inflections in their voice, while modifying your own.
-o-
1st day of the 4th moon 483
1st day of the 4th moon 483
Pandora walked resolutely behind her dad. Today, she got to help with his work! Pandora and her mother through fields of wheat, trailing behind Pluto. Pluto took the lead, grabbing the heads of wheat in his right hand, carefully burning the head off with his spark, then tossing the wheat behind him. Behind him, Pandora and Juno trailed, with a large woven sack. Juno held the sack for Pandora to grab fallen heads of wheat and place them into the sack. When the sack filled, June used a stalk of wheat to tie it closed, dropped it, and went to grab another sack.
For a time, Pandora was content to simply grab the wheat heads, give them to her mother, and return to scouring the ground. She liked listening to her father's deep rumbling hum as he cut, and her mother's occasional counter-harmony. She liked looking at the zig zagging burn marks on the ground going around the fields of wheat. Life was good.
Hours later
Life was not good. Life was boring, tiring, and painful. Pandora decided to use her developing vocabulary to determine the length of her sentence.
"Mama, how long?"
"We'll work as long as it takes 'dora." Juno responded. "The crop has worked hard to feed us this year, so we need to work extra hard to return the favor."
"But boring!"
Hearing the discussion behind him, Pluto stopped humming and turned around, "Would a change of scenery help?"
"Yes Dada!" Pandora smiled and sprinted towards her scaly father. He knelt, and scooped her up with his powerful arm, depositing her on his shoulders where she sat: a resolute sky-blue watchtower, observing the land beneath her. From here she could see so much more! Life was good again.
She saw their house with it's red spark-forged bricks. She saw the dirt paved road going by the field. She saw the hilly land on the other side of the road. She saw the edges of this field and the starts of the next, with the ditch between them. She could see the blue sky above, almost entirely clear today. She felt the crisp breeze through her hair. She felt like she was above the whole world. Life was good.
Pandora learns Skill: Farming
Farming is the ancient art of making sure crops grow. Boring and repetitive, but useful.
-o-
4th day of the 5th moon of 483
"But I wanna go to Delos with you!"
Juno and Pluto shared a glance, then Pluto responded, "Not this year honey. You haven't had your first form yet. Maybe next year. This year you get to go to Leo and Perseus's house."
Pandora pouted, "I don't want Leo and Perseus. I want Delos!"
"I hear Delphia will be there too." Juno offered.
Pandora's pout lessened, she liked Delphia. "I guess that could be ok maybe."
"Then it's decided." Pluto declared with finality.
After some more careful handling by her parents, Pandora had forgotten her initial anger at being denied the opportunity to go to Delos and was looking forward to spending time with her friends.
-o-
25th day of the 5th moon of 483
25th day of the 5th moon of 483
Leo and Perseus's house was much like Pandora's. The walls were constructed by adobe bricks. The entrance and spaces between rooms had wood framed doors. There were elevated small openings on either end of the house to let air in, and a fireplace in the center of the three rooms. While Leo and Perseus's parents mostly stayed inside, the children all played outside.
Perseus was the eldest child, now well into his fifth cycle. He had learned the survivalist form and trained regularly in it, allowing him to blend into any surface, or so he claimed. Leo, Perseus's brother, was the second eldest. He had seen 3 cycles, but not yet mastered any of the forms, though he insisted he was close. Finally, Delphia and Pandora rounded out the group, both now over two cycles old. Pandora had only ever seen Delphia in her martial form. Pandora didn't know why, and when she had asked her parents, they had told her they'd tell her when she was older and not to pry. Regardless, Pandora liked the quiet white skinned and red haired girl.
The first game proposed was hide and seek. Perseus offered to be the first seeker, and he found the others within a few minutes. As the second eldest, Leo took the second seeker position. After an hour of searching, everyone aside from Perseus had been found. Pandora finally noticed that a section of the bricks on the house were all the exact same shade of red, which they normally weren't. When she approached, the cluster of similarly red bricks moved around, skirting around the edge of the building before she could position herself to see if they were protruding from the house. Investigating some more, she found that there were footprints all around the house. From there, it was simply a matter of chasing the bricks around the house, recruiting the other children, and eventually cornering Perseus, who shifted back to his native form. After that, it was declared that Perseus was not allowed to use his survivalist form, as his color shifting ability gave him an unfair advantage.
Eventually, they grew tired of hide and seek and moved onto a more physical game. Perseus drew a circle in the dirt, then all got inside. The children then attempted to force each other out of the circle.
Pandora warily watched the others, and did her best to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, the brothers quickly formed an agreement to take the girls out first. Pandora did her best to dodge Leo, but eventually, he caught up with her and bodily carried her out of the ring, setting her gently just outside the boundary. When Pandora looked around, she saw Perseus had also been knocked out of the ring. In the middle of the ring stood Delphia and Leo.
Delphia stood in a practiced stance, with her small feet wide-spread underneath her. She presented her left side to Leo and crouched, ready to spring in any direction as the situation demanded. She held her left hand in front of her in an open palmed stance, with her right closer to her hip. Leo stood with feet close together in a relaxed stance, trusting his greater size, reach, and age to be sufficient for the challenge. Between Leo's age difference and the native form's natural taller stature, Leo stood almost twice as tall as the red-haired girl.
Leo bellowed a cry and charged Delphia. Right before he reached her, she pushed herself to her right, side stepping his lunge and giving him a push with her right hand on his back. He stumbled a little, but managed to regain his balance right before he exited the ring.
More cautiously now, Leo started circling the girl half his size. His blue face showed surprise while her white expression was unchanged, red hair unruffled. She silently shifted her footing to face him, while backing towards one of the edges of the ring. Now forced to pace from side to side, Leo waited a moment, then, realizing he had the advantage of arms over twice as long, slowly started walking towards Delphia. Once within arms reach, he leaned forward and darted an arm out to grab her.
Before he could make contact, Delphia lunged forward, grabbed his wrist and tugged. His lanky blue body started toppling forwards. Delphia slid onto her back, red hair tumbling out behind her as she brought her feet up to boost him over her back and out of the ring.
Fascinated at Delphia's newfound skill, Perseus initially demanded that she shift into her native form for the rematch, since he had to give up his survivalist form for hide and seek, it was only fair she give up her martial form for king of the ring. After her repeated refusal, Leo suggested they could work together to hold her off. Pandora elected to watch rather than get involved directly at first.
The second round ended when Leo and Perseus's ill-coordinated lunges resulted in the two colliding and sliding out of the ring with Delphia untouched. The third round was longer, with both boys carefully circling around the edge of the ring, leaving Delphia in the middle, needing to alternate her gaze between the two. After a moment's hesitation, Delphia took the offensive, charging Perseus. Red head coming up to his thighs, she darted between his legs, and pushed hard on the backs of his knees, causing him to collapse. During his falling, she used her arms to pivot him out of the ring. Surprised, Leo charged to help his brother, and wound up on top his brother after Delphia dodged his awkward lunge.
Intrigued, Pandora rejoined the game. The game shifted from "who can stay in the ring longest" to "can all of us force Delphia out?" To which, experience proved time and again, that the answer was no. Finally, after several hours of exertion, the three of them managed to surprise Delphia and Leo and Perseus cheered as they carried her over their heads as they walked out of the ring, unconcerned over the fact that technically made Pandora the victor. The children all laughed as they returned to the house for the evening.
Pandora learns skill: Stealth
Stealth is the art of remaining unseen and unnoticed. It is what allows one to move silently, find hiding places, and in general walk around unnoticed.
Pandora learns skill: Martial ability
Martial ability is the general combat savviness which is useful in any engagement. It is a general skill which will be rolled in any combat situation, often in conjunction with other skills, depending on what strategy is used for the battle.
Pandora learns skill: Unarmed combat
Unarmed combat is the specific battle art of using your unarmed hands and feet to pummel or redirect your opponent into submission. Rolled when fighting with bare hands and feet.
-o-
After Juno and Pluto returned, Pandora's life began to settle into a routine. She began to learn to weave straw into different shapes as her mother did. She learned about farming from Pluto, the proper times to plant, when to burn the fields, methods of harvest, and more. She spent her time on her own observing and watching the world at work, learning from all the new sights, sounds and things she saw.
The nights became longer and colder, but Mama and Dada made life warm and pleasant. Her days passed as she practiced skills she had learned which interested her. Days began to become shorter, and the family spent more time outdoors. Eventually, Dada declared it planting season, and that Pandora was old enough she ought to help. Pandora went with her father and, as he dug holes with his strong, scaly legs, she placed seeds inside them.
Pandora learns skill: Weaving
Weaving is the art of combining straw together to make more complex shapes. Used to create tools and clothing.
-o-
10th day of the 1st moon of 484
10th day of the 1st moon of 484
One day, Pandora though she might be old enough, so decided to ask. "Mama, why is Delphia always in the martial form?"
Juno stopped humming, set down her weaving, and turned to Pandora, "You're nearing your third cycle. It is time for you to learn about the forms." Excited, Pandora raptly listened to her mother.
"As you know, we can Adapt to many forms." Pandora nodded, "And all of these forms have their own abilities." Pandora nodded again. Deciding to give Pandora a quiz, Juno asked "What is the adaptive ability of the farming form?"
"The farming form is slow, but strong. It makes carrying loads and pulling things easy. Its tough scales make digging easier. The sparks are useful for light, for cutting wheat, for killing bad plants, and for playing with."
"Very good. Though, remember you are not to grab anybody's sparks without their permission." Juno reminded Pandora.
"Except Daddy!"
Juno chuckled, "Except Daddy. Also, new farming forms need to work to develop their spark, they start with two arms. Now, what is the adaptive ability of the empath form?"
Pandora made a frown. That one was less obvious, but she thought she knew the answer. "It makes people easier to know!" Pandora blurted out while looking up at her mother's thin blue face.
"Well spotted. It tells you what someone is feeling at the moment. It takes a fair bit of practice to use, but makes interacting with other people easier. It's how we can gather in large numbers without strife or secrets." After Pandora nodded, Juno continued with the lesson. "Now, what about the survivalist form?"
Pandora remembered Perseus's hiding from the year before, "It lets you change colors to hide with your background."
Juno nodded, "Yes, the form is covered in multicolored hair. The hairs can all change color, letting you blend into the background. There's a trick to it that takes practice, but it's a great ability. It is how we survive outside the barrier when on our own. Now, what about the scout form?"
Pandora's brow crinkled into a frown, "It... helps you scout?" she guessed.
"In a way." Juno nodded sagely. "It lets you project your sight to an avatar a distance away from your body. Better practitioners are able to project their avatar farther away. We use it to spread news quickly, and to spot beasts for ambushes outside the barrier. Do you remember the man who came here a year ago with some men?"
Pandora nodded, "The one with the missing wheat!"
"Yes, that one." Juno responded, "He was an overseer. He's someone who watches over an important area in the scout form to see if there's anything bad going on. Other than expedition parties, you won't see them much where we are, though they'll be in towns more often keeping an eye on things."
"Ok, but what does any of this have to do with Delphia?" Pandora asked.
"Patience Pandora. Now, what is the ability of the martial form?"
This one was easy. Days spent attempting to force Delphia out of the ring sprung to Pandora's mind, "It makes you a super Xeraxian!"
Juno's eyebrow raised, "Oh? Could you describe what makes you a 'super Xeraxian?'"
"You get to beat people much larger than you and can't be forced out of the ring!"
Juno laughed, "So it does. The martial form is a little different than just being able to stay in the ring. It bestows you with Xerax's own hands and feet, letting you fight with them as if they were his. There is little point aside from combat for it, and it is simple to master, so you don't often see Xeraxians in the form inside the barrier. Outside, it is what lets us face monsters directly and survive. Now, what is the ability of the native form?"
Pandora thought for a while. It was tall, but, if what mama said about the scout form was true, then that wasn't nearly as helpful. "I give up. What is it?"
"Your native form is who you really are. Throughout any adaptation, you must remember who you are, or else you will be lost. The native form and our familiarity with it is how we maintain our ability to change. If you spend too much time in a different form, you cannot switch back or take another form." Juno's expression darkened, "Additionally, if, before a mother gives birth, she takes on a form aside from the native form, her child is doomed to an existence with only the form the mother shifted to. In Delphia's case, her mother shifted to the martial form to protect her before she was born. Delphia will never Adapt. She is a single-form."
Pandora had a hard time reconciling her friend's vibrant red hair, shining white skin, and confident stance with the tragedy that mama had told her. Surely Delphia would be able to adapt! Everyone could. Mama was just lying. Delphia would just need more time.
"But, now that you are approaching your third cycle, and we are approaching the harvest and the trip to Delos, it is time for you to learn to Adapt."
Pandora's mood brightened, soon she'd be able to be able to Adapt like the adults! "Yes Mama! How do I learn?"
Juno started the lesson in properly now, shifting to her empath form, speaking only when the tips of her fingers were replaced by the empath's shorter brown fingers. "You need to focus on the unchangeable essence that is your soul." She told Pandora, "Only by first identifying your soul will you be able to maintain the essence of the change."
Pandora's brow furled as she tried to think about herself and what made her her.
"Ignore physical appearances and feel deeper within yourself. Find your unchangeable center, and adapt everything else. For adaptation to mean anything, it must have a purpose, a center about which it revolves. Grab that feeling with your mind and hold onto it."
Small beads of sweat appeared on Pandora's forehead, "I think I have it."
"Good. Memorize that feeling. Etch it into your mind. For if you lose it, you will lose everything. Now, think about which of the forms you want to assume. Grasp it firmly in your mind, and imagine yourself in that shape."
Learned skill: Adapt
Adapting is the mystical ability of Xeraxians to change form. They have access to several forms, each with their own unique abilities. Each level in Adapt grants an additional form-shift they can make in a 24 hour window. Every two levels they gain, they may adapt an entirely new form they previously could not use until they have unlocked all the forms. Additional levels in Adapt decrease the time that it takes to adapt and make adapting easier for the user.
-o-
Voting time! It's been a long time in Pandora's life (she's twice as old now!) so there's a fair amount to vote for. There are two parts to this vote. First, pick an action for Pandora to take in Delos while she's with her parents. Second, if you wish, you can customize how Pandora grew this update (how she spent her free-time and which form(s) she learned). If you're intimidated by the mechanics, feel free to make more general votes for how you'd like Pandora to grow and leaving exact distributions up to me, or abstain from training voting and just vote on actions, or ask clarifying questions.
Action Vote
Pandora's parents will take her with them to Delos, the nearby city that they sell their harvest to each year. How will Pandora act in that city?
[] Explore the city
Gain trait: Explorer. Pandora is fascinated by new things, and wants to see it all. She wants to explore the world and see new things. (Mechanics effect: bonus to awareness when exploring somewhere new)
[] People watch
Gain trait: People watcher. Pandora is fascinated by how people work, and wants to understand them. She wants to discover how people work and potentially how to influence them. (Mechanics effect: bonus to social skills)
[] Help her parents
Gain trait: Reliable. Pandora is a dutiful child, doing as she is told and generally trustworthy. She wants to stick to her word and fulfil what she says she will do (Mechanics effect: bonus to actions Pandora has promised to perform)
[] Practice her adapting
Gain trait: Determined. Pandora knows that true power only comes to those who work for it. She wants to become stronger and will work towards it (Mechanics effect: increase to training time and thus hours earned to spend on skills during updates)
[] Write-in
Same deal with traits and actions as last time: feel free to propose unique actions Pandora takes, and define your own trait. I reserve the right to veto specific actions or traits, but discussion will likely lead to Pandora doing things more in line with what you want, as will making your own vote.
Training Vote
You'll be determining what Pandora practiced in her free-time and what form(s) she learns first. Actions she took in the update increased some skills (boosted by the observant trait). Between the length of the update, various people who helped her with activities, and Pandora's general competence, she has earned 3000 hours to spend on whatever skills she desires (what she worked on in her free-time). Her character sheet has been updated. Her skills are now
| Skill | Level | Next Level |
| Mobility | 3 | [0/320] |
| Awareness | 6 | 0/2560] |
| Communication | 2 | [0/160] |
| Negotiation | 2 | [0/160] |
| Intrigue | 1 | [0/80] |
| Martial Ability | 2 | [0/160] |
| Farming | 2 | [0/160] |
| Weaving | 2 | [0/160] |
| Stealth | 2 | [0/160] |
| Unarmed Combat | 2 | [0/160] |
| Adapt | 3 | [0/320] |
Which form(s) will Pandora attempt to learn?
(gain 1 per every 2 levels in Adapt)
- Gain Empath Form
- Gain Martial Form
- Gain Farming Form
- Gain Scouting Form
- Gain Survival Form
To make a new training plan, just make a vote which says
[X] Training: Plan A
Things I want to do in Training: Plan A and whatnot. The exact formatting of this section is unimportant, so long as it is easily understood what your intent is. Be as precise or vague as you wish (vagueness will be subject to my interpretation).
Here are some sample plans (which you are free to vote on if you want, but I'm reasonably confident you'll want something a little different). Note that the formatting is different between them. So long as I can determine what your formatting means, it's fine. It could just be a paragraph describing what you want, it could be bullets, it could be a single sentence. I'll ask for clarification if I can't figure out what your vote means.
[X] Training: Super Spy
-gain Survival Form
-Awareness 7 and 40/5120
-stealth 3
-Intrigue 3
[X] Training: All Ze Magics!
-gain Farming Form
-gain Empath Form
-gain Martial Form
-Adapt 6 and [840/2560]
[X] Training: Balance is life
-Gain Farming Form
-Gain Empath Form
-Adapt 4 (320)
-Mobility 4 (320)
-Communication 4 (480)
-Negotiation 4 (480)
-Intrigue 4 (560)
-Martial Ability 4 (480)
-Stealth 3 (160) and [200/320]
General Plans
Finally, if you have a series of actions you want Pandora to pursue in combination with training (e.g. ensure she use a specific form in Delos), then you will want to make a general plan, encompassing all of the voting aspects of this update. So, for example you could make:
[X] General Plan: Super Spy
-gain Scout Form
-Awareness 7 and 40/5120
-stealth 3
-Intrigue 3
-explore the city with your scout form
Voting will be open until 8 AM, January 25 PST
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The Grey Mage
Certified Team Flare Hater
- Location
- Parallel Universe 43-j
Pandora.
- Location
- Yes.
How much of a bonus for each of these traits, and how much more training time for Determined?
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
We're still a little kid, so even if we end up a lone wolf as an adult, right now we're going to be interacting with people more or less constantly - so we should plan for that. This plan is to get our social ability up to a respectable level, without outright neglecting the fighty stuff, in case of an emergency.
[X] Practice her adapting
Gain trait: Determined. Pandora knows that true power only comes to those who work for it. She wants to become stronger and will work towards it (Mechanics effect: increase to training time and thus hours earned to spend on skills during updates)
Let's face it, even in a mechanics-light quest, the call of Big Numbers is just too much to resist. (Though the Observer trait doesn't really lend itself to those big numbers sadly, unless challenge rewards are very big.)
[X] Training Plan: Kids talk a lot
Adapt 4 (320)
- Gain Empath Form
- Gain Scouting Form
Intrigue 4 (320+160+80=560)
Negotiation 4 (160+320=480)
Communication 5 (160+320+640=1120)
Stealth 3 (160)
Martial Ability 3 (160)
Unarmed Combat 3 (160)
Total hours spent: 2960
Intrigue (40)
Spending the excess on intrigue.
EDIT:
Meditation 1 (40)
[X] Practice her adapting
Gain trait: Determined. Pandora knows that true power only comes to those who work for it. She wants to become stronger and will work towards it (Mechanics effect: increase to training time and thus hours earned to spend on skills during updates)
Let's face it, even in a mechanics-light quest, the call of Big Numbers is just too much to resist. (Though the Observer trait doesn't really lend itself to those big numbers sadly, unless challenge rewards are very big.)
[X] Training Plan: Kids talk a lot
Adapt 4 (320)
- Gain Empath Form
- Gain Scouting Form
Intrigue 4 (320+160+80=560)
Negotiation 4 (160+320=480)
Communication 5 (160+320+640=1120)
Stealth 3 (160)
Martial Ability 3 (160)
Unarmed Combat 3 (160)
Total hours spent: 2960
Spending the excess on intrigue.
EDIT:
Meditation 1 (40)
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Dissonance
Luna's Luna
- Location
- Ginnungagap.
- Pronouns
- S/H/T
Does Counterbot count threadmarked posts?
- Location
- Los Angeles
Questions!
Prior to Delos -
What kinds of animals have we encountered? Anything domesticated? Anything wild? I am 100% in support of you not mentioning conspicuous absences (are there any insects?) because Pandora would have no idea that it's weird there isn't whatever that kind of thing is. (This goes for all questions)
What kinds of shaped materials have we encountered, and tools? So far, adobe bricks, spark-forged bricks, and... I think that's it. What are even the kinds of things we use for weaving? Straw, annnnd.....?
Actually for that matter - Food is a huge part of life! What do we usually eat, and how is it prepared (as in meal), and how is it prepared (as in tools, etc)?
Edit: What forms have we seen mom and dad do? Or our parent's friends? (Specifically, have we seen anyone who does two forms?)
I'm also a little confused by the mechanics. I can do the math (and may go make a calculating spreadsheet, for fun and profit!), but am not tots sure. We have 3k hours to spend. Raising "Adapt" from 3 to 4 will cost 320 of those 3000 hours? So, plan "All Ze Magics" raises Adapt from 3 to 6, and then there's 840 left over?
Prior to Delos -
What kinds of animals have we encountered? Anything domesticated? Anything wild? I am 100% in support of you not mentioning conspicuous absences (are there any insects?) because Pandora would have no idea that it's weird there isn't whatever that kind of thing is. (This goes for all questions)
What kinds of shaped materials have we encountered, and tools? So far, adobe bricks, spark-forged bricks, and... I think that's it. What are even the kinds of things we use for weaving? Straw, annnnd.....?
Actually for that matter - Food is a huge part of life! What do we usually eat, and how is it prepared (as in meal), and how is it prepared (as in tools, etc)?
Edit: What forms have we seen mom and dad do? Or our parent's friends? (Specifically, have we seen anyone who does two forms?)
I'm also a little confused by the mechanics. I can do the math (and may go make a calculating spreadsheet, for fun and profit!), but am not tots sure. We have 3k hours to spend. Raising "Adapt" from 3 to 4 will cost 320 of those 3000 hours? So, plan "All Ze Magics" raises Adapt from 3 to 6, and then there's 840 left over?
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- Location
- Los Angeles
Adaptation! This is what adults do! Delphia can't, and that super duper worse-than-boring bad!
But! But but but but but! Mama didn't point out the best thing about adaptation: Looking inside yourself!
When I eat things I make a mush with the things in my mouth, and they go into me. When I see and hear things, I make a... a... well, not a mush, but a mush - with the things inside my head, and they go into me. When I feel things, I make a mush with the things inside my body, and they also go into me.
Everything ever always goes into me! I'll never be bored again! If I'm bored, I can just look inside, and there are all the things, including... me!
(Suggestion: Pandora gains access to "Meditation" skill)
"Pandora, can you remember your soul?"
Ever since Mama told her how to adapt - about her soul, about her center - Pandora had been practicing, feeling deep inside her self to the part that felt... different, but, in a way that was somehow even more familiar. More familiar than the rest. It was hard! Her tummy would gurgle and instead of that feeling of herself, she'd taste food, or smell Mama cooking - but only a little bit, because of course there wasn't any food inside her mouth and Mama wasn't cooking. Or she'd hear Dada in the fields with his deep hummmm and she'd feel the wind in her hair from sitting on his shoulders and the sights that could be seen and and
Everything was always forever inside Pandora, and it turns out, this is kind of a problem. But! Pandora had figured out a way to beat all the things. It was just like when playing in the circle with Leo and Perseus and Delphia. You couldn't fight all the things inside of you - that would be silly! It's not like you'd use your right hand to push your left - but you could step out of the way like Delphia, and they'd run themselves out of the circle like Leo, or you could just pick them up and just... put them outside, no matter how much they wiggled and yelled, like Perseus.
And when you did that enough, then there was just you. But the you in the circle in your head was different. It wasn't like looking at your hands and knowing you couldn't see your chin, or like feeling your whole body but not your hair, or hearing Mama's heart when it is hard to fall asleep, but not your own. You could - feel - all of you, and none of you, like how you can see Dada's shape when he stands in the doorway and the sky is bright but you can't really see anything else, except instead of a line it's more like an all-over something.
"Yes, mama! It feels... like..."
"Go on, Pandora. It's hard to describe what you feel like on the inside. Keep trying!"
"It feels like when Dada carries me on his shoulders and I can see everything and, and..."
Mama laughed, and it reminded Pandora of the sound of the rain when it's warm, a happy patter-patter-patter promising of fun and adventure and new things to see.
"Well! I think that's enough for your first form. What do you want to learn?"
"SCOUT! Duh!"
(Because seriously, we're an observant, curious, little rascal and we want to see all the things. Maybe we can even figure out how to scout while helping Dada farm, and then we wouldn't bored and he wouldn't have to carry us!)
---
I have ideas for great places to take "Meditation", but like anything else, it's a skill, and I'll tots defer to the hive-mind on whether to pursue it.
That said! While other plans (training, Delos) are awaiting moar info, this seems pretty clear:
[x] First Form: Scout
But! But but but but but! Mama didn't point out the best thing about adaptation: Looking inside yourself!
When I eat things I make a mush with the things in my mouth, and they go into me. When I see and hear things, I make a... a... well, not a mush, but a mush - with the things inside my head, and they go into me. When I feel things, I make a mush with the things inside my body, and they also go into me.
Everything ever always goes into me! I'll never be bored again! If I'm bored, I can just look inside, and there are all the things, including... me!
(Suggestion: Pandora gains access to "Meditation" skill)
"Pandora, can you remember your soul?"
Ever since Mama told her how to adapt - about her soul, about her center - Pandora had been practicing, feeling deep inside her self to the part that felt... different, but, in a way that was somehow even more familiar. More familiar than the rest. It was hard! Her tummy would gurgle and instead of that feeling of herself, she'd taste food, or smell Mama cooking - but only a little bit, because of course there wasn't any food inside her mouth and Mama wasn't cooking. Or she'd hear Dada in the fields with his deep hummmm and she'd feel the wind in her hair from sitting on his shoulders and the sights that could be seen and and
Everything was always forever inside Pandora, and it turns out, this is kind of a problem. But! Pandora had figured out a way to beat all the things. It was just like when playing in the circle with Leo and Perseus and Delphia. You couldn't fight all the things inside of you - that would be silly! It's not like you'd use your right hand to push your left - but you could step out of the way like Delphia, and they'd run themselves out of the circle like Leo, or you could just pick them up and just... put them outside, no matter how much they wiggled and yelled, like Perseus.
And when you did that enough, then there was just you. But the you in the circle in your head was different. It wasn't like looking at your hands and knowing you couldn't see your chin, or like feeling your whole body but not your hair, or hearing Mama's heart when it is hard to fall asleep, but not your own. You could - feel - all of you, and none of you, like how you can see Dada's shape when he stands in the doorway and the sky is bright but you can't really see anything else, except instead of a line it's more like an all-over something.
"Yes, mama! It feels... like..."
"Go on, Pandora. It's hard to describe what you feel like on the inside. Keep trying!"
"It feels like when Dada carries me on his shoulders and I can see everything and, and..."
Mama laughed, and it reminded Pandora of the sound of the rain when it's warm, a happy patter-patter-patter promising of fun and adventure and new things to see.
"Well! I think that's enough for your first form. What do you want to learn?"
"SCOUT! Duh!"
(Because seriously, we're an observant, curious, little rascal and we want to see all the things. Maybe we can even figure out how to scout while helping Dada farm, and then we wouldn't bored and he wouldn't have to carry us!)
---
I have ideas for great places to take "Meditation", but like anything else, it's a skill, and I'll tots defer to the hive-mind on whether to pursue it.
That said! While other plans (training, Delos) are awaiting moar info, this seems pretty clear:
[x] First Form: Scout
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Thanks for pointing those out! Also sorry for spelling and late responses, I was in a rush when I posted, but figured it would be worth posting then rather than now. Now, on to some answers.
All of these traits are variable, depending on the situation and how much they fit to the task. As a ballpark estimate for each of the traits:
Right now, Pandora is spending an average of 3 hours a day improving herself and her skills. With determined at her current age, she could boost that up to ~6-8 hours. This ability will likely take different forms at different points in her life (a determined 20-something is going to put in substantially more time than a determined 3 cycle old). Note that if she takes Determined, she will not explore Delos much on this trip there (meaning many answers will be "Pandora didn't check or doesn't know").
Explorer's mechanical effect would be a boost of ~5 dice to awareness checks in new places. This would work towards getting Pandora more information, her investigating opportunities in the new place, etc. So, anytime you went to a new city, you would know much more about it. It would not help towards mundane awareness checks on unexciting old thing (e.g. did Mama wear something new? Are there clouds on the horizon?) It would have a large narrative effect on pretty much any time Pandora goes somewhere new.
People watcher would be a boost of ~2-4 dice in all social skills (communication, intrigue, and negotiation), depending on the situation (does this person match up with the sorts of people Pandora has observed? Has Pandora observed this person in particular before?).
Reliable would grant bonus dice in accordance with the strength of the promise or conviction Pandora holds. Dice would range from 1-4 depending on if it's something she said she'd do, or her defining reason for existing. This would transcend skill categories.
Any write-in people make should aim for approximately this level of impact.
This is great, but you'll want a [X] before "Training Plan: Kids talk a lot" for Counterbot to notice it.
Counterbot ignores everything I post. Other than that, it counts everything past where I tell it to start counting (normally the previous chapter).
Sometimes, Papa will just leave his spark on a bright yellow and bugs will fly into it. All the monsters are all outside the barrier. Xerax keeps us safe.
Mama gives us strips of grass and straw that we weave together into baskets and other workable materials, sometimes using wood as a frame. She cuts them with a sharp thing that she tells us we shouldn't touch.
Pandora is confused. What is a shaped material? Do you mean like the blade Mama uses to cut weaving straw? The wooden table we eat off of? The central fireplace we cook our bread over? The linen covering the leaves we sleep on? The bowls and plates we eat off of? Pandora knows Papa has some tools he uses for farming. He has a sleeve that he can put over his spark-arm, Pandora isn't sure what it's made of. It matches Papa's skin, though it doesn't have scales. He hasn't let her touch it. He has a wooden wedge with a rope on it Pandora has not seen used.
We each have a utensil we use to eat. Mama and Dada use sharp tools. We normally eat off bowls and plates on our table (Pandora doesn't know what they're made of: they definitely aren't wood, but they also aren't bricks). We eat cereals and bread mostly. Occasionally we eat beans. We also have a garden with plants harvested from the hills on the other side of the road that we eat and put in food. Mama normally cooks over the central fire place in our house. When our house runs low on wheat or other materials, we take a day trip to a nearby giant building with lots of grain in it.
Mama prefers the Empath form, but has taken the Farming form before to help Dada when work is hard. Dada normally takes the Farming form, we don't remember seeing him in any other form aside from the native and the farming form.
We've seen Leo and Perseus's father take the survivalist form, and the scout form. We've seen their mother take the farming and survivalist forms. We've seen Delphia's mother take the Farming and empath forms.
Yes. Many people take multiple forms. But adults are boring and don't do everything they can. They seem to pick just one or two forms and only use them. Pandora isn't sure why.
Yes. That said, given how the mechanic works, you can't stockpile XP. You spend it as you gain it on the skill you worked towards. For now, Pandora's gaining skills and levels like crazy because all her skills (aside from Awareness) are pretty low, and each update is over a year long. When we get to the main part of the story, advancement will happen much more slowly (seeing as updates are more likely to take the course of a couple days rather than a couple years). All Ze Magics puts 840 hours towards the next level. It won't have a mechanical effect, but will make Adapt 7 easier to work towards in the future (because you've already spent 840 hours working on it). If you make a nice calculating spreadsheet, there will be Rewards (either a bonus scene of your choosing (must have Pandora in it) or about 40 hours of working towards a skill).
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Fixed!
We should ask them if they just prefer certain forms, or if there's something more to it - we don't want to leave training extra forms for the far future and then later be told "You really should have been working on your adapting if you wanted to use more forms! Don't you know it gets harder/impossible the longer you leave it?"