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Fractured Fantasy: A CK2 Style Final Fantasy quest

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MagewyrmMira said:
Just as a reminder, she's currently laying low and recovering after this boss fight. It's probably possible for us to make contact with Reeve without her doing too much of note and get some information on what's going on with Shinra/Jenova's biggest potential power base, and form a better plan from there.
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yeah, there's currently a lull where we can do a lot with no chance of retalliation, when i'm talking about issues they're all stuff that'd happen after that (can still learn of/expose us for things we've done after the fact?)
Alatie said:
Hrm...maybe not JENOVA but what about Roche?
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if roche's off the grid then that's a viable plan yeah, and from then could maybe even raise concerns/connections regarding JENOVA? hmm. might not hurt them too much since they're able to shapeshift/subvert different people, but certainly can't hurt to try
Sirrocco said:
I don't feel like industrial sabotage is really one of our strong points... and I don't think we should be trying to make it a strong point. I feel like it's not actually all that effective. Like... Avalanche did that in a fair number of places and... I don't feel like it ever really helped much?

If nothing else, I feel like we need to have "Convince the people of Timber that they don't want a Mako reactor." as a step one on that thing, because if Timber still wants it and Shinra still wants it, then blowing it up isn't doing anything other than pissing Shinra off a bit, delaying it some, and taking some money out of their pocketbook. Shinra isn't exactly short on money.

Once we've convinced them that they don't want one, we may find that we have better options for stopping it in deniable ways.
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this is a good point long-term.
in defence of direct action, currently the situation is that they've already agreed to it and Reeve's trying to stop it but can't act openly, so i guess the assumption is that if we as an external group stop the construction we'd give him the freedom to try and pivot away from it? like, if it's sabotaged he'll have the excuse to stop things on his end, so it's more valuable than just the immediate consequences of the sabotage?. at the very least should buy some time.

do agree that we don't really have the setup for sabotage though, i guess we'd benefit from asking Reeve how we can stop things? don't want to directly attack them since that'd expose us for later afterall...
 
Honestly, I feel like if we want to make "Stop the Timber reactor" into a significant priority, the way to do that is to take a trip out there, start talking with people, and find out more. If we don't want to do that, then we're admitting that stopping the Timber reactor isn't really a significant priority. I'm not sure that it should be a significant priority. We have a lot of stuff to focus on, really... like starting up our organization, and trying to recruit Zack out from under Shinra, and possibly trying to prep for Chaos, and recruiting more people and doing more study of the magical stuff we already have and so forth.

Now, my understanding is that Mako Reactors aren't the kind of thing that gets completed quickly. Like, do we have any real idea of how long it is before that thing completes?

My suggestion? Head back home, do some recruiting and finish doing the things we need to do to set up our faction. At this point, I'm thinking some sort of Company for our faction type, probably with a medical bent. As far as recruits, Zack is an obvious win, and we have Partitio right there. We've got two Octopath protagonists in the group already, and they're naturally inclined to get along with one another. I'm pretty sure that if we can present him with a compelling enough overall plan and also agree to support whatever his personal ambition is, he'll be happy enough to join. Then once we're done setting things up in town, we head over to Timber with a bunch of diplomatic and mercantile personnel to expand our company's footprint. It gives us an in, it gives us a reason to be talking with people, and we can find out what's going on while also expressing concern about what Mako Reactors do to the environment (because, you know, we are all about medical herbs). It lets us point out whatever medically useful herbs they might have around as a potentially valuable export that competes with the reactor, and so forth. If we find that we have to come back with a team that can Go Loud, then we can do that, sure, but we'll do it with more information and more groundwork laid.
 
Sirrocco said:
We have a lot of stuff to focus on, really... like starting up our organization, and trying to recruit Zack out from under Shinra, and possibly trying to prep for Chaos, and recruiting more people and doing more study of the magical stuff we already have and so forth.
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Don't forget whatever the heck is happening in the Gesthalian Empire in terms of priorities!
 
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  • Voting

    • Aerith is now Level 4

    [Max HP increased by 1]
    [Max MP increased by 2]
    [Limit Break Improved: Seal Evil]
    [Seal Evil: [Automatically inflict Stop on all enemies for 1 turn, as well as Silence and Slow on all enemies for 3 turns.]

    [] Tempest: A non-elemental blast that explodes on contact with an enemy. If this spell beats the enemy's roll/Evade DC by 50 or more, they are staggered. [Costs 1 MP. Base damage: 3.]
    [] Sorcerous Storm: Aerith conjures a magic storm that deals non-elemental damage to all enemies [Costs 3 MP. Base damage: 2. Current full damage, 5]
    [] Lustrous Shield: A shining barrier appears in front of Aerith to deflect attacks. [Passive: Aerith can now defend against physical attacks and projectiles using Magic instead of Martial. This effect is blocked if she is silenced or out of MP. On a successful deflect, the enemy takes a single, unresistable point of damage]
    [] All Together Now!: Allows the user to turn a single target ability or spell into a multi-target one. This can only be done so often without causing exhaustion. [Turn a single active ability into a multi-target ability for a single turn. Requires a cooldown of 1d3+1 turns before All Together Now can be used again]

    Agnea is now Level 3

    [Max HP increased by 2]
    [Max MP increased by 1]

    [] Windy Refrain: With the wind at your back, you feel refreshed, invigorated even! Your competition, not so much. [Costs 4 MP. Attack all enemies with a wind spell. Grants all allies 1 turn of Haste]
    [] Dagger Dance: Even the Lady of Grace had enemies, and it is said she took up the dagger as a tool of self-defense. This dance is said to be the result of her training. [Costs 2 MP. Make a normal strength attack against all available targets]
    [] The Show Must Go On: A truly talented dancer will leave a lasting impression, providing encouragement even after they have stopped moving. [Rather than immediately ending, the effect of Agnea's "dance" skills will be cut in half the following turn. As an example, if Agnea performs the same dance two turns in a row, the bonus will become +15. If she is interrupted or stops dancing, it will be +5 the following turn
    [] Fancy Footwork: [Agnea's evasion is increased by 5 at all times. This bonus is doubled while she is dancing. Also provides a 50% chance to resist getting staggered or knocked down.]
    Something for you guys to think about and vote on as I work on the next updates. As per usual, I'll give you about a day to think and then open the vote.
     
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  • Voting
    • We lack a proper tank character in our current default party lineup, so Lustrous Shield seems pretty useful for keeping Aerith alive. Though Sorcerous Storm would instead give her some base AoE capabilities, which would also be handy.
     
    [] All Together Now!: Allows the user to turn a single target ability or spell into a multi-target one. This can only be done so often without causing exhaustion. [Turn a single active ability into a multi-target ability for a single turn. Requires a cooldown of 1d3+1 turns before All Together Now can be used again]

    [] Windy Refrain: With the wind at your back, you feel refreshed, invigorated even! Your competition, not so much. [Costs 4 MP. Attack all enemies with a wind spell. Grants all allies 1 turn of Haste]

    These both seem pretty handy to me!
     
    griffinlw said:
    [] Lustrous Shield: A shining barrier appears in front of Aerith to deflect attacks. [Aerith can now defend against physical attacks and projectiles using Magic instead of Martial. This effect is blocked if she is silenced or out of MP. On a successful deflect, the enemy takes a single, unresistable point of damage]
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    oh, a boost to the guard action? if so could be valuable tactically with how much we need to use it due to boss mechanics
    "all together now" also is something we've been interested in but it can't be spammed so it's more of a "apply bio to everything on the field" sort of thing instead of a "efficiently dispatch swarms" one? it does however not have any additional cost? so could be great when applied to something able to take out some enemies in one hit, or in the aforementioned situation where we want to apply a debuff to the whole screen. we're probably due for a difficult boss with adds where that'd come in handy
    [] Fancy Footwork: [Agnea's evasion is increased by 5 at all times. This bonus is doubled while she is dancing. Also provides a 50% chance to resist getting staggered or knocked down.]
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    passives are pretty good too and this gives more staying power. maybe only beaten by "the show must go on". if I'm reading that right, it basically gives all buffs a +5 the following turn for free?
    I don't think Agnea needs more buffs when she already has some, though admittedly offensive capability on her *would* be good? hmm
     
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    [] Lustrous Shield: A shining barrier appears in front of Aerith to deflect attacks. [Aerith can now defend against physical attacks and projectiles using Magic instead of Martial. This effect is blocked if she is silenced or out of MP. On a successful deflect, the enemy takes a single, unresistable point of damage]

    This is a significant upgrade to Aerith's ability to defend against attacks. We have a Martial stat of 13 right now, and if I'm reading the character sheet right our Magic stat is 34. While the other abilities are appealing, especially the one which converts single-target attacks to multi-target ones, we'd not get much use out of it with our currently limited spell/ability roster. We need to take advantage of our Natural Spellcaster trait and start using Materia until we don't need it to cast spells anymore, before we'd get much use out of the ability to target more than a single enemy at a time.

    Agnea is a much tougher call, casting Haste on all allies and attacking all enemies on the field is powerful, but so is the ability for her dances' bonus to linger a turn after they are performed. I'm leaning towards Windy Refrain given that she's unlikely to be a purely support/backline fighter for the near future, and I believe that such an ability will allow us to quickly clear battles if used effectively.
     
    Lustrous Shield looks handy considering we're lacking a proper tank in our Hero group although it's not like we'll meet JENOVA again anytime soon. All together Now is mostly a single use in most of combat encounters (it's between 2-4 turns of Cooldown) which may lead us to Elixir Syndrome or leave it unavailable when truly needed... Sorcerous Storm seems like a solid AoE that lacks the same limitation unless we can somehow Nurture our Materias or bond with Shiva.

    (Btw @griffinlw do we keep the ones from Roche or did Tantalus take them on account of Zidane being the one that did the stealing? If so Did Roche's one retain their trained Status? They guy tried to use Thundara on us after all)

    Angea is even tougher. Passive buffs and Stacking on Dances seems nice although Windy Refrain and Dagger Dance provide us once again with nice AoE options... Gah that will be tough.

    Doctor Elsewhere said:
    I'm leaning towards Windy Refrain given that she's unlikely to be a purely support/backline fighter for the near future, and I believe that such an ability will allow us to quickly clear battles if used effectively.
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    That's fair although I assume we'll likely try to recruit Shadow Every single chance we get knowing our tendencies. This guy is just too handy to have around
     
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    Kirya said:
    (Btw @griffinlw do we keep the ones from Roche or did Tantalus take them on account of Zidane being the one that did the stealing? If so Did Roche's one retain their trained Status? They guy tried to use Thundara on us after all)
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    Right, I forgot about that. So, here's the thing. Tantalus actually can't use the Materia right now. See, it needs a Materia Slot for them to use it with, and they don't have any. They could theoretically buy some weapons with Materia slots... in Midgar. The place they just finished escaping from. Plus, most of them use knives which don't have a lot of space anyway.

    In the end, it was more about preventing Roche from having it than anything else. They'll give you the Fire Materia and the Thunder Materia
     
    Does Lustrous Shield take effect every time Aerith gets attacked? or just when she's using the Defend action? That makes a big difference in how powerful it is.
     
    griffinlw said:
    In the end, it was more about preventing Roche from having it than anything else. They'll give you the Fire Materia and the Thunder Materia
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    Yeah good to know. Wanted to confirm our options for now since having Fire Materia does improve our odds. We do need to find some items with slots. Wonder it Shinra Caravan sells something.

    griffinlw said:
    Every time she's attacked, assuming that she isn't out of MP or Silenced
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    That's basically boosting her Physical defenses by 20 points... Considering she's only slightly more durable than wet cardboard it would come in handy.
     
    [] Lustrous Shield

    Just the massive jump in defensive power when not silenced is so worth it.

    The other level up I'm not sure what I want from it yet.
     
    I'm a sucker for passives. Also, Lustrous Shield is really good... especially since it apparently allows her retrib damage against projectiles if they roll poorly.

    For Agnea... I'm inclined to go with Fancy Footwork? Evasion is always nice, and she should be dancing most of the time in serious fights anyway.
     
    Windy Refrain also seems useful though. Our party lacks AoE, and that spell can double as a buff.

    griffinlw said:
    Sweeping Gale: Dancers often learn basic magic to enhance their performances or fight in a pinch. This particular dancer learned a basic wind spell. [Costs 1 MP. Inflicts Wind/Aero type damage. Damage Modifier: 3]
    Lion Dance/Peacock Strut: One purpose of dancing is to invigorate the bodies and minds of others. Lion Dance strengthens the body, while Peacock Strut sharpens the mind. [Passive. Boost the entire party's Martial or Magic rolls by 10. Only one dance can be active at a time. The effects of the dance end if Agnea is under any status effect that prevents normal action (paralyze, petrify, confuse, KO, and so on)]
    Ruinous Kick: Never underestimate the kick of someone who dances for a living. When you spend your life stepping, strutting, sashaying, and stomping, is it any surprise you can kick like a horse? [Costs a minimum of 2 MP, but can spend more to enhance effects. For every extra point of MP spent, increase martial roll by 5 and damage by 1. On hit, stagger the target.]
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    Although dang, maybe instead we'd rather spare Agnea's MP for single-target damage. Ruinous Kick with increased amounts of MP seems absolutely devastating.

    So yeah, maybe have Agnea focus on passives so she can save all of her MP for a mega-Ruinous Kick as a single target smasher.
     
    if Shield is totally passive unless silenced, that should notably increase our staying power (and add a disincentive for them to attack Aerith on the side:) so long as they're not silenced, it sounds great? it's definitely harder to boost defence compared to just unlocking more spells too (could feasibly unlock more/an AoE by training?), so i think it could be better than all together now, especially if we're not going to Cid instantly (i am in agreement to meet Reeve first

    hm, maybe we'll have enough Exp to level again before we're drastically in need of AoEs if we take an action to fight that Dalmasca sewers boss? could be worth it, at least so long as it doesn't prevent us from doing the other stuff on the list
     
    Oh. Okay yeah, I was set on the AoE ability until I heard the shield follows the same rules as Ruin. Damn, that's a really big boost to Aerith's survivability, holy crud. Forget getting a dedicated tank, Aerith can already be one. What's the math on it, effectively multiplying Aerith's HP by 150% or something?

    I'm inclined to Windy Refrain mainly for the Haste, since that guarantees our entire party going first in the turn order with it active.

    Edit: Guess I should actually put in my votes.
    [X] Lustrous Shield
    [X] Windy Refrain

    @griffinlw I also just want to double check to make sure I didn't misunderstand something; will Lustrous Shield functionally be a Defend that's always active (when Aerith isn't Silenced or out of MP), or does it mean that any defensive rolls that key off Martial will instead use Magic?
     
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    MagewyrmMira said:
    @griffinlw I also just want to double check to make sure I didn't misunderstand something; will Lustrous Shield functionally be a Defend that's always active (when Aerith isn't Silenced or out of MP), or does it mean that any defensive rolls that key off Martial will instead use Magic?
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    Defense rolls will key off Magic instead of Martial, as long as she isn't silenced or out of MP. It's not a defend that's always active; that would be.... a bit too much I think.
     
    Not voting yet, need to sleep, but putting my thoughts together.

    [ ] Lustrous Shield

    Aerith's best stat is her Magic, and being able to key her defensive rolls most of the time to her best stat with the add-on of the counter damage if she wins is very good. I'm looking at All Together Now, and if I'm not mistaken, isn't that also Agnea's Latent Power from Octopath 2? Curious as to how that would work on Agnea's sheet, what with Lion Dance and Peacock Strut ( the good initial targets for it ) automatically being multitarget now.

    [ ] Fancy Footwork

    Fancy Footwork gives Agnea some baseline durability, and if she has the corresponding dance up for defense, she ends up with a 33 versus Magic or a 37 versus Physical! That's pretty dang good. The fact that it also helps protect her from Stagger and getting knocked down (both of which shut down her dances) is icing on the cake.
    The Show Must Go On is also very interesting, allowing her and allies to retain the half the benefits of her dance even if she gets knocked down or out for a turn. I can also see it being a good option.
    Unlike in Octopath 2, where Agnea can end up with an Allured' dance partner to keep her SP topped off just by firing off a dance skill, Agnea kind of needs her MP here. And while Windy Refrain is an excellent AoE + Support effect, don't get me wrong, it's a hefty drag on her MP. For the moment, I think we might be better off with giving Agnea some defenses (Fancy Footwork) or to keep her songs going even if she's down (The Show Must Go On) while saving her SP for Ruinous Kick.

    ... Also just reread Agnea's sheet, I wonder if her Entreat personal trait lets her add half of her diplomacy to her intrigue score for initiative purposes in face to face combat? She was very fast in Octo 2, and with Intrigue working as the initiative stat her, it would make some amount of sense.
     
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