CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
That's a lot later than I originally thought. Do we have to wait til fifth year for an elective or is cultivation gonna get faster over time?
Hogwarts Sect of Witchcraft and Wizardry
- Thread starter Karf
- Start date
- Fantasy
We don't know enough about future stages and milestones to tell, but the QM said:
We also know this:
so we know that, at least.
We also know this:
Jeremy is a fifth year.
My bad, that's a typo. Good catch, will fix. It should read Foundation Establishment.
Of potions and potion-master's students I
[X] Plan: Artiste
- [X][Boon] A jar of perpetually boiling fish soup.
- [X][Training] Potions (x4)
- [X][Social] Given how often magical portraits seem to come up in your brief time at Hogwarts, perhaps you should learn more about them. A tiny part of your mind also whispers that it would be cool to bring your doodles to life.
- -[X] 3 points
- [X][Social] Your team is assembled for training against the Slytherins.
- [X][Social] Near the end of the month, the pitch once again awaits you, and you're anxious to return and prove that once wasn't a fluke.
- [X][Transfiguration] Humble Light Bringer Law
- -[X] Light-eater technique
Potions pools rolled twice due to boon. Any ones rerolled once due to bottomless bag.
- Potions - pool: [8,
1, 13,1, 10, 10, 16, 11]/[11, 14, 11, 13, 5, 14] > rolls: [100+30] > total: 130 > progress: 130/150 - Potions - pool: [16, 9, 3,
1, 8, 9, 6]/[6, 20, 9, 8, 16, 9] > rolls: [68+30, 55+30] > total: 183 > progress: 313/150 - 163/200 - Potions - pool: [15, 4, 6, 9, 14, 12]/[16, 18,
1, 9, 2, 19, 7] > rolls: [17+30, 11+30, 85+30] > total: 203 > progress: 366/200 - 166/200 - Potions - pool: [11, 14, 18, 11, 11, 4]/[6, 7, 13, 11, 3, 19] > rolls: [67+30] > total: 97 > progress: 263/200 - 63/200
"Right," you half-shout, "I've had it with this thing. Why would an elder give me such an useless gift? Lisa," you whirl to the other Ravenclaw, "you're sure the jar isn't to blame?"
She shrugs, "We've been over this. Discounting the fact that it was made by an Elder, I don't see why or how it would continue to influence the liquid after you've taken it out."
"Hermione, you thought this could be a potion effect? Is this a thing potions do, stay permanently fresh?"
The bushy haired girl nods, "If you read the fifth chapter of "Magical Drafts and Potions", it's clearly stated that when using fresh, high quality ingredients, blue grade and below potions sustain their effects through absorbing ambient Qi. A Potion of Bubbling Magma remains my best guess as to what we're dealing with. It's actually what Hogwarts uses to give us hot showers, according to "Hogwarts, a History". Although, it's described more like a viscous gel, but I'm sure there are derivatives."
You eye the... potion? "I will not be stumped by a boiled fish. I'm eating this, before the month is up. Mark my words."
Thus sufficiently motivated, you end up emptying the library of beginner level potions textbooks and fish out your cauldron, cleaning out the dust that's settled within. You still vaguely recall Elder Snape's lecture, and the emphasis he put on the brewing of Alkahest. Indeed, nearly all of the tomes you skim start with the same thing, only the oldest ones instead talking about dragon blood.
Who are you to go against commonly accepted wisdom - brewing alkahest it is. It helps that there are only three ingredients: water, Qi, and a single drop of human blood. You've got the first two in spades... well, you've got the third one too, but it takes you a lot of effort to prick yourself with the needle from your sewing kit. It's a challenge, both mentally and physically, seeing as the needle bends a little before piercing your skin, but you do eventually manage to gather a drop of the crimson liquid from the back of your hand. Dipping the needle in your water-filled cauldron, you officially begin brewing your first ever potion.
Within minutes, you realize that doing this in your dorm room bathroom was a big mistake. While your cauldron has a drawer in the bottom to hold kindling or coals, the smoke has nowhere to go in the tiny space. The second observation you make is that Alkahest's unofficial title of 'Universal Solvent' is quite apt, at least judging by the smell. It certainly stinks like an unholy lovechild of industrial bleach and ammonia. You cut the flow of your Qi, flush the content of your cauldron down the drain and retreat to regroup for the next attempt.
There's a lot of little things like that that you learn over the next week. Thankfully, you're joined by Lisa, who also decides to dip her toe in potions, but it quickly becomes apparent that however good she may be with charms, you outpace her in potions. There's little else to it than following instructions, but with how exacting and strict those are, there's still plenty of room for error. That said, it feels good to - for once - not be floundering in the dark. Before long, you have your first stoppered bottle of Alkahest, and the knowledge of how to use it. Paradoxically, it both concentrates and dilutes at the same time. A single dose of Alkahest is barely the size of a thimble, regardless of how much of the original potion would grant the same effect. In order to 'prime' it however, you only need a single drop from the original mixture, which can be made as small as you'd like. There is of course a limit: basically every source agrees that the basic version of Alkahest becomes toxic to your Qi after three thimblefuls, and the effects linger for approximately one lunar month. There are references to later volumes refining the potion to reduce the backlash and enable more doses, but when you've no potions to mimic, three will do just fine.
You also learn from a quick conversation with Justin, who once promised to help his fellow disciples with potions, that Elders Snape and Sprout maintain a stockpile of sub-par, but still useable ingredients for students to experiment with, in lieu of you sourcing your own. To your delight, not only is the massive storeroom beneath the greenhouses filled with all manner of dried plants and withered animal parts, but one of the shelves holds a bounty of brewing equipment: cauldrons, alembics, burners, pestles and beakers. They're not quite as enchanted as your own device, but you're assured by an older, distracted Gryffindor student who also happens to be browsing the wares that any dangerously damaged ones are removed by the elders.
Boldened by your success, and freshly aware of just how much of brewing is just waiting around, you decide on a two-pronged attack. In the latter stages of your Alkahest experimentation, you had plenty of time to page through potion cookbooks, writing down a handful or recipes you want to try your hand at. You might have some trouble carrying out the mish-mash of ingredients if it wasn't for your conveniently bottomless bag, and you can already see how being perfectly organized with your supplies is going to come in handy. Instead of laying out the whole spread of reagents and frantically scrambling to find the right herb at the right moment, you can keep them in the sack, read the recipe line by line and pull out exactly what you need from the same place every time. When a potion requires three breaths of Qi, a snap of the right hand and a sixty degree counter-clockwise spin between adding juniper berries and blueberries, which very much look alike when pickled, you're sure to avoid a mistake or two thanks to your early gift.
Now, it's just a matter of narrowing the field down to the two you'll actually start brewing:
[][Potions] Potion of the Brave Snowflake
The inside of the glass is covered in frost flowers, and lone drops at the end of your pipette quickly form into tiny liquid snowflakes, weirdly wobbly yet still crystalline. A dose of the mixture grants you greater resistance against cold, and rain and sleet fall off you like water off a duck. Your skin feels clammy and cold to touch, and your breath no longer fogs up the bathroom mirror, no matter how hard you try. Similarly, working up a sweat proves to be impossible, your body kept cool by magic instead.
Every combat pool die 18 or greater immediately deals 5 damage to the opponent, regardless of who has more successes overall.
-???
[][Potions] Potion of the Astronomer Hawk
Like clear quicksilver, the potion flows down the funnel supernaturally fast as you pour it into the bottle. Drinking it grants you vastly enhanced eyesight, not only letting you see far away details as if they were right in front of you and under a magnifying glass, but also making motion stand out in a wholly new way. It took you a moment to realize that the hazy mist in front of your face is the air moving because of your breath.
You start with initiative, and the first time you would lose initiative, you don't instead.
-???
[][Potions] Potion of the Careful Sommelier
Even you've heard of the schoolyard horror stories of people going blind from drinking wiper fluid, so it's with some trepidation that you down the dose, knowing full well that one of the ingredients used was methanol. Whether or not it works, you're also not keen to find out. The potion confers resistance to all manner of poisons and is supposed to settle adverse reactions from consuming other potions. It also suppresses the rejection reaction of too much alkahest, so it's commonly used in hospitals to switch out whatever cocktail the unfortunate cultivator was on for treatment potions.
You recover 10 health per round.
-???
[][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
When you finish brewing the draught, it looks like your cauldron is filled with sand. Placing a ladle on top breaks the illusion, the metal slipping beneath the grains in moments. The effect of the potion is simple: it makes your muscles tougher, your bones stronger, your skin more dense. Carefully at first, you test it by hitting a stone wall; the first punch you instinctively pull, barely tapping the masonry, but all you feel is the pressure, no pain. Ramping up, you practically need to throw your whole weight behind your punch - not that that means much, you're not exactly a trained martial artist - before the sensation becomes mildly unpleasant.
When active, damage taken is reduced by 10 or 10%, whichever is greater.
-???
[][Potions] Potion of the Sleepy Sandman
The liquid in the clear beaker looks like a lava lamp, golden bubbles slowly drifting in a purple oil. Despite what the name would suggest, the mixture is actually supposed to help with concentration and maintaining focus in the face of exhaustion or distraction. While you don't have a good way to quantify the effect, waking up in the morning is certainly less of a chore and getting lost in a book has never been easier.
When your opponent has initiative for more than 1 round, every consecutive round decreases their pool size by 1, reset when they lose initiative.
-???
As you can extrapolate from the options above, finished potions provide boons to combat. As a complement to Defense - Physical Cultivation - they strengthen and enhance your body and natural abilities. Pick the two you finish, top two become part of your arsenal. Since you're not yet at your Alkahest limit, they'll immediately become active. Once you have more potions than you can simultaneously apply, you'll be able to decide which ones you'd like active for the month in the usual plan format. If you don't want to make a change, leave that part out and Rei will default to the same three she used last month.
There is also the matter of the hidden property. At the risk of either providing spoilers or stating the obvious (one or the other, anyways), Herbology can be used, among other things, to further augment your brews.
Also, note that as the Quidditch match happens at the end of the month, Rei will have the chance to apply the potions already. Some effects may be diluted as per usual in accounting for bigger teams, but they'll still dip things in your favor.
There is also the matter of the hidden property. At the risk of either providing spoilers or stating the obvious (one or the other, anyways), Herbology can be used, among other things, to further augment your brews.
Also, note that as the Quidditch match happens at the end of the month, Rei will have the chance to apply the potions already. Some effects may be diluted as per usual in accounting for bigger teams, but they'll still dip things in your favor.
- [X][Social] Given how often magical portraits seem to come up in your brief time at Hogwarts, perhaps you should learn more about them. A tiny part of your mind also whispers that it would be cool to bring your doodles to life.
- Roll: 87
"I have-" she croaks back, descending into a coughing fit. "Good god, this is awful. Anyway, yes, I'm almost done with my first talisman. Why do you ask?"
You've found a room with nothing but unlit fireplaces inside, and they serve ably as fume hoods for your efforts. Well, as ably as they can - you're still pretty sure you'll never have to worry about having nose hair ever again, and the entire place stinks like nail polish remover.
"You ever look up how they make the paintings move?" you elaborate, carefully shining a lit wand through your solution. Your focus has remained on your cauldron, but when she doesn't respond, you turn, worried that the vapors have gotten her. Instead, she's staring at you wide-eyed.
"Lisa?"
"How did I never think of that? You're right, it's got to be a charm of some kind. This demands an investigation!" she leaps to her feet. "To the- ack-"
She tries to strike a pose, but there's a reason you're both sprawled on the floor. The gases get stronger the higher you go, and she definitely didn't remember that. Still, you can share in her enthusiasm, albeit more mutedly.
"My batch is done, and I hate to say it, but I think yours should be see-through by now. Might as well dump it and get some fresh air," you reply, not needing much of an excuse to leave the potions for a moment.
"Yeah! Wait, really? I was sure I got it right this time."
A short trip to the library later sees you huddled over a thick tome titled "The Art of Art, volume 2". However, much to your dismay, it's target audience clearly isn't first years.
"Do you think the first part would be better?" Lisa asks, her own cursory search producing even less results.
You sigh. "I checked, it's loaned out."
"Drat," she leans back and stretches, "You'd think it was easier, what with how many portraits there are everywhere."
"It probably is, this is just a bit too comprehensive."
"Yeah, well," she stands, "let me know when you figure it out."
"You're already giving up?" you raise an eyebrow at her.
"Not all of us are winning house points left and right you know. I need to get my nose back on the grindstone," she says in reply.
"Need any help?"
"Nah, I've got it under control. But don't you worry, you'll be the first on my list come exams." she waves you off, then saunters away, leaving you with an incomprehensible book and a single lead.
Anyone can loan books, and the librarian, Madam Pince, keeps a ledger of all books outside the library. You've signed your own name in it plenty of times, and you know that if you ask nicely, she'll let you have a peek. Thus, you obtain the name of the person with the first volume - a Hufflepuff simply signed 'Philip'. Asking around at dinner has a fifth year Hufflepuff prefect give you directions to an out of the way classroom, and after a few minutes - and a ladder you had to climb on one foot, or the trap door wouldn't open - you reach your destination. The class, if it could be called that, is circular, with a few tall, narrow windows and a raised podium in the center. An easel stands on the dais, and you can see the feet of the room's occupant from between its legs. The person you hope is Philip is obscured by a wide canvas.
"Senior Brother Philip?"
A tall youth emerges, wiping his hands on a color-splotched rag. "That's me."
You're pretty sure the book is a longshot, but judging by the atelier you're in, perhaps there's a better option. "I was hoping I could ask you some questions about art."
He tucks the rag in his belt and scratches the wispy stubble on his chin, regarding you for a moment. "Miss Young, right? Chauncey couldn't shut up about you."
Chauncey, Chauncey, where have you heard that name before? 'Wait, that's that chaser!' The one you won against, a few months ago.
It's no surprise that the seventh-year can read your expression, and he chuckles. "Don't worry, He was just impressed that you could keep up with the barrage. What did you want to ask?"
"Uh... I tried to go through 'The Art of Art', but at least the second part was a bit beyond me. I saw that you had the first volume, but really, I was just wondering how to make pictures move."
With a wave of his hand and the sound of fluttering paper, a tall stool appears behind him, and he sits on it, legs resting on the framework, regarding you with a blank expression.
"I know of four methods. What's your preferred medium, and subject?"
"I draw, so pencils. Most of my sketches are of candid moments - people, but not portraits. Well, the vast majority are just doodles, but besides those."
"Gotcha. That narrows it down. Now, unless you're a transfiguration prodigy that'd make Elder McGonagall giggle like a girly, you probably know nothing about object meridian networks?"
It's a rhetorical question, but you shake your head in the negative anyway.
"In short, you paint in the channels and let Qi take it from there, but that's challenging for a Core Formation disciple, let alone a first year. And if you're drawing people not on the cusp of ascension, then spirit entrapment is out too, don't even ask. That leaves talismanic art and wand-work. Got any ties to a prominent, well-to-do clan?"
"Just a mortal father."
His aloof look softens. "Ah, with all the rumors flying about, I assumed... well, no matter. Talismanic art is when you work with inscribed ink; or graphite, in your case. Single color is manageable, but it requires either seriously fast drawing or excellent timing and imagination. The paint is animated as soon as it touches the canvas, so it's kind of like playing pin the donkey, and if you want color, it gets worse: each tone has different ideas about what it wants to do or be. Since it's a novelty product, buying it just to practice can get expensive, fast. You might want to make your own, but... we'll come back to that."
You wait for him to continue, wondering what he means by that.
"That leaves wand-work. Basically anything can be turned into a temporary charm. With diligence and careful effort, temporary can mean a few years, maybe even a decade or two. Although you'll probably be looking at a few minutes to an hour of motion at first."
"That sounds fine," you say, "It's always been more of a hobby. Does that method have a specific name, or can you perhaps recommend some books?"
He leans back, and reaches what appears to be inside his own painting. "As luck would have it, there are some books I can recommend, ones far better than the dry academia you can dig up in the library, at that. Better, and more expensive."
Aha, you've done this song and dance before. Truly, the elders' wisdom is fathomless, your haggling with Elder Kettleburn already coming into play. "I have a point I could spare for them."
"Sorry, I've been unclear. These are my private notes, detailing very personal observations. I could not, in good consciousness, depart with them for less than five."
'Five!?' you nearly sputter, catching yourself at the last moment. "But I can't afford that. Surely Senior Brother could have mercy, you already know everything in there, and you said yourself that this is a niche field. Maybe we could agree to two?"
Instead of answering, he looks you up and down before focusing on your eyes. "How many could you afford?"
Not answering at all would probably be rude, and lying is doomed to failure. You are a few realms above some of your classmates, and you can get a pretty good read on what they're thinking. For someone doubtlessly more than a handful of stages above you, you're an open book. "Four, but that's too many."
Philip lets out a theatrical sigh. "Three then, that's my final offer, and a promise from you."
"A promise?"
"My cousin will - fingers crossed - be attending Hogwarts next year. I want you to give the notes to him, when the time is right."
You bite your lip, indecisive. Three points is a lot, and you've no guarantee that his notes are actually worthwhile. You doubt he's outright lying to you, but is a novelty project really something you want to commit to? Your hesitance must be clear on your face, because the older disciple chuckles and stands up.
"Tell you what, come here for a sec. No one should buy a pig in a bag, I want to show you something," he says, beckoning you to his canvas, and that's not something you need to think twice about, almost skipping over to see.
The frame is both taller and wider than your whole height of a bit less than five feet. In the center of the picture, a blond child stands in the very room you're in, holding an instant camera, smiling and waving at you before snapping a quick picture. The flash blinds you for a moment, actual light shining from the incredibly lifelike picture, and by the time you blink the spots from your vision, he's flapping a polaroid into visibility, containing your own miniature visage.
"That's Colin, my little cousin," Philip says, a fond smile on his face. "The little flashbug's an absolute nutter over photography. That's why my notes are important - no one's tried to figure out how to merge modern cameras and immortal charms, it's all flash pans and temporary animation for the newspapers, enchanted paper for fliers. If anyone's gonna do it, it'll be him, and I'm certainly not standing in his way. This is how you know my notes aren't just fluff."
If the depth of the image in front of you, the richness of color and the sheer joy of expression hadn't convinced you, the story certainly does. "You'd give those to me?"
He nods. "Worst comes to pass, I can always rewrite them, you're right about that. This is more me just looking out for my relative. Getting him acquainted with a Senior Sister that's also interested in art? Worth the risk."
"I promise."
You barely make it down the tower and into more familiar corridors before you're paging through the notebook, neat script devoured by your eyes as you scan the headings for an idea of what you've bought.
[][Boon] On the longevity of temporary animation charms
A charm schematic catches your eye, an animation of a wand tracing runic symbols into a book. It really doesn't look that complicated - you could probably figure out some basic theory points from just that.
For the next turn, the sum of all dice in a pool is added as progress towards the respective action target.
[][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
With your recent foray into transfiguration, the talk of aspects does not, in fact, go over your head. The text details how to recognize aspects in art, and separate the subject from the object. It certainly seems a novel way to approach the world, and one you can see being beneficial in a multitude of ways.
For the next turn, any pool die strictly greater than 10 adds another die to that pool.
[][Boon] Ingredients most compatible with common paper
So this is what Philip meant by coming back to talismanic art later. Several sets of instructions for how to animate a number of different paints and paint-like substances, including graphite. You could make this work with some effort, you recognize some of the ingredients from your potions experiments - they're not that rare.
For the next turn, all progress is also added to Herbology at one third of the value (rounded up).
- [X][Social] Your team is assembled for training against the Slytherins.
- Roll: 75
Jeremy has a light in his eyes, and he's running the whole team ragged, forcing you to practice in terrible weather conditions and even going so far as to use his own techniques to give every exercise just a bit more of an edge. Thankfully, he hasn't transformed into a sadistic taskmaster with no explanation - one he readily supplies when the team first gathers in the locker room.
"We won the first game, and we're going to win the second game, but it won't be easy. Slytherin is an entirely different beast. If Hufflepuff focuses on teamwork and Gryffindors are all speed and offense, then Flynt is absolutely ruthless in exploiting weaknesses. And in his eyes that means you, Rei. We know he's wrong, and there is no weakness in the Ravenclaw team, but he doesn't think like that. He's in the same year as Bole and Derrick - their beater duo - and his unofficial nickname is the third beater. They work well together and they will come at you with every intent of hurting you until you stay down."
His expression is serious, and you're glad to know he's not sugarcoating things or treating you with kid gloves. You give him a resolute nod, and he continues, "I've seen him use the quaffle as a makeshift bludger, and I'm pretty sure he has some sort of a technique the elders deem appropriate which lets him harden it even further. If he's shooting, go for deflections and parries, or make sure your whole body is behind the catch, he's sprained keepers' wrists before."
He takes a moment to let the advice sink in, before smiling and taking a more relaxed tone, "However, there's good news too. Both Pucey and Montague - the other chasers - are new, and they didn't look amazing against Gryffindor. That's double reason for them to go after you, but from a team perspective, that just means they'll suck at scoring. Me, Roger and Randy will demolish them in the midfield and defense. I have every intention of putting a snitches' worth of points in the holes."
He turns to the beaters next, "Duncan, you're still on Rei duty, no reason to fix what ain't broken. Jason, you're falling back this time, stick to our side of the field. When you get a bludger, try to juggle it between the two of you or send it after Higgs," - the seeker, you recall - "just keep them out of Slytherin hands for as long as possible. If Pucey, Montague and Bletchley never see a bludger, that's fine by me."
Finally, he sizes up Morgan, "Not much to do as a seeker. If the game is going as planned for us, feel free to take a bludger on a walk. We don't need the snitch to win this one. Of course, if you get it, all the better."
The older boy shrugs, "Coinflip as usual."
"Then you'll be doing speed drills with Cho. Roger, Randolph - obstacle course interception with me," the two boys groan at the prospect; they'll be flying laps inside the stadium's framework, with extra beams added to make the claustrophobic experience even more dangerous. You've seen Jeremy make a mistake and slam straight through the oaken boards of the pitch rim. Suffice to say, you don't envy them.
"Beaters, I want Rei in one piece, but tenderized. Dodgeball time, keeper circle is the arena." Correction, you didn't envy them, until you hear your own task.
"Any questions?"
[][Tactics] Status quo
[][Tactics] Write-in
This is where you, the player, get to strategize. A few words will do for the write-in itself, if you elaborate in your post.
A 2 hour moratorium
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I'm not really sure what this means?
Edit: nvm I figured it out and wow it sounds strong. I'm torn between it and the extra die per 10+ roll option.
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-For the next turn, the sum of all dice in a pool is added as progress towards the respective action target.
Average of +60 progress per action (rounded), for a +240 total. This is the safest one, as in, we're guaranteed a sizable bonus progress pretty much regardless of our luck/successes.
-For the next turn, any pool die strictly greater than 10 adds another die to that pool.
This means we get our pool plus half our pool, on average, so 36d20 rather than 24d20. If we plan to train in Defense, which, thanks to the Potions milestones, now has a threshold of 12, that would put our successes per turn at an average of around 16 (I think?) which is an average of 1280 points (so a bonus of 400).
-For the next turn, all progress is also added to Herbology at one third of the value (rounded up).
If we plan to train in Defense, which, thanks to the Potions milestones, now has a threshold of 12, we'd get an average of around 11 successes per turn, which is an average of 880 point of progress. A third or that, rounded up, is 294 points for Herbology.
Average of +60 progress per action (rounded), for a +240 total. This is the safest one, as in, we're guaranteed a sizable bonus progress pretty much regardless of our luck/successes.
-For the next turn, any pool die strictly greater than 10 adds another die to that pool.
This means we get our pool plus half our pool, on average, so 36d20 rather than 24d20. If we plan to train in Defense, which, thanks to the Potions milestones, now has a threshold of 12, that would put our successes per turn at an average of around 16 (I think?) which is an average of 1280 points (so a bonus of 400).
-For the next turn, all progress is also added to Herbology at one third of the value (rounded up).
If we plan to train in Defense, which, thanks to the Potions milestones, now has a threshold of 12, we'd get an average of around 11 successes per turn, which is an average of 880 point of progress. A third or that, rounded up, is 294 points for Herbology.
The Potions benefits are harder to quantify and compare, mechanically.
-Every combat pool die 18 or greater immediately deals 5 damage to the opponent, regardless of who has more successes overall.
Since normally, the party with less successes (or same successes but no initiative) does no damage, this can be useful in chipping away at the opponent's health in those cases, as well as adding some damage to the total when we win the round.
-You start with initiative, and the first time you would lose initiative, you don't instead.
Guaranteed win in a tie for the first round (as long as the opponent doesn't have a similar trait, I'm assuming) and we keep that guarantee even after our first lost round.
-You recover 10 health per round.
Depending on how the fight is going (losing a round early makes it better) and how long the fight goes (the longer the better, after we take damage), this could mean a few tens of health recovered.
-When active, damage taken is reduced by 10 or 10%, whichever is greater.
Every time we lose a round, we lose at least 10 less HP, and even less if we receive 110+ damage. Is this the total damage in a round or the damage of each d100+bonus, @Karf ?
-When your opponent has initiative for more than 1 round, every consecutive round decreases their pool size by 1, reset when they lose initiative.
If we lose consecutive rounds, this makes it progressively easier for us to win a round, but the odds return to normal after that. Does this start from the 2nd round they have initiative or the 3rd, @Karf ?
-Every combat pool die 18 or greater immediately deals 5 damage to the opponent, regardless of who has more successes overall.
Since normally, the party with less successes (or same successes but no initiative) does no damage, this can be useful in chipping away at the opponent's health in those cases, as well as adding some damage to the total when we win the round.
-You start with initiative, and the first time you would lose initiative, you don't instead.
Guaranteed win in a tie for the first round (as long as the opponent doesn't have a similar trait, I'm assuming) and we keep that guarantee even after our first lost round.
-You recover 10 health per round.
Depending on how the fight is going (losing a round early makes it better) and how long the fight goes (the longer the better, after we take damage), this could mean a few tens of health recovered.
-When active, damage taken is reduced by 10 or 10%, whichever is greater.
Every time we lose a round, we lose at least 10 less HP, and even less if we receive 110+ damage. Is this the total damage in a round or the damage of each d100+bonus, @Karf ?
-When your opponent has initiative for more than 1 round, every consecutive round decreases their pool size by 1, reset when they lose initiative.
If we lose consecutive rounds, this makes it progressively easier for us to win a round, but the odds return to normal after that. Does this start from the 2nd round they have initiative or the 3rd, @Karf ?
The total.
The 2nd. They gain initiative with a normal roll, then roll 1 less the next time they attack.
These two together would make her pretty durable
That one is pretty tempting.
We need 688 to complete physical cultivation and 171 to complete spiritual). So we could try 3x physical and 1x spiritual?
If we get 2 successes on Spiritual we'd get on avg 220 points (incl the 60 point boon), I think.
- Location
- United Kingdom
To comment on this, moratoriums are only negative if you have very few voters and don't want another barrier to voting, or if your voting period itself is so short that a moratorium is detrimental.
Neither are really a problem for you, so it mostly just ensures more people have seen the update by the time the voting has opened.
This would be my first choice, partly for the use in Quidditch, partly for the use in art, and partly because it's just cool in general. Keeping initiative is nothing to sniff at either.
For the point boon, depending on what we pick we might actually be able to do 1 action Spiritual/3 actions Physical next turn, and get to Peak in both. I haven't had a chance to math it out fully though.
There is a more cynical explanation that leaves a bad taste in my mouth - you use them to keep your thread on the front page as people first discuss and then bump with single line votes when it's lifted, giving you double the limelight for no extra effort. I know it's a silly way to look at things, but I can't help myself, hence the short duration, despite popular demand.
Also, voting open, 2 hours have passed.
I'd rather not split the training until we have a fifth extra action, but if we did split it now, I'd much prefer Transfiguration x2 and History x2, rather than any combination with Physical, or History x1 only.
Finally, we should probably come up with some plan for Quidditch, rather than voting for the status quo again. Last time we did, the threshold was not affected, while with a plan of our own, it should/might.
Finally, we should probably come up with some plan for Quidditch, rather than voting for the status quo again. Last time we did, the threshold was not affected, while with a plan of our own, it should/might.
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I was also a little leery of doing a moratorium for my quest. Not only for the reason you stated, but also because I wasn't sure it was necessary. I ended up really liking my one-hour moratorium. I've discovered that people come up with better write-ins, and it feels a little less bandwagonny. And anyways, the minor boost in thread-upping is only temporary. You can always try it for a few sessions and then stop it if you don't like it.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X][Potions] Potion of the Astronomer Hawk
[X][Potions] Potion of the Careful Sommelier
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
[X][Boon] On the longevity of temporary animation charms
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
I'm feeling super indecisive this round so Imma just approval vote all the ones I like and hope for the best.
Got no idea what we should do for Quidditch tho.
[X][Potions] Potion of the Careful Sommelier
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
[X][Boon] On the longevity of temporary animation charms
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
I'm feeling super indecisive this round so Imma just approval vote all the ones I like and hope for the best.
Got no idea what we should do for Quidditch tho.
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
From the Spoiler: Mechanics tab after the options:
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
Good to know! In that case...
[X][Potions] Potion of the Brave Snowflake
[X][Potions] Potion of the Careful Sommelier
These should let us deal with anything that comes up during the game. We should only use one though so as to save the other two doses for the final game. (I think that's how potion doses work.)
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
I'm feeling lucky.
[X][Tactics] Status Quo
[X][Potions] Potion of the Brave Snowflake
[X][Potions] Potion of the Careful Sommelier
These should let us deal with anything that comes up during the game. We should only use one though so as to save the other two doses for the final game. (I think that's how potion doses work.)
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
I'm feeling lucky.
[X][Tactics] Status Quo
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@Karf , are we learning two potions because we achieved two milestones (beyond the 150 one that gave us Alkahest), so one per milestone? Is improving/expanding upon a potion not possible, unlike with techniques, or was it something you decided to "railroad" (for lack of a better term, no judgement from me) in order to not stall the update?
By the way, your potion descriptions are THE coolest. Nice work!
By the way, your potion descriptions are THE coolest. Nice work!
@WhoTheHeckity , I don't think that's how potions work. From that same Spoilers Mechanic tab:
Sounds to me like we can keep 3 effects up for the whole month. In story, the QM might make it look like we quaff down a potion at the appropriate time, but effectively, we always have those benefits.
- Location
- United Kingdom
I'd missed that we could pick 2 potions, that makes things easier.
[X][Potions] Potion of the Astronomer Hawk
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
[][Tactics] If they're going to gunning for you, maybe you could use yourself as bait and draw them out of position?
@Karf is this ok? Depending on the potions we pick we'll be better able to take a hit/avoid the bludgers, but I don't know how to make the plan anymore specific than that.
[X][Potions] Potion of the Astronomer Hawk
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
[][Tactics] If they're going to gunning for you, maybe you could use yourself as bait and draw them out of position?
@Karf is this ok? Depending on the potions we pick we'll be better able to take a hit/avoid the bludgers, but I don't know how to make the plan anymore specific than that.
Having the skills meaningfully interact is fun and I believe, ultimately worth it, but it does lead to some situations like this one. There's a tradeoff between dumping massive complexity on the audience, and drip-feeding things too slowly. I'm most likely still closer to the former, but this is an example of the latter. Herbology is the skill meant for improving some of the other skill results, and a way to augment your potions.
That said, yes, potions are not strictly meant to evolve, but rather eventually get replaced. Then, you'll have both a backlog for different situations or synergies as well as the option of going all in, drinking the actual potions instead of the alkahest variants for stacking effects (i.e. Future-Rei will have 3 potions that boost her toughness by 30% each already active, and she decides that she really needs to win, drinking the pebble elemental potion on top of those - just an illustrative example).
Transfiguration has also run into a similar issue at the moment. The techniques have no explicit mechanical benefit attached, but they will have at some point, as Rei's understanding of Qi and cultivation continues to grow.
The above is correct. You can keep 3 (currently) potions active indefinitely, no need for hoarding. I'm the type of player to never use a healing potion to save my life, which isn't very fun, so I made sure to avoid such pitfalls in my own design.
That's definitely something I can work with and lean into
[X][Boon] On the longevity of temporary animation charms
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
Herbology progress is not a priority right now, so that's out, but both of these are good. I can't decide between safest bet vs greatest odds, so I voted for both.
Edit - I believe that the best one is
[X][Potions] Potion of the Sleepy Sandman
This gets the ball rolling our way like no other option does. The other potions mitigate or give a slight boost that could or could not be useful, but this one saves our bacon!
[X][Potions] Potion of the Brave Snowflake
Consistent damage is always great. We whittle away at our opponent's HPs virtually every turn. It adds up!
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
The better defensive option, more often than not.
Initiative is not that big of a deal, in my opinion, because if you're in a tie, that means that only the lowest possible damage, 1d100, gets applied (against you if you don't have initiative) rather than multiple dice (which is the real threat).
Quidditch vote edited in, with its explanation in post #498:
[X][Tactics] Status Quo with Showmanship
[X][Boon] Transformative aspects for artwork as such
Herbology progress is not a priority right now, so that's out, but both of these are good. I can't decide between safest bet vs greatest odds, so I voted for both.
Edit - I believe that the best one is
[X][Potions] Potion of the Sleepy Sandman
This gets the ball rolling our way like no other option does. The other potions mitigate or give a slight boost that could or could not be useful, but this one saves our bacon!
[X][Potions] Potion of the Brave Snowflake
Consistent damage is always great. We whittle away at our opponent's HPs virtually every turn. It adds up!
[X][Potions] Potion of the Pebble Elemental
The better defensive option, more often than not.
Initiative is not that big of a deal, in my opinion, because if you're in a tie, that means that only the lowest possible damage, 1d100, gets applied (against you if you don't have initiative) rather than multiple dice (which is the real threat).
Doesn't this mean that we'd be out of position too, though?
Quidditch vote edited in, with its explanation in post #498:
[X][Tactics] Status Quo with Showmanship
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WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
Good to know! Would we know what taking two doses each potion would do?
I'm thinking of doing an option like:
[][Tactics] Take one dose of each potion and ask your captain which you ought to double up on in order to best beat the Beaters.
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I'mma be honest, that should have been the first thing I thought of, but it never even crossed my mind. No stacking, everything is unique.